Underage teens voted in Washington primary
From Ballotpedia
June 14, 2008
The Evergreen Freedom Foundation, an Olympia based think tank, says that four underage teens voted in the February 19 primary. EFF has filed a complaint with Secretary of State Sam Reed, saying it is a violation of the Help America Vote Act.[1]
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127 illegal ballots
According to the EFF, since January 2000, 108 underage teens have cast a total of 127 illegal ballots. In a statement, Jonathan Bechtle, legal counsel to EFF said, "The secretary of state must act quickly to prevent any additional underage registrations from being accepted before the fall elections, either with a fix to the state database, new procedures for county election offices, or both."[1]
Reed's office replied that they have been working on the issue for months, assuring they have taken steps to ensure illegal ballots are not cast by underage teens. State elections director Nick Handy said, "We are very aware of the situation, and we have a team working to develop tougher safeguards against underage voting."[1]
Register at 17 1/2
In Washington, teenagers can legally register to vote once they turn 17 1/2, making them prepared to vote when they actually turn 18. While no one was able to give a definite answer of how the underage votes got through, Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman has a theory.
Wyman believes that the problem comes from the fact that local election agencies rely on the state-run voter database for their voter rolls. Somehow the database switched the teens' voting status from "pending" to "active."[1]
Reed says they have registrations from 31 underage teenagers, but that they will all be 18 by the November election.
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