by David Safier I talked to Jeff Rogers, Pima Dem Party Chair, this afternoon. He told me the mail brought in 100,000 vote-by-mail ballots in Maricopa County today, with as many as 150,000 more expected to be hand delivered to the polls. No way a quarter of a million ballots can be tallied right away. … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Steve Benen reports, Life Imitates Art – Voting Machine Edition:
Four years ago, "The Simpsons" put together a short clip
in which Homer wanted to vote in the presidential election. He stands
in front of the electronic voting machine, pushes the button for Barack
Obama, and the machine immediately registers a vote for John McCain.
Homer keeps pushing the screen for Obama, and the machine keeps lighting
up for McCain.
When this happens in real life, it's a lot less funny. (Video below the fold).
NBC News has confirmed that a Pennsylvania voter recorded this video
today, using a voting machine's touch screen to vote for Obama/Biden,
though the machine automatically interprets this as a vote for
Romney/Ryan. Just like Homer Simpson, this Pennsylvania voter keeps
saying he wants to support Obama, and the machine keeps saying
otherwise.
The machine in question was reportedly taken out of service once the voter brought it to the attention of elections officials.
Posted by AzblueMeanie: Remember the protracted legal battle in the Pennsylvania courts just a few weeks ago over photo ID? The court ruled that poll workers can ask for a photo ID, but if a voter does not have one they are still permitted to vote, just as they always have. There are widespread reports … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The Columbus Dispatch reports True the Vote observers barred from Franklin County polling places: True the Vote – whose Ohio branch is called the Voter Integrity Project – was denied status as official observers because at least most of the candidates who supported the organization's effort withdrew their backing. State law allows … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
While it is not per se unlawful to take a photo of your completed ballot in Arizona and post it to social media, this may be subject to legal interpretation under A.R.S. §16-1018. Additional unlawful acts by persons
with respect to voting; classification:
A person who commits any of the following acts is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor:
: :
4. Shows the voter's ballot or the machine on which the voter has voted to any
person after it is prepared for voting in such a manner as to reveal the contents, except
to an authorized person lawfully assisting the voter.
5. Knowingly solicits a voter to show the voter's ballot, or receives from a voter
a ballot prepared for voting, unless the person is an election official or unless
otherwise authorized by law.
: :
8. Except for a completed ballot transmitted by an elector by fax or other
electronic format pursuant to section 16-543, knowingly places a mark on the voter's
ballot by which it can be identified as the one voted by the voter.
Pro Publica has posted this warning. Why It May Be Illegal to Instagram Your Ballot:
Proud
voters are already posting photos
of their ballots
on Instagram—sometimes with the names of their
chosen candidates filled in. But before you snap a shot of your vote, you might
want to check your state laws. As the Citizen Media
Law Project points
out as
part of their guide to documenting the 2012 election, showing your marked
ballot to other people is actually illegal
in many states.
Laws
against displaying your ballot are motivated by concerns about vote buying,
since voters being bribed might need to be prove they voted a certain way.
While
laws vary from state to state, the penalties for showing your ballot can be
stiff.
* * *
“Virtually all of these laws are older
laws that predate the current technology,” said Jeffrey Hermes, a First
Amendment expert who wrote the Citizen Media Law Project’s guide to ballot
disclosure rules.
But,
he warned in his guide, “It is easy to imagine situations in which the
thoughtless posting of a marked ballot on Facebook could result in negative
consequences.”
Rick
Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California,
Irvine, said that taking a picture of your marked ballot is “bad news.”
“Hard
as it is to believe, before the secret ballot there was a lot more vote buying
and we don't want more of that now,” he wrote in an email.
* * *
Allowing
voters to publicly display their ballots might also undermine the culture of
the secret ballot, Hermes said. Another factor is the fear that voters might be
intimated or swayed by seeing other people’s ballots.
* * *
At
least one state has recently changed its stance on the issue, Hermes said.
Maine repealed its ban on voters
showing their own ballots in 2011.
It's better to be safe than sorry — just don't do it.