Orange County changes in voting

[agnes]

Changes starting with this March election:
Every registered voter gets a mail-in-ballot now
New voting centers instead of neighborhood polling stations
New ballot drop off boxes in various locations
Early voting starts 2/22/20

www.ocvote.com/vc/web/

I feel like not enough OC voters are aware of these changes.

ETA: overview of LA/OC changes and how it works. laist.com/2020/01/03/how-to-vote-in-california-march-3-presidential-primary-los-angeles-no-party-preference-request-mail-ballot.php

[shauni27]

This is how it was when I lived in NorCal. It was so disappointing to mail in a ballet rather than go in person.

[chw57]

Feb 11, 2020 8:52:10 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

This is how it was when I lived in NorCal. It was so disappointing to mail in a ballet rather than go in person.

Oregon is all vote by mail. It’s less fun than going to a polling place but we usually get better turnout.

[shauni27]

Feb 11, 2020 9:08:50 GMT -5 chw57 said:

Feb 11, 2020 8:52:10 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

This is how it was when I lived in NorCal. It was so disappointing to mail in a ballet rather than go in person.

Oregon is all vote by mail. It’s less fun than going to a polling place but we usually get better turnout.

which makes total sense and really does make things super easy! I just felt so let down not to go IN PERSON to vote for Obama in 08.

[pixy0stix]

We usually wait until the last day the ballots are to be returned, and then we do a drive through drop off. I high five the volunteers as they take my ballot and give me stickers.

I probably shouldn't wait until the very last day to return my ballot, though.

[puppylove64]

How do they ensure the actual voter voted when it is mailed in?

[mmmomof2]

Feb 11, 2020 11:37:05 GMT -5 puppylove64 said:

How do they ensure the actual voter voted when it is mailed in?

You sign the back of the envelope under "penalty of perjury".

Although I don't know what stops someone from mailing the ballot in and then voting in person at a voting center. Yes, you are still under penalty of perjury, but the odds of getting caught seem awfully low. I guess it's an on your honor kind of thing.

[mandymay]

I feel like LA County is doing a better job of getting the word out since I’ve heard about the changes there on the radio and on tv. If I didn’t look at my mail, I don’t think I would have known there were changes being made in Orange County too. They have sent me a good amount of mail about it. I like the changes, I’m just nervous about how it’s going to work out.

[pixy0stix]

Feb 11, 2020 12:09:37 GMT -5 mmmomof2 said:

Feb 11, 2020 11:37:05 GMT -5 puppylove64 said:

How do they ensure the actual voter voted when it is mailed in?

You sign the back of the envelope under "penalty of perjury".

Although I don't know what stops someone from mailing the ballot in and then voting in person at a voting center. Yes, you are still under penalty of perjury, but the odds of getting caught seem awfully low. I guess it's an on your honor kind of thing.

When you vote in person, they mark down who you say you are in the voting roll. If they receive 2 ballots from you, they'll only count one. 

[InBetweenDays]

Feb 11, 2020 11:37:05 GMT -5 puppylove64 said:

How do they ensure the actual voter voted when it is mailed in?

In Washington State (which is mail-in only) you have to sign the back. If the back isn't signed, or the signatures don't match, there is a signature challenge and the voter is notified. The voter then has to fill out a form before the election is certified to ensure their vote is counted. We can also track our ballot online to make sure it was counted.

Each election there are a certain number of signature challenges so they do check. 

[seeyalater52]

Feb 11, 2020 12:09:37 GMT -5 mmmomof2 said:

Feb 11, 2020 11:37:05 GMT -5 puppylove64 said:

How do they ensure the actual voter voted when it is mailed in?

You sign the back of the envelope under "penalty of perjury".

Although I don't know what stops someone from mailing the ballot in and then voting in person at a voting center. Yes, you are still under penalty of perjury, but the odds of getting caught seem awfully low. I guess it's an on your honor kind of thing.

Obviously there are procedures in place. If you’re unfamiliar with them maybe don’t answer instead of perpetuating myths that make it sound like vote by mail leads to rampant voter fraud?

[agnes]

Feb 11, 2020 8:52:10 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

This is how it was when I lived in NorCal. It was so disappointing to mail in a ballet rather than go in person.

what I read was that you can still vote in person. That’s the point of having the voting centers. And you can go to any voting center instead of having to go to one designated polling station.

I’ll try to find an article that explains it

[WOT?*]

Feb 11, 2020 9:08:50 GMT -5 chw57 said:

Feb 11, 2020 8:52:10 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

This is how it was when I lived in NorCal. It was so disappointing to mail in a ballet rather than go in person.

Oregon is all vote by mail. It’s less fun than going to a polling place but we usually get better turnout.

So is WA. Better turnout but it still sucks. Especially when we have a bunch of confusing advisories and such that don't really matter but it intimidates people. Also, our ballots are prepaid so there's no excuse for the 40% and lower turnout we get for non-Presidential, school and local elections.

[pixy0stix]

Feb 11, 2020 12:44:34 GMT -5 WOT?* said:

Feb 11, 2020 9:08:50 GMT -5 chw57 said:

Oregon is all vote by mail. It’s less fun than going to a polling place but we usually get better turnout.

So is WA. Better turnout but it still sucks. Especially when we have a bunch of confusing advisories and such that don't really matter but it intimidates people. Also, our ballots are prepaid so there's no excuse for the 40% and lower turnout we get for non-Presidential, school and local elections.

Yeah, that's what I don't get about the mail in ballots. You* literally have the ballot in your hands. Why are you not voting?!

*general you

[formerlyak]

To answer the above question about how they ensure vote by mail doesn't mail in and then vote again in person. I am registered vote by mail in Los Angeles County and any time I have wanted to vote in person, I have to surrender my ballot that was mailed to me. If you do not have your mail ballot to surrender, you are given a provisional ballot, vote and it is put in a different box until it is determined if you mailed in your ballot or not.

[goldengirlz]

Feb 11, 2020 11:05:28 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

Feb 11, 2020 9:08:50 GMT -5 chw57 said:

Oregon is all vote by mail. It’s less fun than going to a polling place but we usually get better turnout.

which makes total sense and really does make things super easy! I just felt so let down not to go IN PERSON to vote for Obama in 08.

You can still vote in person if you want to. The game changers have been 1) a longer window for voting — I voted in the last November election on Halloween. No lines! And 2) you can vote anywhere in your county.

ETA: My biggest surprise from this thread is that NorCal and SoCal have different voting procedures. We’ve been doing it this way the entire time I’ve lived here!

[WOT?*]

Feb 11, 2020 12:09:37 GMT -5 mmmomof2 said:

Feb 11, 2020 11:37:05 GMT -5 puppylove64 said:

How do they ensure the actual voter voted when it is mailed in?

You sign the back of the envelope under "penalty of perjury".

Although I don't know what stops someone from mailing the ballot in and then voting in person at a voting center. Yes, you are still under penalty of perjury, but the odds of getting caught seem awfully low. I guess it's an on your honor kind of thing.

WA is mail-in only BUT (for those in the know about this little secret), you *can* vote in person at the local Elections office.

For mail-in ballots, it's not just a standard white envelope. There are inner (privacy) and outer envelopes (mailing). Since this is our first Democratic Primary election (rather than caucus) the inner envelope is, I think, a little different. We have the "I swear I am a member of ____ party" for Dem and for Republican and you check *one* of the two and you vote for *only* the candidate of the party for which you are a member.

The outer envelope has the mailing information on the front of the envelope. The envelope has a bar code, which is scanned upon receipt by the elections department. Each voter has an individual bar code identifier on their ballot. You can actually track the process of where your vote is currently (received, counted, needs verification...) on the Elections website using your personal information that is tied to that code. Once the bar code is scanned, that is the ONLY ballot that will be counted. If you vote in-person at the elections office, you return the mailed ballot or receive a provisional ballot in its place. They will not count the ballot until it's confirmed that you have not otherwise voted. Because they have bar codes and trackers on the mailed ballots it's not a difficult process to verify.

One person, one vote.

[mmmomof2]

Feb 11, 2020 12:31:44 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Feb 11, 2020 12:09:37 GMT -5 mmmomof2 said:

You sign the back of the envelope under "penalty of perjury".

Although I don't know what stops someone from mailing the ballot in and then voting in person at a voting center. Yes, you are still under penalty of perjury, but the odds of getting caught seem awfully low. I guess it's an on your honor kind of thing.

Obviously there are procedures in place. If you’re unfamiliar with them maybe don’t answer instead of perpetuating myths that make it sound like vote by mail leads to rampant voter fraud?

Or you could just answer, but thanks.

[orval]

We don't have mail in ballots here, but the amount of mail that is stolen around here is nuts! Just today some neighbors were able to catch some people in the act and report to police. They found a pile of about 30 pieces of mail on the ground a couple blocks away from multiple addresses. They even took away the blue boxes at the post office and now you have to go in because they were getting broken into. That is my big concern -- that my ballot would never make it!

[isabel]

Feb 11, 2020 8:52:10 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

This is how it was when I lived in NorCal. It was so disappointing to mail in a ballet rather than go in person.

Oh, man, I love mail in voting so much. I feel like it helps drive participation too, because you actually have time to fill out your ballot and you don't have to go anywhere on one specific day.

Colorado moved to this for all elections (except we still caucus for state reps...) and it's been great for me.

[isabel]

Feb 11, 2020 13:10:56 GMT -5 mmmomof2 said:

Feb 11, 2020 12:31:44 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Obviously there are procedures in place. If you’re unfamiliar with them maybe don’t answer instead of perpetuating myths that make it sound like vote by mail leads to rampant voter fraud?

Or you could just answer, but thanks.

Except it's not an "on your honor kind of thing." There are very specific policies in place to ensure that if someone does vote twice that only one vote counts. There are also policies in place to make sure that the signature on the ballot matches what is on file. If the signatures don't match, the voter has to go through a process to ensure their vote is counted. States that do mail-in voting have this pretty well dialed in; they're not just trusting people to be honest.

[isabel]

Feb 11, 2020 13:12:00 GMT -5 orval said:

We don't have mail in ballots here, but the amount of mail that is stolen around here is nuts! Just today some neighbors were able to catch some people in the act and report to police. They found a pile of about 30 pieces of mail on the ground a couple blocks away from multiple addresses. They even took away the blue boxes at the post office and now you have to go in because they were getting broken into. That is my big concern -- that my ballot would never make it!

Colorado (and other states) have tracking information, so you can see if your ballot was received, processed, accepted, or if you need to step in and validate it. I always check mine to make sure it's been accepted, so if I turned it in and didn't see it was accepted, I would go and fill out a provisional ballot to make sure my vote is counted.

[shauni27]

Feb 11, 2020 13:01:24 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Feb 11, 2020 11:05:28 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

which makes total sense and really does make things super easy! I just felt so let down not to go IN PERSON to vote for Obama in 08.

You can still vote in person if you want to. The game changers have been 1) a longer window for voting — I voted in the last November election on Halloween. No lines! And 2) you can vote anywhere in your county.

ETA: My biggest surprise from this thread is that NorCal and SoCal have different voting procedures. We’ve been doing it this way the entire time I’ve lived here!

I don't remember that being an option for me back in 2008...but that was a long time ago and things might have changed!

[agnes]

Feb 11, 2020 12:42:40 GMT -5 agnes said:

Feb 11, 2020 8:52:10 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

This is how it was when I lived in NorCal. It was so disappointing to mail in a ballet rather than go in person.

what I read was that you can still vote in person. That’s the point of having the voting centers. And you can go to any voting center instead of having to go to one designated polling station.

I’ll try to find an article that explains it

Here’s a good one
laist.com/2020/01/03/how-to-vote-in-california-march-3-presidential-primary-los-angeles-no-party-preference-request-mail-ballot.php

[Deleted]

Lol that it’s an honor system to not vote more then once.

[picksthemusic]

Feb 11, 2020 13:04:50 GMT -5 WOT?* said:

Feb 11, 2020 12:09:37 GMT -5 mmmomof2 said:

You sign the back of the envelope under "penalty of perjury".

Although I don't know what stops someone from mailing the ballot in and then voting in person at a voting center. Yes, you are still under penalty of perjury, but the odds of getting caught seem awfully low. I guess it's an on your honor kind of thing.

WA is mail-in only BUT (for those in the know about this little secret), you *can* vote in person at the local Elections office.

For mail-in ballots, it's not just a standard white envelope. There are inner (privacy) and outer envelopes (mailing). Since this is our first Democratic Primary election (rather than caucus) the inner envelope is, I think, a little different. We have the "I swear I am a member of ____ party" for Dem and for Republican and you check *one* of the two and you vote for *only* the candidate of the party for which you are a member.

The outer envelope has the mailing information on the front of the envelope. The envelope has a bar code, which is scanned upon receipt by the elections department. Each voter has an individual bar code identifier on their ballot. You can actually track the process of where your vote is currently (received, counted, needs verification...) on the Elections website using your personal information that is tied to that code. Once the bar code is scanned, that is the ONLY ballot that will be counted. If you vote in-person at the elections office, you return the mailed ballot or receive a provisional ballot in its place. They will not count the ballot until it's confirmed that you have not otherwise voted. Because they have bar codes and trackers on the mailed ballots it's not a difficult process to verify.

One person, one vote.

I can't wait to get our ballots! So excited.

[picksthemusic]

Feb 11, 2020 13:12:00 GMT -5 orval said:

We don't have mail in ballots here, but the amount of mail that is stolen around here is nuts! Just today some neighbors were able to catch some people in the act and report to police. They found a pile of about 30 pieces of mail on the ground a couple blocks away from multiple addresses. They even took away the blue boxes at the post office and now you have to go in because they were getting broken into. That is my big concern -- that my ballot would never make it!

We have ballot boxes all over the city that are essentially as secure as the blue mailboxes you put your mail in, so there's that. But you can drop it off personally at the county (DH works there, so he drops ours directly at the office), or put it in the mail.

I can't speak for mail theft, though, hopefully those people are being prosecuted.

[agnes]

Feb 11, 2020 13:12:00 GMT -5 orval said:

We don't have mail in ballots here, but the amount of mail that is stolen around here is nuts! Just today some neighbors were able to catch some people in the act and report to police. They found a pile of about 30 pieces of mail on the ground a couple blocks away from multiple addresses. They even took away the blue boxes at the post office and now you have to go in because they were getting broken into. That is my big concern -- that my ballot would never make it!

our ballot boxes look like this 


Also, you can view the status of your ballot so if you don't see that they've received it, you can contact the registrar of voters office.  I think both the state and County have info on their websites. 

[alleinesein]

Feb 11, 2020 13:01:24 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Feb 11, 2020 11:05:28 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

which makes total sense and really does make things super easy! I just felt so let down not to go IN PERSON to vote for Obama in 08.

You can still vote in person if you want to. The game changers have been 1) a longer window for voting — I voted in the last November election on Halloween. No lines! And 2) you can vote anywhere in your county.

ETA: My biggest surprise from this thread is that NorCal and SoCal have different voting procedures. We’ve been doing it this way the entire time I’ve lived here!

The county Registrar of Voters all have their own process for voting and they choose how to handle the elections.  I'm in San Diego county and we have pretty much voted the same way since my parents moved out here in 1978.  There was one odd ball election where they attempted to use machines and that didn't work out so they went back to the scantrons.  It is a step up from the old punch ballots with hanging chads.

[WOT?*]

Feb 11, 2020 16:13:43 GMT -5 picksthemusic said:

Feb 11, 2020 13:04:50 GMT -5 WOT?* said:

WA is mail-in only BUT (for those in the know about this little secret), you *can* vote in person at the local Elections office.

For mail-in ballots, it's not just a standard white envelope. There are inner (privacy) and outer envelopes (mailing). Since this is our first Democratic Primary election (rather than caucus) the inner envelope is, I think, a little different. We have the "I swear I am a member of ____ party" for Dem and for Republican and you check *one* of the two and you vote for *only* the candidate of the party for which you are a member.

The outer envelope has the mailing information on the front of the envelope. The envelope has a bar code, which is scanned upon receipt by the elections department. Each voter has an individual bar code identifier on their ballot. You can actually track the process of where your vote is currently (received, counted, needs verification...) on the Elections website using your personal information that is tied to that code. Once the bar code is scanned, that is the ONLY ballot that will be counted. If you vote in-person at the elections office, you return the mailed ballot or receive a provisional ballot in its place. They will not count the ballot until it's confirmed that you have not otherwise voted. Because they have bar codes and trackers on the mailed ballots it's not a difficult process to verify.

One person, one vote.

I can't wait to get our ballots! So excited.

I already got a copy of the sample ballots for King *and* SnoCo because PCO in an LD that spans both counties. Excited to see the real thing.