Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Below are the requirements for a few battleground states (OHIO, FLA, MICH) where registration will close soon, and/or early voting sites are open now. At greatest risk for having a ballot set aside are:

1. people who are newly registered and did not bring the voter registration form in person to the Elections official
2. people with dual or hyphenated last names that may differ on a driver's license and a voter registration record, such as Spanish-surnamed persons
3. voters in states with stricter ID laws
4. voters in states implementing exact match rules, such as Florida.

FLORIDA

TO VOTE in Florida on NOV 4, you must be registered BY NEXT MONDAY 10/6

IF YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE IN FLORIDA SINCE SEPT. 8, then your new registration is being checked against stricter EXACT matching (middle initials left out, etc.) than it is for long-time registered voters, and election officials will need further confirmation to keep those registrations as valid for vote counting. More info below

Also when you vote on election day, you must vote in the precinct where you live, which should be the address that was logged to your voter registration card.

On Election Day, you will need to bring an adequate ID doc (see info below) that establishes your identity.
From the Fla. Secretary of State's site, this will be required for casting a vote and not be shunted off to provisional voting (a placebo ballot).

At the polls, you will be asked to provide a valid picture identification with signature. The following photo ids will be accepted:

Florida driver's license	Florida ID card issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles	U.S. passport
Debit or credit card	Military ID	Student ID
Retirement center ID	Neighborhood association ID	Public assistance ID

   If your photo identification does not contain your signature, you will be asked to provide an additional identification that includes a signature.

Note that according to SoS Kurt Browning's site info, if the Florida address on the ID is not up-to-date with your most recent address, that is okay as long as your current address is the same as the voter registration address on record with the Board of Elections. So the ID you bring to the poll is used to establish who you are (identity), not to prove street address.

"Will be resolved"

For any new voter whose Florida registration application was received on or after Sept. 8, the exact match cross-check is made against numbers in the Social Security Administration and Motor Vehicles databases.

Kurt Browning has written that any mismatches in nicknames and typos "will be resolved" – by manual review by the state's Bureau of Voter Registration Services employees.

But be aware, these databases are rife with typographical errors that generate mismatches, even though this kind of matching is being applied across a number of states this year. The federal SS Number Identifier ["Numident"] system standalone has errors at a rate of 4% for names and SSNs.

The match process in Florida works like this. For creating a new registration, the applicant has to supply either their driver's license #, state ID card #, or last 4 digits of the SSN.

If the application record isn't a match in the cross-check of DMV and SS Administration records, Browning says the Bureau is supposed to do manual checks to look for typos or nickname differences.

And if that review is not deemed a match, then Browning says the Bureau would notify the voter so the he or she can bring proof before the election: by either presenting ID in-person, or delivering an ID photocopy by fax, email or snail mail. For such a mismatch, the person is not yet registered until acceptable ID is shown that gives evidence of place of residence and of identity.

Once this is satisfied, a voter is eligible to cast a regular ballot. If the mismatch is not resolved, it can be a provisional ballot.

Advocacy groups, including the League of Women Voters, don't want the error-prone matching implemented in the weeks before the election.

Other states have considered perfect-match programs too. In Wisconsin, 4 of the top 6 elections officials in the state failed the match.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The four failing the initial check were:
* Thomas Cane, the board's chairman. He was listed by that name on voter records but as R. Thomas Cane on driver records.
* Gerald Nichol, who had an incorrect birth date on one set of records.
* William Eich, who had a middle initial on his driver's license but not on his voter registration form.
* Gordon Myse, who had a middle initial on his voter registration form but not on his driver's license.

" ....The Government Accountability Board, which runs state elections, reported recently that 22% of those checked so far resulted in mismatches, often because of typos or slight variances in people's names."

The upshot for Florida: if you registered recently, check with your County Supervisor of Elections [see lookup for offices], and make sure you are fully registered and matched.

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MICHIGAN

The rules in Michigan - You must register by Monday, October 6. You can do this at the local clerk's office [clerk search] or at a Secretary of State branch office [use the branch office locator]. (If you want, you can print the application ahead from the site  www.michigan.gov/sos . The pdf form is found here.)

The Mich. SoS site says:

You can register to vote for federal, state, and local elections by mail; at your county, city, or township clerk's office; or by visiting any Secretary of State branch office.

In addition, the following State agencies offer voter registration services to their clients: Department of Human Services, the Department of Community Health and the Department of Career Development.

If you present the form in person to register, you will write (1) the number of your Michigan driver's license or personal ID card # OR (2) the last 4 digits of your SSN if you don't have a Michigan license or personal ID card. Enter all info asked on the form, including date of birth. The registration form appears to need your signature and date of signature twice (part 3).

For registering by mail, the SoS site says this:

If you have never voted in Michigan and choose to submit this form by mail you must meet a new identification requirement provided under federal law. To comply with the identification requirement, you must:

(1) accurately enter your state issued driver license number or personal ID card number where requested on this form.

or

(2) send one of the following forms of identification when mailing this form to your county, city or township clerk: a COPY of a current and valid photo identification (such as a driver license or personal ID card) or a COPY of a paycheck stub, utility bill, bank statement or a government document which lists your name and address.

. . .   . . . Note: The identification requirement in Michigan does not apply if (1) you personally hand deliver this form to your county, city or township clerk's office instead of mailing this form (2) you are disabled or (3) you are eligible to vote under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.

The registration form appears to need your signature and date of signature twice (part 3).

By Michigan law, the registration and license addresses will need to be the same. But if your license address is out-of-date, the voter registration form can be used to synchronize the address of both, and then the SoS will mail you a sticker that will update the driver's license address to match the voter registration.

Michigan does not have early voting; absentee ballots are allowed if you will not be available on election day, are >60 years, or would need assistance voting. First-time registrants need to register in person in order to be allowed to vote absentee. A first-time voter who registers by mail is not permitted to vote absentee, only at the polling place on Nov. 4.

Getting a State ID Card in Michigan

If you do not have a driver's license or other acceptable photo identification, you can get a state identification card at your local Secretary of State branch office for $10.

State ID cards are free to individuals who are 65 or older or who are blind. Cards are also free to those who have had driving privileges terminated due to a physical or mental condition, or who can show another good cause for the fee waiver.

Proof of identity and residency are required when applying for a state ID card.

Identification will also need to be shown at Michigan polling places on Election Day.

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OHIO

Any Ohio new voter registration or a change of address must be processed by Monday Oct. 6.

Ohio now has registration and same-day early voting open until October 6.  ID needed for voting in Ohio can be:

For early voting in Ohio, ID required:

"Many forms of identification will be accepted"

For Early  In-Person and Absentee Voting -
The last four digits of voter's Social Security number; or your driver's license number;
or

A copy of a current and valid photo identification, (i.e. Ohio driver's license, state ID card, government ID).
Photo identification must show name and address;
or

A copy of a current utility bill (including cell phone bill), bank statement, paycheck, government check, or other government document that shows the voter's name and current address (including from a public college or university).

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Note - I don't have the state-specific information  compiled for other states. But be assured if you're a college student in Virginia (or any other state) that despite any registrar's scary notice to the contrary, you can register in your college state and claim it as your domicile. This hullabaloo was straightened out and cleared up. Any information that the state that you register in can affect your parent's tax status with you as a dependent or your health insurance or scholarships is a bogus claim. It is meant to hold down the number of college students voting through intimidation. No one has the right to query you about your "intent" for domicile any more than for any other non-student voter — that's discrimination against students and not allowed.