OK - Let's Say You Show Up To Vote And For Some Reason Can't - What Next?

[ThomWV]

This is not a discussion for the vote-early crowd. This post is limited in scope to voters who intend to cast their ballot on "Election Day".

OK, its a week from tuesday and you dutifully go to the polls to vote. You stop at the desk to affirm your registration and for whatever reason you are told you are not on the rolls and may not vote. Let us say that you are sure that you registered to vote and know of no reason why your status would be other than fully able to vote in the General Election.

What do you do? Who do you call? How much hell do you raise on the spot?

[livetohike]

1. You demand a provisional or paper ballot

You ask for the phone number to call - should be the registrar's office in your county. Go to the polls with that phone number.

I am working at my local polling place on election day here in PA. I asked that question at the training session I attended this week. We are to give a paper ballot to anyone who says they are registered, but are not on our list of voters.

[scrappycathy]

6. voter id

This has personally happened to me in the 2004 election, someone had already voted in my name and it was early when I showed up. This person signed my name and where I vote they require picture id or a voter card. I had to use a provisional ballot and will never know if my ballot was counted. I was treated rudely and actually told I was lying that I was not who I said I was. Very worriesome since I live in a heavily democratic area. There must be voter id of some sort. There is no excuse for someone not to have a photo id. How you can you do any banking or enroll in college etc? I have never understood the I am too poor to get an id argument. Can someone explain that to me?

[livetohike]

8. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

I'm sorry to hear this happened to you. How did that person get away with voting in your place without their voting ID card? Sounds like the clerk at the table marked the wrong name on their list of voters :shrug: I live in a rural precinct where everyone knows everyone who shows up to vote and will not be asking for their voter ID cards or a picture ID when they walk in. Even at my training session, the trainer said if they are newly registered, and you know them, there is no need to ask for ID!!!

[MNDemNY]

9. I do not believe a word you type.

"No excuse for someone not to have a photo I.D."??????Go back to the farm little freeper troll.

[stillcool]

10. Where do you live?

and what did your Secretary of State do when you told them of your problem? It had to have been a friend of yours who voted in your name. Why would a friend of yours do that? Otherwise how would such person know to go to the right precinct, and give the right address? You provided your identification when you registered to vote. That is the only way your name appeared on the rolls. When I first voted I was going to school and living in a city. The only ID I had was my birth certificate and my SS#, I didn't need anything else for anything. I'm 51 years old and have never had to show ID. Of course I live in a state that has lots of universities, and is a state that promotes voting rather than discouraging it. If your mother or grandmother voted at the same place for her entire life, but was turned away at the polls because she was not in possession of her expired drivers license, would that be okay with you?

[MNDemNY]

11. It would be that poster's goal.

:(

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

2. Call 866-OUR-VOTE

http://www.866ourvote.org/

[april]

7. Thank you.This should be on the top of the page !!

[mrcheerful]

3. You cast your provisional ballot, contact your city clerks office, contact your congress critters

then contact your news sources. Throwing a public fuss is a bad ideal as, 1, it won't change the fact your not on the rolls to vote, 2, you can be arrested for creating a public disturbance.

[SharonAnn]

12. Actually , do everything you can to AVOID a provisional ballot!

Talk to the Eection Officer, if that doesn't work, talk to your county's Election Administrator. Call your state Democratic Party. Find a volunteer poll watcher who's working on behalf of the Democratic Party and ask if someone's there from the Party whom you can talk to.

Seriously, do everything you can to vote through the regular process. Provisional ballots are discarded without being counted for the slightest reason. The GOP is doing everything they can to shift people to the Provisional Ballot, rather than solving the voter's problem, so that they can discard it later without the voter knowing about it.

if the voter is present and determined to find out what they have to do to cast a regular ballot, and they won't leave until they've exhausted all possible avenues, then the GOP is much less likely to get away with this type of voter suppression.

[LisaL]

4. Ask for a provisional ballot.

[sam sarrha]

5. ANYONE WHO TOOK YOU OFF THE VOTER ROLES WITHIN 90 DAYS OF ELECTION, PROBABLY COMMITTED A FELONY AND

CONSPIRACY... VOTER FRAUD

[lynettebro440]

13. Happened to me both in 2004 and 2006

I was so pissed. I took the provisional ballot in both cases but really felt like my vote wasn't counted. I made damn sure it wasn't going to happen this time. I vote early and so has my entire family and anyone that I know.

[lame54]

14. That is why you vote early - if allowed...

It will give you time to correct any problems that arise

[Cerridwen]

15. One of the things I hope people do BEFORE they head over to

their polling place is to print out their record from their state's Secretary of State database.

Many (all?) Secretaries of State websites include a way to check if you're registered to vote. Print out the page with that information on it and make sure it includes the date you printed it.

Carry that with you to the polls. If you're told you're not registered, you have in your hand printed proof that as of xx/xx/2008, you were registered as per the SOS website. My suggestion would be to print it the day before or the day of, Nov. 4; perhaps print from multiple days.

While this may not be the cure-all, it is yet one more piece of proof that you are (or were) registered. It also will draw attention to the fact that their records are inconsistent and therefor, questionable.