[Novalug] On behalf of everyone in the IT industry - Sorry!

Bryan J Smith b.j.smith@ieee.org
Thu Apr 30 23:37:39 EDT 2015


On Thu, Apr 30, 2015 at 11:21 PM, Dan Arico via Novalug
<novalug@firemountain.net> wrote:
> Makes you wonder who really won some of our closer elections.

Just don't be "second" to vote using your own name.  ;)

In all seriousness ...

<civics=on>
I.e., while everyone debates the Voter ID laws, I want everyone to be
aware of the "issues" if you are not the first person to vote using
your own name at your precinct.

E.g.,
- You could be denied the right to vote, since you allegedly already
voted, even if it wasn't you
- You may need to produce multiple forms of ID, to prove you are not
committing fraud, even though the first person who voted using your
name did not
- And even if you prove you are who you say you are, they still will
question if you did not show up prior, and may need to prove you did
not.

Why do I bring this up?  It happened to me over a decade ago.  This
was before Voter ID laws and later found out it is not uncommon.
I.e., it's more than just an accidental misrecorded checkoff at my
precinct that I voted prior.

In my case, I was detained for 15 minutes and had to show several
forms of identification, all while being threatened with fraud.  In
the end, after proving who I was, and signing a statement that I swore
I did not vote earlier that day, I was allowed to vote.

I've since switched to voting via absentee, so I cannot show up to any
precinct to vote.  At most I can drop off my absentee ballot at any
polling place.  Yes, this means there is my name and address on the
outside of the envelope, so my vote possibly could be "tracked."  But
inside is the ballot with no identification.

My state has since adopted some of the more lenient Voter ID laws to
protect against basic, walk-up fraud.  Only one signature and one,
state-issued pictured ID (very flexible in options), is required, and
they don't have to be the same.  But I still do absentee ballot for a
number of reasons.  One of the main reasons being that I can research
candidates, and make an informed choice.

Especially since I never, ever vote "against" any candidate.  And yes,
before you ask, I've turned in an empty ballot in the past after
deciding I liked no candidates.  The ink-electronic system merely spit
it back out, and the worker asked if I meant to turn in an empty
ballot.  I affirmed "yes" and it was counted as a ballot, but with no
votes.

I believe it is my civic duty to always vote.  Of course, I can omit
and refuse to vote for any office where I don't believe there is a
viable candidate, including showing up and turning in a completely
empty ballot.  They do count how many people do that, at least in my
state.  The systems are even designed for it.  ;)

Yes, those 1980-era ink-electronic systems actually check if you
accidentally marked 2 entries, and will report how many proper,
improper and omitted votes.
</civics>

-- bjs


-- 
Bryan J Smith - http://www.linkedin.com/in/bjsmith
e



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