November 21, 2005

"Absentee ballot form itself needs some scrutiny"

"The number of San Bernardino County absentee ballots where voters' intent was unclear following this month's special election may not be just the voters' fault.

The problem is so widespread, with more than 15,000 ballots requiring extra scrutiny, that there appears to be a problem with the ballot itself.

Absentee ballots are read by a scanner. When they cannot be successfully read that way, they must be examined by the human eye to decipher what the voter meant.

Registrar Kari Verjil said much of the confusion stems from simple voter error, with voters failing to draw a line connecting two parts of an arrow or else using the wrong kind of writing implement. Many voters simply circled yes or no, or wrote in candidates' names inappropriately.

Voter education could help. But with the same errors so common, it points to a ballot that needs to be more straightforward. The increase in absentee voting makes it a problem that's not going away. And since the counting of those absentee ballots that are read late could determine the outcome of close races, it's an issue that needs to be addressed. Especially when at least a third of the 44,000 absentee ballots that came in the final days before last week's election required a second look.

Verjil plans to take up the issue with Sequoia Voting Systems, the firm issuing the ballots."

You can read the editorial here.

Posted by Randy Riddle at November 21, 2005 08:30 AM