PSA: Write-in With Care Tomorrow

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I know people may be sick of election-related posts, but as someone who sat through a two-hour meeting on this subject, I want to make sure everyone in the 34th Middlesex who is voting for Carl has their vote counted. This is an important election. [For the record, I've been assuming that anyone voting for Bob, who is on the ballot, has no questions about how to vote properly and make sure their vote is counted.]

Some information:

= The easiest thing to do is use a sticker. If you don't already have one, you can probably get one from campaigners in the vicinity of your polling place when you go to vote.

= Make sure it's a Democratic primary and that your vote is under Representative in General Court: 34th Middlesex District. Remember, his name won't be there and if you vote for him for the wrong office, it will *not* count.

= You can write in his name (Carl Sciortino) instead of using a sticker. You do not need his address for this to be counted. But do not use a sticker AND write him down, as this will be judged an "overvote" and not counted. This doesn't entirely make sense to me as it seems voter intent would be clear, but they were clear on it.

= Either way, be sure to connect the proper arrow (Somerville) or fill in the proper oval (Medford) and put your write-in/sticker in the right place. Take the extra minute to make sure it's done right. Not only will you decrease the chance of a mistake that causes your ballot to be invalidated, but it will make life easier for the folks who need to count them.

= You can ask for help if you need it, but workers are limited in the help that can be given. For example, if you don't already know which office a write-in is running for, you can't be told that. But if you realize you've made a mistake, you can ask for a new ballot. It's not a big deal.

For visual examples of the ballot, see Carl's web site. If you're undecided, you can see the various posts on this community that contain links and information on both Carl and Bob, such as this one and this one.

Comments

[laryu.livejournal.com]

So let me get this straight: You are a poll-worker and you are actively, explicitly and publicly advocating for one particular candidate in your official position as a poll-worker?

[laryu.livejournal.com]

Thank your for the edits to your post.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

No problem. I was actually in the middle of editing when you commented. (Clearly I need to be on tape-delay. :)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

First, why would that be a problem? Poll workers vote.

And second, there isn't actually any explicit advocacy of any candidate in the post (I made a small edit right after posting), just information for those who do support him.

(Also, just so everyone is clear, political advocacy is left outside the polls. We're not even supposed to let voters through who are wearing campaign shirts, buttons, etc.)

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

Its just sort of unseemly for a poll worker to explicitly advocate for one person while giving valid information. Anyway, I think the edit is appropriate.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Maybe I missed out on the edits, but I don't think there's anything worth getting worked up over: we're being told how to properly fill out our ballots so it's less of a pain for ALL the poll workers.

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

You probably missed the "I hope you all will fill in Carl's name" pre-edit.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Yep, did miss that, thanks.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

It was there for a few minutes and was removed along with some grammatical and punctuation errors (though there are probably more that I missed) and an additional link that I thought was interesting but could be taken the wrong way.

Of course, now there's a whole thread because someone commented while I was editing, and Matt's posted the gist of the removed parenthetical phrase.

A related piece of trivia is that in order to be a poll worker, you must be a registered state voter (until this year, you had to be a registered in the city, even) which means that if you are so neutral that you remove yourself from that part of the process entirely, you can't have the job. :)

[laryu.livejournal.com]

As noted, I appreciate the edit, which I think is perfectly appropriate so please consider any concerns about the current post dropped from my perspective.

And, of course I should expect that you, as a pollworker, would be a voter, would have strong preferences, and would even be more engaged with campaigns than the typical citizen would be. Campaign as much and as hard as you want, my point is to consider avoiding it while wearing the pollworker hat. Doing so risks undermining the voters' trust that personal political beliefs will not color the judgments needed to carry out pollworker duties.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Oh, I totally agree that it can look bad, which was why I was changing it, of course. I'm just not sure if that I think that there *is* anything wrong with it, as such, if that makes sense. Ah, politics. I'm not very good at it. :)

(We do get paid for the day, but it's so little for so much that's it's probably best to consider it volunteer work, or one is likely to feel quite undervalued. That said, it's still pretty neat to experience the process from that side, and they are always looking for more people if anyone is interested in working the big day in November.)

*off to the polls*

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

You'd prefer her to give only incorrect information when advocating a candidate???

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

Only if it is a candidate I don't vote for. :)

In other words, I really hope all democrats get out and vote as it is their right as citizens. Even though I'm not a democrat, voting itself is too important a civic duty. Please, democrats, go to the polls on Wednesday November 5th.

[agnosticoracle.livejournal.com]

I think some people are bothered when the illusion that there are these people who are completely neutral with no will of their own is broken. The reality of real people who behave ethically while having preferences is messy.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

It's interesting to think about given that those with much greater power (like the people who run the whole process) advocate for candidates all the time.

On election day, the entire process is open to public observation, and I expect this time we will likely have relevant observers pretty much the entire time. They can listen to every name being checked in and out and watch the entire tabulation process as well.

Everything is also done by multiple people.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

It's interesting to think about given that those with much greater power (like the people who run the whole process) advocate for candidates all the time.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Were_missing_Florida_ballots_thrown_out_0911.html

By the way, the coda to this story? They found the ballots, all of them.

Plus another 200 ballots for the same election.

:::headdesk:::

[ilai]

I've been trying to figure out how this works--I just signed up to be a poll worker this past summer, and wasn't sure how much I should be careful about advocacy/donations/etc. But the meeting on Wednesday didn't forbid it, so I figure it's not a problem except while we're working the polls (or coming within 150 feet of them).

I'm also assigned to the TAB, so I guess I'll see/meet you tomorrow :-)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Excellent! See you bright and early. I think it's going to be an interesting day.

[tisana.livejournal.com]

"We're not even supposed to let voters through who are wearing campaign shirts, buttons, etc."

Really??
I had no idea. What's the basis for that?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

The polling places are supposed to be influence-free zones. A voter wearing a campaign item can be seen as advocating for the candidate. You can bring items in with you that may help in your vote (say, a sticker sheet, pamphlets, etc), but you can't display them or leave them behind. This extends to a 150' radius around the location, but that number can be fudged as appropriate to the particulars of the locale.

Quote:
General Law chapter 54, section 65 prohibits within 150 feet of a polling location, among other things, the posting, exhibition, circulation, or distribution of material--including pasters, stickers, posters, cards, handbills, placards, pictures or circulars--intended to influence the action of the voter. G. L. 54, § 65 (1998 ed)

[ron_newman]

It happened once to me, years ago. I forgot I was wearing a sticker for some candidate I supported. The poll worker asked me to remove it or cover it over (e.g. with a jacket).

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Are there other rules for what voters can't do or wear? For example, could someone with no shirt or shoes vote?

[ron_newman]

I don't see why not -- a polling place is not a restaurant.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Are you sure you don't need to include the address of a write-in? I heard it's required.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

It is not required in situations where there is unambiguous voter intent. If there were two Jane Does in the district, none of whom had known write-in campaigns, then yes, an address would be required, but in this case, we have multiple active write-in campaigns going on. (Though people are probably less familiar with the ones for Register of Probate.)

Candidate's address not required

[ron_newman]

From How to Run for Office as a Sticker or Write-in Candidate on Secretary of State Galvin's website:

All write-in or sticker votes should include the correct name and address of the candidates, but the courts have decided that a vote should be counted whenever the intent of the voter can reasonably be determined, even if the voter omits the candidate’s address or makes a mistake in the name or address. However, such votes are counted for the office where the name is written or sticker placed."

Also worth reading: How to Request a Recount:

Chapter 54, section 77 of the General Laws instructs a voter intending to write-in a candidate on the ballot to insert "the name and residence of such candidate in the space provided". The court has recognized the address requirement as a direction to the voter rather than a mandatory requirement. In O'Brien v. Board of Election Commissioners, 257 Mass. 332, 338-339, 153 N.E. 553, 556 (1926) the court said "that if the intent of the voter can be determined with reasonable certainty from an inspection of the ballot, in the light of the generally known conditions attendant upon the election, effect must be given to that intent... The omission of the residence ... on some ballots on which the name had been written by the voters rightly was found not to invalidate such votes." Maiewski v. Board of Registrars of Voters, 347 Mass. 681, 199 N.E. 2d 680 (1964).

Aren't there any laws about this?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

How can Mr. Buonomo be allowed to be on the Ballot??? Are there any other candidates for that position?

http://community.livejournal.com/somervillemass/146652.html

Re: Aren't there any laws about this?

[ron_newman]

His indictment is unrelated to the election laws which provide deadlines for filing nomination papers, or withdrawing from the ballot. Several people are running write-in campaigns for this office.

Re: Aren't there any laws about this?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Ron, how do I find out who is running write-in campaign for this office? I want to vote for someone else! Thanks.

Re: Aren't there any laws about this?

[ron_newman]

Blue Mass. Group recommends writing in Tom Concannon, former mayor of Newton.

Re: Aren't there any laws about this?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

He was already on the ballot when he resigned, and did not remove himself from it (or perhaps could not due to deadlines? I'm not sure). It's an interesting situation, to be sure, and none of the write-in candidates have run particularly loud campaigns (or I haven't heard a word from a single one of them, anyway).

I found this article via Google that covers some of the issues and people. (http://insidemedford.com/2008/09/10/register-of-probate-buonomo-resigns-is-still-on-ballot/)

Re: Aren't there any laws about this?

[ron_newman]

Even if he had died, his name could not be removed from the ballot once the deadline for removal had passed. If he wins the election anyway and declines the nomination (as he's expected to), a caucus of Democratic town and ward committees will convene to pick a replacement candidate.

Re: Aren't there any laws about this?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks!

Re: Aren't there any laws about this?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

i've been hearing a fair bit from o'donovan's campaign.

he's shooting for the "working families party" ballot, and i'm an unenrolled voter, so he may be targetting me as a possible WFP voter.

Re: Aren't there any laws about this?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Maybe he thinks you might be related? :)

Re: Aren't there any laws about this?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

WICKED PISSAH MICK VOTE FTW.

actually, I'm pretty sure his dad and my dad did business together Back In The Day.