Count Every Vote in Los Angeles
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| Also listed in: Election Protection California |
(cross-posted on Crooks & Liars)
The Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters decided in they could save a few bucks by creating a complicated ballot design for the presidential primary. In 2008, that decision has now lead to the disenfranchisement of countless voters. What we don't know is the scope of the problem.
Here is the deal:
Almost 20% of California voters are registered as "Decline-to-State" (DTS). About 776,000 of these DTS voters live in Los Angeles County. To vote for President, like other DTS voters across the state, LA County DTS voters had to ask for a "Democratic Party ballot" on Tuesday (see funny, now prophetic video here).
However, in Los Angeles County -- and only Los Angeles County -- these DTS voters were given a special "Democratic Party" ballot that required voters not only to fill out a bubble for their favorite Democratic Party presidential candidate, but ALSO to fill in a bubble at the top that they wanted to vote "Democratic" -- a redundant requirement. According to the Los Angeles County ROV, if the DTS voter didn't fill in the redundant "Democratic" bubble, their vote would not be counted.
This is what we are calling "double bubble trouble".
The Courage Campaign, thanks to our lawyer Steven Reyes' eagle eyes, discovered that a failure to mark the "Democratic" bubble resulted in the vote not being counted. Regardless of the clear-cut intentions of voters, the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters (ROV) is refusing to do what is necessary to count these ballots.
Now, under a national spotlight, the ROV must do the right thing and count these votes correctly. Voter intent is clear. Missing the top bubble (and it's easy to miss) after you already asked specifically for a "Democratic" ballot -- and voted for a Democratic candidate -- should not mean that your vote goes uncounted.
This is not about the candidates. This is about making sure every vote is counted.
Help us fight to make sure every vote is counted and that this never happens again.
The Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters decided in they could save a few bucks by creating a complicated ballot design for the presidential primary. In 2008, that decision has now lead to the disenfranchisement of countless voters. What we don't know is the scope of the problem.
Here is the deal:
Almost 20% of California voters are registered as "Decline-to-State" (DTS). About 776,000 of these DTS voters live in Los Angeles County. To vote for President, like other DTS voters across the state, LA County DTS voters had to ask for a "Democratic Party ballot" on Tuesday (see funny, now prophetic video here).
However, in Los Angeles County -- and only Los Angeles County -- these DTS voters were given a special "Democratic Party" ballot that required voters not only to fill out a bubble for their favorite Democratic Party presidential candidate, but ALSO to fill in a bubble at the top that they wanted to vote "Democratic" -- a redundant requirement. According to the Los Angeles County ROV, if the DTS voter didn't fill in the redundant "Democratic" bubble, their vote would not be counted.
This is what we are calling "double bubble trouble".
The Courage Campaign, thanks to our lawyer Steven Reyes' eagle eyes, discovered that a failure to mark the "Democratic" bubble resulted in the vote not being counted. Regardless of the clear-cut intentions of voters, the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters (ROV) is refusing to do what is necessary to count these ballots.
Now, under a national spotlight, the ROV must do the right thing and count these votes correctly. Voter intent is clear. Missing the top bubble (and it's easy to miss) after you already asked specifically for a "Democratic" ballot -- and voted for a Democratic candidate -- should not mean that your vote goes uncounted.
This is not about the candidates. This is about making sure every vote is counted.
Help us fight to make sure every vote is counted and that this never happens again.
Three quarters of a million disenfranchised voters is no joke, especially in a delegate-rich state like California. What is the Courage Campaign going to do about this? Will you file a lawsuit to have the ballots recounted?
Many of us were given non-partisan ballots, even when we were asked if we wanted to vote in the Democratic primary and said "yes", and told this was the correct ballot.
And I know some people who were refused Democratic ballots entirely when they asked for one.
There was a *massive* failure in the voting system here, which is ridiculous for a country like the US.
What can I do to make sure all votes are counted?
I guess it doesn't matter since I didn't mark the double bubble. I stupidly thought that I only had to vote once for the candidate of my choice. It never occurred to me that I would have to declare my intention to vote for my candidate in addition to actually voting for my candidate.
The machine didn't spit out my ballot, so I assumed I had done everything properly.
The requirement to check this bubble serves no purpose whatsoever. THEY SHOULD COUNT ALL THE DTS VOTES REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THIS BUBBLE IS CHECKED and honor the spirit of the law.
Well here I am but I can't find any info on how to proceed.
Sorry for the delay. We are working right now on getting a button up on the front page to make this clear.
If you have a ballot stub and/or were a DTS voter in LA County and think you may have been disenfranchised please fill out this form.
Link
Thanks! And stay tuned.
Julia
Online Political Director
Link
Sorry about that.
Since he heads this organization perhaps he will follow through shortly.
Mistake #1) Even though I had changed my party affiliation to Democrat well before the January 22nd deadline my precinct had me on the roster as a "Decline-To-State" voter.
Mistake #2) When I asked for a Democratic Ballot I was given a Non-Partisan Ballot.
Mistake #3) NO ONE MENTIONED MARKING THE DEMOCRATIC BUBBLE.
Mistake #4) I was instructed to vote in the "Independent Party Booth" as opposed to the "Democratic Booth".
Mistake #5) When I went back to complain I was told by a poll worker that "it was only one vote".
I just can't fathom how all these failures happen in the country's most innovative state.
I want to know what I can do to make sure ALL of LA County's votes are counted. Please advise.
Anyway, echoing others in the comments, when are you going to start collecting our ballot numbers?
go to your website if you have no plan what to do
about it. I need to know who to contact or where
to go with my ballot receipt so that I can get
my vote counted.
The only suggestion I have to all other DTS, Green and Independent voters who were disenfranchised in California yesterday is to go to Link and take action! Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE and file a complaint! Do not go gentle into that good night!
given the independent ballot and told that she needed to vote in the independent polling booth but if she wanted to vote in the democratic primary she needed to mark the bubble signifying dem and then flip to the ballot initiatives...
Which means because of one individual giving bad information she and untold others ballot's and votes DO NOT COUNT and didn't even get to vote for a candidate!
I'm kicking myself because I had been listening to KPCC all day and heard the procedure but didn't feel as if I could say anything.
Is somebody working to get this on Slashdot?
...given the independent ballot and told that she needed to vote in the independent polling booth but if she wanted to vote in the democratic primary she needed to mark the bubble signifying dem and then flip to the ballot initiatives since the Independent polling booth and ballot didn't have the Democratic Candidates on it...
Which means because of one individual giving bad information she and untold others ballot's and votes DO NOT COUNT and didn't even get to vote for a candidate!
I'm kicking myself because I had been listening to KPCC's great coverage all day and heard the procedure but didn't feel as if I could say anything.
LA County has a serious problem today,
* Contact Rick Jacobs at the Courage Camapaign -- rjacobs (at) couragecampaign.org.
* L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo is asking for an investigation ( Link ). Write to him at Rocky.Delgadillo (at) lacity.org or call (213) 978-8100.
* There's a national non-partisan group called the Election Protection Coalition: Please call their hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE and report your experience.
Anybody with better information, please chip in. And pass the word!
Send the e-mail to:
Frank.Mateljan@lacity.org
Include the following info:
registered as_______ (non-partisan or indep.)
your name
your precinct #
your ballot #
your e-mail address.
Link
It is a superfluous and arbitrary add-on to the vote. It cannot be deemed to be *co-required as a pre-requisite* to the "inalienable" right to vote.
The infamous "Bubble #6" is extraneous, poorly conceived and pathetically communicated, visually or procedurally.
I believe ALL VOTES MUST COUNT, with or without a #6 inked Bubble.
After by chance over-hearing this on the news I had to hunt to find this site.
Now after reading the above post and rereading the sample ballot again, I realize that the Special Instruction For Nonpartisan Voters does state about the above mentioned bubble. But after and with no separation from the Voting by Mail instruction paragraph. It leads you to believe that it is part of the Voting by Mail instructions. I'm writing to the La County ROV, both Democrats and whoever else I can.
Now I listen to my telephone messages from yesterday and there is a message from the Obama campaign with detailed instructions to fill in the top bubble.
And yes, the ballot/NP/DTS thing needs to be solved, but the dropped voters is worse.
I worked the polls and we had MANY MANY MANY people show up with their official sample ballot directing them to our poll, however, they weren't on our logs. This sounds like caging to me. and the whole double bubble thing is serving as a smokescreen to cover it up.