Susan W. Gardner: Provisional ballot issues

Regarding the March 12 news article “Lacking photo ID, Burr casts provisional ballot”: During one of Bill Clinton’s elections in the 1990s, I volunteered to drive an older woman to early voting, taking her to a site near her residence.

I asked if I could vote there, too, although it wasn’t my usual polling place. No one was sure, so I was given a provisional ballot and a phone number to call after the election with a tracking code. When I called after the election, a recorded message said there was no way to tell if my vote had been counted or not and offered no follow-up options.

I hope every poll worker is now more informed about voting procedures, and provisional ballot follow-up has been improved.

If Sen. Richard Burr is possibly now concerned about how well provisional ballots work, I’m pleased, even though I disagree with his politics and requiring an ID to vote.

Personally, I will never cast a provisional ballot again if I can help it.

This story was originally published March 17, 2016 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Susan W. Gardner: Provisional ballot issues."