Washington Primary today (voters, security, thought, conservative)

[jacqueg]

For those of you who are interested in voting systems and how they relate to fairness and fraud, I thought I'd post what it's like to vote in the state of Washington.

My ballot is due today, I could have mailed it in if I'd gotten it done earlier, but I'll be dropping it off at a box located at the library by 8 pm tonight. This is a darn big box - about 5 feet in each dimension - and it's pretty well secured. Any tampering would be instantly noticeable.

Note - this primary is different from the presidential primaries, which were held back in May.

I got the ballot and the voter's pamphlet in the mail a couple weeks ago. These are sent to all registered voters in the state. My name and address is printed on the outer return envelope, along with a lot of warnings to the effect that bad things will happen if anyone but me fills out and casts this ballot.

Washington is a "top two" state, meaning that in the general, the top two vote-getters in the primary will be on the ballot in November, regardless of party. Candidates for each office are listed in no particular order (not alphabetical, not by party, and not by incumbency.) Their names are in large, boldface type, and under each name, in small type and parentheses, is (Prefers XXXX Party).

So for US Senator, I can vote for one candidate from a total of 5 Ds, 4 Rs, 1 Human Rights Party, 3 Independent Party (I think this just means Independent), 1 Conservative Party, 1 StandupAmerica Party, 1 Lincoln Caucus Party, 1 Libertarian Party, and 1 System Reboot Party. The long-time incumbent, Patty Murray, appears about 2/3 the way down the list.

Although that's the longest list, several other offices have a half-dozen names. Besides the above party preferences, I note the presence of candidates from (States No Party Preferences), the Socialist Worker Party, the Fifth Republic Party, and the Holistic Party.

The ballot is a standard fill-in-the-oval-with-black-ink form which can be read electronically.

After I vote, I tear a stub off the ballot. The stub has a tracking number, and I can check the status of my ballot online. I then place the ballot into a security envelope, which is then placed into the outer return envelope with my name and address on it. I must then seal, sign, and date the return envelope. If I don't sign and date it, it isn't valid.

No voting system is 100% fool-proof, but I am pretty confident that this one aims to be open to all qualified voters, open to anyone who can get it together to get on the ballot, is fair and accurate, and minimizes cheating that might occur during the ballot casting step.

I'd appreciate hearing about the ballots in other states, and how confident people are about the fairness and accuracy of their voting.