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
spacer
Previous Comment     Next Comment     Back to List of Comments
7/20/14  4:24 pm
Commenter: Kristine Claire Gregory, Fairfax County Democratic Committee

Please Adopt the Proposed Changes and Amendments for Handling Absentee Ballots
 

I strongly support the proposed change to allow Absentee Ballots to be counted even if the inner envelope enclosing the ballot is not sealed WHEN the outer mailing envelope is sealed on delivery to the appropriate registrar's office for all special and general elections. I do regular voter registration drives at Chesterbrook Residences, an assisted living facility in my neighborhood specifically to assist those seniors who can't easily vote curbside to complete their absentee ballot application forms correctly.  They mail their completed ballots on their own and I can't be there to ensure that they seal both envelopes. And please accept use of an initial in place of the full middle or maiden name when the first and last name and address information are correct. Some of our fellow citizens of Asian or African heritage do not have a middle name so I ask them to write "N/A" on their voter registration or absentee ballot forms.  However, they may not remember to do so on their ballot envelope. The requirement that street names must be written in full is contrary to general accepted practice by the US post office for mailing addresses and most business both offline and online.  If a voter writes "Westmoreland St" it is just as clearly recognized as "Westmoreland Street".  And the requirement to check the "None" box on the voter registration application form if a voter doesn't have a suffix should be dropped.  Again, not every child given the same name as a parent or family member has a suffix listed on their birth certificate and Social Security card.  The suffix imay be used only as a courtesy and is not included on official records.  For example, citizens of Scandinavian heritage may choose to follow the tradition of creating a last name incorporating a father's first name with the gender of the child (i.e. Johnson) and have a tradition of not using suffixes.  In the case of a multigenerational family in the same residence the birthdate information is included on the VA Voter I.D. card, VA driver's license, or VA State I.D. card for reference if election officer is not sure which member of the family is checking into vote on election day. 

 

CommentID: 33445