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500 Absentee Ballots Rejected for Alleged Signature Mismatches in Duval County, FL

No Recourse Allowed for Voters Once Ballot is Rejected...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

From News4 in Jacksonville, FL...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --- Election officials scrutinizing absentee ballots in Duval County have rejected more than 500 ballots out of the 1,600 questionable ballots examined so far.

Most of those were rejected because they lack signatures or the signatures don't match the voter's signature on file.

Lisa Rigg was worried her signature didn't match and contacted the Supervisor of Elections office.

"It's that important to me. I want my vote to absolutely count for this election. It is very important," Rigg said.

She was right. Her absentee vote is one of those that was rejected.

"I was a little shocked," Rigg said. "But then again, my signature does not always match, from day to day. I said, 'What can I do to fix this? Can I come down and prove to you that I am who I am and I signed that ballot.'"

Unfortunately, the answer was no. Once a ballot is cast, it cannot be changed or replaced by a new ballot.

If the signature doesn't match the voter is not asked to provide proof of who they are? In Washington state if our signature does not match on our absentee ballot the county contacts you and gives you the opportunity to go to the county election office and provide ID and your ballot is then accepted.

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ENDS

-- John Gideon Co-Executive Director VotersUnite.Org www.votersunite.org
"To encourage citizen ownership of transparent, participatory democracy." The Creekside Declaration March 22, 2008

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