What voting method does your area use? (compare, party, vote)

[Starglow]

Originally Posted by Hearthcrafter

Step 1: Go to assigned polling location

Step 2: Go to assigned table

Step 3: Tell your name to worker, sign next your name on the roster, to be verified against the signature on file

Now, about Step 3. The last election, I signed the roster as I have for the past 30 years. This year however, the worker stated that my signature deviated from the signature on file and I could not be given a ballot. Perplexed, I offered to show my driver's license... but he stated that they "cannot use a driver's license to verify identity;" signature match only. I was annoyed because, while part of my signature was admittedly a bit scrawled after a long day of writing, the first letter of my signature is quite distinctive and always looks the same. I asked to speak to someone in charge, who also wouldn't look at my license. At this point I was fuming and all but accused them of voter suppression, so they capitulated and accepted my license as verification.

Step 4: Complete paper ballot

Step 5: Feed ballot into scanner, face down

Step 6: Receive confirmation that said ballot has been received and tallied

Wow....that's odd. I don't always sign my name the exact same way every time. NC implemented voter ID this year so we had to show a drivers license or other state issued ID, but I'm okay with that.

[VA Yankee]

We either go to our polling station, color in our choice on the sheet and then we place it face down into the scanner or we can choose to vote absentee via the mail.

[latimeria]

Everyone registered gets mailed a ballot. We can return by mail or by drop box. There are also some in-person early and Election Day polling locations, but most everyone does the mail or drop. I usually take it to a drop box.

Oh, and this is red Utah that does this.

It's great.

[oldsoldier1976]

We show an ID and fill in a bubble on paper that gets scanned by a machine

[james112]

Originally Posted by Starglow

Wow....that's odd. I don't always sign my name the exact same way every time. NC implemented voter ID this year so we had to show a drivers license or other state issued ID, but I'm okay with that.

Not only do people change their signature sometimes, but isn't a signature check very subjective to begin with? Can a signature check prove who someone is? And, I read that machines do the sig check which have a high error rate.

[Hemlock140]

Since 2011, statewide we have no polling places at all, every vote is by mail, with a postage-paid envelope included. With mail theft so common now, however, many of us prefer to drop it off at one of the county drop boxes placed at libraries and city halls.

[RandyHS]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

I request a ballot online. It is mailed to me. I fill it out, and drop it in a box at the board of elections. I receive an email saying my ballot has been received. Done.

That's exactly what my experience is, except I don't get an email saying they recieved it. Do you have to request that or does it just happen? Oh, and I don't request a ballot. It just comes to me a month or so before the election.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by RandyHS

That's exactly what my experience is, except I don't get an email saying they recieved it. Do you have to request that or does it just happen? Oh, and I don't request a ballot. It just comes to me a month or so before the election.

Ours can be traced but we have to go online and check it, they don't send us a confirmation.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by RandyHS

That's exactly what my experience is, except I don't get an email saying they recieved it. Do you have to request that or does it just happen? Oh, and I don't request a ballot. It just comes to me a month or so before the election.

I either request the ballot online or with a paper application through the mail. Email address is part of the application - I guess you could opt out of that if you wanted to. Then I'll get the ballot in the mail and return it by election day. Pennsylvania doesn't mail out ballots that haven't been requested by the voter.

[james112]

Originally Posted by Sanderling

How long are you willing to wait for results? The following June?

Poll worker here. In my county when people vote in person, whether early or on election day, they check in at the table and are verified to be registered voters via signature verification. Then three separate pieces of paper are generated—the ballot itself for the machine, a paper slip for the voter to sign which the poll worker retains, and another paper slip which is kept with the voting machine. The ballot is then taken to the machine and inserted, which brings up the voter’s specific election choices on the touch screen. Voter enters choices, which are printed on the ballot which comes back out of the machine into a container on one side behind glass and shown to voter for verification. Once voter verifies printed ballot is correct, voter hits “cast vote” and ballot goes back into machine. So all votes are recorded both electronically and in ink on each ballot paper. The machine is not connected to the internet at any time. At the end of the day the memory stick and printed ballots are removed from the machines and locked into a bags by poll workers and delivered to the municipal clerk.

Voters by mail are not allowed to drop their ballots off at polling places. We have drop boxes at several locations, including many town halls in the county. Beyond the initial registration and and request for mail ballot no ID is required beyond signature matching, but you have to opt-out from mail balloting thereafter. If someone shows up to vote in person who has requested a mail ballot, they will have to submit a provisional ballot which won’t count until it’s been determined that mail ballot has not been returned.

Until and unless voter turnout surpasses 80% on the regular, voter ID isn’t going to be a big issue here in NJ. Registration is handled with care and people are asked regularly for additional identification if their identity cannot be confirmed. And occasionally someone will be flagged as having to present ID at the polls by the Board of Elections for one reason or another. But for now our system does the job of keeping voting accessible and convenient for all eligible voters, which is the goal.

I agree hand counting is very very slow. I'm ok with a machine tallying ballots, as long as the machine keeps the ballot in view at all times, and shows the real-time tallying on a display, so both the ballot and real-time tally are in public view at all times, and captured on video. This would provide a way to confirm each ballot was tallied accurately. We have no such tally machines I know of. Also, ballots should not disappear from public view after tallying.

"memory stick"

That's a computer device known as data storage. Who checks that the tally totals on the stick are actually what the machine tallied? Ie did any ballots get skipped, missed counted, or over-counted, etc? The totals on a storage device is not proof of accuracy by the machine. Unless you observe the tallying of ballots one-at-a-time can you confirm accurate totals, no matter where totals are stored. This is why transparency is critical during tallying.

When the memory stick is transported to the clerk is there both an R and D observer accompany the delivery? If not then chain of custody of the tally totals is broken.

I'm not picking on you. Thank you for doing poll work. I'm suggesting improvements in the election process that would have ultimate transparency during ballot casting and tallying. This means ballots are always in view during casting, tallying, and transporting.