Democrats Lose Ruling on Michigan Ballots

[NVMojo]

DETROIT (AP) -- A judge's order requiring some provisional ballots in Michigan to be counted even if they are cast in the wrong precinct was put on hold Sunday, the second time in as many days that a federal appeals court dealt a setback to Democrats who wanted to ease voting restrictions.

A 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in Cincinnati issued a stay of a lower court ruling that had reversed Michigan's policy for counting provisional ballots, saying it will hear an appeal of the issue quickly. On Saturday, the same three-judge panel had rejected a similar ruling out of Ohio.

Provisional ballots - required in all states for the first time this year - are used when voters say they are properly registered but their names are not on the registration rolls. The ballots are later counted if elections officials determine the voter is validly registered.

more

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MICHIGAN_VOTING?SITE=NVLAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[w4rma]

1. So that three judge panel will say that folks who got their polling place

mixed up, and cast a provisional ballot in a different one, will lose their vote, even if they are registered voters in the state. Their vote for national and state offices will be deleted.

[NVMojo]

2. The Repuke voting screeners are really working overtime

and it just keeps piling up all over. Must be because the Repukes and their Chimp leader are fearful and they do nothing but dispense fear in order to retain control. Sick bastards, all of them.

[The Zanti Regent]

15. Judges whoring for the GOP again

Lord, please deliver a Democratic majority to Congress so we can impeach them!

[Nicholas_J]

3. Here in Florida

we have worked out a system for making sure that people have an opportunity to find out their correct polling place immediately and methods for getting them to the correct polling place if they need to. We can even check the elections database to find out where any persons polling place is on site if necessary, even if the pollworkers will not do so, So I am sure we will be able to do so if necessary in Ohio.

What strikes me as odd is that with early voting, you do not go to your polling place, but any of the sites for early polling in order to vote, so it seems odd that one must vote in an assigned polling place when there are no assigned ealry voting pollin places. Then again, in Florida we are being advised to vote early for this reason, as it will be irrelevant where you vote if you vote early.

The Repukes must be very fearful of a Kerry win if they are going to such efforts to try to block legitimate votes.

[still_one]

4. We still have time to insure that people get to the correct polling places

[Polemonium]

8. Let's make sure we do it then n/t

[xultar]

5. Not with the Evil Fucker Rethuglicans changing and closing polling places

fuckers :nuke:

[TexasSissy]

6. I was not on the rolls one year. The rolls are notorious for not being up

to date.

What if the person has his voting registration card with him? Doesn't that prove the registration?

Are they talking about provisional voting when the voter is both not on the rolls AND does not have a registration card?

[Almost_there]

9. If a person has their registration card with them...

why would they wind up at the wrong place? I mean, seriously, if your card said "Springfield Elementary School, 123 Main St., Podunk, USA" and you wound up at "Springfield Fire Department, 987 Elm St., Podunk, USA" and YOU HAD THE CARD WITH YOU, I would have to take you by the hand, show you the name of the building, perhaps give you a description of a fire department and an elementary school, maybe draw a map and discuss street names.

Seriously, I've seen maybe a dozen threads on the wrong polling places and what happens to those who "legitimately show up at the wrong place". Perhaps it happens to 40%, maybe 41% of the people, right? I mean, I've lived in 3 states and I think 5 seperate polling places. Strangely, I've never gone to the wrong one. I guess my luck is holding. Hopefully, I'll be able to find the right one again this year! I hope that it doesn't move on me.

Give me a break with these threads, the entire concept of someone being so befuddled and confused that they can't read the registration card or that they forget where they've voted the past 6 elections, or that they go to Springfield when they live in Chicago is simply ridiculous. Sure, it happens, but, what are the numbers of people who show up at the wrong place? Hard numbers please, I'd like to know who can't find their own polling place, and more importantly, WHY. Do these people need to be told how to hold a pencil? "No, sir, you don't sign with the rubber end, use the pointy end." And of course, I know that if you just moved you might make an error, but, if I wound up by sheer happenstance at the wrong place in my town, well, color me important, but, I'd drive myself, get a cab, a bus, walk, ask for a lift, take the subway, or whatever over to the correct polling place and cast my vote nice and legal. No one here seems to think it feasible that you go to the correct polling place. My town is smallish, we have 2 polling places. They are about 2 miles apart. When I've lived in cities, I've seen polling places as close as 5 blocks apart. Are we saying its so ridiculous to go a few miles or even a few blocks to correctly cast a ballot? This concept is so far beyond my grasp.. help me out.. why can't the "lost voter" simply get directions? Is that disenfranchisement?

~Almost

[illuminaughty]

10. Well maybe you can help here in Missouri

Voters are not recieving their registration cards. They do not have the polling location on the card. This is a mess. I am working with voters from one precinct and no one can tell me where they will be voting this year.

I have searched online to find this info and the only way I can search is if I put the voter's date and year of birth in along with address and entire name.

The precinct is a low income area with little access to computers. There are over one hundred that are registered with the address of the Rescue Mission and we have to find a way to get them to the polls.

There are some real dirty tricks going on here and to suggest that it is just voter stupidity to have trouble locating their polling place is unfair

[bling bling]

12. THANK YOU!

I thought I was crazy. I moved a few months ago and my husband and I submitted my change of address info to the Stl BOE. We both received registration cards but there was no address on them. I still don't know where we're supposed to go. I'm going to call tomorrow morning and try to find out.

ALSO, when I first went to do our change of address forms I went to declareyourself.com and used the link for the online form, printed it out and mailed them in.

About 3-4 weeks ago I went to the same place to print one out for a friend and it took me directly to the Secretary of State's website saying that online registration forms will not be accepted due to card stock width or something. I called the BOE and they said they WILL accept them. I didn't trust a verbal so I e-mailed the secretary of state's office and accused them of voter fraud (pre-emptive action, I learned that method of attack from my pResident). They e-mailed me back and said that all registrations forms will be accepted even if not on the required card stock. I saved the e-mail.

[illuminaughty]

22. I called BOE today and still no info

This is ridiculous. As you can see my post further down that I've had no luck online or by phone with the BOE

How is it possible that your local stations can endlessly scroll lists of places that will be having fireworks displays on the fourth, or tell you all the schools that are cancelled due to snow, but cannot figure out a way to help a citizen find their polling place? If people don't believe that they definitely have an agenda to keep the turnout low, please offer another explanation why this is run like a third world country.

[MaineDem]

11. Not all states use registration cards

I don't know about Michigan.

[Cheswick2.0]

13. get a grip and listen up

In the county I live in they have just last week changed 21 polling places. Here is one case for illustration. For 25 years the people in one neighborhood have voted in the elementary school. Many of the old people there do not drive. So our newly republican majority commisioners have moved that polling place to a health club at the top of the mountain. Yes the disenfrancisement is intentional.

[SoCalDem]

14. In Florida 2000, there were actually polling places INSIDE

gated communities.. People that did not live within the gates, has a hard time even getting IN..

[TexasSissy]

16. I don't know about your state, but in the two states that I lived in...

registration cards don't have the addresses of the polling places. Polling place are subject to change, for one thing.

[TexasSissy]

17. Which is mainly why the polling places are printed in paper day before

an election.

[TexasSissy]

18. One year my polling place was changed shortly before the election.

Since I knew where my polling place was, I didn't doublecheck to ensure it had not changed. My fault, to be sure. I always check now. Still, I had not checked.

I discovered that I was at the wrong place when I showed up and there was a sign on the door saying the polling place had changed, and it had a new address. So I went to the new address. I barely made it by getting in line, so even though the polling place closed, I was able to vote because I was in line. Many people I'm sure did not get into line before 7 p.m.

Our state lets us vote early, so that's what I do now because of that incident that happened to me that time.

My registration card has my precinct # on it, not an address to vote at for that precinct. Used to be, you'd have to wait for the polling addresses to be printed in the paper the day before an election. NOW you can get that info online. People w/o access to computers will not have the online method available, of course.

My guess is that people end up at the wrong polling places because polling places change, and the people didn't doublecheck (like what happened to me). Or someone in their neighborhood tells them where to go, but that neighbor is wrong.

I used to live about ONE HOUR AWAY FROM MY POLLING PLACE. So when I left work, in the dark, to go there, I would get there maybe by 6:30 p.m. The polls close at 7:00 p.m. CAPICHE? I guess you take off work or are lucky enough to work near your residence and polling place.

Don't expect others to be as perfect as you are. You will be disappointed.

[struggle4progress]

7. kick

:kick:

[TahitiNut]

19. Registration errors, placing the voter in the wrong precinct, ...

... are far more likely to disenfranchise the voter if they insist on provisional ballots to be cast in the 'correct' precinct. Since early voters and absentee voters usually have no such narrow a restriction, it seems to me that it's only reasonable to require that the provisional ballot be cast within the purview of the relevant Supervisor of Elections -- which is at the city/township level in Michigan.

[napi21]

20. Please explain this to me.

I thought the provisional ballot program was instituted to allow people to vote who had been erroneously removed from the rolls by the registrar. If that's the case, there wouldn't be a precinct problem.

How hard it is to figure out where your precinct is? It's on your voter registration card, and if you really don't know, all you have to do is make a phone call and ask.

I guess I'm just having a problem understanding why this is a big problem. For years, we've all been voting and I don't remember lots of people going to the wrong precinct.

[illuminaughty]

21. How hard is it?

Well, if I wasn't so pissed at our voting process right now, I'd deliver a great punchline.

I live in Kansas, but am working with Missouri voters in the inner city. They do not have their polling place on their cards or they have not recieved cards. I've called the K.C. Election Board and left voice mail with no response. You can go on their website and find your precinct but you have to enter date of birth and year to get that info and I don't have that nor should I. Oh, and that part of the website is under construction. So, you can't search.

I'm supposed to recall my voters this weekend but I still have no idea where they vote. They print it in the paper on Monday, but how many people take the paper and that's pretty late for people who have to plan their day around voting.