[EL] “Some used P.O. box as address: Is that vote fraud?”

[John Tanner]

Even better to make registration automatic at NVRA agencies.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/12/22/875308/reliable-registration-is-key-to.html



On Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 10:38 AM, Doug Hess <douglasrhess at gmail.com> wrote:

> I know the CA SOS told me that they allow certain people (e.g., people
> fleeing abusive partners) to apply for the ability to use a generic address
> for their registration. Not sure how that works for celebrities, etc. I
> wonder how many states or counties handle the address issue for the
> homeless well.
>
> In any event, looking into these cases as fraud instead of as a policy
> problem or public misunderstanding shows how silly the which hunt has
> become.
>
> If the same amount of time from these officials went into fixing NVRA
> implementation, many of voter registration lists would be MUCH cleaner now.
>
> Douglas R. Hess, PhD
> Washington, DC
> ph. 202-277-6400
> douglasrhess at gmail.com
>
> Starting Aug. 2013:
>
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Political Science
> Grinnell College
> 1210 Park Street
> Grinnell, IA 50112-1670
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 3, 2013 at 4:03 PM, John Tanner <john.k.tanner at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> It always is necessary for election officials to have a voter's actual
>> address so that they will know which ballot style to give the voter.
>> Homeless people often are asked to specify a location - a shelter under a
>> specfic bridge (wehre rich and poor have an equal right to reside), etc -
>> and so have latitude.   Typically voter registration forms demand the
>> residential address and also have space for a mailing address
>> if different.  I don't know of the procedures for limiting access to home
>> address information, but state statutes there certainly should include such
>> procedures whenever there's a protective order.  But then they don't always
>> work.  I recall that in Mississippi  - I think it was 1983 - when a voter
>> was shot by his ex-wife at the polls on election day.
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 3, 2013 at 3:20 PM, Doug Hess <douglasrhess at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> An interesting news article from Rick's law blog (link below) with
>>> examples of people using what could be problematic addresses for voter
>>> registration. I think the idea for the homeless is that you use an address
>>> at which you can get mail. But is that the same address for determining
>>> what jurisdiction you live in? Note that the article lists other situations
>>> where this problem arises (e.g., people who want to hide from dangerous
>>> ex-spouses, etc.).
>>>
>>> I point this out because it makes the list cleaning and list checking
>>> work by people searching for fraud all the more difficult (and their
>>> results more likely to be off base). I.e., it's additional evidence that
>>> the public would be better off if officials and advocates were helping
>>> people keep their registrations up to date or informing them regarding what
>>> to do in situations where their real address is problematic, instead of
>>> spending so much time on fears of fraud.
>>>
>>> “Some used P.O. box as address: Is that vote fraud?”
>>> The Cincinnati Enquirer:
>>>
>>> http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201306030522/NEWS/306030024&nclick_check=1
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>>
>>
>
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