Bullies at the Ballot Box - Demos

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aSSeSSment: are VoterS ProteCted? ProCedureS For makIng and determInIng ValIdIty oF ChallengeS legal BaSIS For ChallengIng a Voter’S elIgIBIlIty Who Can Challenge on eleCtIon day? State SatISFaCtory New Hampshire has exemplary requirements that challenges be made in writing under oath. It is very good that challenged voters can vote as long as they submit an affidavit affirming their qualifications. This is very protective of voters and allows eligible voters to ensure their vote is counted. New Hampshire could improve its laws by adopting a penalty for frivolous challenges and requiring that they be made on the basis of personal knowledge. All challenges, whether from designated challengers, officials, or members of the public, must be signed, under oath, and submitted in writing to a moderator. N.H. REV. STAT. §§ 659:27; 659:27-a No voter or designated challenger is permitted to challenge a person’s qualifications to be a voter at the Election Day voter registration table. N.H. REV. STAT. §§ 659:27 The moderator must determine if the challenge is well grounded. If the moderator determines the challenge is well grounded, the moderator must reject the vote of the person challenged unless the voter submits an affidavit affirming his or her identity and qualifications under penalty of voter fraud. If the moderator determines that the challenge is not well grounded, the moderator must permit the voter to proceed to vote. N.H. REV. STAT. §§ 659:27; 659:30; 659:31 Grounds for challenging a voter include the following: the person seeking to vote is not the individual whose name he or she has given; the person has already voted in the election; the person seeking to vote is disqualified for violating the elections laws; the person is under 18 years of age; the person seeking to vote is not a United States Citizen; the person seeking to vote is not domiciled in the town or ward where he or she is seeking to vote; the person seeking to vote does not reside at his or her listed address; the person is an incarcerated convicted felon who is currently sentenced to incarceration; the person is not a declared member of the party he or she claims to be affiliated with (in a primary only); the person is ineligible to vote because of a state or federal law or constitutional provision. N.H. REV. STAT. § 659:27-a neW hamPShIre A registered voter in the town or ward in which the election is held, an election official, or a challenger designated by the attorney general or a political party state, city, or town committee. N.H. REV. STAT. §§ 659:27; 666:4 40 • aPPendIx 2 | State Laws Governing Election Day Challenges
aSSeSSment: are VoterS ProteCted? ProCedureS For makIng and determInIng ValIdIty oF ChallengeS legal BaSIS For ChallengIng a Voter’S elIgIBIlIty Who Can Challenge on eleCtIon day? State SatISFaCtory North Carolina’s laws are exemplary: challenges must be in writing under oath, and based on personal knowledge. It is very protective of voters that evidence is needed to support a challenge and that the presumption favors the registrant. Another excellent provision is that returned mail cannot be used as evidence for a challenge. This protects voters from potentially frivolous and burdensome challenges based on caging practices. One provision is less than optimal: election officials may reject a ballot even after a voter takes an oath. But the presumption in favor of the voter and the provision requiring affirmative proof for a challenge helps mitigate this weakness. Each challenge shall be made separately, in writing, under oath and on forms prescribed by the State Board of Elections, and shall specify the reasons why the challenged voter is not entitled to register. N.C. GEN. STAT. §§ 163-85 A challenge can only be made if a challenger “knows, suspects, or reasonably believes [the challenged individual] not to be qualified and entitled to vote.” N.C. GEN. STAT. §§ 163-90.1 Challenges are heard and decided by judges of election in the challenged registrant’s precinct before the polls are closed. Those officials must explain the qualifications for registration and voting and may then examine the voter as to his or her qualifications to be registered and to vote. N.C. GEN. STAT. § 163-88 A challenged voter must make an oath or affirmation regarding her eligibility to vote. However, even once the voter has done so, elections officials may still refuse to allow the individual to vote a regular ballot “unless they are satisfied that the challenged registrant is a legal voter.” The presumption is that the voter is properly registered, and any challenge must be supported by affirmative proof for it to be sustained. N.C. GEN. STAT. § 163-88 A letter or postal card mailed by returnable mail and returned by the United States Postal Service purportedly because the person no longer lives at that address or because a forwarding order has expired shall not be admissible evidence in a challenge. N.C. GEN. STAT. § 163-88 Grounds for challenges on Election Day include residency, citizenship, ineligibility due to felony conviction, whether a voter has already voted in the election, or whether the voter is not who she claims to be. N.C. GEN. STAT. §§ 163-85; 163 87 north CarolIna Any individual registered to vote in the precinct. N.C. GEN. STAT. § 163-87 41 • aPPendIx 2 | State Laws Governing Election Day Challenges
Page 1 and 2: Bullies at the Ballot Box Protectin
Page 3 and 4: taBle oF Contents exeCutive summary
Page 5 and 6: exeCutIVe Summary they say they wan
Page 7 and 8: gloSSary Caging - the practice of c
Page 9 and 10: ecruit poll watchers for Election D
Page 11 and 12: of email sent between RNC employees
Page 13 and 14: should guard against extensive last
Page 15 and 16: In June 2012, the Department of Jus
Page 17 and 18: proof” of qualifications to vote.
Page 19 and 20: least one additional screen from fr
Page 21 and 22: eCommendatIonS For addreSSIng CagIn
Page 23 and 24: and a media observer with valid med
Page 25 and 26: challenged, the process for determi
Page 27 and 28: place. 280 They may not impede the
Page 29 and 30: and request proof of eligibility. G
Page 31 and 32: challenges, rules governing the cha
Page 33 and 34: tampering with a voter’s ballot,
Page 35 and 36: estrict protests within a certain a
Page 37 and 38: 1. state laws governing Pre-eleCtio
Page 39 and 40: aSSeSSment: are VoterS ProteCted? h
Page 41 and 42: aSSeSSment: are VoterS ProteCted? h
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Page 55 and 56: 4. state laws For aDDressing voter
Page 57 and 58: endnoteS 1. Brentin Mock, “How th
Page 59 and 60: 87. Marc Caputo, “Florida’s Vot
Page 61 and 62: 277. Id. 278. Id. 279. Id. 280. N.C
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