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Re: An Exit Strategy for Electronic Voting? VOTE PROVISIONAL TO PROTEST PAPERLESS TOUCHSCREENS

I had thought to vote in this manner in 2004 but thought better of it when I realized that my vote might get "set aside" if it became associated with other ballots that had a higher hurdle to overcome in proving legitimacy.
Are we forgetting the snafus in 2004 in Ohio and other states where provisional ballots were tossed aside and were considered the last ballot type to use in vote totals announced in vote tallies, sometimes not even being counted till after results had been announced? If this past election teaches us anything it is that the votes need to be in hand at the time of the close of the polls and not be part of a "dubious class" of ballots that may be harder to claim as legitimate. If enough people do utilize this form of voting, it could create a new phenomenon of intentionally voting by provisional ballot, but I think it may antagonze election officials and tempt them into lumping them with suspect ballots that may only get counted in close races, after the fact, and possibly with less oversight.
I have adopted the absentee ballot voting method BUT IN PERSON in a clerk's office. I can ask for my absentee ballot in person, wait for a few minutes while they prepare it, vote in the clerk's office and turn it in in person into their ballot box (in the secrecy sleeve) after signing the outside of the envelope. There it joins other absentee ballots that have been dropped off, and I have never had to wait in line to vote. No one checks whether I have any literature with me that helps me understand the issues on the ballot or whether I have campaign literature with me to refresh my memory. The staff is very helpful and I leave after feeling that the manner in which I cast my vote was at least as clear as I could make it on paper. Whether I have the same confidence in how my ballot is optically scanned along with others is a separate matter that still needs legislative refining, but I've avoided using DRE's and avoided risking loss of the absentee ballot in the mail. And since I vote during early voting periods, my vote is reported as part of the election night tally, so I feel some satisfaction in thinking my vote was counted as part of the vote night total instead of wondering if it languishes in provisional "maybe it will be counted" land. 

Bob McGrath



From: Ralph Shnelvar <ralphs@xxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: ralphs@xxxxxxxxx
To: <cvv-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: An Exit Strategy for Electronic Voting? VOTE PROVISIONAL TO PROTEST PAPERLESS TOUCHSCREENS 
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2006 22:19:07 -0600

Pete:

I love this idea and I'll try to think of ways to publicize the idea and
have people do it.

Ralph Shnelvar

On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 12:57:54 -0600, you wrote:
>now that I have finished serving as an election judge at the recent primary 
>election, I feel free to air a dangerous idea.
>
>Massive provisional voting.  No, make that MASSIVE PROVISIONAL VOTING!!!
>
>I realized how dangerous this idea was, when I tried to discuss it during
>poll judge training.  When the officials saw where my questions were
>heading, they cut me off, changed the subject, and refused to recognize me, 
>preventing the gathering from hearing it: May any voter, by voluntary
>preference, choose a provisional ballot, if they would rather vote on paper 
>than touch-screen DRE?
>
>If you truly object to paperless electronic voting, then don't do it! You 
>have a choice.  And, by HAVA, this choice is universally available
>nation-wide!  No, we're not talking about mail-in or absentee ballots.
>
>VOTE PROVISIONAL to TELL OFFICIALS you DEMAND A PAPER BALLOT.
>
>Believe me, they will notice! Provisional ballots are a manpower nightmare; >they are far more costly to cope with than even absentee ballots to process, 
>since they can't be matched up with mail-out documentation.  Election
>departments dread provisional ballots, and they will go to great lengths
>(within HAVA rules) to avoid them.
>
>Admittedly, provisional ballots face more bureaucratic hurdles than any
>other method, and there is risk of disqualification, error, or even
>mishandling. I suppose election administrators could even deliberately lose >provisional ballots. Onsey-twosey, that would be hard to counteract; but to >disenfranchise hundreds or thousands of organized and attentive electors in 
>the glare of publicity -- I think they would recognize the peril.
>
>If restoring the paper ballot is not your priority, then this isn't for you. >If you think a DRE is the lesser of some evils, then this isn't for you. If 
>you hope somebody will come up with something better than paperless
>electronic voting sometime, but in the meantime you'll put up with it, then 
>this isn't for you.
>
>Or if your partisan paranoia prevents you from any violation of convention >that might imperil your precious preference, then you're whipped, they got >you, you're going to give it up to some bits and circuits -- the vendors and 
>the county clerks know a wimp when they see his/her electronic vote.
>
>But if you care enough to stand up to them, to risk it, to put this above
>partisan issues, this is for you.
>
>I DEMAND A PAPER BALLOT, AND I'LL VOTE PROVISIONAL TO GET IT!
>
>I personally have voted only provisional ballots since (including) the 2006 
>general election.  My money is where my mouth is.  How about you?
>
>Best hopes,