Same-day voter registration

[Gabu]

OK, I found out the stats. Blue Earth county had 122.79% turnout in 2004.

There was 33,333 (yes, that's the exact number) ballots cast in a county with 57,409 residents.

I also found out through Google that turnout was so high that they had to have new ballots printed during election day.

Why don't they include the same-day registration in the turnout figures?  Doing otherwise makes it look like there was blatant voter fraud that occurred.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

It only goes by registrations at the time the polls opened.

As for why they don't include same day registrations, I don't know. It might be too difficult, or perhaps it's just not neccesary since the list when the polls open serves its purpose. Even if they did, that would seriously inflate turnout, since everyone who registers on that day also votes. Still those numbers are still quite impressive even when compared only to eligible voters.

[Gabu]

Even if they did, that would seriously inflate turnout, since everyone who registers on that day also votes.

Yes, but I'm just saying that, to a casual onlooker, it would seem patently obvious that having over 100% turnout is blatant voter fraud.

[Alcon]

You didn't actually has a 122.8% turnout, then.  Those statistics are useless.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

You didn't actually has a 122.8% turnout, then.  Those statistics are useless.

Well I'd try to calculate the actual turnout except I don't have the exact numbers, simply the total votes and registered voters when the polls opened. I don't know how many of the registered voters did vote, in fact it's possible that none of the 27,147 voted and all voters registered on that day (obviously that didn't happen and I was one of the 27,147, but it is theoretically possible).

But still, our turnout was so high we ran out of ballots and had to have extras printed. That is something to be proud of.

[Alcon]

You didn't actually has a 122.8% turnout, then.  Those statistics are useless.

Well I'd try to calculate the actual turnout except I don't have the exact numbers, simply the total votes and registered voters when the polls opened. I don't know how many of the registered voters did vote, in fact it's possible that none of the 27,147 voted and all voters registered on that day (obviously that didn't happen and I was one of the 27,147, but it is theoretically possible).

But still, our turnout was so high we ran out of ballots and had to have extras printed. That is something to be proud of.

That is true, but you can't claim that Blue Earth had the highest turnout of anywhere.  That is among an incomplete registration set.  The cynic in me says that they may not have released the information because some precincts still had over-100% turnout.  Hell, that happened here in a few places.

By the way, a lot of places had to print additional ballots - it happened here, too, and we don't even have same-day registration.

[Sam Spade]

Against it, mainly because of the open invitation for voter fraud.

[J. J.]

Exceptionally bad.  You would almost never have an election that couldn't be challenged.

When's the last time an election in Minnesota was challenged?

It probably would have been in 2004, if the national result was different. 

[WMS]

In Canada all elections have this option, and no one complains. Just show up in the correct voting station, show two pieces of government ID with your name, address and picture on it, and you're allowed in.

Oh, but the people who favor same-day voter registration ALSO oppose voter ID! Think about that.

Dreadful idea, and I'm speaking as someone with 4 years experience in an elections bureau...

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

In Canada all elections have this option, and no one complains. Just show up in the correct voting station, show two pieces of government ID with your name, address and picture on it, and you're allowed in.

Oh, but the people who favor same-day voter registration ALSO oppose voter ID! Think about that.

That's actually the law in Minnesota. You don't need ID to vote if you're already registered, you just have to say your name and they check if it's on the roster and that person hasn't voted, if so, you sign next to the roster. You don't even need ID to register, you just need for someone already registered to say that you live in the precinct. And if you register without that, you do need some proof of address, but no photo ID.

[MODU]

In Canada all elections have this option, and no one complains. Just show up in the correct voting station, show two pieces of government ID with your name, address and picture on it, and you're allowed in.

Oh, but the people who favor same-day voter registration ALSO oppose voter ID! Think about that.

That's actually the law in Minnesota. You don't need ID to vote if you're already registered, you just have to say your name and they check if it's on the roster and that person hasn't voted, if so, you sign next to the roster. You don't even need ID to register, you just need for someone already registered to say that you live in the precinct. And if you register without that, you do need some proof of address, but no photo ID.

Yet even more reasons why same-day voting is extremely bad.

In order to vote:

a) Must be registered no later than a month before the election,
b) Valid photo ID (drivers license, military ID, etc)
c) Must be voting at your assigned polling station

There are no excuses as to why those three factors cannot be met.  And, for those that claim they can't make it to the polling station on election day, there are things called absentee ballots.  Again, no excuses.

[WMS]

In Canada all elections have this option, and no one complains. Just show up in the correct voting station, show two pieces of government ID with your name, address and picture on it, and you're allowed in.

Oh, but the people who favor same-day voter registration ALSO oppose voter ID! Think about that.

That's actually the law in Minnesota. You don't need ID to vote if you're already registered, you just have to say your name and they check if it's on the roster and that person hasn't voted, if so, you sign next to the roster. You don't even need ID to register, you just need for someone already registered to say that you live in the precinct. And if you register without that, you do need some proof of address, but no photo ID.

Wide open to fraud - we had people here in NM who arrived at the polls and found out someone else had already signed for them and voted in their stead...

And what MODU said - you have a frickin' eternity to go and get registered, and it's really easy to do...no excuses for being lazy...

[Storebought]

In Canada all elections have this option, and no one complains. Just show up in the correct voting station, show two pieces of government ID with your name, address and picture on it, and you're allowed in.

Oh, but the people who favor same-day voter registration ALSO oppose voter ID! Think about that.

That's actually the law in Minnesota. You don't need ID to vote if you're already registered, you just have to say your name and they check if it's on the roster and that person hasn't voted, if so, you sign next to the roster. You don't even need ID to register, you just need for someone already registered to say that you live in the precinct. And if you register without that, you do need some proof of address, but no photo ID.

Wide open to fraud - we had people here in NM who arrived at the polls and found out someone else had already signed for them and voted in their stead...

What legal recourse is there to someone who finds himself in that situation in NM?

[Nym90]

A good idea in theory.

Implementation as always is a different matter.

I'd support it as long as ID requirements are strict enough to ward off the vast majority of fraud.

I tend to be skeptical of reports of vote fraud, but certainly it needs to be dealt with severely when it is found and proven.

[KEmperor]

In Canada all elections have this option, and no one complains. Just show up in the correct voting station, show two pieces of government ID with your name, address and picture on it, and you're allowed in.

Oh, but the people who favor same-day voter registration ALSO oppose voter ID! Think about that.

That's actually the law in Minnesota. You don't need ID to vote if you're already registered, you just have to say your name and they check if it's on the roster and that person hasn't voted, if so, you sign next to the roster. You don't even need ID to register, you just need for someone already registered to say that you live in the precinct. And if you register without that, you do need some proof of address, but no photo ID.

Do you realize how open to fraud that system is?  All you need is for someone to say that you live there, and they will let you register and vote?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

In Canada all elections have this option, and no one complains. Just show up in the correct voting station, show two pieces of government ID with your name, address and picture on it, and you're allowed in.

Oh, but the people who favor same-day voter registration ALSO oppose voter ID! Think about that.

That's actually the law in Minnesota. You don't need ID to vote if you're already registered, you just have to say your name and they check if it's on the roster and that person hasn't voted, if so, you sign next to the roster. You don't even need ID to register, you just need for someone already registered to say that you live in the precinct. And if you register without that, you do need some proof of address, but no photo ID.

Do you realize how open to fraud that system is?  All you need is for someone to say that you live there, and they will let you register and vote?

Yes, that's all it takes. Of course lying is a felony.

Minnesota has the laxest voting laws in the world. No exaggeration. There's no other government entity in the world that allows the "vouching" system for registration. And when's the last time you heard about massive fraud and voting irregularities in Minnesota?

[WMS]

In Canada all elections have this option, and no one complains. Just show up in the correct voting station, show two pieces of government ID with your name, address and picture on it, and you're allowed in.

Oh, but the people who favor same-day voter registration ALSO oppose voter ID! Think about that.

That's actually the law in Minnesota. You don't need ID to vote if you're already registered, you just have to say your name and they check if it's on the roster and that person hasn't voted, if so, you sign next to the roster. You don't even need ID to register, you just need for someone already registered to say that you live in the precinct. And if you register without that, you do need some proof of address, but no photo ID.

Wide open to fraud - we had people here in NM who arrived at the polls and found out someone else had already signed for them and voted in their stead...

What legal recourse is there to someone who finds himself in that situation in NM?

Not much, it appears. Especially when the state Dems basically said in response... "tough"

[Alcon]

In Canada all elections have this option, and no one complains. Just show up in the correct voting station, show two pieces of government ID with your name, address and picture on it, and you're allowed in.

Oh, but the people who favor same-day voter registration ALSO oppose voter ID! Think about that.

That's actually the law in Minnesota. You don't need ID to vote if you're already registered, you just have to say your name and they check if it's on the roster and that person hasn't voted, if so, you sign next to the roster. You don't even need ID to register, you just need for someone already registered to say that you live in the precinct. And if you register without that, you do need some proof of address, but no photo ID.

Do you realize how open to fraud that system is?  All you need is for someone to say that you live there, and they will let you register and vote?

Yes, that's all it takes. Of course lying is a felony.

Minnesota has the laxest voting laws in the world. No exaggeration. There's no other government entity in the world that allows the "vouching" system for registration. And when's the last time you heard about massive fraud and voting irregularities in Minnesota?

Wisconsin has less lax rules, and we do here of massive problems there.

Why wait until disaster strikes to reform the practices?  Trust me, as a resident of Washington, this is more than familiar to me.