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rusty022 t1_ivgguow wrote

Reply to comment by oldschoolskater in Fetterman predicts early Republican lead in vote counting due to changes by GOP lawmakers | The Hill by oldschoolskater

What method is used in other places, and around the world? If you count early, is that count public (which could impact future voters)? Don't some people send in a mail-in ballot but then change their vote by voting in-person with a provisional ballot? I think it's legitimately complicated, but far from too complicated to make this work well.

What would you suggest for a statewide mix of in-person and mail-in ballots, combined with provisional ballots?

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ryumast3r t1_ivi2519 wrote

38 of the 50 U.S. states (including the 4 most-populous states) allow "processing" of absentee/mail-in ballots prior to election day.

Processing means different things depending on exact state statutes, but can include anything from simply comparing the signature to the voter roll to make sure they match all the way up to running ballots through the scanner but not hitting the "tabulate" button which compiles the results. It usually includes signature match, removing from the envelope, flattening it, and stacking it with other ballots.

This way, when counting can officially begin (again, different depending on the state), all the officials have to do is put it in the machine for tabulation or hit the button to get the result, making the whole process much faster.

In California, for example, the first results published are almost always the mail-in ballots that were received well in advance of election day and have been prepped and were allowed to start being counted up to 29 days prior to the election.

Someone mentioned earlier that this could lead to vote tallies being leaked, however I've never seen that be an issue in California and, being the most populous state, you'd think if it were going to happen that's where it would occur. This is mostly because they aren't tabulated in a central system prior to election day.

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throwaway01002030405 t1_ivgijqg wrote

Prep the mail in votes ahead of time so they can be scanned more expeditiously. I think the counties could handle scanning all their mail ins on Election Day. Then just wait until after the polls close to start reporting. Provisionals should be held back until they’re verified as not being a second vote from someone who’s already cast one.

I don’t think you can cancel your mail ballot and vote provisionally after it’s been sent in. You can certainly turn it in and vote in person, but I think once it’s out of your hands and at the county office, it’s… out of your hands

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rusty022 t1_ivgj21l wrote

>I don’t think you can cancel your mail ballot and vote provisionally after it’s been sent in. You can certainly turn it in and vote in person, but I think once it’s out of your hands and at the county office, it’s… out of your hands

Hmm, you may be right. I think I recall provisional requires handing in your mail-in ballot at the polling center?

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throwaway01002030405 t1_ivgld81 wrote

It’s even a little more granular: if you bring every piece of paper and envelope of your mail in ballot to the polls, a poll worker can accept it and you can vote with a regular day-of ballot. If you forget any of the pieces you have to vote with a provisional. And actually if you forget the whole mail-in ballot entirely you can still vote with a provisional, cause they check to make sure you haven’t sent anything else in before they count it

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srpayj t1_ivgkyi8 wrote

If you believe your mail in vote was lost or will not be counted for some technical reason. You can vote provisional. They review each provisional ballot after all the other votes are counted. If they see you already vote by mail or in person your provisional ballot will not be counted. I did this after my mail in ballot got lost in the postal system. The even notified me they counted it…. More than a week later.

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Icy-Project861 t1_ivhxr4d wrote

Poll worker here. In PA, this is correct.

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Thezedword4 t1_ivi9dqu wrote

Question: if you received a mail in ballot but did not fill it out or send it, do you need to bring it with you to vote like a commenter above is stating?

I received one automatically as did my partner (i think because we did in 2020) but since we had issues with mail in for the primaries, we're both voting in person

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Icy-Project861 t1_ivj5egw wrote

If you live in PA, you must bring your mail in ballot with you, or you will have to vote provisional. It will still count as long as you haven’t sent in your mail in ballot, but it will take a few more steps.

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Thezedword4 t1_ivlwmlk wrote

Thank you! They gave me all kinds of problems when I brought my mail in ballot in because it had a different address than where I'm registered. But I was at the polling location where I'm registered. Same place I've voted for 10 years. The mailing location and the registered location had the same ballot of people to vote for. My mail in ballot had a different address because I'm renting and move so much so I use my mom's address as I always have. I never had an issue before so I found that odd.

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