California gets its own butterfly ballot
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| Also listed in: Courage Campaign Staff |
You can download the pdf version of the Courage Campaign lawyer letter here
Through all of our efforts to get DTS voters out and well equipped to vote in tomorrow's Democratic primary (thanks in no small part to your support, it's looking like Los Angeles County has managed to add an extra wrinkle that could cause all sorts of problems. This is a sample of the ballot in which a DTS voter must not only request the ballot and vote for president, but mark at the top of the ballot that they want to vote in the Democratic primary. Voting for the candidate, apparently, is not enough of an indication of intent.
This is a big enough deal that Barack Obama just sent out an email on the subject:
This is mixed in with the procedure for provisional ballots and the times that polls are open. Why is this such a big deal? Because nearly 20% of Los Angeles County voters are Decline To State. That works out to 776,000 DTS voters in Los Angeles County- which is 75% of the total number of Democratic votes cast in every primary and caucus so far. Needless to say, even on Super Tuesday, that's a big deal.
But it's even more odious than that. The law is pretty clear on this sort of thing and, well, it's not exactly on the right side of the law. And that has gotten the Courage Campaign legal team into high gear, sending a letter saying in part
But in the meantime, make sure you and everyone you know double checks the ballot before turning it in. This is the one that we know about, but there could be all sorts of variations on this theme throughout the state.
Update: Full letter from the Courage Campaign lawyer on the flip (or download the pdf version)
Through all of our efforts to get DTS voters out and well equipped to vote in tomorrow's Democratic primary (thanks in no small part to your support, it's looking like Los Angeles County has managed to add an extra wrinkle that could cause all sorts of problems. This is a sample of the ballot in which a DTS voter must not only request the ballot and vote for president, but mark at the top of the ballot that they want to vote in the Democratic primary. Voting for the candidate, apparently, is not enough of an indication of intent.
This is a big enough deal that Barack Obama just sent out an email on the subject:
If you declined to select a political party when you registered to vote, you can still vote for Barack Obama if you request a Democratic ballot from the poll worker. Make sure you mark "Democratic" in the appropriate space or the vote might not be counted.
This is mixed in with the procedure for provisional ballots and the times that polls are open. Why is this such a big deal? Because nearly 20% of Los Angeles County voters are Decline To State. That works out to 776,000 DTS voters in Los Angeles County- which is 75% of the total number of Democratic votes cast in every primary and caucus so far. Needless to say, even on Super Tuesday, that's a big deal.
But it's even more odious than that. The law is pretty clear on this sort of thing and, well, it's not exactly on the right side of the law. And that has gotten the Courage Campaign legal team into high gear, sending a letter saying in part
DTS voters requesting partisan ballots and registered Democratic and American Independent voters will receive the exact same Ink-a-Vote ballot. However, contrary to statutory provisions set forth in the Election Code, Los Angeles County requires DTS voters to complete an additional hurdle by marking either box number 5 (for American Independent ballots) or box number 6 (for Democratic party ballots) or their vote for President of the United States will not be counted. Invalidating a ballot based solely upon the failure to mark a box, (box 5 or 6) even though the voter has cast his/her ballot for a candidate for president, constitutes an improper basis for rejection and a policy that violates the rights of DTS voters. (See Cal. Elec. Code 15154(c).)
But in the meantime, make sure you and everyone you know double checks the ballot before turning it in. This is the one that we know about, but there could be all sorts of variations on this theme throughout the state.
Update: Full letter from the Courage Campaign lawyer on the flip (or download the pdf version)
Dear Mr. Logan:
I write on behalf of our client, Courage Campaign. Courage Campaign has recently embarked upon a campaign to educate Decline to State (DTS) voters about their right to request and vote a Democratic ballot in the February 5, 2008 Presidential Primary Election.
As you know, as of January 8, 2008, 19.66% of the nearly 3.9 million registered voters in Los Angeles County -- over 776,774 voters -- have declined to state their party affiliation and are thus eligible to vote for a Democratic presidential candidate. Barriers to voting for DTS voters are already high, since many do not know that they are allowed to vote in the Democratic Primary for president. In addition to those barriers, we are gravely concerned that on February 5, 2008, a great many of the ballots cast by these DTS voters will be invalidated.
We have reviewed sample Democratic and American Independent ballots that DTS voters will receive once they affirmatively request them. (See attached). DTS voters requesting partisan ballots and registered Democratic and American Independent voters will receive the exact same Ink-a-Vote ballot. However, contrary to statutory provisions set forth in the Election Code, Los Angeles County requires DTS voters to complete an additional hurdle by marking either box number 5 (for American Independent ballots) or box number 6 (for Democratic party ballots) or their vote for President of the United States will not be counted. Invalidating a ballot based solely upon the failure to mark a box, (box 5 or 6) even though the voter has cast his/her ballot for a candidate for president, constitutes an improper basis for rejection and a policy that violates the rights of DTS voters. (See Cal. Elec. Code 15154(c).)
Furthermore, the Precinct Ballot Reader (PBR) equipment in place at every polling place will not notify DTS voters that they have failed to mark box numbers 5 or 6 when they have requested a Democratic or American Independent ballot. The PBRs will only notify voters if they have overvoted or left the ballot completely blank meaning that DTS voters will not know if their choice for President will count.
The statute is clear: voters who have already affirmatively requested a Democratic ballot and cast a vote for a Democratic candidate, but who inadvertently fail to mark line number 6, must have their vote counted. To do otherwise is contrary to the statute. We can find no statutory basis for requiring voters to mark additional boxes to indicate that they are DTS voters requesting a partisan ballot.
Section 13102(b) of the Elections Code, which authorizes persons who have declined to state their party affiliation to vote in the partisan primaries of those parties which have made the required authorization, does not indicate that the voter need do anything more than request a partisan primary ballot to do so. Section 13102(b) states in part:
At partisan primary elections, each voter not registered as intending to affiliate with any one of the political parties participating in the election shall be furnished only a nonpartisan ballot, unless he or she requests a ballot of a political party and that political party, by party rule duly noticed to the Secretary of State, authorizes a person who has declined to state a party affiliation to vote the ballot of that political party.
(Emphasis added.)[1] Indeed this is consistent with the Secretary of State's posted instructions for DTS voters on its website and the information provided from virtually every other California county elections official. (See California Secretary of State website, available at http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/v...
Under Section 13102(d), county elections officials must maintain records of which political party's ballot was requested pursuant to subdivision (b) or whether a nonpartisan ballot was requested, by each person who declined to state a party affiliation. These record-keeping requirements, as specified in Section 13102(d), do not require a DTS voter to mark any additional spaces to have their vote counted. Accordingly, record keeping obligations should not intrude upon the rights of DTS voters and we believe there are many other ways that the Registrar can properly maintain its records and still satisfy its statutory responsibilities. If the additional requirement is a function of the limitations of the Inka-Vote system, solutions must be immediately implemented to eliminate these extra hurdles.
When DTS voters affirmatively request a Democratic ballot and mark a choice for president they have satisfied their obligations under the Elections Code. Their ballot should accordingly be counted. We therefore urgently request that you immediately amend your policies in a manner consistent with state law so that the votes of DTS voters requesting partisan ballots will count. Anything less threatens to disenfranchise a significant segment of the electorate in LA County. We seek to resolve this issue as soon as possible before tomorrow's election and before the canvass commences and so that we may, if necessary, pursue any legal options.
In this historic Democratic primary election, all voters who have answered the call to exercise their right to vote should be confident that the ballot they cast will be counted.
Please contact me to discuss this issue further.
Sincerely,
Steven J. Reyes
Associate Attorney
Kaufman Downing LLP
The Obama campaign operation needs to spread the word to all of their folks in L.A. County.
The way it works at the polls is that we offer Nonpartisans the choice to vote Democratic or American Independent. If they chose Democratic, we must cross out NP and write in DEM. We still give them a NP ballot and they vote in a Democratic polling booth. They must first mark the bubble that says "This box for Nonpartisan Voters Only--Vote for One." Then they vote for a candidate. I just heard the media rep from LA County Registrar/Recorder say that NP votes will not be counted unless the box is checked. I hope the results will be challenged, not just for the sake of Obama, who will undoubtedly get the most Nonpartisan votes, but for the sake of the people who bother to vote in the first place.