Mail in Ballots

4evryoung wrote:

RidinHy06 wrote: I didn't know we can check the SOS site to see if votes were cast.

Can we call the SOS, or get on-line with the SOS's website to find out if our vote was counted when the time comes?

To VERIFY THAT YOUR MAIL-IN BALLOT WAS RECEIVED by the Elections Office: the website address should be on your Voter Instructions

chocolove wrote: Is anyone really sure whether we will be voting provisional or regular if we surrender our ballots and vote early. I know if we surrender them on election day it is provisional and on paper but early?

A clerk who shall remain nameless (but many of you know her from when she worked a non-county job in Bailey) told me yesterday that if we do early voting and have our mail-in ballot voided we will be voting on the electronic DRE machine. If you have your mail-in ballot voided at the voting center on election day, you will have to vote a provisional ballot.

Here's what I was told today: PC residents can vote early beginning August 2nd thru August 6th, from 7:00a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Because of the election, they WILL be open Friday the 6th again from 7:00-6:00 p.m. You can surrender your ballot and vote electronically all that week AND August 10th. The hours on the 10th are 7:00 until 7:00. There are two electronic stations. One in Fairplay (501 Main) and one at the substation in Bailey. This info is from our Clerk and Recorders office in Fairplay. I repeated it all back a couple times to make sure I had my days, times and rules correct. As far as the 9th...???????.

RidinHy06 wrote: Here's what I was told today: PC residents can vote early beginning August 2nd thru August 6th, from 7:00a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Because of the election, they WILL be open Friday the 6th again from 7:00-6:00 p.m. You can surrender your ballot and vote electronically all that week AND August 10th. The hours on the 10th are 7:00 until 7:00. There are two electronic stations. One in Fairplay (501 Main) and one at the substation in Bailey. This info is from our Clerk and Recorders office in Fairplay. I repeated it all back a couple times to make sure I had my days, times and rules correct. As far as the 9th...???????.

Even the clerk's office doesn't give consistent information -- why am I not surprised? I was told emphatically that you would have to vote a provisional ballot if you turned in your mail-in ballot on 8/10. Since I don't want to take a chance of having to vote provisional, I'm going to early vote to make sure my vote is done electronically.

I agree. To make sure my vote IS counted, I'm also going to vote early ... electronically.

So we can vote early, surrender our "mail-in ballots" and vote by machine? Are those early votes going to be considered "provisional" too, or just the ones surrendered on Aug. 10th?? From what I'm understanding, provisional includes 10 days to count? WHY??? It should be faster because they are done on a machine???

Thanks so much for taking the time to get that information from the Clerks office and sharing it here. You guys are awesome.

I personally always go to the poll or voting center and vote the day of the election but if I had a mail ballot, I think I would also go vote electronically in the early voting rather than risk a provisional ballot

It is shame to not be able to trust that the most basic right we have as American citizens could be tampered with.

4evryoung wrote: So we can vote early, surrender our "mail-in ballots" and vote by machine? Are those early votes going to be considered "provisional" too, or just the ones surrendered on Aug. 10th?? From what I'm understanding, provisional includes 10 days to count? WHY??? It should be faster because they are done on a machine???

Yes, you can do early voting, surrender your mail-in ballot to have it voided, and vote by machine.

No, the early votes are NOT provisional. You are doing normal voting.

Provisional ballots are paper ballots and by statute are allowed 10 days to be "cured" (missing signature, etc) and then counted. They are NOT done electronically.

Sounds like the electronic voting is probably our safest, most accurate option then? Glad we have that option, From what I heard on the video from last night, perhaps we should be filing complaints with the Secretary of State about this so it isn't a continuing problem for the next who knows how many years?

I filled out my mail in this weekend and was going to drop it off. Now I'm not so sure, this specific issue was even discussed at the Meet the Candidates last night. Hmmmmm.....

They cannot tamper with electronic voting, right?