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So there's a mail-in county ballot coming up. I got the thing in the mail the
other day and just opened it. Now I'm confused, and deeply suspicious.

The ballot instructions clearly state "Do not place any marks on the ballot
which would in any way identify the ballot." That's straight from the
instructions right beside me.

But then you are instructed to sign the ballot and put your resident address
there - and not only is my voter registration number on the envelope address,
but it's also hand-written on the ballot itself.

I don't like this.

--
I understand that Google are going to release a beta version of Google
****wit shortly. Google ****wit will be used alongside Google Groups
to parse the maunderings of their moron posters into passable English.
--Dave, nanae

Mara wrote:
> So there's a mail-in county ballot coming up. I got the thing in the mail the
> other day and just opened it. Now I'm confused, and deeply suspicious.
>
> The ballot instructions clearly state "Do not place any marks on the ballot
> which would in any way identify the ballot." That's straight from the
> instructions right beside me.
>
> But then you are instructed to sign the ballot and put your resident address
> there - and not only is my voter registration number on the envelope address,
> but it's also hand-written on the ballot itself.
>
> I don't like this.

You must be in good standing with the party in power or you'd never
received your ballot.

On Or About Sun, 29 Jul 2007 19:24:38 -0500, Without Any Hesitation
Or Thinking Twice, Mara Stumbled Over To The Keyboard And wrote The
Following In The 24hoursupport.helpdesk News Group:

> So there's a mail-in county ballot coming up. I got the thing in the mail the
> other day and just opened it. Now I'm confused, and deeply suspicious.
>
> The ballot instructions clearly state "Do not place any marks on the ballot
> which would in any way identify the ballot." That's straight from the
> instructions right beside me.
>
> But then you are instructed to sign the ballot and put your resident address
> there - and not only is my voter registration number on the envelope address,
> but it's also hand-written on the ballot itself.
>
> I don't like this.

If your registration number is written on the ballot, then the ballot
is no longer secret. Must be a scam. Be careful, good luck.
--
Just West Of Nowhere
Enjoy Life And Live It To Its Fullest
http://www.NuBoy-Industries.Com
7/29/2007 8:36:11 PM CST

"Mara" <> wrote in message
news:...
> So there's a mail-in county ballot coming up. I got the thing in the mail
> the
> other day and just opened it. Now I'm confused, and deeply suspicious.
>
> The ballot instructions clearly state "Do not place any marks on the
> ballot
> which would in any way identify the ballot." That's straight from the
> instructions right beside me.
>
> But then you are instructed to sign the ballot and put your resident
> address
> there - and not only is my voter registration number on the envelope
> address,
> but it's also hand-written on the ballot itself.
>
> I don't like this.


Mara,

You didn't mention where you are or anything specific, and this is not
exactly where I would start to get information about a local ballot, but
here's my take on your situation. I am going on the assumption that you are
in the United States (where I am) (part of the reason I emphasized that you
gave no information about the procedure). Here, the only time you get a
mail-in ballot would be if you registered as absentee. In other words, if
you are not able to go to a voting place on the day of the election, you may
get what is called an absentee ballot either in person or in the mail. But
YOU would have to apply for it. Anyone sending you unsolicited stuff in the
mail would not be a valid ballot. You say that you are concerned that your
voter registration is already filled in. To me, this is a mark towards it's
legitimacy. Who else but the county board of elections would have that
information? Why else besides balloting would anyone want it? Again
though, there is no such thing as a mail-in ballot in the United States.
Constitutional issues dictate that you must (unless you yourself make other
arrangements like absentee) come and cast your own vote.

Now, if you are somewhere other than the United States, let us know where
and maybe someone with knowledge of your country's voting can help you out.
I would also suggest looking to see if there is a website for the county or
local board of elections where you can get specific information. Also,
maybe there is a telephone number to reach them.

--
Brian J. Whiting

On Sun, 29 Jul 2007 21:06:36 -0400, Rôgêr <> wrote:

>Mara wrote:
>> So there's a mail-in county ballot coming up. I got the thing in the mail the
>> other day and just opened it. Now I'm confused, and deeply suspicious.
>>
>> The ballot instructions clearly state "Do not place any marks on the ballot
>> which would in any way identify the ballot." That's straight from the
>> instructions right beside me.
>>
>> But then you are instructed to sign the ballot and put your resident address
>> there - and not only is my voter registration number on the envelope address,
>> but it's also hand-written on the ballot itself.
>>
>> I don't like this.
>
>You must be in good standing with the party in power or you'd never
>received your ballot.

I didn't want to receive this one, but as a county taxpayer they had to send it.
I'm already involved in this a WHOLE lot more than I ever wanted to be. I don't
think it's anyone's business how I vote - and I *know* this place. What possible
reason could there be to hand-write your number on the ballot itself, unless you
were trying to keep track of who voted which way?

This bothers me. A lot.

--
Og thought there was such thing as "evolution". How all these stupid
people still alive? Og boggle.
--Caveman Og, nanae, 5/11/2000

In article <>,
says...
> What possible
> reason could there be to hand-write your number on the ballot itself, unless you
> were trying to keep track of who voted which way?

Maybe to prevent voter fraud?

I've gone in to vote a couple times over the years and my name was
already crossed off the list - and they have always required some form
of ID (not photo)... had to argue with them that I had not already
voted.

--
Leythos - (remove 999 to email me)

Learn more about PCBUTTS1 and his antics and ethic and his perversion
with Porn and Filth. Just take a look at some of the FILTH he's created
and put on his website: http://www.webservertalk.com/message1907860.html
3rd link shows what he's exposed to children (the link I've include does
not directly display his filth). You can find the same information by
googling for 'PCBUTTS1' and 'exposed to kids'.

In article <>, Mara
<> wrote:

> So there's a mail-in county ballot coming up. I got the thing in the mail the
> other day and just opened it. Now I'm confused, and deeply suspicious.
>
> The ballot instructions clearly state "Do not place any marks on the ballot
> which would in any way identify the ballot." That's straight from the
> instructions right beside me.
>
> But then you are instructed to sign the ballot and put your resident address
> there - and not only is my voter registration number on the envelope address,
> but it's also hand-written on the ballot itself.
>
> I don't like this.

But you have always placed great faith in the idea of a secret ballot.
You've never had any reason to assume it was always separate.

In this case, they are almost certainly keeping the ballot votes
separate from the verification that you can vote and have only sent in
one ballot.
The reason for the signature is likely that (for legal reasons) you
have to actually sign the instrument itself. I hope someone could
change that to signing the envelope instead, but who knows how much
effort is put into that.

I'll add my own criticism, though; paper ballots are serialized.
Therefore, anything that relates the approval of a voter with a
specific ballot fails the secrecy test.

On Sun, 29 Jul 2007 23:44:51 -1000, Mitch <> wrote:

>In article <>, Mara
><> wrote:
>
>> So there's a mail-in county ballot coming up. I got the thing in the mail the
>> other day and just opened it. Now I'm confused, and deeply suspicious.
>>
>> The ballot instructions clearly state "Do not place any marks on the ballot
>> which would in any way identify the ballot." That's straight from the
>> instructions right beside me.
>>
>> But then you are instructed to sign the ballot and put your resident address
>> there - and not only is my voter registration number on the envelope address,
>> but it's also hand-written on the ballot itself.
>>
>> I don't like this.
>
>But you have always placed great faith in the idea of a secret ballot.
>You've never had any reason to assume it was always separate.

It *should* be a secret ballot, because the issue is an "us against them" thing
and is highly volatile here.

>In this case, they are almost certainly keeping the ballot votes
>separate from the verification that you can vote and have only sent in
>one ballot.

But they already know that. They sent out the ballots, after all, and know that
every tax paying resident in the county gets one. Since they know where they
sent them, and a forgery would be easily spotted in this case, there is no
reason for the number to be hand-written on the actual ballot.

>The reason for the signature is likely that (for legal reasons) you
>have to actually sign the instrument itself. I hope someone could
>change that to signing the envelope instead, but who knows how much
>effort is put into that.

None. I'm betting it won't be two days after the ballot is officially counted
that it's all over town who voted for and against, and then we'll be right back
into this stupid, childish "us against them" crap that the rest of the world
outgrew about 100 years or so ago. I have steadfastly refused to be dragged into
this stupidity ever since I came here, even though everyone I've talked to has
tried their hardest to do just that. It seems to me that this vote will force
the issue, and it's one that I do not want to encourage.

>I'll add my own criticism, though; paper ballots are serialized.
>Therefore, anything that relates the approval of a voter with a
>specific ballot fails the secrecy test.

This is a small town. there is no such thing as secrecy here.

Or reality, either, which is the biggest part of the problem.

--
Og thought there was such thing as "evolution". How all these stupid
people still alive? Og boggle.
--Caveman Og, nanae, 5/11/2000

Leythos wrote:
> In article <>,
> says...
>> What possible
>> reason could there be to hand-write your number on the ballot itself, unless you
>> were trying to keep track of who voted which way?
>
> Maybe to prevent voter fraud?
>
> I've gone in to vote a couple times over the years and my name was
> already crossed off the list - and they have always required some form
> of ID (not photo)... had to argue with them that I had not already
> voted.

Vote early, vote often.

Mara wrote:

> This is a small town. there is no such thing as secrecy here.
>
> Or reality, either, which is the biggest part of the problem.

Small town here too. On a similar but different note, a couple of weeks
ago I looked out the window to see the garbage men picking up my trash.
Instead of tossing it into the back of the truck to be compacted, they
put it into the *cab* of the truck. Now I know what was going on, there
were quite a few aluminum cans in that particular bag and they were
going to sell the aluminum. Okay, not a problem as far as that goes. But
I don't like the idea of having people going through my trash, with them
knowing full well where it came from and whose it was.