Hi all,
i’ve recently read that voting in the US requires the voters to write their names on the ballot as to avoid voterfraud.
Does writing your name on the ballot not potentially expose you to possible intimidation/retaliation? Lets say i am helping to count the votes and i see that my neighbour voted for a candidate/party i dislike, i could act on that information or sell it to someone who cares more than i do.
Obviously this doesnt seem to be an issue, but how do guys you avoid that?
*Thanks! I realise now that this Post is based on bad info. Probably just got trolled hard and was dumb enough to believe it. Im leaving this post up because it’s kinda funny i fell for it lmao
28 comments
No one in my state puts their names on their ballot.
If I vote absentee, I and my witness have to sign and date my ballot on the back. In person, you don’t have to put your name on it.
This is not true, some states have laws that require you show ID at the polling center but that’s about it
>Hi all, i’ve recently read that voting in the US requires the voters to write their names on the ballot as to avoid voterfraud.
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Where’d you read that?
I usually vote by mail. In my state we fill out the ballot and put it into an envelope, on the envelope I have to write my name / ID info / address and sign it.
I then put in an another envelope to mail it back to the election board. They open the outer envelope and verify my info on the inner envelope, then run my ballot through a scanner to record my vote.
In theory someone could look at the inner envelope and then at my ballot and see how I voted. I’m not sure what measures they have in place to prevent that; but it’s never been as issue as far as I know. There are millions of mail in ballots in my city so it’s very unlikely you’d see someone you know / your neighbor’s ballot.
Absentee voter here. Have to sign my name to get the ballot, on a list with all the others. On the envelope the ballot is put in when I return the ballot have to sign that I am the one returning the ballot and that I have permission to do so. For example I can return my wife’s ballot and sign that i have her permission to do so.
The actual ballot itself is not signed.
Have to say if I was required to sign the actual ballot it would be revolution time for me. That I would not stand for.
The polling staff checked my ID for my address to make sure I was voting the correct district on the registry, other than that my name wasn’t checked or written anywhere else. There was no requirement to attach my name to a ballot.
Short answer: no that’s almost entirely incorrect.
If you vote in person you do not put your name on the ballot at all.
They check your ID at the entrance to prove you actually are the person you say you are. They check that you are registered. Then you go vote and no one has to even see your ballot.
If you vote absentee you may have to sign your name on an affidavit testifying you are who you are.
No.
No. [In New Jersey (and probably other places), writing your name on the ballot is a crime and it will be discarded](https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/2015/title-19/section-19-34-10/), since it could be used by someone to prove to others how they voted. For absentee/mail voters, there’s an envelope the ballot goes into that has the person’s name on a flap that is torn off, but not on the ballot itself. The flap is torn off and separated from the ballot before it’s counted so the voter can’t be identified.
We do not do this in New Jersey No.
One thing to remember, voting is a state function, so the rules can vary throughout the nation.
Where I live we vote using a machine/computer and an activation card. When we are done it prints out a QR code that contains our votes. We then personally feed that into a tabulating machine while a poll worker supervises. The paper is retained inside that machine. If you’re a person who can read a large QR code on sight in less than a second you might be able to see our votes. I don’t know of anyone in the world with that ability.
if voting in person, at least in pennsylvania, you sign a booklet to acknowledge that you were there and that you voted. *then* you are handed a ballot and fill it out and scan it. the ballot doesn’t have your name on it
I go to the table. They take my license. Look up my name. I state my name and address. They cross me off and give me a ballot. I go to the booth and I fill in the circles next to the things I’m voting for. I take the ballot and feed it face down. I get a sticker. My name is not in the ballot. I think there is a bar code on it that corresponds to my name.
You absolutely do not write your name on the ballot. It’s crazy the rumors you lot invent about us.
Ballots in my state do not have any personally identifying information on them.
They have a big binder of everyone’s name and address for anyone registered at that location, and you sign next to your name in that after showing your ID. Then they give you a ballot, you fill it out and feed it into a machine. So if someone came behind me and pretended to be me, they’d know something fishy was going on.
That’s how it works where I am.
This may be in reference to absentee or mail-in ballots, which (in my state at least) require some biographical info and the signature of the voter and a witness. These things are written on the OUTSIDE on an envelope, which in turn holds another envelope, in which the ballot is placed. A poll worker will mark the arrival of the ballot based on the information on the outside, then throw the interior envelope into a bin and discard the exterior envelope. This way, absentee ballots coming in can be accounted for and tracked (so that people know the ballot arrived in the mail and will be counted), but the separate envelopes prevent attaching a particular vote to a particular person.
Procedures vary a bit by state.
In my state (Pennsylvania), I do not sign the ballot when voting in-person on election day. The poll workers have a book with the names of everyone registered to vote at that location, and I need to sign next to my name in the book before they give me a ballot.
Records of who voted in which elections are publicly available, but not who they voted for.
I’d also note that ballots are mostly read/ counted by machines.
I’ve never had to write my name on the ballot. You need to provide information when you register, and at the poll in order to receive your ballot, but there’s nothing on the ballot that would identify it as yours. The secret ballot is a key feature of modern democracy.
People in America wear their political affiliation like a badge of honor. It’s certainly respected as private information (who you vote for) but largely no one is in danger from sharing their political opinions in the states, no matter how stupid. And believe me, I’ve read unbelievably stupid things from American voters and its seemingly more rare that someone doesnt tell me who theyre voting for.
The biggest related concern might be for closeted gay/trans people from conservative families that i suppose might be outed from their votes. They could be in real danger if outed when they don’t have safe places to retreat to.
If you chose to register yourself with a political party, you can find online that you are in that party, Actual ballots are anonymous. You check in, show your ID, and have an anonymous ballot. Absentee voting, you still fill out an anonymous ballot that is separate from your information. Then there is a process to safely and privately count the votes. We really, and I can’t stress this enough, don’t have a widespread voter fraud issue.
No
If you vote your name goes on a list of people who voted, to prevent people from voting multiple times at multiple locations, but no your ballot is secret.
No.
Absolutely not. That’s not a thing anywhere I’ve voted.
What happens (where I live at least) is that when you go to vote, you have to sign in at the clerk’s desk. They check your name off a list of registered voters so the record shows you voted and only one person can vote per registration on the roll of voters, and they hand you a ballot.
You take the ballot to a polling booth, fill out the ballot, then take the ballot to the ballot box (which is a scanner that scans the ballot to record your vote).
You then pick up your “I voted” sticker, and then you leave.
The ballot itself, No. In AZ, most people do mail in ballots and the envelope does have the voter’s name & address and the voter is required to sign the envelope in the box provided in order for the ballot to be valid.
…uh …no? Who told you that nonsense? You go to vote, show your ID, they check to see if your ID matches the registered voter rollsand if it does they hand you a ballot, and you fill it out. You don’t need to sign your name.