Do NOT use thin Sharpie for your paper ballot at home.

[ehrnst]

Last edited Sat Oct 3, 2020, 10:14 AM - Edit history (3)

You don't want anything bleeding through, and you want the marks dark enough to scan.

(edited to add: "at home" )

[rurallib]

1. very good point!

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

8. NO. If provided, use the marker provided by the election judges.

In my county in Illinois the correct marker to be read by the optical scanner is provided in each voting booth with a backup supply at the judges' table. Just ask for a new one if one is not in a particular booth.

[brush]

9. Isn't this about mail-in ballots? If you vote in person you use...

marker one the voting machine.

[LisaL]

10. Election judges don't provide makers for mail in ballots.

NT

[LiberalLoner]

2. K&R

.

[Dem2]

3. Polling station uses thin sharpie

The ballots are rather thick here, however.

[ihas2stinkyfeet]

4. the official pen when i was a judge was a micron fine point.

the ballot paper is thick. a fine point sharpie will not bleed through.
it has to have carbon to be read.
not good advice.

[ihas2stinkyfeet]

5. srsly. delete this.

[Silent3]

6. If a ballot is smartly designed (and I don't know that all are)...

...there's nothing matching the position on the opposite side of the ballot to scan for.

[Ms. Toad]

18. Correct. Readers are designed generally one of two ways

Either they scan the entire thing, then analyze selected locations, or they scan and read simultaneously, in channels.

Either way, they only look for marks in designated locations - and none of those locations are back-to-back back with a bleed-through Mark fro. The others side.

[jojog]

7. My ballot specified #2 pencil

Had to make a trip to Walmart.

[LisaL]

12. Pencil? Are you positive?

Our ballots specify a ball point pen. Black or blue (better black).
Pencil can be erased, so that's unusual.

[jojog]

14. Yep

Deep red Tennessee here. My vote rarely counts. By the way their were spelling errors on the instructions.

[Ms. Toad]

17. Some machines can ONLY read graphite.

And no, it is not unusual. Machines with the ability to read something other than graphite are relatively recent. I am sure you remember the Scranton machines from and virtually every other high stakes test - only #a pencils. They are the gold standard for scanners. Everything else is harder to make read consistently.

[JuJuYoshida]

11. I've worked the polls

and some ballets were total jokes, I'm talking CRAYON


don't use anything but a ballpoint pen

[Ms. Toad]

20. NO!!!!

Use the device you are directed to use.

Not all machines can read ink. In a pencil jurisdiction, you are encouraging people to throw their votes away.

[Salviati]

13. Generally trying to give specific election advice is not good.

We don't have on election in this country, we thousands of concurrent small ones. The rules and procedures are going to be different for each.

Giving specific advice may work better on a state, or ideally local level, but on a national level the best advice to give is to be aware of the details of your election procedures, and follow directions carefully.

To reword your advice, I'd state:

It's often required that you mark your ballots with a particular type of pen or pencil. Make sure you're using the proper one. If voting in person, use the implement provided, but if possible confirm for yourself that it's the appropriate type.

[Codeine]

15. Disregard unsolicited advice and follow the instructions

on your ballot.

[Ms. Toad]

16. Please delete this post.

The acceptable marking device depends entirely on the machines in the jurisdiction you vote in. Some require pencils, some require felt tip or other pens with a particular ink, some read both blue and black ink.
If you use the wrong writing implement, your ballot may be unreadable.

So, if a person in a jurisdiction that can only read graphite (pencil "lead" ) follows your advice, your post may have lost a Democratic vote (not just for president, but all the way down the line.)

The only acceptable advice is to use the writing implement identified on the ballot or on the accompanying instructions.

[MineralMan]

19. Follow the instructions that come with your ballot, instead.

That's the safest thing to do. Different states and jurisdictions use different kinds of ballots and will specify how to mark them.

[Tracer]

21. When I voted in-person for the Dem Primary,

I was handed a fine point black marker to use. (The town uses optical scanners).

I'm sure it will be the same for the general.