[EL] Quick question about provisional voting in California

[Fredric Woocher]

If by “identify the voter,” you mean will it have the voter’s name on it, then the answer is “yes.”  I can’t say that it is necessarily followed with 100% accuracy by every pollworker, but the surrendered ballot should be included with the VBM ballot envelope, which has the voter’s name and address printed on it.  As to whether that’s the same person who is the one who is turning it in, it will at least be someone claiming to be the same person, since when you sign in to vote in person, you must give your name and address and sign the poll book.  California, as you know, does not have photo i.d., however.

FDW

From: Mark Scarberry [mailto:mark.scarberry at pepperdine.edu]
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2020 12:33 PM
To: Douglas Johnson <djohnson at ndcresearch.com>
Cc: Fredric Woocher <fwoocher at strumwooch.com>; Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
Subject: Re: [EL] Quick question about provisional voting in California

For those of us who may be paranoid, will  the surrendered by-mail ballot identify the voter, so that the poll workers will know that it is the ballot that was sent to that voter by mail? If not, then the possibility of voter fraud, small as it may in any event be, would be increased.

Mark

[Pepperdine wordmark]

Caruso School of Law


Mark S. Scarberry

Professor of Law
mark.scarberry at pepperdine.edu<mailto:mark.scarberry at pepperdine.edu>

Personal: mark.scarberry at gmail.com<mailto:mark.scarberry at gmail.com>








On Mon, Aug 17, 2020 at 12:27 PM Douglas Johnson <djohnson at ndcresearch.com<mailto:djohnson at ndcresearch.com>> wrote:
My understanding is that even with electronic poll books an in-person voter still must surrender the by-mail ballot or vote provisionally. It’s just realistically impossible to track in real  time what received ballots are in the process of being counted.

On Mon, Aug 17, 2020 at 11:53 AM Fredric Woocher <fwoocher at strumwooch.com<mailto:fwoocher at strumwooch.com>> wrote:
Nate,

I do not know the answer for certain, but unless the voter hands in the unvoted VBM ballot, I don’t see how it could be otherwise.  For those counties that will still be using traditional polling places, there is no other way for the pollworkers to know whether the voted VBM has already been returned prior to casting a ballot at the polling place.

I believe some counties that have the ability to use electronic polling books, with real-time countywide information on who has voted and by what means, may be able to avoid the use of provisional ballots, but I don’t see how that can be avoided in other counties.

And this has the potential to introduce an additional grounds for invalidating the voted ballot, because many people forget to sign their provisional ballots in every election.

Fredric D. Woocher
Strumwasser & Woocher LLP
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From: Law-election [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu<mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu>] On Behalf Of Nate Persily
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2020 11:45 AM
To: Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu<mailto:law-election at uci.edu>>
Subject: [EL] Quick question about provisional voting in California

Does anyone know if the voters who will choose to vote in person in California this November will need to vote a provisional ballot?  That is, given that all active registrants will receive ballots in the mail, will those who opt for polling places necessarily be casting a provisional ballot, rather than a "normal" ballot?

----------------

Nate Persily

James B. McClatchy Professor of Law
Stanford Law School
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www.persily.com<http://www.persily.com/>
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