Having worked in my local registrar’s office, I’ve seen how a national vote takes place up close and personal. I received ballots, sorted ballots by precinct, open ballots, examined ballots for stray marks, fed ballots into the tallying machines, set up amd troubleshot voting machines, acted as a mediator (done in teams from different parties) to determine the “intention” of a vote (mark).

I’ve helped register first time voters, voters moving from out of state, voters wanting to vote in our state, even though they are registered in another (yes, that can be done but only a vote for national offices are allowed). Etc, etc.

I followed all election policies and procedures to the letter. These policies are not always agreed upon by everyone, and they do change from time to time, and there’s nothing saying that we cannot change ours. But they are what they are until those changes take place.

I believe the intention behind requiring the members number to be written on the envelope is to assure the election chair (and the club members) that people are not voting more than once. That being the case, it would seem to me that if a ballot arrives in an envelope without a membership number, but with enough other identifying information on it to determine that it came from a legitimate member, such as a matching name and/or return address, that ballot could continue to be counted, barring a second ballot showing up. Legitimate reasons a second ballot could show up would be due to the member forgetting they sent the first ballot.

We saw this in the registrar’s office from time to time, and when that happened, the last vote(s) cast by that person were invalidated because there was no way to know whether the votes contained were identical to each other, or if one or both were legitimately or illegitimately submitted. As with our club election, real elections are also secret. Ballots, once separated from their outer envelopes, have no identifying marks to trace them back to the voter.

We had software that would automatically send a postcard to a voter letting them know of the discrepancy (multiple votes). If someone walked onto the polling place to vote, but a vote was already registered and counted, too bad, how sad, your dad.

I would suggest that FUTURE elections implement my above suggestions, as follows:

1. If a mail-in ballot is received with sufficient markings of any kind to determine if a ballot is coming from a legitimate club member eligible to vote, that vote should be counted for that club member.
2. If multiple votes are received, voter should be notified by email (make sure your club info is up to date) to alert them of the issue so it can be resolved.
3. Of voting materials are received that appear to be tampering with the election in any way, all such materials are to be saved for investigation by a club officer or committee designated for this purpose, and possible penalties up to and including civil prosecution.

I don’t think any of the above would put an undue strain on the election committee, its chair, nor any volunteers taking part in the vote count. It would serve to alleviate the concerns expressed by club members and insure a fair election.

I would be happy to help amend our election procedures.

Would this satisfy everyone’s complaints and insure that every voter has their vote counted?