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Do Americans get voter registration cards in the mail?

J

Jembo

Member
I was reading the Voter ID thread in P&N, but I'm still a little confused by the whole thing. Do all States mail voter registration cards to take with you on voting day?

That's how it works here. You must produce that card & a valid ID to vote. If you don't get the card, you can still vote, but the ID must show your address as being in the Riding where you go to vote. There are contingencies for homeless though.

Just wondering.
 
sttubs said:
In the US, state of Illinois, they are mailed to you. Not sure if it is the same in all states.
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I see. I guess I could Google what I'm looking for but I don't really feel like it.
I always had a hard time understanding the ability to vote without ID is all.
 
Do ANY states have anything resembling a voter registration card??

Many states require the same sort of identification that it would take to board a plane. And in something that is very close to 100% of the time, that's a driver's license. Other states require ID that isn't quite so strict.

Here in Colorado, I haven't even been to a voting place since something like the year 2000 or 2004. Now, they just automatically mail me ballots, in both primary and general elections, and I mail them in.
 
Carson Dyle said:
Do ANY states have anything resembling a voter registration card??

Many states require the same sort of identification that it would take to board a plane. And in something that is very close to 100% of the time, that's a driver's license. Other states require ID that isn't quite so strict.

Here in Colorado, I haven't even been to a voting place since something like the year 2000 or 2004. Now, they just automatically mail me ballots, in both primary and general elections, and I mail them in.
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Interesting. Not to sound paranoid, but is the ballot you mail back serialized or does it have your name on it? How about a return address on the envelope?
 
You just show up at the poll and tell them your name. That is why voter fraud is rampant. There is no check of ID or verification of who you are.
 
i think you should have to bring your social security card, or your birth certificate, or your driver's license, or your most recent paystub, or your property title

or maybe all 5 of those things
 
brianmanahan said:
same in OH

or you can just send your vote in the mail. that's what i'm gonna do.
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Your precinct election officials should be requiring that you present some form of identification, in Ohio. If you don't have any, they'd give you a provisional ballot, and the Board of Elections would later determine whether or not you're eligible to vote in that election (and tabulate your ballot accordingly).

Jembo said:
Interesting. Not to sound paranoid, but is the ballot you mail back serialized or does it have your name on it? How about a return address on the envelope?
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The general process -- though it varies state by state -- is that ballots are serialized, and the portion of the paper that displays the serial number is perforated. There's an additional bit of information on the envelope in which your ballot is sealed, that identifies you (and often requires your signature). Once your completed ballot (technically the envelope in which the ballot is sealed) has been received by the elections office, they:

  1. Check to ensure that the envelope is properly sealed, signed, and a record exists of a ballot having been sent to you. If any of these conditions are not met, abort processing because a committee decision is required (generally leads to rejection).
  2. Mark your ballot issuance record such that it now indicates your ballot has been received.
  3. In a team of generally two people, the envelopes are stacked in such a way that one person cannot see the printing on the envelope (which includes the voter's name). The person who cannot see the envelope information removes the ballot from the envelope, and reads the ballot serial number to the other person. The other person confirms that the serial number they hear matches the serial number printed on the envelope. If the serial number does not match, the ballot is placed back into the envelope, and the envelope is set aside for board/committee review. If the serial number does match, the serial number is permanently separated from the ballot. The ballot, the serial/stub paper, and the envelope are then placed in separate bins indicating that they're ready for their next step in process.

So.... if you trust your elections staff, the process permits for ballot secrecy. That said, if you don't trust your elections staff, then you have far greater problems than just ballot secrecy -- they're the people who are authoritative for election tabulation/results. 😉
 
Capt Caveman said:
Link to voter fraud being rampant? You don't think when someone came in to vote and they had your name already checked off, that an investigation would occur?

Voter Fraud Is Rare, but Myth Is Widespread
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Exactly, thank you.

We've been voting for stuff for a long time in MA. Works pretty smooth too I can't think of a time that took more than 5 minutes to get in the booth to vote. I can't think of a time that I had to travel more than a few miles to vote. FL should take some lesson's from us.
 
Thanks GeekDrew. Great explanation. I was reading on Australia's run-off voting & thinking how they might be able to rig it; but with all the witnesses from all parties it would be pretty tough.
 
Thing with the mail-in ballots in Colorado is that they can also be dropped off at a number of locations up until the election deadline. In 2014 we had an all mail-in election and campaign volunteers were going door to door asking if people had mailed in their ballots yet. If not, they'd offer to take them and turn them in for you, which is legal. The concern was that they could (in theory) open them, see who you had voted for and if they didn't like it, they could throw away the ballot or even change the vote.
 
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Here in Oregon I registered online. Everyone gets their ballot mailed to them, they can mail the filled out ballot in in the enclosed envelope or drop it off at designated drop off boxes. I drop mine off at the library. There is no one at the library to check the ballot. You walk in, drop it in the slot and walk out.
 
Voter fraud may indeed be rare, but how rare?

Elections can be won or lost by a very small margin.

In the 2000 election for President, there were 5 states where the margin of victory was under 1%, with 3 states under .25%, with Florida's margin being just 537 votes.

The electoral vote difference was only 5 votes.
 
Jumpem said:
If voter fraud were not occurring, then why is the Democratic party generally against voter ID laws?
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Why do you automatically assume Democrats want illegal voting?
The reason is so far these new rules/laws prevent many more legitimate votes than prevent illegal votes
What is the magic number for legitimate votes that get blocked vs fraud votes?
If one legit vote gets blocked in the process of preventing 10 fraud votes is that a success?
 
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Pennsylvania has voter registration but it isn't compulsory. Registration is done online and the card is mailed.

I'd like to do it by mail-in ballot, unfortunately the state only allows it if it isn't possible at all to be at the polling place for the entire day.
 
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