Holy crap! Possible Record-breaking Voter Turn Out in MA...

[liz_marcs]

...and we're not even a "battleground state" for Congress.

Experts are saying that Nov. 7, 2006, could even break voter turnout records.


I suspect the Patrick-Healey gubernatorial race may have quite a lot to do with the insanely high turnout. (Go Deval!)

If it isn't the governors' race driving the turnout, it's probably Question 1. If approved, it would allow beer and wine to be sold in grocery stories. (Grocery stores have self check-out watched over by bored high schoolers. Massachusetts has a very high per capita population of college students. I think I can safely say, "A world of NO.")

Although there was one moment of ballot hilarity. The presence of Questions 4 and 5, which were the first time I'd seen either question (and they're not on the state Website either). Okay, they were totally nonbinding questions, but still. Anyone else from the People's Republic of Massachusetts surprised to see them?

One question was a nonbinding resolution to allow medical marijuana. (Where's the option that says, "Legalize everything. Tax the shit out of all of it so we can plump up the nation's treasury. End Prohibition the War on Drugs because it's a waste of my tax dollars and gives the feds waaaaay too much power over my personal life. Plus, it's hypocritical. Cigarettes are the real gateway drug. If you're serious about decreasing drug use, make tobacco illegal, too. Kthnxbi.")

The other question was a nonbinding resolution to urge our State Legislature and Congresscritters to vote for withdrawing U.S. soldiers from Iraq. (Where's the option that says, "We had no business attacking Iraq to begin with, but if you were hellbent on building that American Empire of Oil, maybe you should've planned for the worst-case scenario instead of planning on flowers being thrown at our military's feet and sent in 1) the number of soldiers/troops the generals told you to send; 2) actually giving them enough equipment to do what you wanted them to do. You didn't. They're now stuck in the middle of a civil war. And, hey? Where's Bin Laden, again? And we're about to lose Afghanistan, too, you say? So, in short, FUCK YES! In fact, I'd like to go back in time and stop it before it starts. Do we have the technology for that yet?")


In either case, if they're expecting a record high turn-out in Massachusetts, I can't even begin to imagine what the other states are expecting.

It does seem, however, that there are already problems going down at the polls in certain states. All I got to say is, "Holy shit, Ohio!" The record of complaints from voters in that state alone make you look very third-world country-ish in terms of fair-and-honest elections.

If you see any problems or instances of fraud at the polls, illegal activities by either party, or run into static while voting, here's some numbers for you to call:

• Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE
  
• Common Cause Voter Hotline: 1-866-MYVOTE1
  
• Velvet Revolution Voter Hotline: 1-888-VOTE-TIP
  
• Voter Action Hotline: 1-888-SAV-VOTE
  
• SEIU Voter Hotline: 1-877-SEIU-VOTE
  

Here's some Websites, too:

• Election Protection 365
  
• Protect Our Votes RSS feed
  
• Election Incident Reporting
  
• Video the Vote
  
• Common Cause Voter Survey 2006
  
• Verified Voting Foundation Election Transparency Project
  
• Watch the Vote
  
• Pollworkers for Democracy <------ What my parents are doing today. Heeee!
  

Remember, voting might not be enough. We need to keep elections free, open, and fair to all citizens who are qualified to vote. Vigilance might be required. (Tries not to look at Ohio, Virginia, and Florida.)

Comments

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

Okay, so. Forgive me, but while I am not at all talking about fraud, the idea that there will be no complaints or problems at polling is ludicrous. I realize it's not you who's saying that, but the media *spits in salons general direction* but it's irking me something fierce. Shit happens. It happened with paper ballots. It happens with the mechanical kind. PA's had the same type of ballots for almost seventy years, we had the lowest rate of malfunction or complaint in the fifty states, and that number was never 0. Low, yes. 0? Never. Expecting it is asinine and the better focus of attention should be what do we do if things happen, because it will. Things break. People make mistakes. Life happens.

And again, I know, this isn't you or anything you've said, it's just you touched on the issue so you get my rantiness, sorry :)

That said -- that is *awesome* news. I haven't heard from Dad yet (he works polls for the county) but I know there was a serious run this morning. The telling stuff will be in the afternoons, when it always trickles down to nothing.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

I agree. There's always going to be issues and screw-ups and just plain misunderstandings. Lord knows I've witnessed enough vote counts and stood watch at polls as a reporter to know that.

I think the issue of polling place fuck-ups in Ohio is a problem because we're now on three elections in a row where they can't get their Diebold machines to work. Then you have people reporting some voter intimidation tactics in Virginia (of the "if you vote you'll be arrested for fraud" kind). Not to mention the robocalls from hell that happened in a few states as well. I've had my share of bizarro push polls of the "So you approve of medical experimentation on unborn American babies?" variety regarding candidates' stances on stem cell research.

This election season has been a nasty one, all right. So, your rantyness is completely understandable. I was pretty much ready to scream by the time I voted this morning. And I'm a political junkie.

But, yeah, there's always that "shit happens" issue and I'm completely with you there. Then there's "too much shit is happening" issue. Where that line is? I'd rather err on the side of caution because I want to be sure the election is free, open, and fair, even if it means a candidate I don't like will get the bounce from it.

In either case, the high turnout is excellent news. The poll workers were thrilled. I was thrilled. Even the cops were grinning like loons. No one's seen anything like this since 2004.

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

Then there's "too much shit is happening" issue.

Agreed, and Ohio is definitely a candidate for that. Definitely. So is Florida. But I'm not even talking about voter intimiadation which, dude, shut up and go away. Did you hear what they did in Virginia? They printed ballots with James W. "Jim" for Jim Webb (the dem) and had the audacity to think they'd get away with it. That just... bah.

Bah. This whole political season has got me tearing out my hair. I can't wait for tomorrow, at this point, I don't even care who wins.

So long as Santorum is out. That is my main motivation right now. Get that scum-bucket out of politics, and out of my state if possible!

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Amen to that! How did that scum-bucket stay here so long?

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

Because, honestly, he wasn't quite so scummy for a while. I mean, I've never liked him, I always hated that people voted for him *spits* -- but I could understand why, up until about three or four years ago. That's when he got just appalling.

There've been a couple internal scandals that I really hope have hurt him, but I don't know. Pennsylvania basically has two moderate/democratic areas -- pittsburgh and philly -- and everything else is very conservative. Very. I mean, I don't know if the stat is valid, but for a long time we had the most hate groups in the nation.

Yay, Pa! *waves half-mast flag*

But, he did talk a good game for many years. I just... he's always been slime to me. Always. He's a racist, homophobic jackass, and unlike many people who are both racist and homophobic who only make me roll my eyes at best, he's dangerous in his prejudices. And powerful -- scarily powerful after only a very short time. it's badness.

I want him OUT.

[huzzlewhat.livejournal.com]

I'll second this. As a long-time PA resident, it was actually a bit of a relief to see Santorum go so obviously and publicly batshit-loopy, because for a while he was being mentioned in a lot of forums as the kind of mild-mannered, attractive centrist Republican who would be an ideal Presidential candidate in the future. Those of us who were really paying attention knew that he wasn't even remotely centrist, but who listens to crazy liberals like me? So it was a relief to see the gloves come off along with the hinges. No one's arguing that Santorum's anything like a centrist now. I feel the same way about Santorum's meltdown as I do about Allen's. Even if Allen does hold onto his Senate seat, he's not exactly a likely candidate for a presidential nomination, which was not the case two years ago.

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way about Santorum's meltdown as I do about Allen's

Oh, god, yes. The fact that both these men were considered potential nominees for president made me sick. Santorum... he is slime, he just hid it. A lot of conservative co-workers are now very disillusioned with him, particularly because of the charter-school thing. That backfired biiiig time. Not that I'm complaining.

And Allen's cut from the same mold -- charming, personable, and utterly disgusting underneath.

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Oh hey! :D Some joy!

[bastardsnow.livejournal.com]

As a resident Virginian who will be voting as soon as he is off work (I'm far too lazy to vote *before* work) I can tell you that this is not true. You are wrong!

In fact, the ballots are printed as James H. "Jim", not James W. "Jim"

So see? That's much different... because it's his middle initial... uh... yeah.

/sarcasm

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

*facepalms*

No, seriously, what were they thinking?!

Also, pleasepleaseplease say Webb wins. Like Casey, he's not ideal, but he's not Allen and he's not Santorum and that is YAY!!

[bastardsnow.livejournal.com]

I will be voting for Mr. Webb for that very reason. He is Not George Allen. But if George Allen wins the senatorial election, there is still a silver lining to this campaign: the huge gaffes he made in this election rule out *any* serious shot he may have had at the presidential nomination in 2008. And that, at least, is something.

[bastardsnow.livejournal.com]

Just so you're aware, in my precinct, the name was listed as "James H. (Jim) Webb"

So they got it right in my neck.

But Jesus, it's like a 2300 vote difference at the moment... that's a little ridiculous.

[callmesandy.livejournal.com]

Or everyone could just be more like Oregon. Vote by mail, I tell you, words can barely cover how much it rocks. Like every registered voter in the state, I got my ballot three weeks ago. I could have mailed it in any time in the two weeks after, but I like to vote on election day. So I filled it out this morning, consulting my boss who's been active in local, municipal and state politics for over 20 years (he generally knows both candidates in even the water boards races), licked the envelope, signed my name and walked one block to the drop box in the center of downtown. Even though I live two precincts or so over the river, I can drop off my ballot lots of places. Or could have done yesterday as well.

Vote by mail! It's so awesome, it's cuddly. :)

[tabrumj.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Oregon rocks.

Except of course when I am a complete dumb ass and forget to change my voter registration after I move. Doh. *Head smack*

But yeah, as long as the voters are smart and pay attention the system has a much, much lower chance of voter fraud/intimidation. Not to mention no polling booths.

[callmesandy.livejournal.com]

No polling booths, long lead time for voters to do research, no voter intimidation. And the fraud seems to have been much less than the detractors expected.

Plus, Oregon generally has higher than average turnout thanks to the ease of it.

[anelith.livejournal.com]

You could have knocked me over when I saw Question 4 on my ballot. There was absolutely no publicity about this. We didn't have Question 5 on our ballot. Was this a regional thing? On a town by town basis?

My polling place was as busy as I think I've ever seen it, including presidential elections. The joint was hopping.

[huzzlewhat.livejournal.com]

To give an idea of the way things are going in WI, I was voter #72 in my Ward, 30 minutes after the polls opened... and the lines yesterday for early/absentee voting were huge. I think what's driving the turnout here is not just the House race, which is pretty much a non-race, but the referendums on gay marriage and the death penalty, both of which have been the subject of a truly inspiring number of bumperstickers. ;-)

[tsiankiio.livejournal.com]

I also voted in WI and I was voter 257 at 8am this morning. I registered today (I just moved here) and the registerer lady said it was the first time she'd gotten to sit down since people had been let into the building. On an awesome note, instead of annoying peple with flyers out side the polling place, there was a bake sale. So I voted and got nummy pumpkin bread. Best idea ever.

[huzzlewhat.livejournal.com]

257?? Wow. Are you city-based?

And, I definitely agree about the bake sale thing. Our poll workers had baked goods out and visible, but they were hoarding them. The teases!

[tsiankiio.livejournal.com]

yup, I'm in Madison. Still, there was apparently a huge line this morning.

[smhwpf.livejournal.com]

High turnout is probably a good.

I've read some scary stuff about GOP-driven voter purges and other fraudulent or dubious practices. They have this wonderful thing in Ohio where State-appointed officials can but are not required to purge voter lists based on a whole range of technicalities. Guess what? They've purged the lists in Dem districts, but not GOP ones.

[houses7177.livejournal.com]

Oh, hey! kristinholt pointed me your way since I ran into problems today. I ranted about it in my LJ, but the general gist is that somehow they lost my registration and were very reluctant to actually let me vote--even though they had no problem letting my husband vote. I finally perservered, but there will be many people getting angry letters from yours truly.

[vichan.livejournal.com]

And sadly, I've actaully gotten so used to there being problems at the polls in Ohio, that I've just come to expect it.

Personally, I've never had too many problems before (some close friends have had some serious ones), but now I'm living in the county that's always had the most problems in the state. I'm a little nervous, especially since it my first time voting in this county.

I'll be heading to the polls immediately after getting out of work. And they're letting me leave early, saying that I'll need it. You know THAT'S a good sign. -_-

Wish me luck.

re: Ohio Voting

[icewing-mk1.livejournal.com]

Ok, I can't speak for all of Ohio... BUT, when I went, there were absolutely no problems with the voting machines (the ones at my polling place had paper trails as well) Although I didn't see them actually check my name off the list when I presented my ID, but they did confirm my name on the rooster and have me sign the book.

I can't help but notice though, that the large bulk of the problems usually seems to end up coming out of the Cleveland area. Not just this year, but year after year... Voter registration fraud, problems at the polling places, whatever, it seems to happen in Cleveland....

And, out of curiosity... Can someone who is opposed to it, explain to me why they are against the concept of having to present ID to vote? I'm sorry, but it just seems like a common sense way of stopping a good chunk of voter fraud.

Ice