Chapter 5 — In–Person, In–Precinct Voting

1a. Asking For An ID

Upon entering, a registered voter is not asked for an ID.

Asking for the first four letters of the last name, then the first four letters of the first name should be enough.

See: Chapter 10A: The Most Common Challenges, Voter ID for further discussion.

1b. Problems Locating A Registered Voter In the Voter Rolls

IF the voter claims to be registered, but the election judge cannot locate the voter in the voter rolls, then the poll watcher can pose a challenge and ask to observe the election judge while the election judge again searches for the registered voter.

If the Poll Watcher Challenges This Voter, Is the Poll Watcher Invested In Seeing That The Voter Is Not Allowed To Vote?

No. To the contrary, the poll watcher is there to assist in providing a path for the voter to legally vote.

Once the poll watcher confirms that the voter is not listed in the voter rolls, the election judge can ask for an ID to continue the search.

The database can be searched by:
• Voter name
• Address
• Driver's license or State ID number
• The last four number of the Social Security number
• The voter ID number, as found on the Voter ID card issued by the election authority (i.e., County Clerk or Board of Election Commissioners)

NOTE: The voter is not required to provide a Social Security number or any portion of the Social Security number. The election judge can request a Social Security number but the voter is allowed to decline.

NOTE: If the election judge requests the voter's Social Security number and does not further explain that the voter is not obliged to provide the Social Security number and that there is no penalty for not providing a Social Security number, then the poll watcher can pose an additional challenge explaining to the election judge their error.

A voter cannot be refused a ballot based solely on not providing a Social Security number.

Also, the Social Security number, the driver's license number and the state ID number are all considered confidential.

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If the voter is still not located in the voter rolls, the voter has the option of either:
• Registering to vote. See: Chapter 3, Registering To Vote, or
• If the voter insists that they are already registered to vote, then they can vote a provisional ballot. See: Chapter 10G, Voting A Provisional Ballot.

Once the voter is located in the voter rolls or they choose to register to vote or they decide to vote a provisional ballot, the poll watcher's challenge is resolved.

1c. An Election Judge Announces the Name of the Voter

When the voter is located in the voter rolls, the election judge announces the name of the voter.

If the election judge has asked for the voter's address, then the address is also announced.

1d. Comparing Signatures

Once it is established that the voter is registered, the voter will sign a certificate to establish the voter's identity.

If the election judge determines that the signatures match, the election judge will initial the certificate and the voter is allowed to continue to obtain a ballot.

if the election judge determines that the signatures DO NOT match, the poll watcher immediately challenges the determination and asks to see both the certificate and the computer screen for the comparison signature.

The election judge can ask the voter for additional identification to establish a signature.

A voter's signature cannot be rejected until the majority of the election judge for the voter's precinct agree with the determination.

(For a polling place which handles all precincts within a jurisdiction, such as early voting, grace period voting, campus voting, or a voting center, all judges would vote.)

If the objection to the signature is upheld, the voter will be allowed to
• Change their registration to the new signature, see: Chapter 3B, 3. Change of Address, Change of Name, Change of Signature, or
• Vote a provisional ballot, see: Chapter 10G, 3. An Annotated List of Reasons for a Provisional Ballot And Their Cure, (2).

Once the voter chooses how they are to vote, the poll watcher's challenge is resolved.

1e. Election Judge Initialing the Precinct Registration Certificate

Once the voter has been shown to be registered and that the signatures match, the election judge will initial the certificate and hand it back to the voter to be given to the election judge in charge of ballots.

Some polling places, according to their lay-out, will have one election judge hand the certificate to the next election judge. As long as this is done in the open and the poll watcher can see the second election judge receive the certificate, there is no reason for a challenge.

The poll watcher should pay attention to if the certificate is initialed by election judge who checked the signatures. If the certificate is not initialed, the second election judge should not allow a ballot to be issued.

1f. Election Judge's Initialing the Ballot

This is a requirement that is easy for a poll watcher to miss because the poll watcher may be in a different part of the polling room. But, it is also a step that election judges seldom misses.

If a ballot is issued voter without the election judge's initials and it is discovered before the voter marks the ballot, the ballot is simply returned to the election judge to initial it.

On the other hand, if a ballot is issued to the voter without the election judge's initials and it is discovered after the voter has marked the ballot and the poll watcher challenges it, then there are two options:
• 1. The ballot can go back to the election judge to be initialed, or
• 2. The ballot can be marked "SPOILED" and the voter issued a new ballot.

Usually, the missing initial is discovered by the election judge at the tabulator. That election judge will just walk the ballot back to the election judge who issued the ballots to be initialed.

Why This Is Important And Not Just the Poll Watcher Annoying the Election Judges

Without the initials of the election judge who issued the ballot, the ballot is invalid. A ballot without an initial can be accepted by the tabulator. If it is discoverd after the election, the ballot is thrown out and the votes are not counted. This is a mistake that the voter did not cause and, if discovered after tabulation a voter is not allowed to correct./p>