When I went to vote today, over half the other people there were casting provisional ballots. I don’t know much about provisional ballots, only that you cast one if you didn’t register in time and that the Republicans are trying to stop them from being counted. I can see why they would want to stop it; all of the provisionals were young probable Kerry voters. It is quite likely that provisional ballots could decide the election, if what I saw today is any indication. But all political affiliations aside, should these votes be counted legally? How has this been handled in past elections? I would ask this in GQ since there should be a factual answer as to legality but it would probably get moved here.
Also I read that provisional voters have to wait thirty days then call and see if their vote was counted. Why do they have to do that, when the returns are going to be announced tonight? I hope that isn’t just a way of saying this election is going to drag on all month.
I believe that Provisional ballets are cast when the voter believes they should be on the election rolls but for whatever reason they don’t show up at their polling station list. Instead of just going home with no recourse, they cast a PV and then if it can be determined that they were supposed to be on the election rolls then the vote will be counted.
In a really tight race, we will have to wait for all those votes to be decided. Some states will likely be able to do that quicker than other states. I’ve heard the 30 day amount used as well.
30 days… hey, this is the government, what do you expect? If enough of these ballots are outstanding in key states, the election WON’T be called tonght.
PVs seem like a good idea, but they’re new, so no telling how many unintended consequences there will be.
This is precisely what happened to me. I’d moved since the last election, but registered at my new address back in February. There was no record of my registration at the new polling place. Needless to say, I was pissed off; I’d never gotten my card in the mail, and my driver’s license still has my old address, and no matter how many other forms of proof of address I showed (utility bills, pay stubs, etc.) they wouldn’t acept them. I threw a hissy-fit until they gave me a provisional ballot. Heck, I only moved 4 blocks - the only change this would make in the votes I could cast would be for city alderperson.
My provisional ballot won’t count, since I can’t cast it, since they ran out. :smack:
I’m not even sure my absentee ballot arrived; I’m 90 miles from home, anyhow. :smack:
And Bush, so far, is winning. :smack: :smack: :smack:
I feel like shit for not getting my shit together.
I can at least take some consolation in rallying against Bush over the past few years and doing a small part to persuade others… there’s at least one person - a guy who has never voted in his 54 years - that will vote (and for Kerry!) this time.
Still.
Well… as to the argument? I think PVs should definitely be allowed, as long as they come with a healthy dose of skepticism as to that validity of each. (Namely, make sure that person hasn’t voted multiple times.)
What state are you in? When I heard Ohio had 250,000 provisional ballots, I about fell over.
At my polling place we processed 1250 voters and only seven of them went through the provisional ballot process. I had the full gamut of challengers in the room, and none of them challenged a vote, presumably because the election workers properly handled the problem cases. The seven provisional voters went through the process because the election inspectors and county clerk’s office agreed they should. The challengers didn’t even have to make that call.
OTOH, our procedure was also to bust our butts to find out where a voter should be if we couldn’t find them on our polling lists. Perhaps we had fewer questionable voters “insisting” they should vote in our precincts because we had a means for checking within the township and within the state for anyone we couldn’t find. We redirected a lot of people this way, at least a hundred I’m sure. I would think that would make a difference.
