Vote Report: Yosemite and El Portal
Nov. 4th, 2008 04:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ambitious_wenchJust got back from Yosemite National Park polling place, and the El Portal Polling place, and from speaking with Keith Williams, Treasurer-Tax Collector, County Clerk of Mariposa County, CA.
Polling was steady and with a larger turnout in both polling places mentioned. Oddly, there was no problem with me taking pictures in the Yosemite Polling Place; The workers there were comfortable with me taking pictures, and voters (some of whom I knew personally) were more often ok with me taking pictures of them.
Once I got to El Portal, I was told I could not have a camera in the polling place. Since I do not have press credentials, I complied. There was much shuffling of rule books to fine the exact regulation. I told them I didn't need it, I'd be fine.
In Yosemite, the only problem I witnessed was insufficient provisional ballots: There were problems with folks who were registered elsewhere (in the two cases I saw, in other counties in California). They were told that they could vote on a provisional ballot, but they could not guarantee that the voter's vote would be counted.
I stopped in at the Board of Elections, and spoke with Keith Williams; He said that photography would only be allowed with his personal permission; I told him that I was checking in to see how the voting is going, if there were any issues. His reply was a rather terse "It's going fine". As I stood there, a woman came in with a concern;
She said that she was concerned on a couple of levels; that her address was incorrect on the voter rolls, and that it hadn't been in the primaries. She said that she was offered a registration form to correct it, but she didn't feel comfortable submitting the registration form at the same time she cast her ballot. Mr. Williams checked her registration, and it was determined that because the voter lived off county roads, they had to use a default address. Her vote would be counted. The woman then went on to describe the worker as elderly and confused, and said that she (the worker) should be accepting ballots and handing out "I voted" stickers instead of checking the rolls.
Mr. Williams and I continued our conversation; We discussed provisional ballots, and he stated that while every voter has the right to vote by provisional ballot, not all of them will be counted. He stated that every valid provisional ballot would be counted and added to the final tally.
What he did not explain was what would invalidate a provisional ballot. I think this may be worth exploring further; why vote if your ballot won't be counted? What are the criteria for invalidating a provisional ballot?
I also took some shots of the polling places; Once I offload them from my camera, I'll be putting them up on my website:
http://littleredtent.net/LRTblog
Polling was steady and with a larger turnout in both polling places mentioned. Oddly, there was no problem with me taking pictures in the Yosemite Polling Place; The workers there were comfortable with me taking pictures, and voters (some of whom I knew personally) were more often ok with me taking pictures of them.
Once I got to El Portal, I was told I could not have a camera in the polling place. Since I do not have press credentials, I complied. There was much shuffling of rule books to fine the exact regulation. I told them I didn't need it, I'd be fine.
In Yosemite, the only problem I witnessed was insufficient provisional ballots: There were problems with folks who were registered elsewhere (in the two cases I saw, in other counties in California). They were told that they could vote on a provisional ballot, but they could not guarantee that the voter's vote would be counted.
I stopped in at the Board of Elections, and spoke with Keith Williams; He said that photography would only be allowed with his personal permission; I told him that I was checking in to see how the voting is going, if there were any issues. His reply was a rather terse "It's going fine". As I stood there, a woman came in with a concern;
She said that she was concerned on a couple of levels; that her address was incorrect on the voter rolls, and that it hadn't been in the primaries. She said that she was offered a registration form to correct it, but she didn't feel comfortable submitting the registration form at the same time she cast her ballot. Mr. Williams checked her registration, and it was determined that because the voter lived off county roads, they had to use a default address. Her vote would be counted. The woman then went on to describe the worker as elderly and confused, and said that she (the worker) should be accepting ballots and handing out "I voted" stickers instead of checking the rolls.
Mr. Williams and I continued our conversation; We discussed provisional ballots, and he stated that while every voter has the right to vote by provisional ballot, not all of them will be counted. He stated that every valid provisional ballot would be counted and added to the final tally.
What he did not explain was what would invalidate a provisional ballot. I think this may be worth exploring further; why vote if your ballot won't be counted? What are the criteria for invalidating a provisional ballot?
I also took some shots of the polling places; Once I offload them from my camera, I'll be putting them up on my website:
http://littleredtent.net/LRTblog