# I'm Officially a Disenfranchised Voter. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 31, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-officially-a-disenfranchised-voter/470510 "2008-10-31T23:21:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-officially-a-disenfranchised-voter/470510/41 "2008-11-02T22:45:01Z")
This same situation came up at election training last week. An election worker said her son was in school out of state, and he needed to know what to do if his absentee ballot didn’t show up. Solution: provisional ballot. Basically, **nobody** should be disenfranchised, not with the provisional ballot option. ---
**Author:** ![hobscrk777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a6a055/32.png) [@hobscrk777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobscrk777)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-officially-a-disenfranchised-voter/470510/42 "2008-11-03T02:15:25Z")
I’ve looked into the prospect of a provisional ballot, and I came upon the Virginia elections website, where I found the following: > [@](#): > > Provisional Ballots: > > A Provisional Ballot is a paper ballot which is cast separately and sealed in a green envelope. An officer of election will assist the voter in completing the information on both sides of the envelope. The voter must provide the information requested and sign the Statement of Voter. > > Provisional Ballots are not counted on Election Day. Your local Electoral Board will meet the day after the election to determine whether each provisional voter was qualified to vote. The votes of qualified voters will then be counted and included in the results for your locality. > > Provisional voters are allowed to be present when the Electoral Board meets to determine if their vote was valid. The election officials will tell each provisional voter when and where the Electoral Board will meet, and provide a phone number to call to find out if their Provisional Ballot was counted. > > Provisional Ballots are used: > > ``` > * When the voter’s name is not on the pollbook, the voter believes he is registered in that precinct, and the registrar’s office cannot be contacted to verify that the voter is registered. > > ``` > > Note: If a voter choose to vote a Provisional Ballot because they are at the wrong polling place and are unable or unwilling to go to the correct polling place, their vote will not be counted. > > ``` > * > > When a voter who registered by mail on or after January 1, 2003, and did not mail in a copy of their ID at that time, fails to show one of the federally-required forms of ID when voting for the first time in a federal election. > * > > When the normal voting hours are extended by court order. > > ``` Unfortunately, I don’t think I meet the requirements here. I’m not registered in the local precinct. [http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Voter\_Information/Voter\_Rights\_Responsibilities.html](http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Voter_Information/Voter_Rights_Responsibilities.html) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-officially-a-disenfranchised-voter/470510/43 "2008-11-03T02:46:05Z")
Get in touch with the [Gwinnet County Democrats](http://www.gwinnettdemocrats.com/) on Monday and see if they can help you out. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-officially-a-disenfranchised-voter/470510/44 "2008-11-03T03:20:05Z")
> [@hobscrk777](#): > > That’s a good question. I’m registered to vote in my home county, but I’m temporarily living about 600 miles away. In order to vote, I need to do it through my home county’s office (at least this is my understanding), which necessitates an absentee ballot. Where are you now? Are you in a state that allows same day registration? If so, and if you have photo ID and proof of residence, you should be able to vote in the precinct where you’re currently living. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-officially-a-disenfranchised-voter/470510/45 "2008-11-03T03:50:27Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I’ll bet they had to put alot of their resources into weeding out illegal ballots by submitted by ACORN. > > That’s a damn shame! I think those worthless pieces of shit should be forever banned from being involved in voter registration efforts!! :rolleyes: Because we haven’t had this discussion on here before. BY LAW, every voter registration drive has to submit EVERY REGISTRATION. EVERY ONE. They can’t go through and say “Oh, this is Mickey Mouse. Have to throw it out. Oh, this is Ronald McDonald, have to throw it out.” EVERY SINGLE ONE HAS TO BE SUBMITTED, BY LAW! ACORN is the organization that was defrauded by their employees. ACORN is not the defrauding agency. ACORN is the victim of their employees’ fraud. Jesus Christ on a fucking Big Wheel, will any of you people ever actually read something for a change?! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-officially-a-disenfranchised-voter/470510.md?page=2)