My local Early Voting place was telling voters they "need a drivers license". I protested.

[Mugsy]

See full post & thread here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/125137600

[sadbear]

1. Has anyone else early voted yet?

It started today. Let us know if you have a similar experience.

[NoPasaran]

2. I haven't done it yet

But a couple of weeks ago I early voted in the Austin municipal elections and I used my utility bill as ID. They were a little whiny about it but I got to vote.

On Saturday I worked as an election clerk. As part of our training we were explicitly reminded that the Voter ID law is not in effect and if voters had their voter certificate and also offered a DL we told them the certificate was all they needed.

[sonias]

4. You used your utility bill!

That's awesome!

[NoPasaran]

5. Yup. It was on my bucket list.

[NoPasaran]

6. Okay, I early voted in the primary today, Travis County

No problems encountered. I didn't even have to tell them which ballot because apparently my name came up with the information that I'd been to the convention and already declared for the good guys.

[Gothmog]

7. Cool

They did a driver' license swipe at our SD convention and so I should be on that list also

[Melissa G]

12. Is it true that it is illegal to ask for/use a paper ballot rather than the Hart machine?

That was what the election judge said. Paper ballots could only be used if the machines were not working. I had to scroll several times to get one vote to register.

[MagickMuffin]

14. In Tarrant County we cannot tell the voter which system to use on Primary Election Day

We are instructed to not touch the paper ballots, we let the voter choose whichever ballot they want.

However, early voting they have no choice, they have to vote on the eSlate.

And I do believe it is against the law to force or even to suggest which system to use.

I generally tell the voters they can choose paper or electronic. Some will hem and haw and ask me which one to use. I instruct them that it is their choice and their vote and they must choose one. Of course I would love to suggest they choose the paper ballot, however, I cannot even imply which one of them to use.

I'm not sure how Travis County is set up, perhaps you could call party hq's and find out. If you voted yesterday and they told you that I would inform the party hq's and let them know.

Our Elections Admin. is very professional here and so far I how we conduct elections here. Did I mention how much I working our elections

[sadbear]

3. Brazos County Update

I haven't voted yet, but we have a Brazos County Democrats facebook group, and a couple of members have already reported irregularities. In Brazos County, republicans and Democrats vote at the same location, and the two Democrats were given republican ballots instead of Democratic ones (actually, they were given codes to the republican ballot since we vote electronically.) And these Democrats found out only after those codes were entered which makes us wonder how those ballots were canceled out. Also, after one Democrat asked for his ballot, the worker said, "uh-oh" for whatever reason. This was all on the first day of voting.

[Gothmog]

8. I voted

I voted this morning and had no troubles. The system showed that I was a Democrat because I attended the SD18 County Convention. My youngest daughter got to vote for the first time this morning. I talked to the election judge while we waited for the polls to open. The Fort Bend election officials are well aware that the Texas Voter ID law is not in effect. The only reason why they ask for a drivers license is to speed up the process. You can vote with any of the approved ids including an utility bill.

[Gothmog]

9. Fort Bend Election Judge training

I just completed the training for being an election judge for the primary. The Fort Bend county election administrator made it very clear that one could vote with just the yellow voter registration card and that it was a violation of the voter's rights to ask for any additional identification. The only possible exception to this rule is for first time voters who registered by mail.

[efhmc]

10. Gave them my voter's registration card and asked if info was current. Done deal.

[TBF]

11. Same here in precinct 60 - just looked at the card, verified that the address was current and that I

was voting dem (both parties had their primaries today in Texas).

[Gothmog]

13. One Idiot republican at my polling place demanded that they look at his drivers' licence

I was an election judge yesterday. We had no problems on the Democratic side (we were doing separate primaries) but on the GOP side one idiot demanded that they check his drivers' license in addition to his voter registration card. It was really kind of stupid and sad. The GOP judge assured him that all that was needed was his voter registration card and the GOP voter was miffed.

[northoftheborder]

15. I helped with the polls on Tuesday. The Democrats and Republicans voted in the same room....

...in our combined precincts. They had always had separate buildings, but this year, for the sake of economy, joined in the same building, which had only one usable room. It worked out OK. This was a hugely majority Repub. district, and especially because all the local races were only on the Republican ballot, many Democrats likely voted in the Repub. primary. Out of about 350 votes, only 19 people voted a Democratic ballot. We were all sitting at the same tables, and helped with the process when the Republican lines got too long. This county has the choice of paper ballot, or electronic voting, and we had to ask every person how they wanted to vote. It turned out to be a pleasant experience.