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New voting procedure may give election problems

Provisional voting might play into the election process in Jackson County, as thousands of mail-in voters did not provide identification or proof of address when sending in registration forms.

More than 800 students living on campus, or others that did not provide proper identification while registering, must show identification and proof of address at the polls Tuesday. Otherwise, they must vote on a provisional ballot and provide identification and proof of address no later than 4 p.m. Nov. 4 at the Jackson County Clerks Office.

Places on campus taking registration with mail-in forms, and all other mail-in forms, made identification optional while those registering with deputy registrars were required to have identification.

Provisional voting is a new concept introduced to states throughout the nation. The method was first used in Jackson County's primaries in March. If an individual claims to be registered but is not on the general register, he or she can fill out a ballot that will be verified at a later date.

This new way of voting resulted from the controversy surrounding the Florida election, when potential voters were turned away from polling places because their names were not on the general register.

In 2000, people waited anxiously for the results of a heated presidential race as the debacle over "hanging chads" raged in Florida. Now in 2004, some analysts say the country might find itself in a similar situation- only this time with provisional voting.

"If I had to pick the one thing that will be source of controversy on Election Day, it will be provisional voting," said Doug Chapin, executive director of Electionline, in an article from the Associated Press.

A study by the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimated that nearly half of the 4 million to 6 million voters disenfranchised in the 2000 election were turned away due to registration problems.

While hanging chads did not account for much confusion in Jackson County, with only 1 percent of ballots being blank, provisional voting just might, said Jackson County Clerk Larry Reinhardt.

The first time Illinois tried to use provisional voting in the primaries for the upcoming election, Jackson County received seven provisional ballots, but only one was counted. Similarly, Chicago received 5,914 provisional votes, but only 416 votes, or 7 percent, were counted.

In Jackson County, Reinhardt said the discrepancy could be attributed to people not being registered to vote or not keeping an updated address on file.

Reinhardt recalled one such circumstance in the Union County democratic primary where one provisional ballot could have broken the tie between two candidates. Because the ballot is not secret, in order to check the veracity of the voter's registration, Reinhardt said one person's role might have settled the tie. The provisional vote, however, was thrown out due to the voter not meeting necessary requirements.

The potential of mail-in voters using provisional ballots concerns Reinhardt, but he said he does not think it will be a big problem.

"[Identification] is about as open or as easy as we can make it and still require an individual to verify they live where they say they live," Reinhardt said. "We are trying to get that word out as much as we can."

Barbara Brown, University political science professor and Randolph County circuit clerk, said she thinks the new process might have some problems simply because it is a new process.

"It all falls back on the voter," Reinhardt said. "Unfortunately, a lot of people don't realize that, but it's their responsibility and there is nothing in the law, nothing else we can do about it."

 

 

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