We Are Not Counting Every Vote
There is a Hidden Epidemic of Uncounted Ballots in American Elections
There is a saying among recount lawyers that “every ballot tells a story.” While most voting rights lawyers focus first on voter registration and the voting process, recount lawyers begin their work by looking at the ballots rejected by the vote counting process and try to unravel the stories behind them.
When you approach the voting process in this way — by first looking at what votes are left uncounted — a very different picture emerges of how voters are disenfranchised. Put simply, we have an epidemic of uncounted ballots. In every election, hundreds of thousands of voters nationwide are given the right to vote but not the right to have their vote counted. This creates a dangerous illusion of democracy. Like the crosswalk button a pedestrian presses that doesn’t actually affect the timing of the light changing, our voting laws have created an illusion for many voters that their votes are counting towards the outcome of elections.
In 2018, for example, 68,000 eligible voters nationwide had their mail ballots discarded because an election official, likely with no training, concluded that the voter’s signature on the ballot return envelope did not match the voter signature on file. Another 56,000 voters had their votes discarded because they simply forgot to sign the…
