500 Duval County Ballots Rejected So Far (FL)
Absentee Rejected For Signature Problems, 'Overvotes'
News4Jax.com. October 31, 2008

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Election officials scrutinizing absentee ballots in Duval County have rejected more than 500 ballots out of the 1,600 questionable ballots examined so far.

Most of those were rejected because they lack signatures or the signatures don't match the voter's signature on file.

Lisa Rigg was worried her signature didn't match and contacted the Supervisor of Elections office.

"It's that important to me. I want my vote to absolutely count for this election. It is very important," Rigg said.

She was right. Her absentee vote is one of those that was rejected.

"I was a little shocked," Rigg said. "But then again, my signature does not always match, from day to day. I said, 'What can I do to fix this? Can I come down and prove to you that I am who I am and I signed that ballot.'"

Unfortunately, the answer was no. Once a ballot is cast, it cannot be changed or replaced by a new ballot.

Beyond the signature issue, there are many ballots with glaring errors.

One ballot had all 13 candidates for president marked. That's an extreme example of what election workers call an overvote. It will not count.

That's why the Election Canvassing Board examines absentee ballots that appear questionable.

"Probably most of (the overvotes) are on the president," Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said. "We had some votes for everyone but a campaign or candidate. So when you are voting and it says 'vote for one,’ well, you can't pick the two best. You have to pick one or else the race is not counted."

If the canvassing board is sure of what the voter meant to do, it can and will remark the ballots to the machines will accept the votes.

"No you cannot for them. There has to be a clear indication of what the voter's intent was," Holland said.

The canvassing board will continue to meet to review absentee ballots through Election Day. After Tuesday, they'll begin reviewing provisional ballots those cast at the precincts even there appeared to be a problem with the voter's registration.