I'm curious, how do you vote? (method)

[Omphaloskepsis]

In Oregon we vote by mail. We get the ballot in the mail and mail it back. Or we can drop it off on the day of the election. What is the procedure in other states? If you would be willing to google the turnout for your state that would be awesome (and list the method). I'm trying to put together some graphs comparing methods and turnout. Querying the hive mind.. I know it sounds like I want you to do my homework. And I do. Except, this isn't for school.


edit -- nevermind the turn-out... I found a list. My google-fu just kicked in.. Listing the method would still be fantastic. Thanks..

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. Oregon is at the head of the class

80-something % turn-out

We rock.

[babylonsister]

2. We are voting early on e-slate machines because

that's what we have here.
I wish I knew anything about them and must research that.
I'm poll-watching Nov. 7th, phoning people the next two weeks, and am assured
Nick Lampson will be replacing the bugman DeLay.

[nealmhughes]

3. Lauderdale County, Alabama: paper ballot with optical scanner.

[filer]

4. Paper ballots here.

Actually more of a card. Connect the arrows and deposit into a counting machine. Low tech, but safe and reliable.

[marions ghost]

25. safe and reliable

as long as you ALSO have:

--Precinct counting (to check against central counting)

--Random hand counts to check the machines

--Open source software

--Transparent central tabulation of state totals

--Secure ballot handling

**No states have all of these additional safeguards. Some states do have precinct counting.

[BuyingThyme]

5. I walk in, show them my registration mailer, get handed one or more

computer-readable cards, sit down at a table of my choice (ignoring the stupid stations they set up), mark my selections in pen, rip my receipt off the tops of the cards, hand the cards to the poll worker, watch him or her put the cards in the ballot box, get my "I VOTED" sticker, and walk out.

I've never waited in any kind of line and the entire process never takes more than five minutes.

[Nicole]

6. Paper ballot with black marker connecting the arrows

then fed into an optical scanner. LED screen shows how many ballots have been counted.

[NaturalHigh]

36. Same here.

[Omphaloskepsis]

7. Do different counties in the same state use different methods?

I think this might get more complicated then I thought. I'm afraid I won't be able to crunch the numbers without the help of a computer. Which means I will have to write a webpage to gather data. Sorry, this will need to wait a few days.

[struggle4progress]

18. North Carolina's different counties use different methods

You need to check the state board of elections site for info: google sboe.

In Durham, we use optical scanners.

[Omphaloskepsis]

19. I thought compiling this data would be simple...

I can't do it by myself.. I will need to roll out a website to automate the process. Doing every county by hand would kill me.

[tritsofme]

8. Starting this year we use touch screens

In Cook County, IL.

It should be interesting.

[Webster Green]

9. We fill in check boxes on a card with a black permanent marker...

Optical scan cards.

I wish they would do it everywhere.

[magellan]

34. Why do you wish they would use optical scanners everywhere?

They're just as vulnerable as touchscreen machines if they use software and memory cards. Ours do.

[Webster Green]

37. I was under the impression that the cards were the "paper trail"..

..that is missing with touchscreen machines with no printouts.

Perhaps I need to get better informed on the issue.

[magellan]

38. See my post here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

With all the attention focused on touchscreen machines, many are overlooking the similar dangers of op-scanners.

[Kittycat]

10. Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo - which registration did they throw out the door.

Seriously, I have to go in person tomorrow and re-register and vote - becuase TWICE my registration has been lost. The first time was after we moved. I mailed the cards personally, for my husband and I. He received his registration. Then again when I changed my drivers license - still no registration. I missed the cut off by one day - so now I have to go down and do it all in person. I'm fine doing it, but how is it that my registration was messed up twice? Once by mail, once by DMV? I'm sure being a registered democrat has nothing to do with it.

[TheWraith]

11. In New York state we have lever machines.

These huge, hulking metal deals that look like they've been in service since the 1940s, and judging from their construction might still be functional in the 2040s. You slide a lever over, which closes the curtain behind you, make your picks on a series of smaller levers, then move the main lever back--it makes a very satisfying ka-chunk noise as it records your vote and resets all the levers to the default for the next person. They're actually scientifically proven to be the easiest, most reliable, and least fraud-prone method of voting. So of course this is going to be the last election we're allowed to use them.

[BuyingThyme]

12. I saw one of those when I was a kid.

[greeneyedboy]

14. i miss those things. i was shocked when i got to California

and saw these weird little semi-private stations with a pen and paper. it's just not as dignified as the old-fashioned machines.

currently use a paper (OpScan?) ballot with the arrows.

[elocs]

16. Those are what I used in Wisconsin in the early 70s.

They did have a nice, solid feel to them, but I don't know how fool-proof they were.

[Cooley Hurd]

24. They have odometer-style counters that, if you try to tamper with them...

...you basically have to destroy them.

[Cooley Hurd]

23. Actually, they've been around since the 30's:

I'm going to miss them...

[hedgehog]

39. Ah yes, what my daughter calls "The engines of Democracy"

She wrote a very amusing account on her blog of going to vote with me when she was about 3 years'old.

[skids]

13. MA: opscan (Diebold, but very old Diebold)

A good chunk of MA votes this way and by law all machines must produce a paper trail -- though I'm not sure if by law that has to be a voter verified paper trail. The levers are supposedly all gone now -- those had paper trail but not voter verified.

[elocs]

15. Optical scan.

I give my name, my address, they hand me a sheet to connect the arrows with a black marker, then I put it into the optical scan machine. Very simple actually and there is a paper trail--the original sheet on which I connected the arrows. The voter turnout for Wisconsin in 2004 was 76.73%--from the United States Election Project (http://elections.gmu.edu/Voter_Turnout_2000.htm )

[tkmorris]

17. Touch Screen (Palm Beach County Florida)

Made by Sequoia last I checked. We are issued a thing that looks like a credit card with a magnetic strip on the back. Insert it into the machine and the ballots appear. Touch your choices, finish with a "confirmation" screen which lists everything you supposedly selected, and finished. Remove card, drop into big presumably secure box.

Walk away with no idea if what the machine said is what is really on that damned card, nor if it will be counted.

[EST]

20. Illinois cd-19 shameless Shimkus the superpuke.

We vote on a big-ass paper ballot (fill in the little balloony things.) The ballot is then run through a a scanner (scanning reader) made by ES&S for the local tallies.

[sarge43]

21. Very low tech

On election day walk over to the town hall, check in the desk "Hey sarge43", next desk, check name on register and get a paper ballot and pencil, go to one of three booths and make my choices. Turn in ballot which is placed in a plus 100 year old ballot box. Walk back home.

[Eric J in MN]

27. Are the ballots hand-counted? (NT)

NT

[sarge43]

30. Yes they are n/t

[Eric J in MN]

31. Is that common in New Hampshire? NT

NT

[sarge43]

33. Depends upon the area

In the north (low population) generally speaking yes. Down around the Iron Triangle (Concord, Manchester, Nashua), I believe they've gone to machines. It's a mixed bag mainly because of money - 'taint much.

[ScreamingMeemie]

22. Paper ballot, optical scanner...

[Eric J in MN]

26. Minnesota: optical-scan paper ballots statewide. NT

NT

[Maine-ah]

28. normally paper ballot and pen. can't really fuck that up.

x marks the spot, ya know. Except for me this year. I'm voting by absentee, my baby is due on the 8th, and I didn't want to take the chance.

[Skidmore]

29. Our county has several methods now.

You can vote absentee on a paper ballot which you obtain by mailing back a card sent to you by the county auditor close to election time. Or you go to the polls and you can elect to use those handydandy electronic machines or paper and pencil ballots to be sent through a scanner. Dems tend to use the scanner and the Rs use the electronic machines.

[Eric J in MN]

35. Did the Election Board want to do business with...

...as many vendors as possible?

[BlueGirlRedState]

32. We have this wheel-thingie in Travis County, Texas

I've never been a big fan of it -- you "dial" the wheel to your choice and then hit enter. It feels too "slippery" to me.

Early voting starts today and you can vote anywhere in the county -- usually at shopping malls or grocery stores.

I'll be voting early because I've volunteered to work the election this year -- my first time. I'm taking a vacation day and volunteering. My company will give you a day off to volunteer for a non-profit but not as an election worker.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

40. WA. Voted by mail yesterday. Paper ballot.

We've, my wife and I, have been doing so since we moved here from Oregon 13 years ago. This is the first election using paper ballots instead of the punch cards.

[Generic Other]

41. Vote by mail

It's the easiest way.

[Raine]

42. Ink a Vote they call it here in

the South Bay area of Los Angeles County. It's a paper ballot that you ink in the space.

[riderinthestorm]

43. Diebold, approved under VERY shady circumstances. CD#6.

which is the Duckworth/Roskam Illinois race. Our District approved the Diebold machines in a secret ballot less than 4 weeks ago without any voter input. Our local verified voting advocates were completely shut out of the process.

Does this look suspicious to you? One of the most closely watched, nationally recognized races in the US suddenly going Diebold? The machines weren't even fucking tested before they were purchased! This is a race that is neck and neck. This is the kind of race that will be stolen via Diebold.

As for me and mine! we've already voted via absentee (paper) ballot.