Do you think the states (in the US) should be checking a person’s eligibility to vote before approving their voter’s registration?
Asked by
JLeslie (
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October 30th, 2022
from iPhone
In the US voting is done by state. Most states you fill out a form to get onto the voting rolls where you reside. I have no idea if any type of cross check is actually done before they add you as a voter. I’ve heard some states belong to a system to see if you are registered somewhere else already. I think it’s just to notify the previous state you have moved.
There were a few cases in Florida recently of supposed voter fraud, where someone who was convicted of a felony had registered and voted. I think the cases were dropped. I’m not even sure why they would be arrested, we changed the law in Florida several years ago that if someone had done their time they can vote.
In the news I heard people saying Florida issued these people voter registration cards, so of course the people felt they can vote.
This begs the question, does any state do any sort of background check? Some states let you register to vote right up until Election Day. Do they check if you are actually a citizen? If you have been convicted of a felony?
I know they don’t deny registration if you are registered in another state. I’ve been registered in more than one state more than once. I even tried one time to get myself off the voting rolls of my previous state, and they told me to call back after the election because they were so busy. That was Florida ironically. Lol.
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8 Answers
I can’t speak to every state in the federation, but in NY, you can update addresses and names on the day of, but not register to vote. However, if you believe an assessment has been made in error, you can fill out a sworn affidavit ballot, which contains all the information for a judge to determine if the vote was cast correctly. My impression is, that invalid votes are just disregarded, and no one comes after a voter unless there is evidence of a larger fraud.
Yes, they do check if you are a citizen. Yes, they check if you are legally eligible to vote. However, in the name of democracy, they tend to let more people vote than votes that will actually be counted. The policy is that it is better to throw out bad ballots than prevent anyone entitled to vote from doing so. The Florida debacle is just basic cruelty, because the cruelty is the point.
@Smashley is correct. But, I have some additional behind the scenes info about the process.
The vast majority of people we see voting on election day are registered. The voter approaches a table and gives their name. We enter that in and get a list of others with the same name, We then as for an address. That usually narrows it down to one. If there are two people with the same name an address, (father and son for example) we ask for date of birth. We turn the poll pad around and ask if the name we have is theirs. Then we ask for a signature. That image pops up with the image of their signature when they registered earlier. Then we sign and issue a ticket so they can receive a ballot.
Sometimes, their name will not pop up or it will pop up with a notice that ID is required. That might happen if they moved or their original registration info had an issue. We photograph the ID and issue a ticket .
Very rarely sometime will try to vote twice. Usually they forgot that they early voted. When we enter their name the we instantly get a large red flag that tells us of duplicate. We tell them that they voted already. They always apologize. But, if there appears to be a problem. the attempt is recorded on video and an ID photo.
Record are updated instantly and continuously.
In our district out of about 1000 people about 3 forgot they had already voted. They were all elderly and had come with someone else.
No one voted twice. No one!
The number of votes exactly matched the number of registration tickets and ballots issued No votes were lost. None!
It’s just the opposite here.
You can get or renew your driver’s license, and then they ask you if you would like to register to vote. They aren’t connected or reliant on each other; it’s a convenience.
Only if you say you want to vote, will they ask for additional info.
They check your ID randomly. For sure the first time you register.
When I registered in the new county we moved to two years ago they asked for a photo ID.
@Dutchess_III Within the same state you had to show ID just to register in the new county? So, you had to go in person just to move your registration?
No. Through the mail. Just sent in a picture of my ID
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