Voting mechanics

[magid]

OK, so I've only ever voted in MA, and both municipalities I've voted in use paper ballots. Not anything tricky to understand, just basically scantron things: fill in the bubbles and you're done. Just like all those standardized tests everyone has to take these days, so the voters are prepared, as it were. The thought even of using a lever sort of machine makes me nervous, and computers doubly so, since they're theoretically hackable in even more ways. And there's no paper trail.

Please, someone explain why there isn't more standardization in how ballots are made and processed? OK, and why we don't all use a scantron sort of ballot, since it leaves a paper trail, and isn't tricky to use at all.


Nothing about whether the car-repair guys were involved in the election in this post. Or, there wasn't.

Comments

[ichur72.livejournal.com]

>> Bitty pointed out, I just walk in, give my address and name, and I get a ballot, no ID of any sort required.

No ID required? I'm curious, why? Here in Georgia they give you a list of what sort of ID will suffice -- I used my DL but you can also show a passport, bank statement, phone bill or the like. Then the poll workers check your ID and check your name off the rolls.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Well, there were ads on the T reminding people to bring ID to the polls, so maybe somewhere it was checked. But in JP (Bitty's area) and Cambridge, no one asked for ID at all. And the sheets with all the registered voters on them are sitting out on the table in front of the poll-worker, not in a book or anything.

As to why, I'm stumped. I don't understand it at all.

[bitty.livejournal.com]

I was never asked in Dorchester, either.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Nor I in Malden.

[jwg.livejournal.com]

I believe the law is that if you registered by mail since 2003 they are supposed to ask for picture ID. Other than that they are allowed to ask for id but don't have to and I guess never do.

Some of this is left over from trying to avoid intimidating tactics that prevented people from voting (e.g. voting cards in the south that black people couldn't easily get).

There is this antiquated system of calling out your name and observers can hear it. One of the ideas was that everyone knew their neighbors and .... A number of elections ago I was involved in a poll watching project where we kept track of which registered voters actually voted by listening to the names and marking them on our registered voter sheets and near the end of the day we brought our lists to a phone bank where we called people who we had IDed as supporters of our side who hadn't voted.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Lack of intimidation is good, though (again, as Bitty pointed out) you need to show ID in so many situations these days that it's less intimidating than perhaps it used to be.

everyone knew their neighbors
Well, I did note that the other people in my building voted before me Tuesday, since their names were already checked off on the list of registered voters. Otherwise, not so much knowing the neighbors. Which is less than ideal.

I didn't realize that poll-watching could be so... active. Sounds foolish, perhaps, but I just never thought of that sort of approach.

A lot of this election has made me feel politically naive.

[cellio]

Here in PA, if it's your first time at that precinct you have to show ID, and otherwise you don't. However, you have to also sign the voter card, and they compare the signature to the one you gave last time. I don't know what's easier to fake, ID or a signature.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Frankly, I'd be happy with either photo ID or signature (I have no clue which would be easier to fake). I've never had a voter card, never knew they existed until this election, actually.

[ichur72.livejournal.com]

I think here they require ID so that people don't have to bring their voter cards along. They do send out voter cards, but I believe that just serves to confirm your registration and give you the address of your precinct polling place.

[cellio]

I should clarify. I'm not talking about your voter-registration card, which they send in the mail to confirm your registration. Here, when you go to the polls someone pulls a physical card out of a box, asks you to confirm your name and address, and has you sign it. They then file that card; this year I found out that they're filing it for signature verification in the future. (I never knew what happened to the cards before.)

If you go N elections in a row without voting (I don't know what N is), you get dropped from the active list and have to re-register. They use the cards to track that.

[ichur72.livejournal.com]

Ah, OK -- that is quite different. Upon further thought, signature verification is probably part of why they check ID here (and it does seem clear that they prefer a picture ID, though they will accept other things). That is, they compare your signature on the form you sign when you walk in to the one on your ID. Bank statements and utility bills don't usually have signatures, but I guess that's part of why they're towards the bottom of the list of acceptable proof of identification. Also, if you can't produce any of the 17 types of acceptable ID in Georgia, they have you sign a sworn oath and then let you vote.

[magid.livejournal.com]

There are 17 types of acceptable ID in GA? Wow.

Just checked the League of Women Voters in MA site, and the forms of ID that are acceptable (if one were asked, which is apparently up to the determination of the poll-worker, unless one registered by mail since 2003 without proper ID included):

" Suitable identification, which must show your name and address, includes a copy of a current and valid photo identification, current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document."

[ichur72.livejournal.com]

This is what I found at the Georgia Secretary of State's web page:

When you arrive at your polling place, you will complete a voter's certificate which asks for your name and residence address. You will then present the certificate and proper identification to the poll officials who will verify that you are a registered voter in that precinct by checking the voters list for that precinct. Voters are required to present identification at their polling place prior to casting their ballot. Proper identification shall consist of any one of the following:

(1) a valid Georgia driver's license;
(2) a valid identification card issued by a branch, department, agency, or entity of the State of Georgia, any other state, or the United States authorized by law to issue personal identification;
(3) a valid United States passport;
(4) a valid employee identification card containing a photograph of the elector and issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the United States government, this state, or any county, municipality, board, authority, or other entity of this state;
(5) a valid employee identification card containing a photograph of the elector and issued by any employer of the elector in the ordinary course of such employer's business;
(6) a valid student identification card containing a photograph of the elector from any public or private college, university, or postgraduate technical or professional school located within the state of Georgia;
(7) a valid Georgia license to carry a pistol or revolver;
(8) a valid pilot's license issued by the Federal Aviation Administration or other authorized agency of the United States;
(9) a valid United States military identification card;
(10) a certified copy of the elector's birth certificate;
(11) a valid social security card;
(12) certified naturalization documentation;
(13) or a certified copy of court records showing adoption, name, or sex change;
(14) A copy of a utility bill;
(15) A bank statement (will be kept confidential);
(16) A government check or payment with name and address; or
(17) A government document that shows the name and address of the elector.
Note: The precinct card you receive to confirm your voter registration and voting location is not a form of identification and is not sufficient identification to vote.

If an elector is unable to produce any of the required identification, the elector shall sign a statement under oath in a form approved by the Secretary of State, separate and distinct from the elector's voter certificate, swearing or affirming that he or she is the person identified on the elector's voter certificate. Such person shall be allowed to vote without undue delay. Falsely swearing or affirming such statement under oath is punishable as a felony.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Wow. A much more comprehensive list than MA.

The only one that strikes me as odd is 10, since showing a baby was born doesn't show that the baby is you.