"Looks like you already voted..."

Yesterday when I went to vote, I went to check in and the lady informed me that I had already voted earlier in the day.

Uh, what?

I asked how that was possible and she said she didn't know but that they had already checked me off as having shown up and voted. I replied that it didn't make any sense...I was holding my drivers license right there and asked her why I'd show up twice to vote or how anyone else could have voted instead of me.

She stuttered, stammered, and had some official come over and talk to me, he mumbled something about being sorry for the issue, and apparently it had happened more than once during the day. In fact, there was a woman behind me in line who looked like she was having the same issue, too.

We both filled out provisional (paper) ballots and put them in an envelop. The thing that bothered me the most was that on the back of the envelop, the guy marked a box to signify that this was my ballot and that I was submitting it this way due to the fact there was an error and that I had already apparently "voted."

Apparently I wasn't the only one with this issue, looks like it happened some in Ohio: http://www.local12.com/News/Local/story/Forest-Park-Precinct-Reports-Voting-Problem-at/bWd7RbZ_CUunBo9GEvrH7A.cspx#.UJlJziXKNlQ.twitter

I'm not under the delusion that this was a giant problem that could have swung the election a different way, but I'm more annoyed at the fact that things weren't organized correctly. I understand humans make errors but...come on. Seriously?

Just wanted to see if anyone else had this issue as well.

That did not happen to me - however, when I accompanied by girlfriend after work so she could vote at Deep Run High School in Henrico County (Eric Cantor was there, too), the lady asked me if I was voting. I said I already had to which she replied "well hey! vote again! vote often!". I was a little surprised she would say that, haha. I turned around and noticed on the wall that they had some regulations and the first one was saying how it was against federal law to vote more than once.

Just thought it was odd of her to say that, even if it was a crack at a joke.

I'd mark it down to human error. At my station they look you up and then check you off. Wouldn't be too hard to imagine someone missing by a line occasionally especially if they were crushed.

Around here they make you initial and sign a book saying that you had been there and voted. They also give you your ballot #. So if someone poses as you and you prove that you had not been there yet, they throw out the "fake" ballot and keep the real one.

Around here they make you initial and sign a book saying that you had been there and voted. They also give you your ballot #. So if someone poses as you and you prove that you had not been there yet, they throw out the "fake" ballot and keep the real one.

Yeah, we also had to sign in the book next to our name and address. Not sure how someone could screw it up to be honest.

Sounds like quite the trippy experience, SS

Around here they make you initial and sign a book saying that you had been there and voted. They also give you your ballot #. So if someone poses as you and you prove that you had not been there yet, they throw out the "fake" ballot and keep the real one.

This system makes so much sense.

I'd mark it down to human error. At my station they look you up and then check you off. Wouldn't be too hard to imagine someone missing by a line occasionally especially if they were crushed.

Yeah, I can certainly see that happening. (guy whose name is one line above yours) votes. They mark off the wrong line.

Around here they make you initial and sign a book saying that you had been there and voted. They also give you your ballot #. So if someone poses as you and you prove that you had not been there yet, they throw out the "fake" ballot and keep the real one.

Same here.

I also assume that's done so that the poll worker can't do a deal where (buddy of poll worker) shows up, poll worker crosses off some name at random, buddy (who already voted, somewhere else) gets to vote a second (or more) time.

Last time I voted in 2010, they had a physical book and I could see my name on the print out. This time, they had a laptop, I presented my VA-issued State Board of Elections Voter ID card (sans photo). They asked me my name and address, then gave me my "permission to vote" card to give to the poll tender when I reached the machine. I could have voted on a paper ballot and been done much faster as we only had a few things on which to vote.

I too like the idea of having to initial/sign a book and a ballot number so they can keep track. That to me would go a long way toward preventing someone claiming to be another person.

This system makes so much sense.

It's only 2012 and you want something that gets done once every 2/4 years to work correctly? It's not like it's very important.

We can always blue-ink our thumbs too.

Simple solution. Show a form of picture ID.

Simple solution. Show a form of picture ID.

VA DOES require ID...

Didnt seem to help huh....

Now -Could be error (In VA - you don't sign anything - So yeah, a polling worker might have checked your name off).

Or - Did you by chance request a abstee ballot you didn't use?

I'd mark it down to human error. At my station they look you up and then check you off. Wouldn't be too hard to imagine someone missing by a line occasionally especially if they were crushed.

This.

I'm assuming that the set up is identical to ours where they have a print out of potential voters and then just cross them off as they come. What I've witnessed anyway. So yeah with a page with 100 names (or whatever), be real easy to hit the wrong one.

There has to be a better way than crossing off names with a pen.

---------- Post added November-7th-2012 at 06:13 PM ----------

VA DOES require ID...

Not picture ID

Simple solution. Show a form of picture ID.

Didn't read the post, did you?

It's only 2012 and you want something that gets done once every 2/4 years to work correctly? It's not like it's very important.

Haha, exactly.

The thing that irked me the most (and that I don't think I really made clear earlier) is that the back of the envelop I put my ballot in had a bunch of print on it, including a box to check for this very circumstance. Seriously, this happens so much that they need to print this on the back of an envelop for provisional ballots?

Haha, exactly.

The thing that irked me the most (and that I don't think I really made clear earlier) is that the back of the envelop I put my ballot in had a bunch of print on it, including a box to check for this very circumstance. Seriously, this happens so much that they need to print this on the back of an envelop for provisional ballots?

Seems like it would be simple just to add a line for your signature. The poll worker crosses your name out, and you sign next to it. That way they know if a name is crossed out without a signature, there's obviously been a mistake.

The easier way is to have people scan a card ( ID, credit, library, or whatever) at a machine with all of their info...then get proof of that (via receipt) , then go vote.

It's pretty simple. Hell I have been to clubs where they have machines to check IDs. And that was a decade ago.

Didn't have any problems when I voted...then again I did the absentee ballot thing. Think I'm gonna be doing that every 4 years.

I didnt have to show my id at all. The lady asked me how to spell my first and last name and then gave me the card to go vote. When I tried to show her my voter registration card, she told me that I didnt need it.

The guy that was in front of me had quite the opposite problem. He showed up with his voter registration card and the lady told him that he was not a registered voter. Even though he had the proof in his hand. She ended up gaving him a provisional ballot, but it seems to me that there should be a better system.

That sucks, SS. But as you said, I don't think it was a big enough problem to swing the election at all. But nonetheless this is something that should be looked into for efficiency.

The workers at my station had been there all day, and by the time I got there to vote at 4pm, they looked like the walking dead... I had even asked them if they were able to get something to eat yet and they said "yes, we've taken an hour break to get something to eat today." But for people who aren't likely used to sitting there all day and going line for line and checking peoples names off, it's understandable (not necessarily excusable) that they may mark off the wrong person a time or two.

In Raleigh it goes like this:

Two lines by last name. A-K and L-Z.

You walk up and say your last name, first name, and then address.

Then you sign that your info is correct and you go get your ballot.

Could you go back later and be your neighbor? Only if you knew their name and address.

I didnt have to show my id at all. The lady asked me how to spell my first and last name and then gave me the card to go vote. When I tried to show her my voter registration card, she told me that I didnt need it.

The guy that was in front of me had quite the opposite problem. He showed up with his voter registration card and the lady told him that he was not a registered voter. Even though he had the proof in his hand. She ended up gaving him a provisional ballot, but it seems to me that there should be a better system.

If he registered after a certain date, his name may not have been on their list yet.

I am surprised so many places still use paper systems.

I voted in Montgomery County and everything was electronic, except the receipt they print off for you to sign.

---------- Post added November-8th-2012 at 08:51 AM ----------

The workers at my station had been there all day, and by the time I got there to vote at 4pm, they looked like the walking dead... I had even asked them if they were able to get something to eat yet and they said "yes, we've taken an hour break to get something to eat today." But for people who aren't likely used to sitting there all day and going line for line and checking peoples names off, it's understandable (not necessarily excusable) that they may mark off the wrong person a time or two.

To this point, my coworker was a head judge and she was at her polling place from 6am to 10pm. And their last voter was done at 640pm. Long day dealing with the public is an understatement.

I think the whole mechanics of voting is in for a major overhaul. Obama, in his acceptance speech early Wednesday morning, made a very pointed comment about that. He thanked people for voting "whether you voted for the first time, or waited in line for a very long time." Then he added, with that serious look of his, "by the way we have to fix that."