Spoiled Ballots

[XLFD]

Since voters of all ages can now get an absentee ballot without expressing a reason why they need to, the use of absentee ballots are increasing dramatically as the party primaries hit Michigan next week.  This has exacerbated an issue that has came up at previous primaries where Super Tuesdays have caused candidates to either suspend their campaign or drop out of the race formally.

Almost half a million voters in Michigan are voting absentee and some may have already filled out and sent in their ballots. If that happens and the Democrat candidate you selected is no longer one of the three candidates, you can still change your vote. 

At one point there were more than two dozen hopefuls on the blue side. But with Elizabeth Warren, Mike Bloomberg, Amy Klobuchar, and Pete Buttigieg all dropping out in the past few days, some of those votes are scheduled to go to someone who is out of the race.  With just three Democrat candidates left, what happens if you voted for one of the others?

Your absentee ballot has to be spoiled. To do that, you have to go to your local clerk's office and make sure they know you want to recast your ballot.

You have to submit a written request to your clerk that's signed and asking for a new ballot or if you wish to vote on Election Day at the polls. To spoil your vote, you have to get your request into the clerk's office by 2 p.m. on the Saturday before Election Day (March 7) or you can go in person to the clerk's office by Monday, March 9th.

The voter can obtain a new absentee ballot there or vote at the polls. There is no option on Election Day to spoil an absentee ballot that has been received by the clerk.

After you get the absent voter ballot, you have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to complete and return it to the clerk's office, or it will not be counted.

If you are worried about this process, you do so with good reason.  Although absentee voting amounted to a very small number of votes cast in the period of 2000-2012, absentee ballot fraud was at the top of the list of types of election fraud.  The initiated law may make voting more convenient for some who just don't feel like voting at their polling location on election day, but it also makes it easier for election fraud to happen.  

The voters are supposed to take it on faith of their clerks that their previous ballots will be spoiled and that their new ballot is the only one counted, but is there any safeguard for the rare unscrupulous clerk who does not spoil the initial ballot according to process.  Consider that in a Democrat (or Republican) stronghold for the general election in November, what is preventing somebody from effectively voting twice by sending in a ballot, saying oops, and then voting another time?  Or what if the clerk takes offense at the voter's MAGA hat and spoils both votes?  

How can we be sure that this added level of complexity does not disenfranchise the party not represented by a crooked and partisan clerk? Should we feel comfortable with the election process when clerks and other election officials get used to spoiling votes even when those votes reflected the will of the voter when made? 

Various news media have reported on this mechanism to spoil ballots but neither have made it very clear on how the process has mechanisms that avoid fraud and insure that those who follow the rules do not get their own vote spoiled.  When there's a lot being spoiled, there's something rotten and corrupt not far in the future. 

[Willy]

Good topic X. This absentee voting has been pushed by progressives and Democrats for years and I think it will lead to trouble. Just the fact that people are now going to vote twice because they voted for a candidate that is no longer running for office is a bad sign. I do not trust the absentee ballot system but I admit, it was necessary for people who could not physically get to the polls. Now that everyone can vote absentee makes it obvious that this new system will be corrupted and taken advantage where ever possible. I heard on the radio not long ago that the next thing to be pushed will be voting via cell phones and computers. We are entering dangerous waters by changing the established voting rules. How will people know if their ballot has been counted or even received. Who's going to check anyway. Will people who want to check on their ballots be made to file a FOIA and pay a fee for that information.

[XLFD]

There are three basic ways  that 'convenience' voting by no-excuse absentee ballots have been shown to be detrimental to the voting process:

1) Increased risk of fraud: as noted, this is the leading instance of election fraud primarily because it has less oversight by election inspectors, and is considerably easy to exploit.

2) Unreliability:  Ballots can be lost in the mail or delivered late, and might be disqualified because the voter forgot to sign the mailing envelope or because officials determine that the voter’s signature wasn’t a close enough match to the signature on file-- issues that do not arise for normal voting.

3) Decreased turnout:  Contrary to what some may think, once no-excuse voting is enacted in a state, statistics show that they have declining voting rates compared to similar states with stricter voting rules.

Convenience for those able souls who could otherwise make it to the polls on election day is not enough to make this a great idea.  It's necessary for the military, the infirm, and other people with valid excuses, but it's otherwise rife with problems.