Provisional Ballots

[lsanderson]

-OR- Why we ain't got none.

With election day registration, MN has decided it has no need for provisional ballots.

To see what types of identification meet MN state law to register to vote, please see:

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/elections/2004/voter-registration/registration-requirements.asp#P0_0

Comments

[ex-erikvolso370.livejournal.com]

I think this is a win. If you can prove your residence via this system, you don't have the possibility of your ballot being thrown out by a court after an election. All you need is one of the listed items, and you get to vote.

The provisional ballot law is very dicey, and I'm afraid of all provisional ballots being tossed when the SCOTUS decides that there wasn't a consistent standard. Yeah, it should be up to the states, but since when has that stopped them?

A system that results in a real ballot being cast is a better answer. Now, make sure that people who go to the wrong polling place are able to get to the right one.

Polling Places

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

There are always a few people who get sent on a runaround for polling places. "They told me on the phone to go here." "They told me at the last polling place to come here." There's always a few that get let in to vote at the wrong polling place, but that's a different issue.

There's often a few people who show up with absentee ballots as well "for a friend." (They have to be "delivered" (Post Office, UPS, FedEx) to city hall, verified, and delivered to the polling place to be counted.)

When we vote here in Minnesota, we count the votes after the polls close. not the next day, not the next week, but the same night... well, err, morning sometimes.