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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7/20/14  9:49 pm
Commenter: Constance R Church, chief election officer for over ten years

2014 Absentee Material Omissions
 

We should be looking for ways to make voting easier, not harder.

When a person requests an absentee ballot, he or she have to provide name, address, and at least a partial social security number.  The electoral board therefore has this information before it sends out the absentee ballot.  When the voted ballot is received, the electoral board matches it against its list of people requesting ballots.  I know this is true because as a chief, I always get a list of absentee voters and the status of their ballots: voted absentee in person, ballot requested but not returned, ballot received.  If the word "lane" or "road" is missing from the Envelope B, the electoral board will know whose ballot is received because the name matches to someone who requested a ballot.  As for the generational suffix requirement, in ten years as an election officer, most of them as chief or assistant chief, I have never seen requests for absentee ballots by two people with the same name and address. There will be no doubt as to whose ballot was received.  

Let us not make regulations which serve no useful purpose but whose actual effect will be to disenfranchise voters because of meaningless errors.

CommentID: 33462