Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Elections
 
Board
State Board of Elections
 
chapter
Absentee Voting [1 VAC 20 ‑ 70]
Chapter is Exempt from Article 2 of the Administrative Process Act
Action Material Omissions Absentee Ballots
Stage Proposed
Comment Period Ended on 9/30/2010
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Previous Comment     Back to List of Comments
9/30/10  10:56 pm
Commenter: Theodora Daniel Goodson, Registered Voter

Kepp it consistent and do not treat different categories of voters differently
 

I am in agreement with the comments of Richard J. Bochner, Registered Voter, especially, the following quote (bolding is mine):

"The proposed regulations for Chapter 70, Absentee Voting, 1VAC20-70-20. Material omissions from absentee ballots, would codify material omissions that would render an absentee ballot void thereby depriving that voter the right to have his or vote counted. Because of the severity of the consequences, only genuinely serious omissions and/or errors should result in a ballot to be voided. Clearly the omission described in B4 –(The voter has not provided his house number, street name and city of residence on the B Envelope) does not rise to the level to legitimately constitute a material omission that should warrant the voiding of a ballot due to (1) the fact that the requirement to provide the legal address is inconsistently applied ; and (2) that on the domestic ballot, that same information is provided in preprinted form on the outside of the return envelope used to send the ballot back to the registrar."

I find excessive nit-picking to be offensive in the context of absentee voting, especially when the correct name and address of the voter is already pre-printed on the mailing. When faced with this kind of bureaucratism, one can only assume the purpose is to deny a registered voter his or her franchise. I would hope Virginia would be past such machinations. Therefore, keep the regulations consistent for all categories of voters, and do not treat them differently.

CommentID: 14444