Know Your Rights

Obama's people sent this out: (not that anything shady ever happens in LA)

VOTER RIGHTS SUMMARY

Precinct captains and observers may play an important role for the campaign at polling places that do not have an attorney monitor observing the facilities. Below is a summary of a voter's rights, and you may be instrumental in protecting these rights if you observe any of these rules not being followed at a polling place. You may not interact directly with the voter and the poll worker, however. You should note down what you see that violates any of these rights, and quietly mention it to the poll manager. If the problem is not rectified, call the CA Obama Election Protection Hotline.

Voters have the right to cast a provisional ballot if their name is not listed on the voting rolls. However, if a voter is at the wrong polling location and has time to get to the correct polling location, we encourage them to go to the correct location instead of casting a provisional ballot. If the voter can't get to the correct location before poll closing (8pm), he or she should request a provisional ballot.

Voters have the right to cast a ballot if they are present and in line at the polling place prior to the close of the polls (no earlier than 8pm).

Voters have the right to vote in the Democratic primary if they are not registered with any political party. (Decline to State) To do so, they should indicate that they are voting in the Democratic primary. If their ballot asks which primary they are voting in, they must mark "Democratic" for the vote to be counted in the Democratic primary.

Voters have the right to cast a secret ballot free from intimidation. Signs, banners, and passing out pamphlets or cards for any candidate or ballot initiative are not permitted within 100 feet of the polling place, and by no means inside the polling place.

Voters have the right to receive a new ballot if, prior to casting their ballot, they believe they have made a mistake.

Voters have the right to assistance in casting their ballots, if they are unable to vote without assistance. Voters may take someone into the booth with them to assist.

Voters have the right to return a completed vote-by-mail ballot to any precinct in their county.

Voters have the right to bring children under the age of 18 years with them into the voting booth if the children are under their care.

Those new voters who registered to vote by mail may be asked to show ID. The voter rolls will indicate which voters are subject to this requirement. Other voters should not be asked to show any ID. For those voters who do need to show ID, many forms of ID, including many without a photo, are acceptable. Some examples of acceptable photo ID are: driver's licenses or IDs from any state, student IDs with photo, health club IDs with photo. Some examples of acceptable non-photo ID are: a recently dated utility bill or bank statement, or the official sample ballot from this election that was mailed to the voter. If you are at a location that is requiring all voters to show ID, or is insisting only on photo ID, call the Election Protection Hotline immediately.

Polling locations must open by 7am and cannot close before 8pm. If a polling location runs out of ballots or other supplies, supplies must be replaced immediately. If you are at a location that runs out of ballots, has not opened at 7am, or is attempting to close before 8pm, call the Election Protection hotline immediately.

Exit pollers are permitted to be closer to the polls than people engaging in canvassing or visibility. Unless you have been specifically directed to do so by a campaign staff member, you should not attempt to collect exit poll information yourself at the polling place.

OBAMA ELECTION PROTECTION HOTLINE NUMBERS:
LOS ANGELES: (310) 801-9546 or (310) 779-0816
SAN FRANCISCO/BAY AREA: (415) 606-6043
0AKLAND/EAST BAY: (510) 520-5025
SAN DIEGO: (619) 770-7105

Attorneys will be monitoring these phone lines all day on Election Day. Please call to report any problems at a poll or any conduct that seems inconsistent with the rules above. (However, if all is well, no need to report this to the hotline, so we can keep the phone lines free for others who may have concerns to report. Thank you for your cooperation