topic Re: paper ballots in Community Chat

paper ballots

sunshine45 — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 00:48:00 GMT

we had voting in our state today.....i am sure some of you are watching the primary coverage.

interestingly,we used PAPER ballots (fill in a oval with a black penfor your choices) today and then fed them into a machine to record our votes. are other states going back to using paper ballots? it seems we had been using voting machines for quite some time now.

they were also out of the I VOTED stickers!

i guess that is a GOOD thing though.

Re: paper ballots

Goldengate8361 — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 00:53:59 GMT

@sunshine45 - you're not from the "sunshine state" are you? I hope we are not going to have hanging chads (?) in the near future.😃

Re: paper ballots

I am still oxox — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 00:55:21 GMT

New York has had the paper ballots for a few years, I thought they were being used across the country

Re: paper ballots

Ms X — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 00:55:29 GMT

I also like the idea of paper ballots. They provide a record that can be recounted or otherwise audited. Many people have raised concerns about all-electronic voting because of the problem of hacking and manipulation and the lack of a paper trail.

Re: paper ballots

Tinkrbl44 — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 00:56:23 GMT

Does anyone know if you can vote by mail for the primaries ... or do you have to go in person?

Re: paper ballots

sunshine45 — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 01:03:06 GMT

@Tinkrbl44 wrote:
Does anyone know if you can vote by mail for the primaries ... or do you have to go in person?

we have absentee voting AND we have early in-person voting in certain polling places. today was our official primary election day.

Re: paper ballots

sunshine45 — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 01:04:41 GMT

@Ms X wrote:
I also like the idea of paper ballots. They provide a record that can be recounted or otherwise audited. Many people have raised concerns about all-electronic voting because of the problem of hacking and manipulation and the lack of a paper trail.

that is what the election official told me as i was checking in to vote. he said they wanted the paper ballots in case there needed to be an audit or if there were any problems. i just have not seen a paper ballot in quite a while in our state.

Re: paper ballots

sunshine45 — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 01:08:48 GMT

@Goldengate8361 wrote:
@sunshine45 - you're not from the "sunshine state" are you? I hope we are not going to have hanging chads (?) in the near future.😃

LOL......NO......i am in the "america in miniature state"......maryland.

Re: paper ballots

Ms X — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 01:15:46 GMT

@sunshine45 wrote:
@Ms X wrote:
I also like the idea of paper ballots. They provide a record that can be recounted or otherwise audited. Many people have raised concerns about all-electronic voting because of the problem of hacking and manipulation and the lack of a paper trail.

that is what the election official told me as i was checking in to vote. he said they wanted the paper ballots in case there needed to be an audit or if there were any problems. i just have not seen a paper ballot in quite a while in our state.

I have paper ballots with the optical scanner where I live. Before I moved here, we had the machines with the levers. I totally agree about the importance of paper, but that doesn't seem to be where we are going. I've heard talk in the media about voting over the Internet. Maybe the structure for that would be secure, but as it is now I don't know how that would work. How would you know who was who? It's better to keep paper. Even that can be manipulated by changing or adding to the store of paper ballots, I guess, but all-electronic seems easier to manipulate. I'm not a tech person, so maybe there are things I don't know about it. It is something that worries me.

Re: paper ballots

Kalli — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 01:20:28 GMT

Right when I got up to the person who takes each name and gives them a number, the poll worker realized they had misnumbered the voters and had to go back and recheck again.....again......again. Twenty minutes later they figured it out. Meanwhile the line got quite long. A group of university students were turned away because while they live near me, they were supposed to vote on campus.

Glad to finally vote and leave.

Re: paper ballots

sunshine45 — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 01:23:17 GMT

@Kalli wrote:
Right when I got up to the person who takes each name and gives them a number, the poll worker realized they had misnumbered the voters and had to go back and recheck again.....again......again. Twenty minutes later they figured it out. Meanwhile the line got quite long. A group of university students were turned away because while they live near me, they were supposed to vote on campus.

Glad to finally vote and leave.

we dont get numbers......just a slip of paper with our information, the ballot, and a manila folder.

Re: paper ballots

Desertdi — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 03:54:53 GMT

@Tinkrbl44 wrote:
Does anyone know if you can vote by mail for the primaries ... or do you have to go in person?

The regulations vary by the state in which you live

Re: paper ballots

151949 — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 04:10:41 GMT

Here in Florida we use the paper ballots that are then run through the machine that reads what we marked. When we lived in Pa they had used voting machines until about 2004 when they changed over to voting via computers. I liked the computers and there were people there to assist those who needed help with using them.

Something I always dislike here in Sarasota Co. is after you sit at a desk and get registered and sign in they give you the paper ballot. Then you stand up and get in line, however they don't take the people in line in order, they call your name and the name they call goes next, even if he is the 5th person back in the line, so in a tight cramped space there are all these people struggling to get to the front once their name is called.Last time DH & I were standing together in line - I was called and went to vote while he waited, When I was all done he was still waiting in line, and continued to wait at least another 10 min. I had to go and wait for him outside in the rain as there was no where for me to stand inside. They really need to either find a better way to do this or a larger space where there is enough room.

Re: paper ballots

Stray — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 04:49:21 GMT

We have electronic here in my town in NJ. I love it....this election cycle has really opened my eyes about the voting process in this Country. It seems our votes mean very little. I never knew much about delegates and how different the process is state to state. I think the voting process should be consistent throughout the Country. I surely hope kids are paying attention in schools and that teachers are using this process as teaching moments. I really was quite clueless and it is quite fascinating.

Re: paper ballots

DoneTryin — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 06:28:28 GMT

Colorado here. We had caucuses last month but they were a mess & now there's talk of going back to primaries.

We have "paper" ballots, though they're actually card stock. Dark pen or pencil marks used to fill in a space to indicate choice. I have been VERY happy the last few years to be able to mail in my ballot for all elections here, & make sure my address is updated whenever I move. The ballot envelope has a bar code on it & I get an email when it's delivered. SO glad I no longer have to stand in line to vote!

Re: paper ballots

gmkb — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 11:57:51 GMT

@Goldengate8361 wrote:
@sunshine45 - you're not from the "sunshine state" are you? I hope we are not going to have hanging chads (?) in the near future.😃

@Goldengate8361 I live in Fl. When I voted in the primary recently, we had the same type of ballot as @sunshine45

Re: paper ballots

luvdoodles — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 12:21:29 GMT

We have always had paper ballots since I started voting, that was over 45 years ago. Didn't even know there was another way.

Re: paper ballots

teganslaw — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 12:34:15 GMT

Our primary is next Tuesday, but I voted early. My state, Indiana, is using machines. I haven't seen paper ballots for several years.

Re: paper ballots

Pearlee — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 12:43:18 GMT

@DoneTryin wrote:
Colorado here. We had caucuses last month but they were a mess & now there's talk of going back to primaries.

We have "paper" ballots, though they're actually card stock. Dark pen or pencil marks used to fill in a space to indicate choice. I have been VERY happy the last few years to be able to mail in my ballot for all elections here, & make sure my address is updated whenever I move. The ballot envelope has a bar code on it & I get an email when it's delivered. SO glad I no longer have to stand in line to vote!

@DoneTryin Yes, your caucuses "that were a mess" made national news, with Coloradoans about not being able to cast a ballot that counts towards who wins a primary. Weird system you have there. I thought I'd read that all elections in CO were mail-in elections? So voting at the polls is still an option in November?

OT: I love the show Homicide Hunter which is about the career of a retired Co. police detective, Joe Kenda. I was just watching a rerun last night.

Re: paper ballots

DoneTryin — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:01:04 GMT

@Pearley yes, I know it made national news. Many of us don't understand how it works, so why do it that way I don't know. All registered voters get a mail-in ballot & if anyone wants to vote at a polling place they can. They have to surrender the ballot they received in the mail when they go in to vote.

I've never heard of that tv show. What channel is it on?