At Issue with Mark Welp
Can You Leave a Race Blank on Your Ballot?
Clip: Season 4 Episode 8 | 1m 10sVideo has Closed Captions
Do you have to vote in every race? Local election officials explain your options.
What happens if you leave a race blank or accidentally select too many candidates? Jess Joseph and Will Nesbitt explain undervoting and overvoting, including why skipping a contest does not keep the rest of your ballot from counting.
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At Issue with Mark Welp is a local public television program presented by WTVP
At Issue with Mark Welp
Can You Leave a Race Blank on Your Ballot?
Clip: Season 4 Episode 8 | 1m 10sVideo has Closed Captions
What happens if you leave a race blank or accidentally select too many candidates? Jess Joseph and Will Nesbitt explain undervoting and overvoting, including why skipping a contest does not keep the rest of your ballot from counting.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Where to Watch At Issue with Mark Welp
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipAny other advice for folks on election day, in terms of filling out their ballot?
And do people, when you look at the ballots, obviously, we've got one here.
It goes US senator, governor, the statewide offices, and then the general assembly all the way down to dog catcher.
I don't think there's any dog catchers anymore, but do people ever get to the end and they say, "I don't know who these people even are," and just not mark it?
- Yeah, and it's perfectly okay to under vote.
So that's what that means, to choose to not vote in a race.
So if you don't like either candidate or you don't like the one candidate or you don't enjoy how the question is phrased, you're not required to vote in all contests.
- What are the rules about, can you lean over to the guy in the next thing and say, "Hey, who is this?
Who should I vote for?"
- Yeah, no, that's not really allowed.
That would be a little bit of electioneering.
But also with what Jess said, if people accidentally voted for two candidates and it's a vote for one, only that race would not get counted as well.
So even if people do make a mistake or don't want to vote for something, the rest of their ballot is still counted.
- Okay.
How Do You Know Your Mail Ballot Arrived?
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S4 Ep8 | 1m 7s | Local election officials explain how voters can track their mail-in ballots. (1m 7s)
How Is Voting Equipment Tested?
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S4 Ep8 | 1m 22s | Jess Joseph explains how public testing helps voters understand election equipment. (1m 22s)
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