L.A.'s DTS Problem [UPDATED]

by Todd Beeton, Tue Feb 05, 2008 at 01:55:56 PM EST

As dday notes in Breaking Blue, voting problems here in Los Angeles today are real. DTS voters (decline to state, California's version of independents) here in CA are reporting that they're being turned away from the polls throughout the state by uninformed poll workers. The fact is, DTS can vote in the Democratic primary but you must request a Democratic ballot.

In Los Angeles County there's a separate issue. Here, we have an Ink-A-Vote system where you mark your paper ballot with an ink marker and the ballot is then scanned through an optical reader right in front of you and you're sent on your way after confirmation that the vote was recorded. The problem for DTS voters is not only do they have to request a Democratic ballot, but then they must mark an extra bubble (see picture HERE,) which is above the names of the candidates, that confirms they're voting on a Dem ballot. Stupid, right? They already requested the ballot, that would seem to be confirmation enough, but alas, if it's not marked the scanner won't record it.

My view is that people shouldn't be disenfranchised just because of this stupid rule, regardless of who they're voting for. The Obama campaign is particularly worried about it, as they held a conference call earlier today on the subject. The upshot: don't expect these votes to count tonight but if there is a dispute to tonight's results, expect them to be challenged, which could mean California's results would drag on for a while. Ack.

Update [2008-2-5 18:44:48 by Todd Beeton]:I was delinquent in originally not giving credit where credit is due. My friends at The Courage Campaign blew this issue up early yesterday when they sent this letter to the LA County Registrar urging that the law is clear on this:

The statute is clear: voters who have already affirmatively requested a Democratic ballot and cast a vote for a Democratic candidate, but who inadvertently fail to mark line number 6, must have their vote counted. To do otherwise is contrary to the statute. We can find no statutory basis for requiring voters to mark additional boxes to indicate that they are DTS voters requesting a partisan ballot.

David Dayen has more at calitics.

Tags: California primary, dts (all tags)

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15 Comments

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that's absurd

to make DTS voters mark an extra bubble on the Democratic ballot they've requested.

Who came up with that idea? It should be changed in time for the next election.

Are people aware if the machine doesn't record the vote? In my precinct, which has optical scanners, the machine will spit the ballot back out if there's not a valid vote on it.

I can't remember which year, but poll-workers have told me that a small but significant number of people do have their ballots spit back out at them, giving them a chance to mark it the right way.

by desmoinesdem 2008-02-05 12:38PM | 0 recs
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Re: that's absurd

I might feel bad about this, except they can't vote in the Republican primary at all. If people want to make sure they can vote in a Democratic primary, they should register as Democrats.

by LakersFan 2008-02-05 12:41PM | 0 recs
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Re: L.A.'s DTS Problem

Yeah, I thought that was confusing on the LA county ballot.  They shouldn't make ballots this confusing.  But, everyone should bring a sample ballot with them to the polls because there is so much going on with CA ballots and so little time to complete your ballot!  With a sample ballot, you simply copy what you have, and you can prove that you're registered in that specific precinct and in the case of DTS voters, that they can vote because there's a provision on the ballot for them....

by Zeitgeist9000 2008-02-05 12:50PM | 0 recs
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Re: L.A.'s DTS Problem

Funny, I don't see your concern about disenfranchising Florida and Michigan voters. Must be a hope thing.

by hwc 2008-02-05 12:54PM | 0 recs
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Re: L.A.'s DTS Problem

hwc, you are horrible!  But in a good way.

by Zeitgeist9000 2008-02-05 12:55PM | 0 recs
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Re: L.A.'s DTS Problem

I wonder how that ballot got designed. It seems silly. I imagine that all the ballots will be counted in the end.

I wouldn't be so sure as to which candidate the confusion helps. More DTS voters are likely for Obama, but the people who have trouble with ballots tend to be lower income. (Which is why these ballot snafus always seems to hurt the Dems more.)

by OrangeFur 2008-02-05 12:56PM | 0 recs
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Re: L.A.'s DTS Problem

Not related to this post, but... In the first two waves, he says it's coming in dead heat on the Dem side and Romney up by 20 points. This is from talkingpointsmemo.

by mecarr 2008-02-05 12:57PM | 0 recs
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How Reliable Is This?

Whatever!

by Zeitgeist9000 2008-02-05 01:05PM | 0 recs
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Other issues on the ballot?

I'm not in CA, so correct me if I am wrong, but don't DTS voters get this ballot by default? And aren't there non-primary issues at stake too which DTS voters can only vote on using the Dem ballot? The check box is probably meant to confirm that the DTS voter really has made the choice to vote Democratic. After all many DTS voters are going to the polls to vote on the other issues and have no intent to become Democrats.

by ineedalife 2008-02-05 12:59PM | 0 recs
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Re: Other issues on the ballot?

Yes, if they don't mark the oval for DTS, their choice for the Dem nominee won't be counted.  But from what I can gather, all the other choices will--for example our excessively high number of ballot propositions--will be counted.

by Zeitgeist9000 2008-02-05 01:05PM | 0 recs
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Re: Other issues on the ballot?

If you're DTS you have to ask for a special ballot which includes the Democratic Party candidates.  You shouldn't have to indicate the obvious once you've asked for the special ballot.

by Drummond 2008-02-05 01:16PM | 0 recs
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Re: Other issues on the ballot?

DTS voters can request a Democratic ballot. If they don't request a specific ballot, they will be given a non-partisan ballot with just the ballot measures.

by LakersFan 2008-02-05 02:18PM | 0 recs
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Re: L.A.'s DTS Problem

More like Obama laying his game to call foul again if he loses.

by souvarine 2008-02-05 01:07PM | 0 recs
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Re: L.A.'s DTS Problem

It's really bad.  The machines won't record them if the bubbles aren't filled, which means that if the right to vote advocates win, all of the LA votes will have to be hand counted.

by Drummond 2008-02-05 01:15PM | 0 recs
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Re: L.A.'s DTS Problem

Just to confirm, a friend just sent out an e-mail saying he had the same problem.

I personally think primaries should be closed. After all, the parties should have the right to select their nominee from among party members.

by wolff109 2008-02-05 01:19PM | 0 recs

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