>I voted absentee this year, since I was at the Milwaukee conference on election day. When I turned in my ballot, it was placed in an envelope with my name on it which I was then asked to seal and sign. So much for anonymity.

Mine had two envelopes. The inner one was totally anonymous. The outer one had to be sealed and signed. That way, they can make sure I'm supposed to be voting (or eliminate my absentee ballot if I show up at the polls), but they can then throw all the absentees together once they've checked that and keep them anonymous. (Of course, that doesn't help if you're the only one voting absentee in your precinct, but I know there were at least two - me and my college son - in mine. Given the number of college students from here, I imagine there was quite a pile.)

Tamar