How (Physically) Do You Vote?

Seeing the current election controversies in Florida, I was very surprised to see that they used some form of punched paper ballots to vote. Ever since I’ve voted (and ever since I remember going with my parents as a child when they voted), I’ve used a voting machine, and didn’t realize that paper ballots were used elsewhere.

The voting machines I’ve used are about seven feet tall and four feet wide. In the front of them they have a little area enclosed by a curtain that extends from the top of the machine to about three or four feet off the ground. When it is your turn to vote, you go inside the curtain. Once inside the curtain, you must flip a large red lever sticking up from the bottom of the machine to start voting.

When inside, you are confronted with a wall containing the rows of the candidates names (listed by office sought and party) next to little levers. To vote for a candidate, you flip the lever next to his or her name, and an ‘X’ will appear next to the candidate. The machine is set so that you can only vote for one candidate per office (unless there are multiple slots open, as for some judge elections). If you make a mistake, you can flip the little lever back and vote for another candidate. When you are done, you flip the large red lever at the bottom of the machine back, and all of the little levers for the candidates are reset and tallied.

I’ve voted in New York City, Philadelphia, and Nassau County on Long Island, New York, and I have always used a voting machine like the one I’ve described (though I have used several different models). I’ve also voted absentee on a paper ballot that I’ve mailed in, and, in New York City at least, I’ve seen that there are paper ‘affidavit’ ballots at the polling places that can be used to vote if there is some dispute about whether the voter is properly registered (I believe that they put the voter’s name and information in an outer envelope, the ballot in an inner envelope, and, if necessary, fight out the legality of the registration before an election commissioner or judge later).

I am curious as to the different methods people in other states and countries use to vote. I’m particularly interested in a detailed description of the procedure in Florida, and also a description and any impressions of the new mail-in voting procedure used in Oregon.

In Saskatchewan we are given ballots that have all of the candidates names on it and we have to put an X with a pencil in the circle by the person’s name. A ballot can be ruled spoiled if the X is partially out of the circle, or if part of the X touches more than one name. Since we usually only vote for one election at a time our ballots aren’t as cumbersome as yours can be, so we still “put our X on the ballot”.

Keith

They just had a live report with a group of voters in Palm Beach County. The people were from all age ranges, and all of them were confused by the Florida ballots. It’s ridiculous that the ballots were so confusing. Gee, and Jeb Bush is the governor.

I was always used to the voting booths when I lived in NY. Here in Alabama, they have large, stiff paper ballots - about 14" by 20", with clear print. You get a felt tip marker, and you draw a line between two boxes next to your candidate.

Ex: Joe Blow

It’s clear and easy to understand. You then feed your ballot into a machine.

Punch ballots are insane.

I have always voted on paper ballots. You put a mark in the box next to the person you want to vote for. When you are done you feed your ballot into a machine that counts the votes. It is a pretty easy way to do it.

It does say clearly on the ballot how many people you can select in each category. It also says that if you make any mistakes or tear the ballot in anyway to request a new one.

On TV you always see people getting behind the curtains to vote. I was disappointed the first time I voted and didn’t get a curtain. Another dream shattered.

We use the same method in St. Louis that is causing the problems in Florida–using a stylus to punch through the card.

It is a good method because it is inexpensive–the voting booths are so small they fit in suitcases. Therefore municipalities can buy more of them and ensure less waiting time for the voters.

It really is not difficult at all, and in my voting place they had a booth you could practice on before you went to vote if you were unsure.

You get a card from the judge. You go to the booth and slip the card in as instructed over the two pins at the top. The card goes behind a booklet with the candidates and ballot issues in it. There are BIG ARROWS pointing to the hole you should punch for a specific candidate. If you mess up, you can request another ballot. You flip through the booklet, using an attached stylus to vote for each candidate and issue. After that, you pull out the ballot and put it in the box. I have never voted any other way.

And, of course, both the Democrats and Republicans approve the way the balloting booklet is set up long in advance of the election.

In my district, the booth encloses a large (3x4, perhaps) board upon which all the selections are clearly marked. To select your choice of candidate, you simply touch the board beside their name. A green arrow lights up behind your fingertip to indicate that you have selected that candidate. If you made a mistake, you press it again, and it will unlight. The directions are written in two languages, at least.

For the issues election, all the issues are written out, and the selection process is identical.

When you are finished casting your votes, you hit the “Send Vote” button, and the board resets, a slot machine like tune plays, and a light goes off to let the attendants know to queue someone up to vote.

Where I voted in Illinois (Suburbs) it is similar to what Palandine described. The voting “booth” is simply a TV-tray that stands at about waist level and has around it a 2’ high flimsy plastic shield. On the table top there is a little rigid plastic booklet with the binding anchored to the surface. You are handed a little blank punchcard that is about 3" wide and 8" tall inside of a sleeve. You are instructed to slide it behind the binding of the booklet and make sure that the two pegs at the top of the booklet are through the holes on the ballot. Now you flip to the front page of the booklet and it lists the canidates in one column, and next to each name in the binding there is a small hole that you press a hole-punch through about 2 inches into the ballot beneath. You then turn the page to the next position/issue and repeat on a slightly different location on the page.

It was my first time voting and I was a little confused about the procedure but once I got the ballot into the booth I managed to figure it out. I could see being a bit intimidated by it if you aren’t the most bold person in teh world.

One notable point is that the ballot itself was covered with holes and it had no markings on it whatsoever. Bascially you couldn’t vote without the booklet. This has its upsides, but you also can’t see which hole is being punched as you do it, and once you slide it out of the machine you can’t confirm you voted for who you intended. This, and how close together the holes are on the ballot, would easily garuntee a screw up it the ballot isn’t laying perfectly flat over the pegs.

All in all, it wasn’t too confusing but I am concerned that in this day and age we are still using such a antiquated crappy method and that there is no way to undo your vote or go back and confirm your choice before dropping it into the box. Time to start using computers IMHO.

Aside, I looked at the Florida ballots and I think they are terribly confusing. Obviously I could figure them out, but something like this shouldn’t take “figuring”. That said, if Gore loses because of this (and I think it is a very legitimate cause and possiblity) there is no one to blame except the Democrat responsilbe for OKing the ballot. Then the question is should every state be responsible for setting up its own methods, and is it fair to have 50 party officials doing the speaking for the canidates on these issues. Sadly I think this is going to have to be changed next election, and we have to just find a way to cope this time around without turning our backs on the flawed process.

Zumba the Cat and Mr. Cynical, where are you located?

Mr. C, is the electronic system you described enclosed in a voting booth similar to the mechanical one I’ve described? When you press next to the candidate, are you pressing a button or a switch of some kind? How long have these machines been in use?

The voting machines I’ve seen in New York have been in use since the '70s, at least.

In Orange County, NC, we have paper ballots with an arrow pointing to each candidate. There’s a gap in the middle of the arrow, like this:

– --> Bush

You use a special marking pen to fill in the arrow of the candidate you want to vote for:

------> Gore

Having been one of those kids who could never manage to color within the lines, I think it’s an inane system. Why they can’t use voting machines is beyond me.

I just heard on the radio this morning that they stopped making voting machines, including replacement parts, in 1988. The good news is, they are supposed to last 100 years or so.

Our system in Virginia (at least No. VA) is very similar to Mr. Cynical’s (except your selection is marked by a lit red dot. The instructions are the same as his. When you are done, you push the green “VOTE” button. After a brief delay, the lights go off and you leave. The poll person then gives you a “I Voted” sticker.

Norway has a parliamentary system, so we vote for parties not individuals. We use paper ballots and envelopes.

For a national election, you’re handed an envelope as you enter. In the booth, there are baskets with ballots for each party. You pick a ballot of the party you want to vote for. If you wish, you can place an X next to someone’s name to give him/her an extra vote, or you can cross out a name and that person won’t get your vote. (Most people won’t do either.) Then you fold the ballot and place it in the envelope, take the envelope with you out of the voting booth, and drop it in the ballot box.

Local elections are the same except for two details. First, you choose two ballots, one for your county and one for your township. The county lists are printed on blue paper, the township on white. The second difference is that you can add names to the lists if you want. The two ballots are folded and placed in a single envelope, then dropped in the ballot box.

Political parties generally distribute copies of their lists ahead of time so you get a chance to read them; they generally come folded inside pamphlets with the party program. The main problem with this system is all the trees that die to make it possible…

Here in Arlington, Virginia, we used machines that are similar to those described by Mr. Cynical. Inside the curtained space is a square area about 20 inches on a side. it is sort of like an easel, tilted a few degrees back from the vertical. A sheet of paper with all the different races, constitutional amendments, and bond issues is on the easel. The font size is pretty large, about 24 point. Each name or yes/no option has a little square to the right (at least 1 cm by 1 cm) and on top of the paper is a clear plastic bezel (to protect the paper). Behind the paper are touch-sensitive buttons and red lights. The buttons are not visible at all but the lights, when lit, show through the white paper. When the machine is activated by the election official (he/she does this by pressing a button on the back side of the machine, which is not accessible to the voters), a red light flashes at the top of each list of candidates/issues. A flashing light for a race indicates that no choice has been made for that race. The voter presses the little square next to their choice, and the flashing light for that race goes out and a solid, unblinking light turns on next to their choice. If you make a mistake, you can press the square again and the solid light will go out and the blinking light will come on again. If write-ins are allowed for a race, you can press the square next to the words “write-in” and a little rectangular door opens at the top of the machine to expose a paper area where you can write your candidate’s name. The write-ins are stored on a roll of paper like a cash register receipt. Once you have made all of your choices, you press a green button that says “VOTE.” All the lights turn off and you leave. I think it’s a very easy-to-use system. I worked as an election officer for the first time this year and had to explain the machines to hundreds of people of all ages and backgrounds.

The results are stored in a memory cartridge inside the machine. At the end of the day the results are printed out on a paper (like a cash register receipt) and the paper and cartridges are sent to the county.

Billdo, I know your question wasn’t aimed at me, but my machines were similar. Because the actual buttons are behind the plastic bezel and the paper, they are not visible. They are flat buttons (not like the keys on a modern computer keyboard,) more like the buttons you might see on a piece of electronic equipment that is supposed to be water-resistant. I don’t know how long they have been in use, but I think it’s probably only a few years.

Here in Montpelier, Vermont we vote on large cardstock sheets. You go into the flimsy metal-skeleton-covered-with-red-and-blue-striped-fabric booth and use the black marker that is fastened with velcro to the 4 inch metal shelf. It looks like this:
JUSTICE OF THE PEACE
(vote for not more than 13)

Joe Apple (Democrat) O
Sally Butter (Independent) O
Bob Cowholder (Republican) O
Tracey Drake (Grass Roots) O
and you fill in the little dots.

When you’re done, you feed your ballot into a big machine very much like a large dollar bill into a gargantuan soda machine.

…and you’re not supposed to bring papers or anything else in with you, though it’s not really enforced.

K.

Let’s see…

I’m currently in Aurora, Colorado, just east of Denver. The same style machine was in use in '96, when I lived in Las Vegas.

With this style, the booth was about 6’6" tall. I almost stuck out of the top of it. The curtain came down to about 3’ from the ground. There was no big red lever or anything even remotely like it, you just go in, and start voting.

It did have protection built in, so that you could only vote for one candidate, or only YES or NO on the issues vote.

Aside from that, it sounds very much similar to what maldendescribed. The plastic bezel was one of those flimsy sheets of plastic, like you might put over a keyboard to keep crumbs out while still being able to type. There was no red light to indicate that you had not yet voted on a subject yet, but still, it was very similar.

For write in voting, the same principle applied, except you were to enter the write-in name on a keypad at the bottom. The LCD display for this keypad also displayed the name of the the candidate or the yes or no on the issue you voted for.

And, as malden described, the buttons were of the “peanut Butter Keyboard” variety, or Chiclet.

**

New Hanover County, North Carolina

We get a big (10x18 inch or so) paper ballot with the following arrangement (generics used 'cause I don’t remember the exact wording):


.              **PRESIDENT**

.     Prez candidate 1's name and party
.                  (  )
.     Prez candidate 2's name and party
.                  (  )
.     Prez candidate 2's name and party
.                  (  )

_________________________________________________

.                **SENATE**
.     Senate candidate 1's name and party
.                   (  )
.     Senate candidate 2's name and party
.                   (  )
_____________________________________________

…and so on, going from top to bottom, 2 columns per page, front and back, a nice little black line between categories. The ( ) is an oval that you fill in with a pencil.

Our ballots were about 20" long and 10" wide. They had a list of candidates with circles by their names. You get a marker and fill in the circle for your candidate (or, if voting straight ticket, party) and then flip it over and vote on the issues. It’s then fed into an automated box that counts the sheets as it whisks them away to parts unknown (also known as the bottom of the box).

–Tim

Here in ohio, we used a voting machine. There is a piece of plexiglas with a paper ballot beneath it. There are buttons along the edge of the plexiglas that line up with the candidates/issues on the paper. When you push the button, it lights up. At the bottom there are two buttons: next page and prvious page. When you push one a motor scrolls the paper under the plexiglas. You can review/change each page as much as you want. When you are done you press a red botton and it prints your votes onto the ballot.

Here in Atlanta, we just started doing it the way Tim just described. I like the hole punch better, it was faster, and I didn’t have the shakes worrying about filling in that lil hole EXACTLY right!! :frowning: