Get Out the Vote!

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buffster

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www.GETOUTTHEVOTE.org

<font face="Verdana">Did you know that...

*If you live in one of the following states, you're in luck because the EAC says you have same-day registration: Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire and Wyoming. ID requirements vary by state, so check with your secretary of state to find out what you need to bring to register on-site.
<p>

*Source: Yahoo! News

<p>
<font face="Verdana">Check out these tips from the Election Assistance Commission (www.eac.gov) and the nonpartisan Election Protection coalition to make your voting experience as smooth as possible

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20081101/pl_ynews/ynews_pl121
 
For our international friends, each state has its own voting methods and policies, even for Federal elections.

Connecticut has new voting "machines", rahter than those old large mechanical thingies. They are little portable privacy "booths" on legs where one fills in a scannable piece of paper in #2 pencil. Each voter then passes the paper ballot into a scanner.

Uhm but where is the insturction videos in Italian, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, etc?

Electronic tabulations of the counts, with paper backup. GENIUS

http://www.vote-ez-ct.com/optical-scan.php
 
Yes we do,

Here in WI one only needs to show a valid photo id to register to vote. I was made to register on my 18th b-day by my parents. I'm not one bit sorry that they made me do it either.
 
Connecticut has new voting "machines", rahter than those old large mechanical thingies. They are little portable privacy "booths" on legs where one fills in a scannable piece of paper in #2 pencil. Each voter then passes the paper ballot into a scanner.

That's the way we vote in Minnesota as well. It works well and there is a paper record.
 
Seems like a better idea than the standalone computer voting systems I have heard about... What a good idea!
 
We have the scannable system with little booths ... very nice.
Voted at 9 am this morning ... in and out in all of 20 minutes.
And the weather is spectacular so people have absolutely no excuse to not get their sorry a** in gear and get out there.
Tonight is going to be very interesting as the results roll in.
 
Are there no problems with voting machines and security? Here in Amsterdam we have used voting machines only once. Then they found that the voting results could be remotely watched and now we are using the red pencil again. Pity that the city had optimistically sold all old ballot boxes. We are now using converted rubbish bins.
 
Hey you, get in line like everyone else! :)

Just kidding. I'm proud to be an American today.

 
Memphis in&out in 45 minutes, not bad at all, considering there were the 4 ordinances, and 6 referendums, in addition to pres, senate, congress, glad i did my homework prior to going to the booth, electronic touch pad voting here. The Line was getting much longer as i exited around 11a.m. Looking fwd to watching the returns, should be interesting. alr2903
 
Compare the videos of Obama and McCain voting.

Pushy woman: "We need you back! Back!"

Me: "We need you to go fuck yourself."

 
It is quite appaling to read that in Florida independent observers from the OSCE (The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) are not allowed to visit polling stations in Florida. It is custom that during elections in democratic countries observers from other countries and organisations are allowed to make sure elections are handled according democratic rules. With difficulties in Florida at previous elections one wonders what the reason for the refusal is.
 
XENOPHOBIA in a very large DOSIS (dosage)

Shhhh dont tell our citizens that there is corruption in gov't.

We are so cultually isolated here that some really think we (as a country) are the center of the universe.
 
It's more than corruption, the democracy is at stake. If this is gets custom you have to wonder if the USA are still a democratic country.

I felt indeed rather isolated when I visited a small town in Tennessee in 2002. The newspapers I was able to lay a hand on only contained American news. As if there was no rest of the world existing. TV didn't help either, it was all local and national news.
 
Yes. Most of us have to go to the BBC to see what is really happening in our own country and how it looks to the rest fo the world.

We are so far behind in so many way it is frightening. It's not going to get any better as we continue to absorb more 3rd world refugees, either.
 
Ummmm... Not for nothing, but what business does The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe have to do with elections here in the States? They can hang out 150 feet away from the polling places with all the other news media and pollsters.

Please note: this is a democratic republic, not a democracy.
 
Not for nothing, but what business does The Organisation for

A lot! That's how things go in international politics. American observers do the same thing all over the world making sure that democratic processes go as they should. Jimmy Carter is one of the most famous observers who visited many of the Eastern European countries after the fall of the Iron Wall. Actually countries with elections (as in this case the USA) invite observers from other countries and these observers get access to the polling stations which ever they want to visit. Denying them access is higly unusual and always regarded as a deliberate frustration of the democratic aspect of elections. Recently the elections in Zimbabwe were in the news because of molestation of international observers.
 
Jimmy Carter, the man who never met a dictator he didn't love. Good example. Not to mention that Carter does it on his own, not representing the USA, as a private contractor, and usually at the request of the country's (corrupt) government. The USA certain doesn't send him.

If the country invited the observers, then that is their perogative. Was the OSC "invited"? If so, did they abide by all the rules to be an official, recognized observer? My guess is no, or that they were turned down probably for an offical, legal reason -- most likely that no possibly influencing factors are allowed in the polling place. Even if turned down, they still could have set up camp outside the legal perimeter of a polling station to observe and to speak with voters.
 
Queues

Why are there so many queues at the polling stations? I have never experienced such situations in the Netherlands. I imagine that that will discourage some people to vote.
 
"Why are there so many queues at the polling stations? I have never experienced such situations in the Netherlands. I imagine that that will discourage some people to vote."

Conspiracy Theory of the Day: that may be the idea.

Up until this year, I never felt there was a problem with waiting--even during the 2004 election, which had good voter participation in my small corner of the world.

This year, the wait was zero, thanks to the magic of election by mail (the standard for where I now live--the only "polls" open, I believe, are just drop off places, for those who want to drive twenty miles to save the cost of one 1st class stamp).

My ballots in recent elections have been paper. Each choice has a broken arrow--the middle part is missing. One fills in the middle of the arrow for one's favored choice, using a single, dark line. Back when I could vote at a real polling place, they had a thing to feed the ballot into. I believe that it would check to make sure the ballot was acceptable, so you'd know it was OK.
 
Isolation

Louis, I think it's the same all over the U.S. now. You can't even get a weather forecast outside of your immediate area. I have to tune in to The Weather Channel for the Los Angeles forecast. It used to be that the weather segment on TV news began with reporting weather news across the country, then the state, and then focused on the local forecast. That's all history. Local TV news has become a joke where the newsreaders are exactly that, readers. They are no longer journalists. I'll be tuning in to the BBC tonight to avoid the foamers on the U.S. network and cable news channels.

And just consider the source re: protesting the presence of outside observers. It's ridiculous to think they're not necessary after Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. Red staters seem to embrace isolationism and survivalist values. Don't even try to reason with them.
 
It's in the timing

I was lucky enough to have the day off, so I was able to go at about 11am. Did my research on ballot questions beforehand, and was in and out in less than 3 minutes.

Rich said there were traffic lines a mile long on his way to work this morning at 7:30 because of the polling places.

Chuck
 
It was easy for me, 5 minutes (not even)

Enter with the two magic numbers on my registration card, saying where to go. Go to the right table, sign book. Enter machine, flip levers, pull big red lever, leave.

A lot of idiots couldn't figure out what table to go ("uh, I thought you just show up..."), and took time.

Yes, the voting process in the US is weird like that - it varies all over the place.

Also, for people in Europe, realize that I got to vote in NY at 6:30 am (polls opened at 6) - people in California are still asleep then, and Alaska and Hawaii are just getting used to a new day :)

Alaska and Hawaii are weird, Alaska's a huge state with nobody in it, Hawaii's a tiny island out in the middle of nowhere.

Territories don't get to vote, Puerto Rico gets our president but doesn't get to choose. But they've got the UP Post Office and all.

FWIW, I highly recommend a trip there. I had a (free!) one and it was great.
 
Peter,

Don't play the ignorant American, I don't think you are. Yes, the OSCE was invited officially and they weren't turned down by the authorities but just by the local organisers who didn't have the authority to deny them access. These observers get access in every country to polling stations, they should get it in Florida too. So, why are you even questioning this? Are the grapes that sour?
 
No, the alligation just does not ring true to me. If they had legal access and "local organizers" denied them, then why wasn't the police brought in to enforce their access? Doesn't make sense by how you tell it. Unless "local organizers" = "community organizers", just like Obama was, then maybe they were afraid of the OSC would find indeed tampering by the "local organizers".
 
~Territories don't get to vote, Puerto Rico gets our president but doesn't get to choose.

Territories also receive monetary benefits and don't pay taxes.
 

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