WHY AND HOW TO VOTE IN PERSON

I’m hearing a lot of recommendations to “vote early”, even from the Republican Party.  They say this because 1) once your ballot is received, they can remove you from their outreach list and 2) the longer you wait, the higher possibility you will forget.

BUT is it really better?

Please take the time to understand why it’s important to VOTE IN PERSON.

Per the Election Integrity Project, “When you return your ballot in an envelope with your name and address clearly visible, you are, in effect, waiving your right to a secret ballot, as you, the voter, are clearly identifiable. You are also subjecting your ballot to innumerable opportunities for potential manipulation as it passes through hundreds of hands of postal workers, seasonal elections officials, ballot traffickers and signature verifiers.”

Learn about how the machine data and specific mail-in-ballots can be manipulated or changed on our website: Election Integrity – Tehama Citizens for Freedom.  Contact me if you have questions or want to talk more about the vulnerability of our voting system. 

DID YOU KNOW???:  In the 2020 election, the Tehama County mail in ballots did not align in the tabulation machine correctly.  Our election clerk (elected position), assembled a team to recreate each and every ballot.  Which means, the specific ballot you filled out was not counted, a duplicate was created in its place.  I trust our clerk, but mistakes happen and without oversight, we have no way to feel confident that our ballots were counted correctly.  

HOW TO VOTE IN PERSON

• Sign up for ballot tracking: https://california.ballottrax.net/voter/
• Take the time to get to know the candidates and any measures or bills!  My thoughts on some of our candidates can be found here:  Local Election Candidates  I WILL BE SHARING A COMPILED LIST FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES SOON!  Email me if you have any info on candidates!
• Find your voting location and go there on Election Day. Tehama County Polling Locations
• Bring your mail in ballot!!
  • Historically, our county has a different ballot for same day voting. Give your Mail-in ballot to a poll worker when you sign in to vote. Be sure to mark surrendered in big letters across the ballots and envelope – but wait to do this until you are sure you will get a new ballot.
  • If you do not bring your mail in ballot, you will be given a provisional ballot. The election clerk will decide whether your provisional ballot is accepted and counted.
• Fill out your ballot in a private booth
• When complete, find the tabulation machine (a poll worker will help you)
  • Put the ballot(s) into the machine
  • The machine will read the ballot and show your selections on the screen – scroll through to confirm your selections are correct
  • When you are satisfied, finalize your vote

IF YOU EXPERIENCE OR SEE ANYTHING UNUSUAL – REPORT IT HERE:  https://www.eip-ca.com/incident.htm

SHARPIES & BALL POINT PENS

In 2020, some counties across the country had challenges using sharpies on the ballots.  Sharpies bleed through the paper and may taint a ballot selection box on the reverse side.  Our ballots should be aligned so that can’t happen, but why use a pen that could cause any question?

When asked about it earlier this year, our local elections office stated that ball point pens gum up the machines, which means the voting/counting process has to be stopped so they can clean the machines. 

Some polling locations on Tehama County only have sharpies available.  You may want to bring your own pen to ensure bleed through does not happen.

BE A POLL WATCHER!

We need people to observe the polling locations, as well as the count, on Election Day. If you are interested in signing up to be an observer, email me and I’ll get you connected with the coordinator. Training will be provided.