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 2014 Absentee Material Omissions
Stage Proposed
Comment Period Ended on 7/21/2014
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7/19/14  7:48 pm
Commenter: Janice Yohai

Name and address are on the mailing label
 

Not including the generational suffix or the street identifier should not be considered "material".  The ballot was mailed to a particular person because he/she filled out an application.  It was an approved application, or they would not have received a ballot.  To then require the recipient of the ballot to repeat what has already been noted is unnecessasry because it has already been found to be accurate.  These votes should be counted.

My particular street name is too long to fit on any form with boxes.  It is 20 characters long without putting DRIVE after it.  I am accustomed to writing my street name WITHOUT the street identifier.

Also, many if not most roads only have one identifier with that street name.  And for those which have 2 identifiers with the same name, the resident knows this and would include it on the ballot.  They know this.  For those who know that there are no other streets with the same name, it would be unnecessary to inlude this identifier.  The voter who knows he need to include it will do so; for others it is immaterial.   In either case, the person's identity is clear.

I receive mail at my address without the identifier.  The letter carrier knows where my street is.  No one who writes to me has to include DRIVE behind the name of my street.  Neither should I have to include it in my address on the mailed-in ballot.

Here are some alternatives:

  1. Why don't you create the outgoing address as one which can be peeled off and affixed to the ballot,
  2. Or why don't you include a second label inside the envelope for use on the ballot
  3. Or why don't you preprint the persons name and address on the ballot for the voter to use.  

This issue can so easily be resolved with better mailing practices.

 

CommentID: 33393