# Voting receipts **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 3, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738 "2020-09-03T18:16:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/1 "2020-09-03T18:16:52Z")
Does any place do this in the U S or elsewhere? I think it would be beneficial to get a receipt printed or texted, emailed of your vote. For what purpose? To make sure your vote was counted correctly and as proof of how you voted on candidates and proposals/amendments. It could be an option that you could decline if worried about keeping your vote secret. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/2 "2020-09-03T18:36:23Z")
“Free Cheeseburger if you Voted for Trump. Just show your receipt to the cashier.” “Florida recounts stretch into their 18th month as thousands of lawsuits drag through the courts. ‘I’m pretty sure I voted for Biden. I think.’ says one voter…” “Domestic abuse cases up 15% since ballot receipts were sent” ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/3 "2020-09-03T21:11:37Z")
It is only a secret vote if all votes are secret. If you have the ability to show off your vote, then your vote is no longer secret. “Hey, did you vote for Trump?” “Yeah, of course I did.” (I didn’t, but I don’t want to anger this person) “Prove it, show me your receipt.” ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/4 "2020-09-03T21:22:35Z")
I wish it was legal to do stuff like that. I thought about doing my own little Get Out the Vote promotion in 2018. I wanted to work with my local yoga studio and give anyone that came into class and and showed their “I voted” sticker a free bottled water or iced tea. It a small place so it would have been totally affordable, but a little research told me that it wasn’t legal, even if I wasn’t promoting a specific candidate. It seemed a little too easy, now I know why more people weren’t doing something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/5 "2020-09-03T23:01:03Z")
some place I think in the 3rd world put blue dye on your thumb so you could only vote once. It also shows that you voted. here are places that have use the ink > **[Election ink](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_ink)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Electoral ink, indelible ink, electoral stain or phosphoric ink is a semi-permanent ink or dye that is applied to the forefinger (usually) of voters during elections in order to prevent electoral fraud such as double voting. It is an effective method for countries where identification documents for citizens are not always standardised or institutionalised. One of the more common election ink compositions is based on silver nitrate, which can produce... ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/6 "2020-09-04T04:07:21Z")
In Colorado I can view and update my voter registration through a website run by the CO SOS ([Colorado Secretary of State - Find My Voter Registration](https://www.sos.state.co.us/voter/pages/pub/olvr/findVoterReg.xhtml)). Closer to an election I can check my ballot status. It will tell me when it has been mailed to me, and after I return it I can check to see if it was accepted and will be counted. It’s no exactly a receipt, but I can screen grab it and show that someone if I had a reason and/or desire to do so. If something goes wrong I can request a new ballot or vote in person at a voting center. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/7 "2020-09-04T04:40:47Z")
In California, the ballot has a little receipt on it that you take with you. The receipt has a serial number, and you can later check with the registrar that the ballot you voted was counted. So you can get a receipt that you voted and it was counted. What you can’t do is get a receipt that proves who/what was voted for. I’m not sure, but I assume that if your ballot got discarded or not counted due to error/damage/whatever that the receipt would let you find that out, because that wouldn’t be the kind of thing that you could use to prove you voted for a candidate. That said, the horse has kind of left the barn on this issue since we all carry cameras in our pockets. Yes, you could take a photo of the ballot marked one way and then get a new ballot, but you could fake a paper receipt as well. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/8 "2020-09-04T04:49:16Z")
There would be massive voter intimidation and vote buying if such receipts existed. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/9 "2020-09-04T11:35:48Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Closer to an election I can check my ballot status. It will tell me when it has been mailed to me, and after I return it I can check to see if it was accepted and will be counted. It’s no exactly a receipt, but I can screen grab it and show that someone if I had a reason and/or desire to do so. This is the security I’m interested in, and that serial # receipt in California. It’s the proof that my vote was received and counted I’m looking for outside of the trust I have in the system. I can see how votes could be bought with a receipt showing candidates, better to have just proof your ballot was counted. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/10 "2020-09-04T11:52:36Z")
I can track my ballot status online here in Miami-Dade County, Florida. I’ve been voting by mail for quite some time (both here and in Chicago, previously), mostly because I traveled a lot and never knew for certain if I would be home on Election Day, and the actual voting process went smoothly in both places. Now, this being South Florida, the ballot _counting_ and tabulation deserves a ton of scrutiny, but I haven’t seen any significant problems with the actual casting of ballots by mail. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/11 "2020-09-04T17:46:23Z")
I well remember that 2000 election debacle in Florida caused by hanging chads and cornfusing Ballots. Still Gore won the popular vote, but lost the election. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/12 "2020-09-05T18:04:20Z")
I get text messages from the county when my ballot is mailed to me, and after I send it back, that it has been accepted and will be counted. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/13 "2020-09-05T19:09:16Z")
You are talking about so-called [end-to-end auditable voting systems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-to-end_auditable_voting_systems). It is certainly one of the requirements that no voter can demonstrate how he or she voted to any third party.There are a number of proposed systems. That article mentions that the city of Tacoma Park, Maryland used Scantegrity II in its elections. > [@eschrodinger](#): > > I get text messages from the county when my ballot is mailed to me, and after I send it back, that it has been accepted and will be counted. I don’t understand. How do you know they are not lying? You need to be able to independently verify that your ballot is correctly included and counted. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/14 "2020-09-05T19:39:39Z")
I don’t feel that I need that. I want to know that my ballot was accepted – which mostly means that my ballot made it to the elections office and that my signature was verified – so that I know that, as far as they are concerned, I don’t need to do anything more to ensure that my vote is counted. There are observers for the actual counting, and I don’t have particular concerns about the elections office tampering at that point. Is it possible that the elections office is just wholesale sending out the acceptance texts to everyone? I suppose either intentionally or through a glitch it could happen. But it is not a concern that I have for my county, and it would be obvious pretty quickly. If you are suggesting that they would send out targeted texts to people whose ballots they were not going to count, that seems like the kind of complicated scheme that is too big to keep secret. My ballot is a paper ballot, so counts and recounts can be verified, even if I can’t personally check that my ballot was counted as cast. What else could be done with a vote-by-mail system? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/15 "2020-09-05T19:52:12Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > That said, the horse has kind of left the barn on this issue since we all carry cameras in our pockets. Yes, you could take a photo of the ballot marked one way and then get a new ballot, but you could fake a paper receipt as well. Depending on where you live, that’s likely to be illegal. Granted, you’re not all that likely to get caught and I don’t ever recall hearing about it being enforced. > **[Ballot selfie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballot_selfie)** > > A ballot selfie is a type of selfie that is intended to depict the photographer's completed ballot in an election, as a way of showing how the photographer cast their vote. Ballot selfies have risen in prominence alongside the increasing availability of smartphone digital cameras and the use of social media in the 21st century. They have also generated controversy as potential violations of laws enacted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to curtail vote buying, particularly in the United S... ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/16 "2020-09-05T20:28:16Z")
If completed ballots have to go into sealed envelopes before being cast (in front of monitors) into the ballot box, there would seem to be some resistance to ballot selfies, in that there is no way to prove that the completed ballot in the photo is the same one you sealed and put into the ballot box. I suppose you could videotape the entire process, but the monitors are not likely to miss you walking out of the voting booth holding a phone and recording everything. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/17 "2020-09-05T22:06:41Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > You need to be able to independently verify that your ballot is correctly included and counted. You don’t get that with in person voting so its a little weird to expect it of mail in voting. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/18 "2020-09-05T22:15:11Z")
Is it a receipt saying HOW you voted or just that you voted? I also wish there was a way to reward those who vote (with no ability to know how they voted) but that seems to be illegal for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-receipts/919738/19 "2020-09-06T21:14:15Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Depending on where you live, that’s likely to be illegal. Granted, you’re not all that likely to get caught and I don’t ever recall hearing about it being enforced. Oh, I’m sure it is illegal, and I don’t want anyone to think that I was endorsing it. I’m just saying that as a practical matter, if you go into the booth and pull your phone out, it’s hard to catch you and you can pretty effectively “prove” that you voted a certain way. Easy enough to fake the proof if you have, say, a boss who will give you preferential treatment for voting the “right” way, since you can take a picture then get a new ballot. Although… the fact that some ballots have serial number stubs to prove that you voted makes that harder to do. But very difficult to fake if you have, say, a domineering husband who demands you vote a certain way and accompanies you to the polls.