Anyone who can early vote in person

[Ilsa]

probably should. It is my plan to avoid a line Nov. 3rd.

I did mail-in voting for our Georgia primary, and getting the procedure right can be tricky for anyone not attuned to fine details, like having to "seal" your ballot. It didn't say tape or glue or use another envelope. So, I figured "tape."

I don't want my ballot tossed over a minor technicality.

[Freddie]

1. PA has no early voting

Never did. I did the mail-in for the primary and got an email that it was received and processed, will do the same in the general.

[Ilsa]

3. That's a shame. The more options, the better, IMO. nt

[SheltieLover]

2. Absolutely!

K&R!

[ProudMNDemocrat]

4. Minnesota has early voting that spans 6 weeks.

I did vote by mail for the Aug.11th Primary. Sent that in Saturday.

[Ilsa]

6. Were there any odd or nonspecific instructions? nt

[ProudMNDemocrat]

9. There were specific instructions...

After filling out the ballot, it was to be placed in a specific enveloped that had to be sealed. Then another envelope that had a sticker on it to put your MN DL or Non Driver ID number, or the last 4 digits of your SS number. Then signed in the manner you sign your name when you vote in person. Seal that envelope. Then put in a 3rd envelope that is addressed to the County Clerk to be delivered to the Preceinct in which a voter lives.

Very safe and no fraud.

[Thekaspervote]

5. Pass it on! Another option, on mail in ballots as soon you get your ballot complete it then

Drive yourself to your city hall or courthouse or wherever your ballot would normally go and drop it in the ballot box yourself.. no waiting, no standing in line

[tinymontgomery]

7. SC has no early voting n/t

[Hoyt]

8. The only problem I see with early voting is that some will put it off

and find they are sick, or lines are too long, or something comes up when it’s too late to fall back to mail in voting.

Not worried about those here, but am worried about average voter. In fact, I think your plan is good and I’ll check how the dates work in my area.

[soothsayer]

10. Here

https://www.vote.org/early-voting-calendar/

[Hoyt]

13. Thanks. My state starts early voting about 4 weeks before Nov 3.

So, I’ll probably promise myself to vote early the first week. If I don’t, I’ll order a no-excuse absentee ballot.

The last thing I need to check is if I order a mail-in ballot as soon as allowed, but don’t return it, could I still vote in-person and tear up the mail-in ballot.

I know I sound paranoid. But, one never knows when one might get sick or life circumstances get in the way. I do know that I’m not waiting until last minute, too much can happen.

[Ms. Toad]

21. The general rule is that once you've requested an absentee ballot, you've chosen

how you are going to vote. If you show up at the polls to vote, you will (generally) be told you can vote - but it will be a provisional ballot. That means that after they have confirmed that your absentee ballot was not received they will count your provisional ballot.

Check with your jurisdiction to be sure - but that is how most work in order to avoid counting both an absentee and an in-person ballot for you.

[Hoyt]

22. Thanks. I was afraid it might throw a kink in the process. Makes sense.

[soothsayer]

11. Early in-person is my mantra

[Awsi Dooger]

12. So many things can go wrong with an absentee ballot

I filled one out last week for the Miami August primary. These were the troubling aspects that stood out to me:

* The fill bubble was much, much smaller this year, almost as if designed to cause spillover and therefore spoiled votes

* The mailing envelope folds smack over the middle of where you are supposed to sign your name on the outside. Therefore it's a question of whether to squeeze your name fully on the left of the fold, or partially cover both sides. All of this with the lengthy disqualifier that your signature must match the recorded signature, otherwise it won't count and they'll attempt to contact you to verify signature

* You have to place the ballot inside a folder before sticking it inside the mailing envelope itself. I guarantee countless people will either not be aware of that aspect or simply forget about it, and place the ballot directly inside the envelope while throwing away everything else

* The mailing envelope was ridiculously thin in the area where you lick to seal. That area basically collapses when wet. Then the wet area attaches to the other side of the envelope directly opposite the bar scan code. Now the wetness seeps through to the bar code.


I was in disbelief throughout. I'm doing it carefully enough so I'm confident my ballot will count. But the slightest problem in any of those areas is going to lead to rejection

[Hoyt]

15. I get it. But in my rube state, you can check and see if it was received, and I

think counted.

But you are right, it would be easy to mess up. That’s why I hope local Democratic organizations spend a lot of effort educating people on what to do to reduce that risk.

[Awsi Dooger]

19. Same in my state but only a fraction of a fraction would check

Getting it right the first time is everything. As you indicated, there needs to be related education and not merely assumption it will go smoothly.

Also the Democratic organizations need to check the ballot designs carefully ahead of time, trying to correct them and then warn about any specific problems if the bad designs do end up being used.

[Siwsan]

14. I'm voting in person, next Tuesday (Michigan)

The new voting location is right down the road, and the precincts are spread across a big room - lots of space for distancing. I usually vote at about 10 and have never really had to stand in much of a line.

I'm not sure if I'll switch to mail in for the General but I'm thinking probably not. I will feel far more confident, this time around, if I watch that ballot feed into the terminal and be 'approved'. Maybe I'll switch over to mail in voting, going forward.

[Sherman A1]

16. We voted by mail for our Presidential Primary and just did so for the Missouri Primary

You are correct in taking time to read all the instructions is important. Our last ballots were returned to us as we missed a couple of points on the envelope. We then hand carried them to the election board to find out what we missed and the gentleman was very helpful to us.

We will await our ballots for November, fill them out upon arrival and take them ourselves to the election board again to be sure that we have it all done correctly. Still new at this mail in thing and want to take no chances with our ballot for this election.

[LisaL]

17. I managed to vote by mail in a primary.

So I intend to do the same for general. Hopefully I can do it as early as possible.

[ecstatic]

18. Yeah, I'm concerned about GA's games too.

Did you already request a mail in ballot for the GE?

I wouldn't mind doing advanced in-person voting, but if kkkemp pulls a fast one and changes the dates at the last minute, it could lead to massively long lines at the last minute. At the same time, when I voted by mail in the primaries, I felt helpless not knowing if or when my ballot would arrive and when it would be received.

[Ilsa]

20. I'd like vote as early as possible, a day

or two into early in-person voting. If I wait too long, there will be a long line.

[Hoyt]

23. I don't think KKKemp could get away with changing dates for General.

It made sense in primaries, originally scheduled during the early days of CV19.

I just looked, appears we can request a general election absentee ballot up to 180 days before election. Of course, the ballots aren’t ready yet, so they won’t be mailed until much later.

[Gothmog]

24. Or vote curbside

You have the right to vote curbside where they bring the machine to you in your car