Secretary Reed will be on "The Conversation" with Ross Reynolds today at 1:00 to discuss the astounding primary ballot error rate. While I'm sure Reed will focus on reminding voters how to read instructions, he'll likely miss a fundamental cause of this problem - forced vote-by-mail.
Stefan made this connection earlier, and I have to agree with him. In a polling place, voters can get last-minute instructions, can ask questions, and can be required to follow a certain ballot order. With mail ballots, voters have to wing it based on written instructions.
While Snohomish is grabbing much of the headlines for the problem, they're not the only ones having issues. In Clark County, for example, the party indication checkboxes are on the Democratic side of the ballot, so they're easy for Republican voters to miss. The non-partisan races are on the Republican side, making them easy for Democrats to miss. Both political parties have had to send out emails warning their supporters about the confusing ballot.
If the legislature takes a look at revising the form of the ballot, as Reed plans, they also need to look at how our vote-by-mail system greatly compounded this problem.
The Voter then corrects the ballot and inputs it again.
Posted by: GS on September 14, 2006 12:55 PMWhen the Snohomish problem was first announced, I knew the root cause was probably a design problem. After hearing and then seeing what the ballot was like, it sure is. That thing is just a mess that favors (intentionally?) Democrats.
I've seen one of the Snohomish County ballots, and I can only assume that mistakes can come easy for either the regular mail-in voter who sets his or her brain to "autopilot", or the first-time mail-in voter who isn't reading the ballot instructions completely.
I know each county has different vote-tallying equipment (ergo, different ballot formats). I think, though, that a standardized, statewide ballot format may help to eliminate a good deal of these "unacceptable" ballots. Skagit County's ballot format could be a good starting point.
Posted by: Radioguy on September 14, 2006 04:36 PMOne would think so, but that's not the case. RCW 29A.40.110 allows auditors to open absentee ballots (also applies to vote-by-mail ballots) as soon as they come in. In fact, this law allows them to process the ballots up to the point of tabulation before Election Day. Processing includes examining the signature, examining the ballot for stray marks, etc.
When this processing takes place the ballot is removed from the envelope, and thus they can no longer tie you to your ballot.
By law, the auditors are supposed to place all these opened, processed ballots into secure storage until election day, but the fact remains that stacks of opened, unvoted ballots are sitting around for days in "secure rooms" at the auditor's office.
Posted by: Jonathan Bechtle on September 15, 2006 09:15 AMHe is a Republican
What about the 11th Commandment?
Posted by: Eric G. on September 16, 2006 10:37 AM