I'm worried about my absentee ballot being counted.

[ebdarcy]

Okay, I'm planning on contacting the Franklin County Board of Elections tomorrow, but I just want to get some opinions. My mom and I voted on September 30. I'm really worried about the Ohio GOP attempted voter suppression, so I keep checking my ballot status on the BOE's website. Under status, it says "We mailed your ballot on Sept 30." My mom's status says "we received your ballot October 14." We voted at the exact same time, at the same table.

So, now, I'm getting paranoid. I'm registered as a Democrat, because I voted in the primary. My mom never votes in the primary, so she's unaffiliated. We both updated our registrations in August. All my information is correct. I even called the BMV and updated my address with them.

Are they screwing with me, or is this something innocent that I'm blowing out of proportion? They have in-person absentee voting going on today at Vet's. Do you think I'll be able to get someone on the phone today?

[Kukesa]

1. Sure, if you're worried, call them. If you can't get an answer

today, call them back tomorrow.

When you get an explanation, please let us DUers know about it.

(You made me curious so I checked my local BOE site. My ballot was received 10/16/08 -- funny, I mailed it on 10/5/08; sure took a long time to get to the other side of town.)

[ebdarcy]

2. I called them and got sent to voicemail. I left my contact info, but I'll call them

back tomorrow. I really hope I'm just being paranoid. I'm pretty sure I filled out the envelope correctly, and it was double-checked by a poll worker before it went into the lock box.

This is going to bother me until tomorrow.

I'm glad they received your ballot. Maybe I am just being paranoid.

[Kukesa]

3. Maybe they don't open until noon on Sundays ??? n/t

[luvs2sing]

4. I'm going through the same thing right now...

only it's my husband's ballot that's in question. We both voted on October 5. When I checked, it said my ballot was received October 14, however, my husband's ballot was sent on October 5. I called a week ago and was told that "received" means that the ballot was scanned on that date, and "sent" means that is when my husband was given his ballot at Vet's, but that it had not been scanned yet.

Ok...I've been checking the BOE website every day, and late last night when I checked, his registration came up "Ballot redacted pursuant to...(some ORC code)". I'm freaking. I check again this morning, and it's back to ballot sent on October 5.

When I get home from work, I'm calling the SOS office, sending a report to the Obama campaign and...raising hell with anyone else anyone might recommend. My husband has been a registered voter in this state for over 20 years. This is bullshit...

Oh, and we all should put the word out to anyone who voted early to check the website to make sure our vote was "received".

[ebdarcy]

5. I'm on hold with the boe right now.

Did they give a reason why the ballot wasn't scanned yet? And, if you don't mind my asking, are you both registered as Democrats? Because I'm wondering if that's why my ballot is still not received.

[luvs2sing]

7. The woman I talked to said it was probably because...

they're so "backlogged" with all the early voters.

And yes, we're both long-time registered Democrats.

I'm looking forward to hearing what they tell you.

[ebdarcy]

6. Update: I got through. I talked with a very nice lady.

She said that everything appears to be fine. It just hasn't been scanned yet. She doesn't know why. But she said it will be scanned by election day. She also said they've had at least 160,000 people come vote at vets.

So, do I accept this, or should I contact Jenny Brunner or the campaign? Just to maybe give them a head's up?

[Kukesa]

8. I think you're OK but check their website in a few days.

Thanx for following up and letting all us DUers know.

:hi:

[luvs2sing]

9. Oops, just saw this!

I'll echo your experience - the folks I talked to at Franklin County BOE were very courteous and helpful. I definitely give them props for that!

I'm going to contact both SOS and the campaign when I get home a little later just to be on the safe side.

[luvs2sing]

10. All's well that ends well.

When I checked the BOE website this morning, it said DH's ballot was received on 10/24.

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[Kukesa]

11. Yay! Good for you. n/t

[flobee]

12. a couple of things to remember!

1-The people you are talking with over the phone are as stressed out as you-if not more
they've been working 16+ hours a day/7days a week for the past month to make sure this massive election is as easy on people as possible! They are honestly trying to help the best they can

2- the website that you can see yourself on is behind/not updated as often as it should be for something this big. If you have a question-call your local boe-they will know. and if they dont, they can give info on where to go that you can find out for certain.

3-I voted a month ago
I knew then that everything would be crazy as it got closer to election time
I new I was a confirmed registered voter in APRIL because I checked in APRIL-again, I knew what was on the horizon!
There are circumstances that noone can forsee that would cause you to need an absentee ballot in a hurry-its just the way things go sometimes-the BOE will do what they can to help. But an Ohio student in california that decides tomorrow that they need to vote in Ohio, is going to be disappointed. I hate to sound like an asshole, but people that wait til the last minute get screwed!
The absentee ballot process takes time because yes, they do check to see that you are registered-and registered at the address you gave them and it does take the usps time to get the application to the office and then the ballot to you-then back to the boe. To think the process can be finished, even locally between 10/30 and 11/3 is beyond rational thought.

4-If you come to vote early, arrive early!!!!!
a lot of people are not awake and out of bed yet when the polls open in the morning-take advantage of that!!

5- anger in any form at the polls, early or on the 4th, will not solve any problems. Have you ever seen an election like this one? Neither have the pollworkers or the BOE. Please be patient.

6-If you are registered to vote -anywhere in ohio- you will have a chance to vote, and your ballot will be counted.
Absentee ballots are counted FIRST!
Provisional ballots are counted 10 days after the election-but they are counted


sorry for the rant-
Its been a long hard day with several more in the future. Dont stop pushing for Obama and the rest-
As Alec Baldwin says
A - always
B - be
C - closing
Always be closing.......ALWAYS BE CLOSING!
the fat lady has not sung, elvis is still in the building, and the election is not over til 7:30 on 11/4
Vote
Tell others to vote
There is NO excuse for not voting-its been happening since Sept.
Voting has never been more accomidating or easy-DO IT! Close the deal!

[flobee]

13. and I almost forgot

fill out you ID evelope for your absentee ballot COMPLETELY
name DL number last 4 of your SS# and your b-day
these are all thing they use to Identify you as you
without it-you could be screwed



that is all

[Kukesa]

14. Welcome to our Ohio forum, flo. n/t

[flobee]

15. exhausted

another 2100+ people voted today in montgomery co
at one point the wait time was an hour and a half
and Brunner put out a statement today that missing birthdates on the id envelopes will not void the ballot that is inside anymore.

5 more nightmareish days to go until this is over
time for bed so I cand do it all over again tomorrow

[Kukesa]

16. Wow! I live in Montgomery Co. How many early voters have

there been, total? Any idea?

I voted absentee and mailed my ballot on Oct. 4th.

:hi:

[flobee]

17. the turnout has been massive

all last week we had close to a grand a day
this week there has been more

yesterday we packed out 3 floors of the administration building with a line starting to form outside
expecting the same today. tomorrow we expect twice that amount and sunday people are coming by the busload-literally
its going to be insane

and the whole time the obama folks have been stationed at the 100 foot signs passing out voter guides
every day rain or shine!


loaded up on coffee and pancakes and ready for another day at the circus!
wish me luck!

[Kukesa]

18. I DO wish you luck and I thank you for working so hard. n/t

[ebdarcy]

19. Hi flobee. Thank you for all the hard work you do.

When I called about my ballot, I talked to a extremely nice lady. She was very helpful and patient and explained that there was a backlog. This was my first time voting absentee, so I just wanted to make sure everything was alright. I was just worried because of how hard the GOP was trying to "verify" voters. I had to change my voter registration twice this year, and I was paranoid that my ballot was going to get flagged or something.

But my ballot finally got marked received and all is well. And don't worry, I was nice and polite when I talked to the BOE representative. I worked retail for six years, so I know how much mean people suck during stressful situations.