Monday, February 18, 2013

Ballots sans signature create dilemma

Do we follow the rules or ignore them, just this one time?

The law sez;

you have to sign your ballot envelop if you want your ballot to be counted, 
for the same reason your signature is required when you vote in person.

A significant percentage of voters, 13%, neglected to sign the envelope.  Will an effort will be made to simply count these votes anyway?

Blogger Joe Monahan implied as much this morning, link;
Mayor Berry and the asleep-at-the-wheel city council need to protect the rights of everyone to cast a ballot. If they don't, that's why we have lawyers like Bregman and the like.
Are we to understand that if Mayor Berry doesn't take it upon himself to validate all the signature-less ballot, Sam Bregman will sue him? On what grounds? not being reasonable?

If signatures aren't really necessary, then don't demand them.
If signatures are really necessary, then do demand them.

Under no circumstances should a politician or public servant simply take it upon themselves to temporarily suspend their own accountability to the law, even if they think its the reasonable thing to do at the time.  Its simply too bad for anyone who forgot to sign their ballot.

I've been told by someone who forgot to sign. that the requirement to sign should have been written in larger print.

How much larger, still to be determined.

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