Thousands of WA primary votes invalid because oath not signed

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Thousands of ballots being cast in Washington's presidential preferential primary are invalid because voters aren't signing a ballot oath identifying themselves as a Democrat or a Republican, Secretary of State Sam Reed said Friday.

Reed said that while some people may just forget to do it, or may be purposefully skipping voting in the presidential race and voting on special elections being held in 36 of the state's 39 counties, he thinks many are protesting the requirement that they declare themselves loyal to a party for the Feb. 19 election.

"I think this is really indicative of the attitude of Washington state voters, who are these populist voters who refuse, as a matter of principle, to be put in that box," he said.

In King County, elections spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said that of the 120,000 ballots returned so far, between 20 percent and 25 percent did not check the appropriate box on the back and sign the oath "either because voters forgot, or in protest."

Read more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_primary_invalid_ballots.html

[Fresh_Start]

1. if they didn't vote due to lack of signature....

does that mean they can try to vote again?

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. shenanigans

[keopeli]

3. This only matters for Republics

Democratic delegates are chosen entirely by Caucuses. Republics split their delegate assignments - 50% by primary, 50% by caucus. The ballot is otherwise accepted (except for the presidential nominee).

Our voting system has been f&%ked by the Supreme Court, so the Dems put all their delegates into the caucuses.

So, if a Dem voter doesn't sign the envelop, it really doesn't matter. If a Republic doesn't sign, then their presidential vote doesn't count.

[dkf]

7. I thought WA was a caucus state! Thanks for the clarification.

[JackORoses]

4. Washington is holding a Caucus to determine its Delegates

In another 10 days, they will also hold a non-binding Primary to allow for more participation.

[aquart]

6. How do you participate if the primary is non-binding?

[pnwmom]

8. It's just a beauty contest. n/t

[JackORoses]

15. it is a beauty pageant, that is true.

[EFerrari]

5. King County, cesspool of election corruption, you rule!

[pnwmom]

9. No worse than anywhere else, IMO. n/t

[EFerrari]

21. I talked to Andy about King County once and I cannot

report his opinion without getting in trouble here. lol

But, you may be right.

[Uncle Sinister]

16. rotfl!

Ever been to San Francisco or Baltimore?

[EFerrari]

20. I live in San Francisco and from here, you can see our ballots floating

in the bay!

[Mithreal]

10. Missing from the story

1. Sam Reed is a Republican

2. The signed loyalty oath is significantly different for Democratic and Republican primary voters. For the primary ballot to count the voter must check either that he or she considers self a Democrat or is a MEMBER of the Republican party.

3. The caucus' importance is minimalized. The Voter's Pamphlet Reed's office issues advertises in bold print the Presidential Primary on February 19 and buries information on the caucuses in a paragraph at the bottom of page 6 and more information on page 16. This hurts Democrats or those inclined to participate in the Democratic caucus. If Republicans don't attend their caucus they can still help award delegates through the primary.

I realize the parties can do what they want but it seems silly to not encourage independent voters to participate, maybe weight their ballots differently if so inclined, but not to ignore them.

[2PeiMom]

14. "3. The caucus' importance is minimalized."

You're right. I'm looking at my WA absentee ballot right now and it is very clear what the Republican voter must do to have his/her vote count. And the caucuses are just barely mentioned on the info sheet. Nowhere do I see any detail about how the caucuses work. The info sheet explains that the Republicans will allocate 51% of its delegates from the primary results and that the Democratic Party will use 0%. Then they give you the parties' websites for those inclined to investigate further. Too many busy people won't get that far.

[Mithreal]

23. Definitely agree. nt

[ursi]

11. what a crock of shit ...just like what happened in California

[mac2]

12. Oath of party membership?

What a bunch of bull. Washington state is a Blue state so they have vote stealing already?

[Orsino]

17. Shouldn't that be taken care of *before* entering the booth?

Why add another hurdle that can only result in uncounted ballots? Are election boards forgetting that their duty is to register the intent of the voter?

[mac2]

24. Sounds like another reason to stop Democratic voters

[ConcernedCanuk]

13. We up here don't have to sign anything regarding party alliance.

.
.
.

We don't have to sign anything at all.

We just vote for who we want.

And I've never experienced an "exit" poll.

Our elections are all done in ONE DAY!

USA takes a whole year?

That's efficient.

[LiberalFighter]

19. Do you have primaries or caucuses?

[ConcernedCanuk]

22. Nope - an election is called, we get our ballots in the mail with instructions where to vote

.
.
.

So we get to study the ballot long before we take it to a voting station where the voting ballot is given to us, our name is taken off the list at the voting station, and that's it.

There are lots of instructions on the mailed ballot, as to how to mark your ballot, when and where to vote, and sometimes an option for an early vote - but instructions are clear.

So at the end of the voting day, we can tune in, log on, whatever and find out the results.

There is NONE of this pre-selection of candidates, or having to belong to, or declare a party affiliation.

A person COULD belong to the Liberal Party and still go in and vote Conservative, Green, NDP, whatever. There is no way in our system that can determine who actually votes for whom.

Back to the ballot - we trade the ballot we are given in the mal for the voting ballot at the voting station. We are directed to go behind a small privacy curtain to make our vote(Pencil on paper), fold the ballot in half, and take it back to the voting table, where the volunteers watch us place it into the voting box.

ALL ballots are counted by hand by the volunteers AFTER all the polling booths are closed.

All ballots are the same - there is no pre-screening of voters of who you are voting for.

I don't think we'll ever get electronic voting machines up here - we see what you can get for a leader with them things - and besides

The way y'all have your districts, caucuses, primaries and so on,

That can confuse even an intelligent voter!

[demigoddess]

18. we haven't received our ballots yet.

we heard they were being mailed out on the first of feb. Am attending caucus so am not worried about the primary but am worried about the ballots for the general as they are going to all mail in elections.

[mac2]

25. Call a local newspaper and raise hell