Pencils and Pens and Texas, oh my!
Scorecard- Blog: 1, Ariana: 0
Remember when I was in charge of the generic DA website e-mail address, so I got everything submitted from the Contact Us page, as well as all the responses from every mass mailing we send out? Which roughly translates to hundreds of e-mails a day that I have to either answer, forward, or delete? In addition to everything else I have to do?
Oh wait. That’s been my life since Denver.
So I apologize for dropping off the face of the blog-planet. But with a little less than three weeks to the election, I’ve decided to start blogging again. Think of it as a New Year’s resolution.
I just have a short narrative I’d like to share with you today.
10/15/08: 5:30pm, EDT
Democrats Abroad International sends out a State Specific Update for voters from Texas that says:
“In years past your county registrar sent out black markers
to complete your absentee ballot – this year they did not send
out the markers. Please use a black ink pen when filling in
your absentee ballot or the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot.”
10/16/08 1:03am, EDT
I get a reply from Texas that says:
“Hello,
Now you’ve got me worried. My son and I used a No 2
PENCIL to darken as instructed in the ballot. Now, you’re
saying I should have used a black marker. That’s a world
of difference!!”
10/15/08: 2:30am, EDT
“Thank you for your message, which is important for
making sure our votes are counted. I actually did notice
this when I was filling out my Absentee Ballot and I
contacted the Texas Elections office for clarification.
They instructed me to use black or blue pen.”
10/15/08: 2:41am, EDT
“Following your email to Texas voters I am concerned.
I sent my absentee ballot back over a week ago. I know
I used a pen but don’t know if it was blue or black. I
precisely remember there was no indication of which
color ink to use.”
10/15/08: 5:16am, EDT
“I am a bit confused. My absentee ballot from Midland,
TX (11th district) came with instructions to use no. 2
pencil to fill in the elliptical choice markers.”
10/16/08: 10:32am, EDT
I call Joe, one of the two voter issues experts, and who is in charge of drafting and sending the Voter Alerts. He wants no part of this investigation. Like all of us, he is swamped. I agree to call the Texas Secretary of State’s office to find out exactly how to mark a Texas ballot.
All of this culminates at:
10/16/08: 11:39am, EDT
When I speak to a perfectly pleasant woman who answers the phone, but refuses to put me in touch with the overseas voting specialist. So I ask her about the blue ink/black ink/pencil issue. She proceeds to tell me that Texas used to send out little golf pencils with their ballots, but due to budget issues, did not send them out this year. We go round and round for a little bit because I’m confused about the ballots that had instructions for ink as opposed to instructions about pencils, but eventually she tells me that all voters can use blue ink, black ink, or…”Pencils without erasers”
Of course, I was sunk. I actually laughed in her face for a good two minutes. Thankfully, she had a sense of humor – I mean, she probably thought I was a few fries short of a happy meal, but she didn’t automatically hang up on me when I couldn’t even talk because I was laughing so hard.
Finally, I managed to choke out, “How – on earth – do the clerks counting the ballots know whether the pencil I used to fill in my ballot had an eraser or not?” And then promptly dissolved into gales of laughter again. She started laughing too – but I think it was more to be polite than anything else, because she said (and this is a direct quote): “Well, if people used pencils with erasers, their votes could just be erased. So they have to use pencils that don’t have erasers.”
. . .
I literally had to pinch myself to be able to stop laughing enough to say “Okay, thanks for your help,” and put down the phone.
I could not make this stuff up if I tried.
I’m just waiting for the next e-mail I get that says “I filled in my ballot with a pencil that had a completely rubbed down eraser. Is that considered a pencil without an eraser? Will my vote be counted?? What about if I broke my pencil in half, and used the half without an eraser? Do you think that’s okay? Should I send them the pencil along with my ballot, so they know it didn’t have an eraser?”
