Talk to me about absentee ballots

[JerseygirlCT]

I've seen both encouragement of them and some saying they're dangerous.

We were recently harangued by someone insisting they would not be counted, and that my college student MUST re-register in the college's state. I thought that odd, not to mention rudely done.

We live in CT - a SOS who I believe to be quite on top of things. The student has already voted in the state's primary. IOW, I have no reason to believe that an absentee would be problematic.

But I'd be interested in the opinions of you all. Thoughts?

(Whether the vote is needed more in the other state is a question I'd like to put aside for this purpose).

[uppityperson]

1. I vote absentee, turn it in at county office. No problems with it here.

If a college student is a dependent of yours, some states they stay registered at their permanent (your) home address, other states they register where they are in school at. It all depends, check with your individual state rather than just believing anyone here.

I like absentee because I can have a difficult time voting if it is just one day, and can mail/drop off absentee ballot ahead of time also.

[DeepBlueC]

3. Listen to uppityperson

She speaks the truth. I meant to reply directly to the OP but you get the message.

[DeepBlueC]

2. I cast an absentee ballot in CT regularly

I have never had any reason to be concerned.

[JerseygirlCT]

6. Thanks to you and uppityperson

That's pretty much as I thought. Our towns are so distinct here that everyone sort of knows what's going on - and as I said, I'm fairly confident of the larger picture in the state.

[LiberalFighter]

4. Talk to the person responsible for absentee ballots in your city.

If not a Democrat contact your Democratic Party Chair for their opinion.

Take this into consideration. It is my belief that Republicans take full advantage of absentee voting for their own supporters.

[JerseygirlCT]

8. I can check with the town clerk - CT is really a whole series of

small towns - even when not so small, lol.

Thanks.

[Truth2Tell]

5. May I make two points?

Point One:

When I was in college at WSU we attempted a large voter registration drive on campus. We not only wanted to register new voters, but we wanted to re-register existing student voters in Pullman (the small Eastern WA hometown of WSU). Our effort was aimed at increasing student influence in local politics. For years, conservative Republican townsfolk had dominated the local political scene and pursued policies that negatively impacted students and the university as a whole. Registering thousands of students locally was a useful strategy for the progressive retaking of local power. Needless to say, we were forcefully opposed by the local County auditor and the powers-that-be in the city. We ended up registering several thousand voters (after a series of hurdles) and for a few years we had a large impact on local politics. My point is that sometimes re-registering at a temporary home can make strategic sense - it just depends on the circumstances.

Point Two:

Here in King County WA an effort is underway to move all voting to mail-in. Some election integrity activists have praised this effort because it removes Diebold (and similar) touch screen technology from the election equation etc.. But what many don't realize is that serious flaws exist in the technology used to tally the mail-in ballots. In Washington the issues are with the VoteHere Company's "Mail in Ballot Tracker" (MIBT), which uses at-risk software and a process that puts voter privacy at risk. My point is that absentee is not necessarily safer or more reliable. Other factors, like the processes used and the technology involved, can impact the integrity of the vote.

[JerseygirlCT]

7. Good points, and I assume that's what's going on here

My assumption - just gut- was also that the person hoping for more Dem registration. That said, my kid is perfectly able to listen to a reasoned argument and make an informed choice - I don't much care for "you HAVE to do this NOW! Because absentee ballots aren't safe!!!" nonsense. And then this person got all rude with my husband and I "Let him make up his own mind" (as if we weren't going to - it was rude man who was browbeating the kid)"I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to him" (Nice try, see you).

Anyway, I hadn't encountered that sort of pushy stuff wrt to absentee ballots, and wondered how much of what was being pushed was fact and how much emotion.

Thanks.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

9. A good reason to use an absentee ballot

My webmaster buddy, a geek of the highest order, advised me a long time ago to avoid voting machines and request an absentee ballot. It's the only way you can be sure your vote is counted - sort of.

Much better, in his opinion, than using a voting machine.

[Truth2Tell]

10. Was the person who harangued you

representing any organized group?

[JerseygirlCT]

13. I don't know...

but this was at an official school event. There was a table set up to help people who wanted to register, but he was walking around, sort of trolling and then browbeating people who didn't immediately compy, it seems. Sort of counter-productive, I'd say!

[Wilms]

11. It depends.

On the plus side...

-If the ballot doesn't arrive by mail, you've got time to sort out why. (Like if you've been purged.)
-You can avoid being stuck in and being part of long lines.
-It sometimes helps avoid touchscreen voting (though in a Riverside, CA election, completed absentee ballots were given to poll workers to enter into touchscreens!).


On the negative side...

Chain of custody is iffy.
Secrecy can be compromised (coercion, stealing, selling).
Helps give a rationale for reducing the number of polling sites.
Can complicate audits.



I think (but ain't certain) some states might not count absentee or provisional ballots if there are too few to change an elections outcome. While that seems a bit regrettable, it isn't quite "your vote won't be counted".

And some people think they avoid computers by voting absentee. That's not true unless such votes are hand counted. Likely, they are scanned...by a computer.

[eridani]

12. Please encourage people to become poll workers and elections observers.

In King County (WA), absentee ballots are optically scanned in a central location. Poll voters have the opportunity to self-correct and resubmit ballots that the AccuVote doesn't accept, but at the central locations ballots that don't read are duplicated by teams of duplicators. All data on origninal and duplicated ballots are entered into bound notebooks. You want observers there to make sure this process stays honest.

Don't know how your state or county does this? Then FIND OUT, ferchrissakes!