Federal Judge: Provisional Ballots in Wrong Precinct Don't Count

[steve2470]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGBK7BTCL0E.html

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Rejecting a claim by Democrats, a federal judge ruled Thursday that if voters cast provisional ballots in the wrong precinct the state doesn't have an obligation to count them.

U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle ruled that people who show up at the wrong polling place and aren't on the rolls should be allowed to submit a provisional ballot, in case it is determined they're at the right place. But he ruled that federal law doesn't require the state to count it if it was cast in the wrong precinct.

Under federal and Florida law, if a voter shows up at a polling place but officials have no record of them being registered, they are given a provisional ballot. That ballot is then held until officials determine if the person was entitled to vote at that precinct and hasn't already voted.

If they should have been allowed to vote, the ballot counts; if not, it's thrown out.

The Democratic Party had asserted that prospective voters have a right to have their ballot counted whether they're at the proper polling place or not.
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[Not Me]

1. I don't understand why this is deemed to be so big a problem.

In Florida, where we have early voting, which began on Monday...there are a dozen or so county libraries as well as the Board of Elections where any county resident can go to vote.

When you get there, they look up your info and give you a ballot that is appropriate for the precinct that you are assigned, and you vote. No big deal. All ballots roll up to the county level and are tabulated by precinct.

As long as the voter is in the county, but goes to the wrong polling place on election day, why can't the same process used for the three weeks of early voting be used?

I see this opening up the door to a lot of last minute polling place changes...particularly in...ahem...low income precincts.

[WatchWhatISay]

4. That is a good point except

that each precinct, on election day would have to stock many different types of ballots to cover ALL of the possibilities for someone coming in from any precinct in the county. That would probably be confusing as well as wasteful to print ballots that for the most part would not get used. A voter coming into my precinct would end up casting a vote for some races that he was not entitled to. The only solution I could tell is to have a seperate ballot with only races that are county wide, meaning the voter would forfeit their right to vote in their non-county wide races.

But then would people complain that they should get to vote in any county, even if they don't live in that county.

Anybody got any ideas on how to avoid not letting voters vote for trivial reason while still upholding the integrity of smaller, local races?

[Onlooker]

2. oops

put this in the wrong place

[Zorra]

3. "One Million And One Ways To Make Sure Democrat Votes Don't Count"

A guide to committing voter fraud for republicans.

By Jeb and George Bu$h. Foreword by Karl Rove Orchestrated by Glenda Hood.

For sale now at all RNC outlets!

[AP]

5. What's so magical about being in the right polling place? If they were...

...so important -- physically speaking -- then why are counties allowed to change them all the time?