Mail In Ballot Option

2009 Continental Congress Delegate Election

Downloadable Affidavit/Mail-in Option

In states where insufficient volunteers are available to plan and execute Voting Centers for in-person, hand-counted paper ballot voting on CC2009 Election Day, October 10^th, the following protocol is suggested for downloadable registration forms and ballots, to be mailed in to one central Voting Center:  (Protocol suggested by Mark Cioffi, SC, Florida – THANK YOU MARK! – with a couple of minor modifications:)

• State Coordinator will provide a Registration Form with a notary component, a ballot, and a complete set of directions to voters including where to mail their registration form and ballot; these documents will be uploaded onto their state’s page by National. (National needs to set a deadline for receiving these forms in time for uploading.)
  
• The Registration Form will need to be notarized before the voter mails it in with their ballot.  The voter will enclose the Registration Form in one envelope, seal it, and mark it “Registration Form” on the outside of the envelope.  They will vote their ballot, selecting no more than three candidates, and enclose and seal it in another envelope, and mark it “Ballot” on the outside of that envelope.
• Then the voter will put both envelopes into one larger envelope and mail in to a P.O. Box secured by the State Coordinator in the city, town, or area where they live and have arranged for one central Counting Center for counting the ballots on Election Day.  The Counting Center should be located in a public place conforming with the venue specifications for Voting Centers in the Election Handbook.  All ballots must be at the P.O. Box by midnight, October 9^th in order to be counted on Election Day.
• On the morning of October 10^th, the State Coordinator, together with members of the Counting Team, will retrieve all forms and ballots from the P.O. Box and take them to the central Counting Center.
• The State Coordinator and team members, while being videotaped, will open each large envelope, open the Registration envelope, and log the voters in to a Registration Book one at a time.  Each Registration Form will be clipped to the accompanying sealed ballot envelope until all voters’ names have been logged in to the Registration book and it is verified that there are no duplicate registration forms.
• If any duplicate registration forms are found, their accompanying ballot will be discarded.
• Once all voters are logged in, the envelopes marked “Ballot” can be separated from their accompanying registration to maintain voter privacy.  They can be put together in a stack and opened.  Videotaping of this entire process is ideal.
• From this point, counting procedures from the Election Handbook can be followed, with counting teams of four:  one person calls off the vote; another person observes them; a third person marks the tally sheet; a fourth person observes them; and the videographer records the entire process.
• Final results will be entered onto the “Final Results” form (which will be provided to the SCs or created by them, TBD) and faxed in to National to a fax number that will be provided to everyone prior to the election.
• State Coordinators are charged with preserving all ballots and election records in a secure location until the end of Continental Congress, November 22^nd. 2009.