Absentee Ballot Counting Begins Early [rejects due to signature mismatch]

[Tab]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla
Election Day is Tuesday, but the vote count has already begun in Duval County. And, like four years ago, some of the votes are being tossed out because of voter mistakes.

Channel 4 has learned that so far, the Duval County Canvassing Board has rejected about 206 of 50,000 absentee ballots checked.

One man, who didn't wish to be identified, learned Monday that his ballot was rejected because his signature did not match the one on file.

"I have been voting for a number of decades and this is the first time I voted absentee, hopefully to resolve not being counted. And now, I'm in a situation of not being counted," he said.
...
Eyewitness News Investigator Jim Piggott asked Interim Supervisor of Elections Bill Scheu if the man's signature could be verified and his vote be counted. Scheu said no.
http://www.news4jax.com/politics/3881466/detail.html

[orpupilofnature57]

1. If Florida is the problem again,the U N should inner cede

And then Florida should be examined.

[TheDebbieDee]

3. Intercede. Sorry, but I just couldn't help it. : - )

[g-money]

5. Ya right, Jeb's gonna let that happen

They can't steal the election if the UN is watching

[clydefrand]

2. I can't believe his vote his challenged because of a difference in

signature. How did they have a copy of his signature? Why wasn't he allowed to write it again to verify that it was indeed his signature. And signatures can change because of aging process, arthritis, whatever!

Gosh, this reminds me of a time long ago when I was purchasing something with my credit card that I hadn't signed. The clerk told me that I had to sign it before she could accept it AFTER I had signed the receipt. I tried to tell the lame brain that the signatures would be the same. Go figure...she didn't ask to see another signature...the one on my driver's license.

[NashVegas]

6. Always Have

When I was still a NY resident, they kept every signature from every sign-in on the books, along with the original registration sig.

[Sara Beverley]

28. So the pollsters are handwriting experts? This seems mighty subjective.

Major law suits should be filed in these cases.

[tom_paine]

4. How much you want to bet 204 of the are Democratic

Some bright Bushevik Sturmtruppen probably threw in 2 Imperial votes to give themselves "plausible deniability".

[Laelth]

7. I'd be outraged if my vote was tossed ...

But let's be serious. 204 votes lost out of 50,000? If only that many votes got tossed in heavily Dem. Duval County, we're in great shape!

It'll look like this tomorrow:





:D

:dem:

-Laelth


Edit:Laelth--fixed BBCode.

[AndyTiedye]

37. toss out a few here for signatures...

...a few (60,000) never got to the voter in the first place
but will probably get filled out by *somebody*, then there
are the touch-screen voting machinez...

I hope we're winning by millions of votes in Florida, becasue
we're going to need them all to keep them from stealing it.

[lovuian]

8. I saw LaPore is doing the same thing Are these people

signature experts what power they have to get rid of an absentee ballot because of a sloppy signature PLEASE!!!

[eggplantparmesan]

9. well uhhh

Actually they have EXACTLY that power, being as that that is their job and responsibility. If only 206 votes have been discounted for any reason out of 50,000, why is there so much uproar?

Every time a fraudulent vote is cast, no matter for what side, it makes your legal vote less powerful.

[lovuian]

10. We don't know Ho many votes are discarded???

Is they right to appeal their decision or is their decision final???

[Laelth]

12. Fraudulent?

Who said anything about fraudulent? A sloppy sig. does not a fraudulent vote make.

:mad:

-Laelth

[eggplantparmesan]

15. you're right...

except that that's the law.

[Laelth]

17. That's the law.

And the law may be wrong. The law may be unjust. The law may have been passed by a bunch of Republican legislators for the expressed purpose of disenfranchising people who are likely to vote for the Democrats. Perhaps the law should be challenged in court and deemed unconstitutional.

People who hide behind the law to effect injustice are a scourge!

Let me add that slavery was "the law" at one time. That did not make it just.

:dem:

-Laelth


Edit:Laelth--added the slavery point.

[eggplantparmesan]

19. Huh?

Do you know what you're saying? Do you know when the law requiring signatures to match was passed? Do you know what composition the legislature was when the law was passed? What evidence do you have that it's unconstitutional? Do you know that the signature is the ONLY way anyones vote can be verified? Do you know that I could walk into your polling place, say I was you, and vote your ballot however I wanted, if it wasn't for this law? And most importantly, why do you think that a law requiring signatures to match would unfairly target democrats?

People who are ignorant of the reasoning behind laws, and simply rail against them because of their perceived unfairness are the scourge.

-Jake

[Laelth]

21. Fair enough.

But you'll note that I couched my critique in conditional language because I couldn't be certain of those things. I said perhaps ... because I didn't know who passed that law or why.

Sorry to offend. I maintain, however, that unjust laws (if they are unjust, and this one may be), should be challenged and, if necessary, resisted.

-Laelth


Edit:Laelth--grammar.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

25. The question to be asked is are the people "enforcing" the law doing

so fairly. Personally, I would not like my signature to be checked by a Katherine Harris clone or ANYONE associated with the GOP because I doubt their integrity.

Have we lost our way, Grasshopper?

[eggplantparmesan]

26. Evidence?

Do you have any evidence that that is what is happening?

Anyways, Duval county is strongly Republican, so it would be foolish for the GOP to waste their time trying to discount votes there as opposed to a heavily Democratic neighborhood.

[Laelth]

30. Do you have any evidence that this is not happening?

And Duval County is highly Republican? What are you smoking? Care to share?

:silly:

-Laelth

[Media_Lies_Daily]

32. Take a hike....you've wasted enough time.

[Tab]

14. Yes, but extrapolate it...

* 10 (of 500,000 votes) = 2000 dropped.

That's a 1% discard rate.

If they are validly invalid, that's fine, but if they SHOULD be valid, then that's 2000 lost, and the last vote had a smaller margin than that.

Every little bit counts.

[KAZ]

20. Well, thank you for your brilliant insight...

... I think many of us are hypersensitive to any FL strangeness, and on the fly signature analysis should be provisional, not tossed.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

31. We know at least one of those votes was NOT fraudulent....

...so what the hell are you talking about?

[Florida_Geek]

11. I hate to say it but the SOEs in Florida

did warn people around a month ago to redo their signature cards if they thought their signature has changed over time.

[LiberalFighter]

16. Didn't they sign the Absentee Ballot APPLICATION???

And shouldn't they also compare the sig with that too??

[Florida_Geek]

36. Good point. nt

[JDPriestly]

13. Your signature proves you are who you are.

Think about it. You don't show ID. The Registrar's Office can only decide by your signature whether you are who you are. So sign your name the way it appears on the voter registration list or ballot.

[indypaul]

18. Election clerks are by

no stretch of the imagination handwriting experts.
This is a situation that needs litigation immediately
and any absentee ballot that is discarded should only
be done with written affidavit outlining cause. A
persons vote should not be discarded at the whim of
an unqualified clerk.

[highnooner]

22. My signature changes from year to year

Though it may be somewhat similar.

[ilovenicepeople]

35. Man,my signature(poormans autograph) is never the same 2 times in a row

let alone year to year.

[baby_bear]

23. I have multiple signatures

I just signed my absentee ballot a couple hours ago, in very careful cursive penmanship. But many times I scribble my signature, sometimes using my middle name, intial, or just my first initial and last name. Sometimes it's illegible. Only an expert could figure it out. Is it possible that my ballot might be thrown out because my signature is too neat this time? How do I remember how I signed when I first registered twenty years ago?

Good grief.

s_m

[delete_bush]

29. I was thinking the same thing so will just add

to your post. I have 2 distinct signatures I use, depending on what type of document I'm signing. Plus I completely change one or both from time to time just for the hell of it.

This is the part that is scary - "Eyewitness News Investigator Jim Piggott asked Interim Supervisor of Elections Bill Scheu if the man's signature could be verified and his vote be counted. Scheu said no."

He should be able to prove who he is without a signature. What if he became a quadriplegic in the Iraq war, does this mean he can no longer vote? That would be great irony, now wouldn't it.

[camero]

24. That's an idiotic rule probably by design

Who signs their name the same way all the time? I know my hand doesn't feel the same way all the time. Repubs against the democratic process again.

[henslee]

27. Are those rejecting signatures, prof. trained in handwriting analysis?

[Ducks In A Row]

33. In Oregon there is procedural steps with a signature doesn't seem

to match.

There are about 3 steps, the last asking the person to come in to verify their identify, and whenverified to make out a new signature card.

These Oregon voters are never denied an opportunity to fix the problem.

Florida's rules just suck big time

[Carolina]

34. look at your own signature on several

checks, for example. When I sit home and write bills, my signature varies from the 1st to the weary last, but in the grocery store check-out, it is especially wild and varied.

This is so bogus, Bushevik bogusness. What handwriting experts made the determination!

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

38. How did this man know his ballot wasn't counted?

Did the elections office contact him, or did he call them? Will he still be allowed to vote?

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

39. They've thrown out about 300 absentee ballots in Orange Co.

I guess these people aren't allowed to cast a ballot again, either. That bites. A lot of them were old people with some problem like arthritis that makes it hard for them to write or people who didn't sign at all.

My husband and I voted absentee. I think I'll call and verify if our votes actually counted, just for piece of mind. Our signatures tend to be consistent, so I would think we wouldn't have a problem.

[vetwife]

40. Can they go to the polling place ?

[Skarbrowe]

41. When I signed the register during the primary vote, I noticed that my

signature was identical to the one they had from my original registration. But, I signed that register without giving it any extra thought. When I signed my absentee ballot about two weeks ago, I remember being so nervous and wondering if I could get my signature that identical again. I hope I did, but who knows??