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(little?) voting issue at ps9 — Brooklynian

(little?) voting issue at ps9

veggiequeen
veggiequeen
edited November -1 in Prospect Heights
So I just got back from voting with my husband. We waited in line for 45 min. Once inside the school, you had to wait in one for your voter card, then another line to get to the voting booth. My husband was inside the booth and I was next in line. This woman (another voter) comes up and asks what number is on my voting card. Her number was lower, so she was going to go in front of me. Well, then we realize that the numbers on our cards weren't going to match the number on the voting machine. So, for example, my husband's card had 300 on it but the machine was on 295. So, the votes weren't matching the voters. When my husband came out, one of the overseers just tells me to go in and vote. And I told her no way... I wanted the machine to match my card. So the guy taking the cards had to go up the counter on the booth. Then, the woman told the guy to make sure the card matches the machine.

I'm not really sure what to do about this. I wonder what will happen at the end of the day... do they compare the card count against the machine count? And if they don't match, will there be a problem with the votes not 'counting' or something?

Comments

  • supreme_ian
    supreme_ian
    that sounds crazy !
  • vanilla
    vanilla
    it's all F-D, everywhere. this is why i'm scared!
  • brookfetish
    brookfetish
    Something similar happened to my wife this AM. They had her name on the list twice, but once was spelled incorrectly. She didn't realize this, signed the wrong/mispelled listing, then went in line to vote with her card.

    I was a few people behind her and noticed the double listing in the book as I was signing my name. I tried to tell the volunteer, but they brushed me off saying it was another person (um, same address, same name...two spellings? no...same person). I went to the line and told my wife, who was now a few people in front of me. She left the line to get the situation clarified. Well, as she left, all the people in line behind her voted. She had card #84, I had card #89...but she voted just in front of me.

    Now, I'm curious - does the order in which you vote actually matter if all people end up voting?
  • veggiequeen
    veggiequeen
    Well I'm assuming that all the votes will 'count'. If I vote Obama and some else votes McCain (ugh) then both should count. It's just that if I ever needed to validate my vote, it would look like I voted for McCain.

    Right?!
  • whyfi
    whyfi
    VeggieQueen wrote: ...and some else votes McCain..
    but why would they do that? :?
  • veggiequeen
    veggiequeen
    WhyFi wrote: [quote=VeggieQueen]...and some else votes McCain..
    but why would they do that? :?

    Well I don't know. They are in PS... maybe they're hiding out here, too :)

    BTW I guess it's all about the secret ballot, so my vote shouldn't be tied to my name anyway.

    So hopefully all is well in our little world (can't say the same about other areas, unfortunately).
  • whatchuwant
    whatchuwant
    WhyFi wrote: [quote=VeggieQueen]...and some else votes McCain..
    but why would they do that? :?

    Shhh, WhyFi. They are among us.... :-$
  • bkchickie
    bkchickie
    Eeep. I didn't know anything about the numbers.

    Perhaps a call to the NYC elections dept. would clarify this?
  • eterpay
    eterpay
    I doubt the number on your card has to match the number on the machine because votes are anonymous.

    I think the system is just designed to make sure you don't vote more than once. If 300 people signed in and the machine recorded 350 votes, that would be a problem. But if there were only 295 votes in the machine it just sounds like 5 people either didn't record their votes properly, or bailed out on the line.
  • jocelyn
    jocelyn
    I don't even know what cards or #'s you guys are talking about. This wasn't an issue in my polling place. (Clinton Hill) They just looked your name up on the rolls and then let you in the booth.
  • daisyh
    daisyh
    this has nothing to do with the polling issues, but thought people would get a kick out of seeing this:

    http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/early-lines-reported-at-many-polling-places/
  • veggiequeen
    veggiequeen
    jocelyn wrote: I don't even know what cards or #'s you guys are talking about. This wasn't an issue in my polling place. (Clinton Hill) They just looked your name up on the rolls and then let you in the booth.
    That's not good. They're definitely suppose to give you a card:

    "After you sign your name on the computer listing (poll list) of registered voters, a poll worker will issue you a voter card and direct you to a voting machine."

    From the NYC Board of Elections:

    http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/voting.html
  • modsquad
    modsquad
    eterpay wrote: I doubt the number on your card has to match the number on the machine because votes are anonymous.

    I think the system is just designed to make sure you don't vote more than once. If 300 people signed in and the machine recorded 350 votes, that would be a problem. But if there were only 295 votes in the machine it just sounds like 5 people either didn't record their votes properly, or bailed out on the line.
    Exactly, Once you've signed in the books you are a legal voter and anonymous from that point on.
    I find it hilarious that so many of you want to justify your hatred of Bush by looking for some lurid and vast plot to rob you, probably the most privileged class in America, of your rights.
  • brookfetish
    brookfetish
    modsquad wrote:
    I find it hilarious that so many of you want to justify your hatred of Bush by looking for some lurid and vast plot to rob you, probably the most privileged class in America, of your rights.
    Yeeeaaaah, nobody is doing that.
  • homeowner
    homeowner
    Okay, having worked at the polls in years past, here is the deal. You are supposed to get a card after you sign the book. That card is then handed to the worker at the actual booth before you enter. The reason is to make sure that no one is voting who hasn't properly signed in. Once you've signed the book, it doesn't matter what order you vote in. When the machines are checked to verify votes, they match the number of cards with the number of votes. After the election is over campaigns can (and have) protest the outcomes. If this happens the machine count and the card count are matched with the number of signatures. That way, they can determine whether people did not actually vote.

    Its not a big deal if you don't get a card. In some ED's where folks have worked together before and have a system going the person with the book will fill the card out and hand it directly to the person that is responsible for resetting the machine. That person can check the cards in their hand with the machine count (which is on the side of the old machines) to make sure that they haven't somehow lost count of the people. As long as you have a card, it doesn't matter what order you vote in. There is no way to go back and figure out who voter #85 voted for on the old machines. It just records totals.
  • apresvu
    apresvu
    I've been voting in NYC for twelve years now and this was the first time I was handed a voting card. I really don't think it counts for much, maybe to see how many people ditch the line. As an aside, it's invigorating to see the long lines(I know, who wants to wait). I've never waited so long to vote.
  • caaahyoko
    caaahyoko
    At my not-very-busy-polling station they did the whole just hand the voter card to the person at the machine (who was sitting 2 ft away) thing. It seems they do this if there's no line.
  • veggiequeen
    veggiequeen
    ok well nothing to see here folks... thanks!
  • xlizellx
    xlizellx
    i've worked polls across the country for years as well. it's simply to be sure that you checked in. they don't want someone slipping in, getting on line, voting, and then coming back in and signing in to vote. they only count the cards if there seems to be a discepency. places that have only one entrance and one booth don't do cards in some places. they have you line up outside of the room where you vote, you walk in the door, sign in, vote in the booth, and then leave the room. in NYC most places are gyms or auditoriums so it's not as simple.
  • vanilla
    vanilla
    there were no cards - my name was not there - they didn't check my i.d. for the paper ballot - they didn't check what name i wrote on the ballot -
  • underhill_mt
    underhill_mt
    Another teensy issue (but one that was no problem in the end): I changed my name recently, received a voter reg card in the mail with my new name, yet the book didn't have me listed tonight. My husband pointed out that perhaps I was listed with my old name and lo and behold - there I was still listed with my maiden name. I almost had to use a paper ballot. Even the pollworker said, "Oh, you lucked out. You don't want that paper ballot."

    Now that I think of it, they didn't ask me for an ID or any form of proof that the name I used to vote is my former name. It would be pretty hard to come up with that story to defraud someone out of a vote, so I'm sure they had no reason to ask me for ID... just seems kinda funny that I didn't have to show a thing when there was an issue with my registered name.
  • queencallipygos
    queencallipygos
    VeggieQueen wrote: [quote=jocelyn]I don't even know what cards or #'s you guys are talking about. This wasn't an issue in my polling place. (Clinton Hill) They just looked your name up on the rolls and then let you in the booth.
    That's not good. They're definitely suppose to give you a card:

    "After you sign your name on the computer listing (poll list) of registered voters, a poll worker will issue you a voter card and direct you to a voting machine."

    From the NYC Board of Elections:

    http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/voting.html

    I asked about that, but it looks like what happened is:

    Usually, one person gives you a card, and then you hand that card to the person sitting next to the booth. THIS time, the person writing out the card WAS the person sitting next to the booth, so there was no need for her to give it to you just for you to hand it back to her.

    The cards did exist, I saw them. They just cut us out as the middlemen when it came to getting them from one pollworker to another.

    If there are concerns, call your voting office, of course, but from what I saw happening it looked more like they were short-staffed so they just handled the paperwork differently.
  • naugastyle
    naugastyle
    What was the deal with some polling places being busy and some not? I was at the museum, 28th ED and it was 1 hr 45 minutes although it looked to be better midday when everyone would be at work--I finally got out of there around 10am and the line was slightly shorter than when I arrived, but not short by any definition. However, people were coming in from the 112th, 20th, 27th, and were in and out in under 30 minutes.

    I see that Veggie Queen did vote midday so that might explain the 45 minutes, but a friend in Boerum Hill who went probably around the same time as me was in and out in 20 min. My neighbor arrived an hour before me and waited the same amount of time that I did. Annoying, but so glad it all turned out great!
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