My god that must take forever.
We have to sign in at the polls in CA. I can’t imagine that someone really compares the signatures later. They do not at the time of voting so what would checking later do? They can’t identify my vote among the others. So if they found out the voter X was ineligible what could they do beyond a new election?
I wasn’t checked either–in fact to my knowledge no one at the polls was checked. What’s to prevent some mop from going to more than one poll and claiming to be “Bob Smith” who subsequently died 2 years ago (therefor can’t vote) and using Bob’s name as a vote for the party of his choice?
Can’t Social Services give out photo IDs or something?
If you personally were found to have committed voter fraud, you would be liable for prosecution. If there turns out to be a pattern of it, then a judge could invalidate an election and order a new one.
In California, the signature is not important unless someone decides to challenge the legitimacy of a result.
Voter fraud is a very low priority in Los Angeles County. Even when presented with overwhelming evidence collected by the Voter Fraud Division of the California Secretary of State’s office, the Los Angeles County District Attorney has declined to file charges. According to the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles County has never prosecuted a voter fraud case. Ever.
I had to show picture ID AND sign a book that had my voter registration card in it . (a comparison sig deal). This is in NY.
I have never been asked for ID here, only to state my name and address.
I heard it explained by some guy on the radio thus:
It costs money to obtain an ID (as DocCathode pointed out). Requiring one would therefore constitute a de facto poll tax.
When I walked in, there was a list of all registered voters for that polling place. I looked myself up to ensure that they hadn’t changed my precinct. I then went to the precinct table, said “I’m amarinth,” the guy flipped through the sign in book, found me, and I signed next to my name. They didn’t ask me for ID, they didn’t ask me if I knew my address - zilch.
I voted in Ohio’s Cuyahoga County (Cleveland area) for over 20 years before moving to Indiana, where I haven’t yet registered. Whenever I went to the polls, I gave my last name, and then was asked if I were “Steven J.”, “David B.”, or any other “Sternvogel” in the precinct. After I identified myself, I signed the registry, and my “autograph” was compared against the one I had produced the last time I had voted.
The ballot was also stamped on the stub and the “body” with a number. If the poll worker gave me “456”, for example, she wrote those digits next to my name in the book. After I finished making my selections, the stub was torn off and placed in one box. The ballot was deposited in a larger box. So if I had somehow aroused the suspicion of one of the volunteers, she could have remembered my name and suggested my signature be further examined or that my vote be invalidated when the ballots were transferred to Board of Elections workers after the polling place closed. If there were ever enough of a discrepancy between the number of ballots and number of stubs collected, an investigation into fraud would likely have commenced.
I voted in Ohio’s Cuyahoga County (Cleveland area) for over 20 years before moving to Indiana, where I haven’t yet registered. Whenever I went to the polls, I gave my last name, and then was asked if I were “Steven J.”, “David B.”, or any other “Sternvogel” in the precinct. After I identified myself, I signed the registry, and my “autograph” was compared against the one I had produced the last time I had voted.
The ballot was also stamped on the stub and the “body” with a number. If the poll worker gave me “456”, for example, she wrote those digits next to my name in the book. After I finished making my selections, the stub was torn off and placed in one box. The ballot was deposited in a larger box. So if I had somehow aroused the suspicion of one of the volunteers, she could have remembered my name and suggested my signature be further examined or that my vote be invalidated when the ballots were transferred to Board of Elections workers after the polling place closed. If there were ever enough of a discrepancy between the number of ballots and number of stubs collected, an investigation into fraud would likely have commenced.
Is this really true. They can match your name to an actual ballot cast? I cannot believe that your ballot can be matched up with your name.