What we’re looking at tonight is a bunch of Democrats who didn’t know who to vote for. They couldn’t figure out who they dislike more, and you can’t blame them.
In November, they may actually LIKE somebody. The closed primaries here, and the long wait time after registering in a party, and the general ignorance about the rules and deadlines, have kept them from switching over to Trump easily.
It will be interesting to note what the tallies are on those affidavit ballots by people who were ineligible. They were told “Do not leave the polls without voting!” Exclamation point. They think they voted, that’s the sad part. Usually we get outrage and disappointment, but this time they think they actually voted by filling out an affidavit ballot when they were ineligible.
As someone posted on Facebook: “You can vote for Trump. Don’t let them tell you you can’t. Get a paper ballot and vote.” She even posted a photo of the ballot with his name on it. Of course that was for Republicans but she obviously thought it was actually voting.
I don’t pay attention to any predictions about November. I have observed just among my friends and acquaintances several who switched over in the last week or so, after the Colorado fiasco.
There is only a small handful of voters whom we are even legally allowed to ask for identifications, such as first timers. We're lucky we are in a fairly civilized precinct where a lot of the voters do it without being asked.
Our only layer of security is signature matching. When we took over this job, I'd say that close to 10% of the signatures in our poll book were either missing or illegible. So if someone comes in and claims to be Mary Smith with such a signature, you can't legally challenge them unless you have personal knowledge and are willing to put up $10 to challenge. If her signature is simply illegible, she can legally refuse to sign an affidavit with a proper signature and vote. That's the weirdness of the law. However, if it is missing, we can insist that the affidavit be signed and submitted so the poll book can be updated for next time.
Fortunately, I'm blessed with a great team that gets these updates done, so we are seeing a lot fewer of them in the third year.
We also get a parade of people who insist they are eligible to vote in our precinct even if they aren't in the poll book. I have to pretend to be sympathetic even as I call the county election bureau who explains things to them and sends them packing.
It does make you wonder if so much of this type of stuff goes on in one of the better run precincts in one of the better run counties, how much of it gets swept under the rug unchallenged in those which are not.