Free Republic

Pennsylvanians must be given a chance to vote on Election Day if their mail ballots have been rejected because of a disqualifying mistake, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. That means voters who fail to correctly sign or date the return envelope or fail to use a secrecy envelope are entitled to cast a provisional ballot on Election Day at a polling place and have it counted, as long as that ballot wouldn’t be rejected for some other disqualifying issue. In a 4-3 decision, the court said that provisional voting was meant to assure access to the right to vote,...

I am beginning to believe that a Provisional Ballot = a STUPID or ILLEGAL Voter.

Is there any Freeper who has voted by a provisional ballot in Ohio? If "yes", could he explain us a feasible reason why he found his names missing from the rolls? In the end, have you got any idea of the TRUE number of these ballots to be counted?! Thanks!

CINCINNATI - A federal appeals court on Saturday reversed a lower court's ruling that Ohio voters could cast provisional ballots on Election Day anywhere in the county in which they are registered. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a provisional ballot cast outside a voter's home precinct isn't valid, agreeing with Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. Federal law allows people to get provisional ballots if they are in the right jurisdiction. Blackwell, a Republican, defines that as a precinct, while Democrats say it's the voter's county.

Ohio Provisional Ballot Ruling Reversed 7 minutes ago By JOE KAY, Associated Press Writer CINCINNATI - A federal appeals court ruled Saturday that provisional ballots Ohio voters cast outside their own precincts should not be counted, throwing out a lower-court decision that said such ballots are valid as long as they are cast in the correct county. The ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) supports an order issued by Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. Democrats contend the Republican official's rules are too restrictive and allege they are intended to suppress the vote....

Federal judge says Michigan must count provisional ballots in wrong precincts 10/19/2004, 6:15 p.m. ET By DAVID EGGERT The Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan voters who cast ballots in the wrong polling precinct but are in the right city, township or village on Nov. 2 must have their votes for president and Congress counted, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge David Lawson nullified the state's decision to not count provisional ballots unless voters show up in the correct precinct — despite objections from Republican Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and the U.S. Justice Department. Provisional,...

....election officials have adopted their own and differing standards for when a provisional ballot will count; some of those rules are still in flux three weeks from the election. Rules for who casts provisional ballots and how they are counted probably will vary even within states, especially if there are long lines, confusion, and hot tempers at the polls, election specialists said. Some of the states where the race is tightest, such as Florida and Ohio, also have the strictest rules for provisional ballots. Democrats and Republicans are training lawyers and election monitors to look for problems with provisional voting...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Call it the law of unintended consequences. A new national backup system meant to ensure that millions of eligible voters are not mistakenly turned away from the polls this year, as happened in 2000, could wind up causing Election Day problems as infamous as Florida's hanging chads. Congress required conditional, or provisional, voting as part of election fixes passed in 2002. For the first time, all states must offer a backup ballot to any voter whose name does not appear on the rolls when the voter comes to the polling place on Nov. 2. If the voter...