After recent ballot box fires in Oregon and Washington, a lot of people are asking how this affects their votes. Richard L. Hasen, a law professor at UCLA, shared some thoughts: he mentioned that these states have solid systems for tracking ballots, so voters should have ways to know if theirs was affected and to get a replacement if needed. He stressed that this incident, while terrible, won’t prevent voters from being heard as long as they take the proper steps. However, the professor also warned that with the 2024 election coming up, other attempts to mess with the vote could still happen and may not be as easy to fix.
From Richard L. Hasen, a professor at UCLA School of Law, where he directs its Safeguarding Democracy Project: Voters in Oregon and Washington are lucky enough to live in states with great election systems that track ballots from start to finish. So, folks who dropped off ballots at the affected sites can reach out to get replacements, which should help them avoid losing their vote. But he’s also cautious about other risks to the 2024 election that may not be as easily fixed. Read more.
@Val
I’d say there’s a chance that people won’t lose their votes, but it’s not guaranteed. Not everyone checks their ballot status or follows up quickly. And the tracking system won’t say ‘burnt,’ it might just say ‘not received yet,’ so voters could be left waiting longer before realizing something’s wrong. But it’s still better than ballots being irreplaceable, I guess.
@JusticeSeeker99
That’s true. Both counties have asked voters who used the boxes after the last pickup times to reach out to election officials. The tough part is they can’t just directly notify every person who was affected. What they can do is go through the burned ballots, try to match them to voters, and contact those folks to fix things. Luckily, these fires are big news right now, so people who are on top of early voting probably heard about it.
@Jaden
Hopefully, they’ll manage to replace most of the damaged ballots in time. My bet is on them getting most, but probably not all, sorted out.
JusticeSeeker99 said:
@Jaden
Hopefully, they’ll manage to replace most of the damaged ballots in time. My bet is on them getting most, but probably not all, sorted out.
Yeah, especially since Washington’s 3rd district is having a tight rematch between Gluesenkamp Perez and Joe Kent. Last time, it was 160,314 votes for Perez versus 157,685 for Kent. It’s gonna be close again.