[msb-alumni] Error leaves Mike Pence's name off some Mich. ballots
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2020 15:15:01 -0400
BlankHey guys,
If you got an accessible absentee ballot from your clerk's office yesterday --
disregard it!
This bit of brilliance came from our esteemed Secretary of State, who was an
electoral expert when she was at Wayne State, where she probably should have
stayed.
This is sheer incompetence; I saw the error as soon as I opened the ballot.
I wonder how we can run an election when some "programming" error is loosed on
everyone. I don't know how they came up with that 400 number; I know just in
my
township -- which is pretty small -- at least four of those got out.
Steve
Class of '72
Error leaves Mike Pence's name off some Mich. ballots By Dave Boucher and Eric
D.
Lawrence Detroit Free Press
A "temporary error" in a Michigan database may result in registered voters who
live
abroad or serve in the military receiving a presidential ballot that does not
include
Vice President Mike Pence's name.
On Tuesday, the Free Press obtained an image showing a portion of a ballot
intended
for overseas and military voters that lists Donald Trump as the Republican
presidential nominee, but lists Jeremy Cohen as his running mate. Jeremy
"Spike"
Cohen is the Libertarian Party's vice presidential nominee. On the ballot, the
Libertarian Party does not have a listed candidate. Pence's name is not
included on
the portion of the ballot obtained by the Free Press. The Michigan Secretary of
State's Office confirmed late Tuesday that local clerks downloaded at least 400
ballots with the error. "There was a temporary error in the (Qualified Voter
File)
data that caused some ballots downloaded (Tuesday) to display incorrect ballot
information when clerks downloaded the (Qualified Voter File) ballot sent to
military
and overseas voters. Approximately 400 ballots were downloaded by clerks during
this
period; we don't know how many were sent," said Tracy Wimmer, a spokeswoman for
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Wimmer said local clerks are
supposed to
download ballots for overseas and absentee voters from the Qualified Voter
File, the
list of registered voters retained by the state. Clerks can then email those
ballots
to the voter, Wimmer said. "It was an accidental programmer error, and was
fixed
within 90 minutes of being identified," Wimmer The Michigan Bureau of Elections
contacted clerks who downloaded ballots during the time there was an error in
the
file, Wimmer said. The state told these clerks that they needed to reissue
correct
ballots if they had issued any that did not include Pence's name, telling
voters to
ignore the ballot with the error. "If a voter does happen to return the
incorrect
ballot instead of the correct ballot, it will still count. The clerk will be
instructed to duplicate a vote for Trump onto a ballot for Trump/Pence," Wimmer
said.
"Since these ballots generated out of (Qualified Voter File) are all duplicated
regardless, the procedure would not differ from what would be done with a vote
for
Trump on the correct ballot. Earlier in the day, Benson's office announced it
would
start sending absentee ballots to overseas and military voters on Saturday.
Absentee
ballots must be received by 8p.m. on Nov. 3, when polls close, in order to be
valid.
Susan Nash, Livonia's city clerk, said her office did not download any of the
ballots
but she learned of the issue regardless. She said that anyone who received an
incorrect ballot could face confusion. Imagine being overseas, either as a
civilian
or military person, and receiving one of the problem ballots via email but then
getting a second email a short time later with a new ballot. The person could
print
out the wrong one. "That could easily happen, and there's no way of knowing
until
Election Day because that does not get opened until Election Day," Nash said of
the
ballot that would be returned to the local clerk. In addition to any
complications
such a situation might cause, Nash pointed to another issue. "I think it's
embarrassing. As a clerk, you'd be embarrassed that you sent out the wrong
ballot,"
she said, noting the many things confronting clerks this year. "It's just one
more
thing for clerks to take care of. There are approximately 7.7 million
registered
voters in Michigan, and more than 3 million are expected to cast absentee
ballots
this fall. Even though the error may have only affected 400 ballots, the fact
that
Benson is a Democrat and an issue in her office resulted in Pence's name not
appearing on some ballots is likely to draw criticism. Trump has blasted
mail-in
voting, asserting without basis it will lead to fraud and a corrupt election.
He
targeted Benson specifically this spring after she sent every registered voter
an
application for an absentee ballot. The president wrongly accused her of
mailing
ballots to all registered voters. Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary
Clinton
by 10,704 votes in the 2016 election. Polls indicate he currently trails Biden
in the
state. Election Day is Nov. 3, but voters may request an absentee ballot now.
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- » [msb-alumni] Error leaves Mike Pence's name off some Mich. ballots - Steve
- » [msb-alumni] Re: Error leaves Mike Pence's name off some Mich. ballots- Toni
