I voted yesterday... No Political statements just asking about the method you chose on casting your ballot.

[jrmasm]

Official results usually are submitted about a week after Election Day. (That's something that even the majority of Americans don't know, btw.) Technically, national results could easily change up until that point. In most elections, the press "calls" an apparent winner in the wee hours of election night, but those results are not official.


For anyone who wants answers to "I wonder why ..." questions, I recommend the information posted by the nonprofit https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page

PS: Marketwatch is reporting that the US total early vote count broke 60 million at around noon today (Monday). In some areas the number of early votes cast is now approaching the total turnout from the 2016 election. This is going to be a LONG election night, folks.

Or a long few days.

 

[dina444444]

In person in Los Angeles this past Saturday. We now have vote centers and not specified locations so I had no wait to vote at lunch time on Saturday. Location I went to had at least 20 machines.

 

[NotUrsula]

Nuts. You have to show ID to buy an alcoholic drink or even see an R rated movie but not to vote.

The thing is, depending on where you live, getting an official photo ID can be a really complicated process with very limited access. Shouldn't be -- but sometimes it is. If the office where you have to go is only open 2 weekdays a week from 9-4, and if they require several official documents to get it, then someone who does not drive, does not live where there is public transportation, and who does not need it for anything other than voting might find that a barrier. (And you would be surprised how many people (older women especially), get by in their regular lives without a photo ID. If you work cash-only and never travel more than a few miles from your home, it's quite possible. My SAH mother never had a typical American government-issued ID. She never learned to drive, never flew, and never traveled outside the US after she immigrated. The only document she had that was American and had a photo were her naturalization papers. The last time she voted, that photo was nearly 50 years old. She voted religiously, btw; never missed an election, and usually walked to her polling place.)

In most places you have to show ID to register to vote, but not to actually vote; the idea is that you show that ID once and you are done as long as you keep the registration current; less of a burden that way.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

In most places you have to show ID to register to vote, but not to actually vote; the idea is that you show that ID once and you are done as long as you keep the registration current; less of a burden that way.

In Pennsylvania, they match signatures. Kinda like depositing a check.

 

[wenrob]

In Pennsylvania, they match signatures. Kinda like depositing a check.

Same here. I registered to vote at the DMV when I renewed my DL so the signature is the same.

People forget that there are systems in place and that most people are inherently honest.

 

[bcla]

In Pennsylvania, they match signatures. Kinda like depositing a check.

I believe that's true at in-person polls, but not with mail-in voting. It's kind of complicated, but that's how the law is written.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/20...ossed-out-over-voter-signature-court-n1244585​

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday on a key concern surrounding an avalanche of mailed ballots, prohibiting counties from rejecting them if the voter’s signature on it does not resemble the signature on the voter’s registration form.​

 

[Snowysmom]

I will be voting at the polls on Tuesday, bright and early. I like the tradition.

 

[bcla]

I plan on doing early voting, but we've only got it for three days in my county starting this Friday. I can do it even though mail-in ballots were sent to all registered voters. I'm good as long as that's not sent in and they can verify it.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

I received my absentee ballot by mail and dropped it off at a drop box. It was confirmed as received the same day.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Voting by mail is great, Dorothy. Have been doing it for a number of elections now. Always works great. Yours will be fine too.

Thanks, Dan. But you gotta admit that the first time you vote by mail after (ahem) many, many years of equating voting with certain steps, like I said, it feels really weird. But it IS easy.

 

[bcla]

Thanks, Dan. But you gotta admit that the first time you vote by mail after (ahem) many, many years of equating voting with certain steps, like I said, it feels really weird. But it IS easy.

Depends. Honestly, I've never voted by mail before, although I looked over my mom's ballot once in the 80s.

There might be a few differences. In my state there is no voter ID and I've never heard of anyone voting in person being questioned about the correctness of a signature when checking in. I suppose the rationale is who would be stupid enough to impersonate someone else when there are eyes and possibly security cameras? But the mail-in ballot return envelope signature is most definitely compared for signature. In person voting was always a sign in book where I would be asked to sign next to my name, but there's never been a book or an electronic device there to do a signature match. Also - I don't think temp poll workers are trained for that like regular election workers are.

There might also be a few differences beyond the possibility of rejection for one reason or another. I've used modern voting equipment where my ballot was directly scanned into a machine that did the counting before I left the polling place. It would check for over and under votes and gave me a chance to have the entire ballot returned to be spoiled if there was a problem. I specifically under voted a few times when I didn't want to vote for a particular race or where I voted for fewer than the maximum in some races where one votes for more than one candidate. Obvsiouly one doesn't get that chance with a mail-in ballot that's accepted as is. An over vote obviously cancels that vote and and under vote can't be corrected.

 

[JimMIA]

Thanks, Dan. But you gotta admit that the first time you vote by mail after (ahem) many, many years of equating voting with certain steps, like I said, it feels really weird. But it IS easy.

I voted by actual mail-in ballot in our primary election, and it was no big deal. The bigger deal actually was helping DD18 fill out her first-ever ballot. Then I dropped them off at the post office -- non-event.

However, for the presidential election we filled out mail ballots and I took them the an early voting site to drop them off. Lots of signs and people campaigning, a pretty long line (although I'm sure it moved quickly). I walked past all of that and turned in my ballots. That felt weird!

 

[bcla]

I voted by actual mail-in ballot in our primary election, and it was no big deal. The bigger deal actually was helping DD18 fill out her first-ever ballot. Then I dropped them off at the post office -- non-event.

However, for the presidential election we filled out mail ballots and I took them the an early voting site to drop them off. Lots of signs and people campaigning, a pretty long line (although I'm sure it moved quickly). I walked past all of that and turned in my ballots. That felt weird!

We didn't have huge lines, but once my polling place ran out of ballots. I looked it up, and by law there has to be some emergency means to print up and transport emergency ballots within 2 hours, but I wasn't waiting that long but did wait to use their touchscreen machine meant primarily for disabled voters. There was no other option other than to wait. In the meantime there was one guy walked in and mentioned that he had his own ballot from Los Angeles County. The poll workers told him to drop it in the provisional ballot box. They have 8 days to deliver ballots collected for other counties.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Voted last night in person. Waited in line for only about 15 minutes, and the voting process went fairly quickly and smoothly. I’m in NY.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Lots of signs and people campaigning, a pretty long line (although I'm sure it moved quickly). I walked past all of that and turned in my ballots. That felt weird!

Interesting. Is that legal? Not allowed here close to a polling place. I don’t think you can wear any political apparel either. No MAGA hats, T-shirts, campaign buttons, etc.

 

[NotUrsula]

Interesting. Is that legal? Not allowed here close to a polling place. I don’t think you can wear any political apparel either. No MAGA hats, T-shirts, campaign buttons, etc.

That was one of the biggest shocks I had when I moved to my current state. Where I lived when I first started voting, the rule was no campaign materials within 600 of the polling place, and they counted that from the property line, so there might be some signs at the head of the block that you drove by, but that would be it. Here, the rule is 25 feet, and it is from the door of the room that actually holds the machines (although local statutes usually just keep them out of the building itself, because most polling rooms are in basements.) On average, there are usually at least 20 people lining both sides of the sidewalk that leads inside my polling place (which is a church basement.)

I *hate* having to run that gauntlet, and yes, I have sometimes been rude to those people standing right outside my polling place door, shoving "reminder cards" at me (postcard-sized copies of the ballot, with the straight-party ticket helpfully checked off for you to work from -- I think they are disgraceful.)

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Interesting. Is that legal? Not allowed here close to a polling place. I don’t think you can wear any political apparel either. No MAGA hats, T-shirts, campaign buttons, etc.

Here the state law for electioneering is "bars promoting a candidate within 250 feet of a polling place."

Maybe a bit interesting to some but the ACLU just sued in my state saying that was unconstitutional. A judge dismissed the suit.

 

[bcla]

Here the state law for electioneering is "bars promoting a candidate within 250 feet of a polling place."

Maybe a bit interesting to some but the ACLU just sued in my state saying that was unconstitutional. A judge dismissed the suit.

In my state it's 100 feet. Once (I think 2008) I ended up voting in someone's garage. Parking was hard to come by and I parked quite a bit away. There were people fairly close to the polling place asking people to vote a certain way for one voter initiative. But for my most common voting locations it might be difficult because of the layout and how close parking is to the polling place. One is right next to the street so they can't have anyone standing on the street unless it's way down.

There have been some weird things this year with people wearing clothing or other items with political slogans or with a candidate's name. I heard of one woman who was told she couldn't wear something. The poll workers told a reporter that they were thinking she could go into the bathroom and turn her shirt inside out, but she decided to go topless and they let her vote that way.

 

[bcla]

Interesting. Is that legal? Not allowed here close to a polling place. I don’t think you can wear any political apparel either. No MAGA hats, T-shirts, campaign buttons, etc.

Depends on what the definition is of a "polling place". Depending on state law, it could just mean the physical polling place and not people in line.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

In my state it's 100 feet. Once (I think 2008) I ended up voting in someone's garage. Parking was hard to come by and I parked quite a bit away. There were people fairly close to the polling place asking people to vote a certain way for one voter initiative. But for my most common voting locations it might be difficult because of the layout and how close parking is to the polling place. One is right next to the street so they can't have anyone standing on the street unless it's way down.

Yeah TBH I don't know if anyone is really measuring. I haven't really encountered issues though and I've voted at a school, a church, the election office (usually that's where I go), an old mall space, and a sports facility complex building (I think it was for baseball).

These days I swear they just bombard us with mailings (We had 15 political mailings between the two of us delivered to our mail within 3 days for example) and most recently in the last couple of years text messages.

There have been some weird things this year with people wearing clothing or other items with political slogans or with a candidate's name. I heard of one woman who was told she couldn't wear something. The poll workers told a reporter that they were thinking she could go into the bathroom and turn her shirt inside out, but she decided to go topless and they let her vote that way.

Well that's one way to show 'em I guess

Depends on what the definition is of a "polling place". Depending on state law, it could just mean the physical polling place and not people in line.

That's a good point.

The full statute for my state is:

"Electioneering is knowingly attempting to persuade or influence eligible voters to vote for or against a particular candidate, party or question submitted. Electioneering includes wearing, exhibiting or distributing labels, signs, posters, stickers or other materials that clearly identify a candidate in the election or clearly indicate support or opposition to a question submitted election within any polling place on election day or advance voting site during the time period allowed by law for casting a ballot by advance voting or within a radius of 250 feet from the entrance thereof. Electioneering shall not include bumper stickers affixed to a motor vehicle that is used to transport voters to a polling place or to an advance voting site for the purpose of voting.

(b) As used in this section, "advance voting site" means the central county election office or satellite advance voting sites designated as such pursuant to subsection (c) of K.S.A. 25-1122, and amendments thereto, and adult care homes and hospital based care units at the time of an election participating in the voting procedures prescribed in K.S.A. 2012 Supp. 25-2812."

(c) Electioneering is a class C misdemeanor.