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

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).