Tossing Ohio Provisonal Ballots because person not registered

[Eric J in MN]

makes no sense.

The whole point of provisional ballots is that someone may have been purged from the voter-rolls after having been labelled a suspected felon, or because of some other mistake.

They should count the provisional ballots of any citizen over 18 who lives in Ohio.

Anyway, to find if you cast an Ohio Provisional Ballot and want to know if it counted, dial (866) OHIO-VOTES.

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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/16/92758/778


Real Numbers on OH Provisional Count
by poultrynow


Tue Nov 16th, 2004 at 06:27:58 PST

No registration main reason provisional ballots rejected
Tuesday, November 16, 2004 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) --

Of the 11 counties that have completed checking ballots, 81 percent, or 4,277 out of 5,310 ballots, are valid, according to a survey Monday by The Associated Press. Most of the counties are in rural areas.

This year, Belmont County rejected 42 percent of the 1,067 provisional votes cast while other counties that completed their count showed percentages topping 90 percent.

Cuyahoga County, where Cleveland is located, has processed 40 percent, or 9,719 votes, of its 24,788 provisional ballots and rejected a third, according to a board tally. Most are being rejected because the voters were not registered.

In Montgomery County, 6,125 of the 8,000 provisional ballots processed so far are valid. Of the 1,875 invalid ballots, more than 1,000 were rejected because the people were not registered and 685 were rejected because voters went to the wrong precinct, according to the board.

The board still has to count 1,227 ballots.

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.phpr=0&Category=13


Diaries :: poultrynow's diary ::

"Those people typically thought they were registered to vote in another county or another address, officials said.

Other reasons some of the 155,337 ballots were rejected included missing information such as addresses or signatures and people voting in precincts where they do not live.

[asthmaticeog]

1. Peddle this rubbish elsewhere.

"The whole point of provisional ballots is that someone may have been purged from the voter-rolls after having been labelled a suspected felon, or because of some other mistake."

Ex-felons can vote in Ohio. There was no purge.

"They should count the provisional ballots of any citizen over 18 who lives in Ohio."

Not if they were unregistered. Registration deosn't exist to frustrate tinfoil hattish Dems. It exists to prevent non-residents of an area from voting on an area's issue, and to prevent people from voting more than once.

[AmyCrat]

2. The point is not what you said

The point of provisional ballots is to count the votes of people who are SUPPOSED TO BE registered by don't appear on the list for some reason.

The laws also vary state-to-state. In NY for example, you can ask for a provisional ballot if your name isn't on the list, and maybe that's because you're at the wrong polling place. Your vote will be counted because you ARE registered, but you didn't go to the right place to vote.

Read this article about Ohio Provisionals...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57434-2004Oct23.html

It's a little maddening to say the least

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Agree with your post.

There has to be some safeguards. But I also think the voter has a right to be notified so he can state his case. For example, if he ever had an old voter's card, he should be able to present it as testimony.

[MrUnderhill]

4. You are correct... But he has a point.

You would expect the precincts to have pretty accurate records... so a "provisional" ballot could very well be the result of fraudulent registration activity (like the people who got "registered" six or eight times? You may not realize you aren't in the "correct" precinct any longer).


There needs to be at least an attempt to determine if the records are wrong. Not just a second check against the records that denied the vote in the first place.

[Eric J in MN]

5. There other types of purges.

They can purge the names of the deceased, and can accidentally purge the living at the same time.

If the person lives in that precinct, they shouldn't toss his or her provisional ballot just because the person wasn't registered there.

If the person lives in another precinct, they should still count the votes for statewide races.

They can check to make sure the person didn't vote normally or cast more than one provisional ballot.

They don't need to throw out the ballots of anyone not registered to accomplish that.

[indy_azcat]

6. eligible = registered?

from: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/hava/HAVA_2002.html

HAVA states in section 302 (PROVISIONAL VOTING AND VOTING INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS.)

(3) An election official at the polling place shall transmit
the ballot cast by the individual or the voter information
contained in the written affirmation executed by the individual
under paragraph (2) to an appropriate State or local election
official for prompt verification under paragraph (4).

4) If the appropriate State or local election official to
whom the ballot or voter information is transmitted under
paragraph (3) determines that the individual is eligible under
state law to vote, the individual's provisional ballot shall be
counted as a vote in that election in accordance with State law.

So do you have to be registered to be eligible? I thought eligibility was simply residence and age.

[On the Road]

7. Yes, If You're Not Registered, You're Eligible to Vote

as I understand their usage.

[Eric J in MN]

8. indy_azcat - good catch.

Can we get this to Democratic lawyers?