Pissed about my voting experience -- mostly at myself for not standing my ground.

[LiberalHeart]

I'd read online that we could request a paper ballot and I did. So did my mom. But they gave us provisional ballots. I protested because provisionals aren't counted till later and because we are both registed and we had signed the book to vote. The workers told me they had no other way to handle paper ballots. HAD to be provisional. I should have called the hotline then and there, but didn't. We voted, put our ballots in the provisional envelopes, and the envelopes went into a locked box.

Later I called the hotline and they said nope, the info we were given was wrong and they would contact the polling place so they don't do that to anyone else (there were several other paper ballot voters there -- I could see that because there was a handwritten list of them; I saw it when our names were added to the list).

I'm disappointed that our votes won't be in the totals announced tonight, but at least there'll be in the totals that are certified.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dysfunctional press]

2. "but at least there'll be in the totals that are certified"...don't count on it.

most provisional ballots are never counted.

[LiberalHeart]

4. I'd heard that, too -- but I was assured by the hotline people it will be counted.

[still_one]

7. How do they know? The only thing we have going for us is that the Secretary of State in Ohio

is Democratic

[EFerrari]

13. I have a good deal of faith that Jennifer will get those ballots counted.

Is there anything you have to do to follow up? :hi:

[JJ]

14. Was it a provisional ballot?

Or was it an absentee?

The early voting was done by "in person absentee" ballots.

Did you have to fill out a request form?

I live in Pickaway county, south of Columbus.

[LiberalHeart]

17. It was an ordinary looking ballot, but it went into a provisional envelope.

Still, where I could put down the reason for using that ballot, none of the boxes were checked to indicate any problems with my registration or ID. I wrote in that I didn't want to use the machine (that was a blank I could fill in next to "Other").

I'm going to call the BOE right now and get some answers.

I'm in Wood county, near Toledo (which is Lucas county).

[cherokeeprogressive]

10. While I cannot speak for all counties or parishes or townships, in OC California that is absolutely

false. EVERY VOTE IS COUNTED as long as it is received by the end of polling on election day. EVERY one. I have checked the validity of provisional votes myself as an employee of the Orange County Registrar of Voters.

[Orrex]

3. At the very least, others will benefit from your actions

A lot of people wouldn't have bothered calling the hotline at all. Don't beat yourself up about "not standing your ground;" a multitude of subtle pressures are at work against you in a situation like that, but ultimately you made a good choice.

So, who'd you vote for? :evilgrin:

[LiberalHeart]

11. I did a write-in ballot for Orrex.

[Orrex]

15. I'm heavily favored in several of the virtual battleground states

:)

[still_one]

5. I take it you didn't vote on the machine, why? Was it broken, you didn't trust it? /nt

[LiberalHeart]

8. I was helping my mom vote. She's blind. It was easier to sit at the table where we could take time.

And Ohio voting machines have a history of having problems. I do not trust them.

[still_one]

9. Appreciate your reply /nt

[greenmutha]

6. Please report this to the Obama Campaign! Here's the link:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/vpcreport

[ieoeja]

12. What do you have to do next?

I know here in Chicago you would have to personally go downtown to some office, forget which one, and show them your ID so they can verify that you are eligible to vote.

Yes, I know they already verified you at the poll. But you then submitted a provisional ballot anyway. Was there a big red stamp on the envelope saying, "this guy is already validated"?

I'm guessing not. So you will have to follow the same procedures as someone who had to enter a provisional ballot. Unless you do your envelope will sit in the "unvalidated" box for 48 hours after which it will be tossed because you failed to show up.

[LiberalHeart]

16. THanks. That's good to know. What a pain. This involves going to another city....

...and taking a 92-year-old woman who's blind and in a wheelchair. I can't lift the wheelchair in and out of the car and the building is a pain in the butt to get into. What a total bummer.

[LiberalHeart]

18. UPDATE!!! I called the county BOE and they will make sure our votes are counted tonight.

They said that now they know there was this problem at my polling location, they will pull the provisional ballot box and pull them out and check the people who voted on paper. All those (and this includes my mother and me) who are properly registered already will have their votes included in tonight's total. They were also very concerned that paper ballot requests were being treated in this manner. The guy said this is totally contrary to how the people were trained.

[WVRICK13]

19. Good for You

Please stop being a Democrat of the past. Stand up for your rights when the injustice occurs. Shout if necessary and knock the shit out of any asshole that violates your rights.

[Robbien]

20. Good follow through!

Now not only are your votes going to count, everyone in that box who is on the voter rolls is going to count.

Nice.

[Ms. Toad]

21. Yay!

Great that you followed up - and great that they are doing the right thing!

[crickets]

22. Great follow-up!

Good for you, your mother, and all of the others who were unfairly forced to vote provisional ballots. Sounds like the BOE for your county is really on the ball, too. :thumbsup:

[Generic Other]

23. Good to hear

Persistence pays off! And you helped others as well. They were lucky you were on it!!!