The last time I voted, Am I wrong about this?

Gaer

Gaer

"Angel whisperer"
Location
New Mexico U.S.A.
Am I wrong about this?
The last time I voted, there was a long table with four ladies sitting behind them.
The first lady asked my name.
She checked my name off a list. They handed me the ballot.

Wait! "Don't you need my voter ID card?"
"No."
"My driver's licence?"
"No."
"Do you need my address?"
"No."

Well, something isn't right.
"Excuse me but, How do you know I am who I say I am without validation?"
"How do you know I even live in this district?"
"Doesn't this kinda open the door for voter fraud?"

The four ladies looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
Time for me to close my mouth and just vote.
Are we not to question this?
 

That’s how it has always worked where I live.

The latest twist is that they mail me a card notifying me of the polling place. The card has a barcode that can be used to check me in at the polling place. Sometimes I remember to take the card and some times I just give them my name.

It would be very difficult for any meaningful amount of voter fraud to take place. The scammers would need an army of people to physically go to the polls before the real registered voter. The scam would be uncovered as soon as one or two legitimate voters showed up and tried to double vote.

I vote to keep it simple.
 
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I think we should make voting as easy as possible.

However I also think we need to make sure that only registered voters vote, and one once...

In Florida we were always IDed, even when known to the people at the polls.

Now in Utah, I vote by mail and don't remember if I was ever IDed. Probably was when I first registered. They do seem to do a good job of tracking people and checking signatures. Some small percentage of the mail in ballots are questioned, those votes are marked as questionable until checked out. Most do end up checking out.
 
Aunt Bea said:
If voter fraud is a big issue why don’t our voter turnout numbers improve dramatically!
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Don't know. I suspect voter fraud is rare, and rarely if ever effects the outcome of elections.

However, I think it is an important issue. It's important that people feel like they can trust the system, and right now agree with them or not a lot of people don't. I believe we should try to fix that, without blocking legitimate voting.
 
Alligatorob said:
Don't know. I suspect voter fraud is rare, and rarely if ever effects the outcome of elections.

However, I think it is an important issue. It's important that people feel like they can trust the system, and right now agree with them or not a lot of people don't. I believe we should try to fix that, without blocking legitimate voting.
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I feel a new multi billion dollar government agency, similar to the TSA, starting to form.

We can call it the VSA, Voter Security Administration.

I feel safer already. 🤭
 
Gaer said:
Am I wrong about this?
The last time I voted, there was a long table with four ladies sitting behind them.
The first lady asked my name.
She checked my name off a list. They handed me the ballot.

Wait! "Don't you need my voter ID card?"
"No."
"My driver's licence?"
"No."
"Do you need my address?"
"No."

Well, something isn't right.
"Excuse me but, How do you know I am who I say I am without validation?"
"How do you know I even live in this district?"
"Doesn't this kinda open the door for voter fraud?"

The four ladies looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
Time for me to close my mouth and just vote.
Are we not to question this?
Click to expand...


What happens if two or more Gaer's show up? .... every single one gets to vote? .... After all, there are people with the same name.
 
Bonnie said:
What happens if two or more Gaer's show up? .... every single one gets to vote?
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Don't know about New Mexico, but when that happens here in Utah the votes are flagged and checked before a final count is issued. That is if they give the same address and are not registered as a junior and senior or something...

I believe Utah is pretty good about examining questionable votes. Hope that is the case most places.

If you lose the mail in ballot it's pretty easy to replace, but if both get sent in they investigate.
 
Here in Canada there is a permanent national voter's list that is maintained by Elections Canada, a arm of the Federal Government. Each year when you file your income tax return, you can check off a box on the return, to have the Revenue Canada Agency forward your name and address to Elections Canada to update the Voter's List. For a Federal election, Elections Canada sends out reminder cards to each registered voter on the list. The card shows your name and address, and the location of your voting place. These come about 3 weeks before the voting day. For Provincial elections and municipal elections, the Federal Voter's list is used to send out the voters cards. In Canada a Federal election campaign is only 40 to 50 days long from start to voting day. At the poll, a voter produces their voter's card, and the person's name is struck off the list, they are given a ballot, they go and fill it out, bring it back to the desk, and the poll worker deposits it in the ballot box. In Canada the only thing you are voting on are the candidates standing for election in your district, no extra questions, no propositions. We still use a simple one page ballot with the names of the candidates, with no political party mentioned. You are expected to know who is running for each party. In Municipal elections in Canada, there are no political party designations, the candidates run on their own merits. Mail in ballots are now commonly used, but the person casting their vote still has to be on the Voter's list for it to be counted. JimB.
 
jimintoronto said:
Here in Canada there is a permanent national voter's list that is maintained by Elections Canada, a arm of the Federal Government. Each year when you file your income tax return, you can check off a box on the return, to have the Revenue Canada Agency forward your name and address to Elections Canada to update the Voter's List. For a Federal election, Elections Canada sends out reminder cards to each registered voter on the list. The card shows your name and address, and the location of your voting place. These come about 3 weeks before the voting day. For Provincial elections and municipal elections, the Federal Voter's list is used to send out the voters cards. In Canada a Federal election campaign is only 40 to 50 days long from start to voting day. At the poll, a voter produces their voter's card, and the person's name is struck off the list, they are given a ballot, they go and fill it out, bring it back to the desk, and the poll worker deposits it in the ballot box. In Canada the only thing you are voting on are the candidates standing for election in your district, no extra questions, no propositions. We still use a simple one page ballot with the names of the candidates, with no political party mentioned. You are expected to know who is running for each party. In Municipal elections in Canada, there are no political party designations, the candidates run on their own merits. Mail in ballots are now commonly used, but the person casting their vote still has to be on the Voter's list for it to be counted. JimB.
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Sounds organized and practical. Do you have the kind of voter fraud concerns some of us seem to have?

Ideas I particularly like include:
  • "Federal election campaign is only 40 to 50 days long from start to voting day. and
  • the names of the candidates, with no political party mentioned"
We should learn from you.
 
jimintoronto said:
Here in Canada there is a permanent national voter's list that is maintained by Elections Canada, a arm of the Federal Government. Each year when you file your income tax return, you can check off a box on the return, to have the Revenue Canada Agency forward your name and address to Elections Canada to update the Voter's List. For a Federal election, Elections Canada sends out reminder cards to each registered voter on the list. The card shows your name and address, and the location of your voting place. These come about 3 weeks before the voting day. For Provincial elections and municipal elections, the Federal Voter's list is used to send out the voters cards. In Canada a Federal election campaign is only 40 to 50 days long from start to voting day. At the poll, a voter produces their voter's card, and the person's name is struck off the list, they are given a ballot, they go and fill it out, bring it back to the desk, and the poll worker deposits it in the ballot box. In Canada the only thing you are voting on are the candidates standing for election in your district, no extra questions, no propositions. We still use a simple one page ballot with the names of the candidates, with no political party mentioned. You are expected to know who is running for each party. In Municipal elections in Canada, there are no political party designations, the candidates run on their own merits. Mail in ballots are now commonly used, but the person casting their vote still has to be on the Voter's list for it to be counted. JimB.
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I'm curious are all Canadians required to file an income tax return?

Does that mean you don't have to be a Canadian citizen to vote?
 
Aligator.

Voter fraud is virtually unheard of in Canada, because of the national voters list, and the need to bring your voter's card on election day. The forms of acceptable identification are numerous, with at least one Government issued one with a photo and signature, plus another one that has your name and home address on it. I use my Canadian Citizenship card, plus my Ontario Driver's license at the poll station. The election campaigns are short in duration because parties don't have to run a leaders convention. They already have their national or Provincial party leaders in place. In Canada you don't have to be a member of a specific party to vote for it. Over my life time ( I am 76 ) I have voted for 4 different parties in national elections, and in my Province there are 5 parties to choose from . The city of Toronto will hold municipal elections this fall for Mayor, members of city council, and school board trustees, both Catholic and Public boards. All of those positions are for a 4 year period.

In Canada certain types of employment (Police officers, members of the Canadian Forces, and Judges ) cannot publically endorse any party or individual candidate. The idea is that they must maintain a neutral position in public. So here you would not see election signs on a military base in the married quarters housing area. Police officers cannot put election signs on their private motor vehicles, or on their property. Judges cannot endorse any party or candidate by words or actions. Judges and Crown prosecutors in Canada are selected not elected, and the 9 Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada are selected by a Parliamentary all party commission from a list prepared by the Privy Council. The Supremes only hear appeal cases. Justices must have been a practicing criminal trial lawyer, then have at least 15 years in a Federal court division. The latest addition is a woman who is a Aboriginal , who has been on the Ontario Court of Appeals for 15 years. She is the first Aboriginal woman to sit on the Canadian Supreme Court. The Justices must retire when they reach 75 years of age.

I recently saw a video of President Biden at a speech in PA, and there were at least 20 Police officers in uniform standing behind him in the crowd. You would never see that happen in Canada, due to the rules about "staying neutral ". Obviously Police officers here are able to vote, but they cannot openly support any party or candidate, under the powers of the Police Act. JimB.
 
The costs of fraudulent voting are far greater than whatever benefits you may achieve. You could go to prison for five years for illegal voting, and unless you can get 1,000s of people to also vote illegally, you're not going to make a difference. That's one of the reasons why we don't have an illegal voting problem here in the U.S.

In Florida, the government is allowing ineligible voters to register to vote and then arresting them after they vote. Most of them have no idea what they did wrong. They sincerely believed they were eligible since they were able to register. They're being arrested, put in jail, and released on $1,000 bond. Most of them are poor and don't have that kind of money.
 
I think I will vote by mail from now on. It's only a five block walk, x 2, but the weather, my physicality, my moods, everyone will be better off if I vote by mail.
 
Same here Gaer, but the thing that really annoys me is,
whether I show them the voter's card or not, they tick
my name on a list, then somebody gives me the voting
paper and tells the one with the list, the number of the
paper that he/she has just given me!

I keep asking why they bother with ballot boxes, the answer
is always for secrecy, but then I point out that it isn't secret
if they keep a record of the number of the paper that I used
to cast my vote, they have no answer to that.

Mike.
 
SeniorBen said:
It would be extremely easy to get a fake voter registration card if someone really wanted to commit voter fraud.
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Maybe, but how easy is it to get a fake drivers license and forge someone's signature next to the real one in the registry?
Note... you need all these to vote in our county in Arkansas.
 

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