Voting Rights
Know your voting rights. We have listed the most common problems that voters
face on Election Day, and we have included what you can do to remedy the situation.
This information was excerpted from the 2004 Pennsylvania Voter Empowerment Card
prepared by the ACLU. For a printable version of card, visit http://www.aclu.org/vec and
click on the Pennsylvania link.
- Problem #1: Poll worker tells you that you cannot vote because
you are a first-time voter and you don't have proper identification.
- Solution: Ask the poll worker for a Provisional Ballot. You have the right
to vote on a Provisional Ballot even ifyou are a first-time voter without identification.
- Problem #2: Poll worker tells you that you cannot have anyone
assist you in casting your vote.
- Solution: If you need help to cast your ballot in the voting booth, you are
entitled to assistance and you should ask the poll worker for a "Declaration
of the Need for Assistance" form. You have the right to have anyone you
choose help you in the voting booth if you sign this form, but the person cannot
be the Judge of Election, your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer
or agent of your union.
- Problem #3: Poll worker tells you that you are not on the
list of registered voters.
- Solution: First ask the worker to check the list again and to conform that
you are at the right pooling place. If that fails, ask for a Provisional Ballot.
You have the right to cast a Provisional Ballot even if your name is not on the
voter list.
- Problem #4: Someone at the polling location challenges your
eligibility to vote even though you are on the list of registered voters.
- Solution: Ask the poll worker for the affidavit for challenged voters. You
have the right to vote if you sign this form.
- Problem #5: You make a mistake on your ballot.
- Solution: Ask the poll worker for a new ballot immediately. You have the
right to as many replacement ballots as you need.
Other Voting Resources
ACLU of Pennsylvania
Committee of Seventy (Philadelphia area)
League of Women Voters
VotesPA.com
So You're Not Going to Vote
Election Calendar 2008
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