Democrats launch ad informing Pennsylvania voters on 'naked ballots'

[brooklynite]

Source: The Hill

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is launching a new digital ad in Pennsylvania walking voters through the vote-by-mail process amid concerns that a recent court ruling could result in thousands of so-called “naked ballots” being tossed out.

The 30-second digital spot is part of a joint voter education campaign with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign in Pennsylvania, the state Democratic Party and other groups. It instructs Pennsylvanians voting by mail to fill out their ballot and seal it inside a smaller secrecy envelope before enclosing it in a larger return envelope.

“Remember, you must place the ballot in the secrecy envelope first for your vote to count,” a narrator says in the ad.

The ad comes a week after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court sided with the Trump campaign in a lawsuit seeking to have naked ballots – mail ballots returned without being sealed in an inner secrecy envelope – invalidated.



Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/517978-democrats-launch-ad-informing-pennsylvania-voters-on-naked-ballots

[soothsayer]

1. Good

[iluvtennis]

2. This is a good thing! nt

[Thekaspervote]

3. Great! We really need to win in PA!

FYI: PA has only voted once for a gop president in the last 24 yrs.

[still_one]

4. Excellent. That is exactly what needs to be done

[gab13by13]

5. I already let my daughter know about this.

I'm even putting 2 stamps on my pre paid envelop. If I don't get my ballot soon enough (it has been delayed because Republicans were trying to get the Green Party on the ballot) then I will hand deliver my ballot to the county elections office.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

6. "Due to a suit by the Republican party, the State Supreme Court has ruled

your vote won't be counted unless you follow these instructions exactly.... No matter who you vote for, make sure your vote is counted!"

[DeminPennswoods]

11. This is actually in the state constitution

that every vote will be by secret ballot. If your ballot is not in the unmarked envelope, it's not secret because the election board will know who cast it and how the individual voted.

[Tommymac]

7. Great post. Thanks! We need every single vote for Joe here in PA

I'm making sure my 82 year old mother in law will do it correctly. And will send the video link to all my friends and family once I get it.

PA WILL PUT JOE & Kamala over the top.

Also sent another $$ donation to Joe today. My payment card expired for the monthly I set up earlier this year through DU Act Blue link- will be updating that today.

We Shall Overcome the Killer Clown's Circus and throw his ass out of the White House and into the Big House.

I am FIRED UP!!!!

[DallasNE]

8. Yes, The PA Supreme Court Has Spoken

So this step is necessary. But make no mistake, this decision was solely political and not based upon the law. The highest law is the clear intent of the voter. The intent in these cases is clear.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. The PA State Supreme Court (which is elected) is majority (D)

5 (D) - 2 (R).

IMHO I agree with having that "secret" envelope because it minimizes any chance of people peeping in and tossing the ballot based on what was marked before it even gets to the election office to be "officially opened" for counting.

Anyone who may have had to send out (or help doing so) wedding invitations, event RSVPs etc., have dealt with the concept of multiple envelopes.

[DeminPennswoods]

13. About half the votes in June were mailed absentee ballots

I don't recall hearing anything about a batch of ballots being thrown out/disqualified because they were sent back without being in the security envelope.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. Exactly

I had posted about that in another thread - https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1017&pid=607625

There is no "hard data" on how much of a "problem", if any, that this supposedly might be. The only issue might be if someone gets a ballot packet mailed to them and it is missing that envelope, so they would need to make sure to contact the election board to get one.

It seems more that a subset of people have been so terrorized about mail-in voting from the (commentary) news reports and all over "social media" that they are going "in person". I had a very smooth process voting by mail during the primary.

[DeminPennswoods]

17. The last few elections,

my mom voted by absentee ballot under the old rules. It was no problem.

[BumRushDaShow]

20. My 4 years away from home in college in the late'70s/early '80s at UMASS, I voted absentee

for both the primary and general elections. My mom used to chuckle about going to vote at her polling location and having the poll workers mention to her that they had received my absentee ballot (which once mailed to the board of elections would then be re-routed there to be counted as being from my division on election day).

[DeminPennswoods]

12. It's not political. The PA state constitution mandates

secret ballots. A mailed ballot cannot be secret if it's just in the envelop identifying and signed by the voter. The election offical would know how that individual cast their vote, i.e., it's not a secret.

[DallasNE]

16. In Other Posts

I have pointed out that rather than tossing these ballots that they be treated as provisional ballots where the voter is given the opportunity to correct the deficiency. In this case that would be to come in and insert the ballot into the 2nd envelope where it would then be put in with the others. If the voter declines to come in then it doesn't get counted. This decision changes the rules.

This is not much different than in person voting where the ballot is inserted in the sleeve without the initials showing. The poll worker hands the sleeve back to the voter to correct the problem. (States with paper ballots). They don't toss the ballot.

[DeminPennswoods]

18. If you see the voter's name on the return envelope,

then open the ballot, you know how that person voted. The PA state constitution is very clear that all votes are by secret ballot. That's why even a Dem majority state supreme court decided as they did.

Under normal circumstances, the "official ballot envelopes" are seperated from the return envelopes. When those ballot envelopes are opened, no one knows who the voter is, i.e., the ballot is secret.

[DallasNE]

19. You Are Too Fixated On The Word "Secret"

When the voter comes in to correct the ballot they hand him an unmarked ballot to fill out and put in the security envelope, keeping the cast ballot secret, and the original ballot goes in the secured spoiled ballot bag. It has been 20 years since I worked an election so the law could have very well changed but back then they tried to make every vote count. This decision is voter suppression and turns the old rule on its head. That's all I'm saying.

The FBI is currently investigating an issue with early votes from the military (not sure what the military would be any different than civilian on early voting) and the claim is that 7 ballots, all marked for Trump. were discarded after the inside envelop was opened by mistake. It looks bad but the details are that the envelope used to send out ballots looks very much like the envelope used for returned ballots. (I would color code envelops to diminish the chance of that happening). It was caught by the election workers and reported to law enforcement. There should be written procedures on what to do in case of accidental errors like this that weren't followed. But with all of the pressure that has unnecessarily been, placed errors will happen and that is the point.

[DeminPennswoods]

22. No, secret means secret

If it didn't mean secret, the state supreme court would have ruled differently.

In PA, the ballot envelope is clearly marked "Official Ballot Envelope". It's white with NO other markings. The return envelope looks completely different. There's really no excuse to mess this procedure up.

[madinmaryland]

23. I believe it is very similar in Ohio, also. You insert the ballot into the ballot envelope and

Then insert that into the return envelope. I’m not sure what is so complicated about that. The instructions are plainly written in four or five steps to follow. I can’t believe it is that hard to fuck up.

It is similar to what is done at the polls when you vote in person, even though it is a different process.

[DallasNE]

24. Once Again, Misinformation Prevails

First, the PA Supreme Court is not controlled by the Democrats 7-2. Second, what the Justice Department said happened is in fact false. Third, the envelopes for the request for a ballot and the returned ballot are too similar, based on the Rawstory report.

A contract employee has been dismissed but it is unclear why as he was apparently following instructions by discarding the ballots. They probably should have been placed in with the spoiled ballots rather than simply thrown in the trash.

These were the very naked ballots the PA Supreme Court ruled should not be counted. The ballots were not returned in the inside sealed envelope so when the outer envelope was opened the election worker could see the intent of the voter, making it not secret. The fact that these were military or Trump votes is immaterial. The voter failed to properly follow instructions so the ballots cannot be counted in PA.

Basically, no harm - no foul. Frankly, I smelled a rat when this story broke. Why, out of thousands of ballots were there just these 7 or 9.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/the-9-discarded-ballots-were-tossed-because-republicans-won-their-lawsuit-requiring-them-to-not-be-counted-report/

[gab13by13]

9. I hope they have vote count watchers,

so that a naked vote for Trump gets thrown out.

[BumRushDaShow]

14. That's standard at every polling place - usually at least one - three from each (major) party.

plus Judges of Elections.

And the below provision in state law was also a part of the suit that the court ruled on by disallowing RW Drumpf goons from going into other counties to "watch" when not a resident of that county -

Section 417. Appointment of Watchers.--

(a) Each candidate for nomination or election at any election shall be entitled to appoint two watchers for each election district in which such candidate is voted for. Each political party and each political body which has nominated candidates in accordance with the provisions of this act, shall be entitled to appoint three watchers at any general, municipal or special election for each election district in which the candidates of such party or political body are to be voted for. Such watchers shall serve without expense to the county.

(b) Each watcher so appointed must be a qualified registered elector of the county in which the election district for which the watcher was appointed is located. Each watcher so appointed shall be authorized to serve in the election district for which the watcher was appointed and, when the watcher is not serving in the election district for which the watcher was appointed, in any other election district in the county in which the watcher is a qualified registered elector: Provided, That only one watcher for each candidate at primaries, or for each party or political body at general, municipal or special elections, shall be present in the polling place at any one time from the time that the election officers meet prior to the opening of the polls under section 1208 until the time that the counting of votes is complete and the district register and voting check list is locked and sealed, and all watchers in the room shall remain outside the enclosed space. It shall not be a requirement that a watcher be a resident of the election district for which the watcher is appointed. After the close of the polls and while the ballots are being counted or voting machine canvassed, all the watchers shall be permitted to be in the polling place outside the enclosed space. Each watcher shall be provided with a certificate from the county board of elections, stating his name and the name of the candidate, party or political body he represents. Watchers shall be required to show their certificates when requested to do so. Watchers allowed in the polling place under the provisions of this act, shall be permitted to keep a list of voters and shall be entitled to challenge any person making application to vote and to require proof of his qualifications, as provided by this act. During those intervals when voters are not present in the polling place either voting or waiting to vote, the judge of elections shall permit watchers, upon request, to inspect the voting check list and either of the two numbered lists of voters maintained by the county board: Provided, That the watcher shall not mark upon or alter these official election records. The judge of elections shall supervise or delegate the inspection of any requested documents.

(c) No candidate or committee of a political party or of a political body, nor any other person or persons shall pay to any watcher compensation in excess of one hundred twenty ($120.00) dollars per diem.

(d) A watcher whose watcher's certificate is destroyed or lost on election day may appear before the court of common pleas under section 1206 and, after swearing under oath or affirmation that the watcher's certificate was destroyed or lost, may immediately receive a replacement watcher's certificate issued by the court.

(417 amended Oct. 8, 2004, P.L.807, No.97)

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/uconsCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&yr=1937&sessInd=0&smthLwInd=0&act=320&chpt=4

[JI7]

21. This needs to be a regular part of GOTV EVERY Election

in EVERY place .