absentee ballot saga

I'll begin with a message from the Polk County Auditor's office.  I heard somewhere that the absentee ballots are not counted unless it is close.  After I explained that to some friends here, they asked if I thought the elections were fair.  I said they were absolutely fair.  Probably.


From: Polk County Election Office

Sent: 18 October, 2012 10:57 PM
To: 'James Martin'
Subject: RE: ballot from Russia

ALL BALLOTS ARE COUNTED…regardless of the closeness of the race.  In fact, absentee ballots are counted the day before the election due to the amount of them and their numbers are ready to go before the polls close.  As of yesterday approximately 80,000 have been requested with just under 55,000 returned.

The man writing the letter sounds a bit offended.

Below is a long list of emails I exchanged with the Polk County official:

In September, before moving to Moscow, I visited the US Embassy in Albania and asked about absentee voting.  I understood that I should wait until I knew my address in Moscow to request a ballot.  I called the voting office twice and came away thinking that I knew more about the process than the woman on the other end.  I used the Polk County Auditor’s website to ask how I use the documents I downloaded.

From: Polk County Election Office
Sent: 28 September, 2012 8:21 PM
To: 'OSKMAX@GMAIL.COM'
Subject: Election Question

James,

I received your email concerning your questions about returning your absentee ballot.  Unless you are serving in the military, you are required to return your ballot via regular mail.  The materials that were sent to you can be printed and attached to the outside of an envelope if you like.  Otherwise, you can just print the mailing information on the outside of a regular envelope.  Please make sure to include your signed affidavit as this needs to be present in order for your ballot to be counted.

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

 Polk County Election Office

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From: James Martin [mailto:oskmax@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2012 1:05 PM
To: Darren Marasco
Subject: RE: Election Question

Thanks for your response, Darren.  I will write the address of the Polk County Auditor:

Polk County Auditor
120 2nd Ave
Suite A
Des Moines, IA  50309-4757

I will send the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot:  the first page with my signature and date on the lower left.  And the first page of the FWAB—it has the names for President and for Representative. Do I need to send the second page with many rows for write-ins if I have no write-ins?  I will send the page of ‘Instructions to Election Officials,’ too.  That will be three pages of paper.  Do I need to send anything else?

Thanks,
James

PS:

There is something I don’t understand.  You wrote:

“The materials that were sent to you can be printed and attached to the outside of an envelope if you like.”

How could I attach the material I printed to the outside of an envelope?  And why would I want to?

James

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From: Polk County Election Office
Sent: 29 September, 2012 12:16 AM
To: 'James Martin'
Subject: RE: Election Question

James,

The Federal Write-In Ballot is no longer available for voting purposes in the General Election.  These have time-specific periods of use prior to the time when counties have developed the “real” or actual ballot that is used on Election Day.  The materials I sent you, including the ballot itself, is all that is acceptable at this time and there are Write-In options on that ballot.

Your other question about my comment about attaching items to the outside of an envelope has to do with the affidavit.  What I sent you is an image of an actual affidavit envelope that we send out to stateside absentee voters used to return their ballots.  Many are used to seeing that and we tell those people to attach it to the outside of an envelope so we know that this piece of mail contains an absentee ballot.  If we don’t see the affidavit, we would open the envelope like any other piece of mail and by law we cannot open voted ballots until the day before the election.

I hope this answers your questions and please contact me if you need further assistance.
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From: James Martin [mailto:oskmax@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2012 3:41 PM
To: Darren Marasco
Subject: RE: Election Question

Do you mean that I CANNOT use the “Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) / Voter’s Declaration/Affirmation” form that I received today?

How should I vote then?

In addition, as I was not able to print anything except the ballot and several pages of instructions.  I didn’t print out anything else—no envelope—no “image of an actual affidavit envelope that we send out to stateside absentee voters.”

Should I attach one of the pages to the outside of the envelope that I use to send in the ballot? (If I can use the FWAB)

Should I try to go back into the website and print out the envelope another time?  I don’t think it should allow me to do this twice.

Thanks,

James
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From: Polk County Election Office
Sent: 29 September, 2012 12:54 AM
To: 'James Martin'
Subject: RE: Election Question

No you CANNOT use the FWAB as it was only valid August 8-September 22.  When I first saw your name I mistakenly thought I had already sent you an absentee ballot as there was one I sent out to a different Martin, but I now realize that I have not and I apologize for the misunderstanding.

What you can do is request an absentee ballot by email by filling out a request form online at http://www.fvap.gov/index.html

Once we receive that I can email you a ballot for your specific precinct here in Polk County.
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From: James Martin [mailto:oskmax@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2012 9:35 PM
To: Darren Marasco
Subject: FPCA

29 Sept 2012

Dear Darren,

I am terribly disappointed.  I had no idea of the time limit on the FWAB.  I have attached a paragraph from the election website that states that if we don’t get the ballot by 30 days prior to the election, we should use the FWAB.  Sept. 22 is more than 30 days before the election.  You write that the FWAB could be used from August 8 – Sept. 22.  I was in the States on August 8.  The candidates for election had not been determined yet.  The Republican VP candidate was not announced.  If I had known there was a deadline, I would have voted in time to use the FWAB.

Now that I have that off my chest, we can try to figure out what I need to do.  I have the FPCA.  If I understand the following paragraph correctly, I can
1. print out the form, sign it, scan it, and send it by email to election@polkcountyiowa.gov.  (I will do what I can to save it as PDF.  I will easily be able to save it as .jpg.)
2. Then I will send the signed ballot request to “Polk County Auditor / 120 2nd Ave / Suite A / Des Moines, IA  50309-4757” by regular mail.  As I read below, I am directed to ‘Scan the official transmittal sheet along with the completed form”  Which page is the ‘official transmittal sheet?’
3. You will then send my ballot to oskmax@gmail.com.
4. After I receive the ballot, I will print it, vote and sign the ballot.  Then I will send it to the same address where I sent the signed ballot request.

Thank you for your trouble,

James
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From: Polk County Election Office
Sent: 01 October, 2012 5:55 PM
To: 'James Martin'
Subject: RE: FPCA

Mr. Martin,

If you do not receive your ballot by 30 days prior to the election you once again have the option to use the FWAB.  30 days prior is October 7th.  You have the option to return to me, by email, your FPCA absentee request and I can have your ballot to you today via return email.  Once you get that you must return the ballot by regular mail unless you are active duty military.  I don’t make the law, but I am required to follow it and the Secretary of State’s office issued a ruling that said FWAB ballots could only be used August 8-September 22.
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From: James Martin [mailto:oskmax@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2012 1:35 PM
To: Darren Marasco
Subject: RE: FPCA

Thank you for your message.  I sorry you had to take the heat of my venting; thank you.  If I understand you message correctly, I can use the FWAB after October 7th.  That will allow me to make one mailing from Russia to Iowa instead of two.

Do I understand correctly?  Or do I need to request an absentee ballot whether I use the FWAB or not?

Thanks,

James
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From: Polk County Election Office
Sent: 01 October, 2012 10:51 PM
To: 'James Martin'
Subject: RE: FPCA

That would be correct if you want to go that route.  However, what I’m trying to tell you is that if you request an absentee ballot today BY EMAIL (which you can do via the FVAP) I can send you a “real” ballot BY EMAIL (which I can do) that coincides with your Polk County Precinct which you can vote and return by regular mail…you still would only have to mail one item.  

Are you aware that by requesting an absentee ballot in the manner I have explained above that you will be using the actual ballot that is used in your precinct for this election that includes all pertinent races as opposed to the FWAB that is a generic form?
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From: James Martin [mailto:oskmax@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2012 2:06 PM
To: Darren Marasco
Subject: RE: FPCA

I didn’t understand that. Before beginning this discussion with you, I called the Polk County elections office twice.  I guess I’m a little thick when it comes to this stuff.

Attached is a screen shot from the fvap sight.  Should I ‘request’ a ballot or ‘get my ballot’

James
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From: Polk County Election Office
Sent: 01 October, 2012 11:08 PM
To: 'James Martin'
Subject: RE: FPCA

Request you ballot

----------------------

From: Polk County Election Office
Sent: 01 October, 2012 11:30 PM
To: 'James Martin'
Subject: RE: FVPA pdf package

Or you can call me direct if you like   515-286-3236

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I did call him at this point.  It was about midnight and he was at work doing well.  He sent me the ballot, the next day I printed it, signed it, and voted.
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From: James Martin [mailto:oskmax@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2012 1:38 PM
To: Darren Marasco
Subject: ballot from Russia

Darren, do you know if you have received my envelope with the ballot inside?  I sent it on the 4th of October.

Thanks,

James

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From: Polk County Election Office
Sent: 18 October, 2012 10:57 PM
To: 'James Martin'
Subject: RE: ballot from Russia

We have not received your ballot yet.  We are experiencing 2 ½ - 4 weeks travel time from overseas.  I will keep an eye out for it.  You can check the status of your ballot at https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/absenteeballotstatus/search.aspx if you like.

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From: James Martin [mailto:oskmax@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012 1:43 PM
To: Darren Marasco
Subject: RE: ballot from Russia

Dear Darren,

I see on your website that you have received my ballot.  Wonderful.

I have one more question.  I have heard that absentee ballots are not counted unless the voting returns indicate that the election in close—that they extra ballots may affect the outcome.  Is that true?

Do you have an idea of the number of absentee ballots that were requested? …and how many of those were returned—or how many you expect will be returned?

Thanks for your help,

James

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From: Polk County Election Office
Sent: 18 October, 2012 10:57 PM
To: 'James Martin'
Subject: RE: ballot from Russia

ALL BALLOTS ARE COUNTED…regardless of the closeness of the race.  In fact, absentee ballots are counted the day before the election due to the amount of them and their numbers are ready to go before the polls close.  As of yesterday approximately 80,000 have been requested with just under 55,000 returned.