Long Lines in Bibb County

[Laelth]

Good news, Dems. Turnout here is high.

My wife and I just got back from voting. Two more votes for K/E, Denise Majette, and other worthy Democrats. We arrived at 8:20 A.M. The poll was scheduled to open at 8:30, and there were already about 50 people waiting ahead of us. Everything seemed to go relatively smoothly (though the phones rang constantly and were rightly ignored by poll workers who refused to allow the process to be disrupted). Everyone in line was civil. Like good Middle Georgians, nobody was talking about politics, despite the fact that everyone had politics on their mind. It took us about 50 minutes to get through the process, and when we left, the line was about the same length it was when we arrived--about 50 people waiting to get in. Everything was running smoothly.

Traditional wisdom holds that when turnout is high, we win. Our Secretary of State, Cathy Cox, is predicting 70-73% turnout for this election (much higher than usual), and from what I saw this morning, she may be right. If she is right (and our Diebold voting machines are secure), Georgia will go blue.

Looking forward to poll-watching on election day. Only eight more days to go.

:dem:

Kerry on!

-Laelth

Edit:Laelth--fixed a typo.

[mopinko]

1. was this the only early voting place?

have you had early voting there before?

[Laelth]

2. To my knowledge, yes.

There's only one early voting location for all of Bibb County, and I voted there in the primaries. Our Secretary of State, Cathy Cox, is a Democrat, and has done an excellent job reforming our voting processes. After the 2000 debacle (in which 95,000 Georgians were disenfranchised--more, perhaps, than in Florida), Cathy Cox took the initiative and completely reformed our voting procedures and equipment. It's all standardized and uniform. I trust her to do everything in her power to see that all goes smoothly.

The polling location has been well-advertised, and the recording played when one calls the Board of Elections correctly describes both the location of the early-voting poll and its hours of operation.

Hope that answers your questions. :)

-Laelth

[colinmom71]

3. Newbie here from Cobb County....

I was just heading home from running errands and heard a radio "alert" warning of very long lines (est. over 2 hour wait) at the early polls in the north Fulton County/Alpharetta area. I haven't yet heard anything about Cobb County's turnout though. I haven't been to the elections office since my husband and I voted by absentee ballots a few weeks ago...

If high turnout is the key to good Democrat party returns, it's going to be an interesting Election Day... I honestly don't expect GA to go blue, but it'd be nice to see the race to go a great deal closer than projected.

[newyawker99]

17. Hi colinmom71!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[colinmom71]

18. Hi, and thanks for the welcome!

Sorry, it's been a bit since I checked the State forums, otherwise I'd have responded earlier.

These boards are terribly addictive... And I'm enormously grateful for DU providing me a new habit. But then I'm sure you guys understand the oasis this place offers to liberals stuck in Georgia... ;)

Thanks again!

[Cookie wookie]

4. Cathy Cox is a misleader

Cathy Cox was the main cause of the defeat our bill, SB 500, this past spring that would have given us voter verified paper audit trail for the Diebold voting system in GA. I personally witnessed the SOS’s Elections Division staff including director Kathy Rogers and/or Cox in person, giving misleading information to the Georgia State Assembly members and the public and the Senate State and Local Governmental Operations committee meetings on 2/26/04, 3/4/04, and 3/11/04. They said:

1) That there is currently no technology to produce VVPT (SLOGO committee meeting on 2/26/04).

Activists at this meeting had to inform the committee that this technology not only exists but is certified by NASED. Two vendors with the technology, TruVote and Avante, demonstrated their technology for the SLOGO committee meeting on 3/4/04 at which time, the SOS remembered that she had known of TruVote technology since the SOS was conducting the RFP before they purchased the Diebold systems;

2) Long lines at the polls “associated with poll workers addressing toner and paper jams and refills on printers,” spoiled ballots that don’t corresponding to the GEMS digital record. (SLOGO committee meeting on 2/26/04 and the SOS document “Security Features of Georgia’s Electronic Voting System”);

The SOS indicated that she was aware of TruVote technology (3/4/04), yet her elections’ officials did not know that the technology available, thermal printing, which is used extensively throughout banking and commerce worldwide, has no problems that would create poll delays (it doesn’t use toner, rolls can be ordered to the size of the ballots and expected numbers of voters, and the paper doesn’t jam according to spokespeople at Walmart who use the technology to print millions of sales receipts annually). Available printing technology also includes an auditing system for “spoiled ballots”.

3) The technology to produce VVPT is not: a) certified by NASED (3/4/04); and when proved wrong, not qualified to ‘02 VSS (SLOGO committee meetings on (3/11/04).

a) TruVote and Avante voting systems are qualified to ’90 VSS by NASED as was Diebold at the time. Staff at the FEC stated on 3/12/04 that Diebold is in the process of qualifying their voting system to ’02 VSS.

4) That VVPT would disenfranchise disabled voters (SLOGO committee meetings on 2/27/04, 3/4/04 and 3/11/04).

The technology to produce VVPT in no way disenfranchises disabled voters. Voters who are blind can use the earphones and special touch key pad provided with the current Diebold system which includes an audio program that takes voters all the way through their selections, including “reading” what appears on the paper copy of their ballot (the VVPT).

Not to mention the fact that Cathy Cox's testimonial along with the Ga State Seal are being used as advertisement on Diebold Election System's website: http://www.diebold.com/dieboldes/testimonials.htm

We must get Cox out of office. She's Georgia's version of Kathleen Harris only she's a Democrat!! Rumors are that she plans to run for governor and has the support of the Ga Dem Party.

[Cookie wookie]

5. Just to add about Cox

She was given every opportunity by voting activists to do the right thing about securing the Ga vote, and yet, like Bush, she stubbornly refused change course, and in this case even so much as to consider new information on problems with security and the system. She fought tooth and nail to keep our votes digital, with no way to do an independent audit. Remember, the Diebold voting systems that were decertified by Shelley in California are technically the same as the ones used in Ga.

The system may be neat and clean, but Georgia voters have lost the ability to monitor the chain of custody of our vote.

Preston Futrell of X-Force, ISS, told me that he told the Georgia Technology Authority in April that the Georgia Diebold Voting Sytem is not secure and could not be secured in time for Nov 2.

That's what Cox gave Georgia.

A pox on Cox.

[Laelth]

6. Thanks for the response ...

I'm still trying to figure out whether she called our neighbor state "Flori-DUH"? Did you hear that? If so, where could I find it online? I'm curious.

And I'll admit, I'm no fan of the electronic voting machines. I prefer the optical-scanned paper ballots--the ones where you connect parts of an arrow with a sharpie pen. They're virtually fool-proof, they're cheaper, and they leave a definite paper trail. You list a number complaints about Cox's actions as SOS, and you're obviously much more knowledgeable about what's been going on than I. I appreciate your bringing these issues to our attention.

But, I'm still confused. Cathy Cox is a Dem., and I prefer not to eat my own without good cause. She might be the best chance we have of getting back the Governor's office. As such, I need a theory to explain her conduct before I can decide whether I'd like to support her for Governor. In other words, I want to know why she did the things she did (those things you think were bad ideas). Do you have a theory?

I remain curious and open-minded ...

-Laelth

[Cookie wookie]

7. I agree with you about eating our own

that's the last thing I want to do, but sometimes, like Zell, some of "our own" are rotten to the core.

As far as motives, the only theory we could come up with, that is the coalition of activists to which I belong, is that her ambition to run for governor is the reason. Other than that, it could be just some deal she has that's either implicit or explicit with Diebold.

For a time at first I though maybe she was just ignorant about technology -- giving her the benefit of the doubt, as Dems here said she was a Dem through and through. After all, she told me personally, when I questioned her about uncertified patches that were applied (we had a whistle blower, Rob Bayler, who was mentioned in the Vanity Fair article about evoting) just before the 2002 elections in conflict with Georgia code, she told me (and the AJC at another time) that after the elections, Kennesaw Elections Systems checked the code and everything was fine.

When I replied that one of the people, Brit Williams, that the SOS told the public checks the code and certifies it locally at Kennesaw University, admitted in a three way conversation by phone that he didn't know how to read C++, which is what the code is written in, she said, "I don't know anything about technology," and dismissed me. At another time, before Rob made public the info about the patches, she publicly said that no uncertified patches were applied prior to that election. Related link on patching: http://www.blackboxvoting.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=2

When I saw and heard her deliberately, and v. cunningly (or should I say conningly) misleading our state officials and the public, I realized it had to be more than ignorance.

So our conclusion is that she is corrupt. Whether it's because she felt her public career was on the line if she admitted the machines weren't secure, or something else, I don't know. She did stake a lot politically on those machines and the public perception that she did a great job with upgrading our voting system. However, if she had integrity, she would have been a hero, maybe not with other election officials, who don't like paper, but with the public if she had done what Shelley did in California.

Democrat Lt Gov Mark Taylor will be running against her. He's a possibility, as we've got to defeat Sonny Perdue when he comes up for re-election.

[flaminbats]

8. If Cox were a DINO, she would have switched after 2002!

Cathy Cox needs support of the state legislature and Governor to enact a state law requiring these machines to produce a paper trail. Without the support of Perdue, this will likely become a central theme of her campaign for Governor in 2006.

But I believe that Cox isn't another K. Harris puppet..

[Cookie wookie]

9. Cox lobbied relentlessly

at the State House to defeat SB 500 this past spring, when there was still time to get voter verified paper audit trail on our Diebold machines. We got the bill through the House, with a vote of 56 to 2, although Cox got legislators, on the floor of the Senate, to add a poison pill amendment delaying the move to 2006.

We had the votes in the House, but Cox worked with Democrats on the Rules Committee to stop the bill from moving to the floor for a vote. This was in spite of a campaign by MoveOn and True Majority which got hundreds of phone calls, faxes, and emails sent to House Committee members and leaders. I saw stacks of faxes on the floor of Rules Committee members myself.

We had the technology, the votes, everything needed to get us vvpat (voter verified paper audit trail). If Cox hadn't worked against us, we would have this technology for the election on Tuesday, or she could have opted to let people choose and vote on paper, like they have done in California. She and she alone is responsible for our current paperless, unauditable voting system.

Anyone who would put our votes at risk by corporatizing them and then work relentlessly to prevent voters from being able to audit their elections is not on the side of democracy.

[flaminbats]

11. you mean it passed the Republican state Senate by 58-2..

I had a big problem with this amendment..."Nothing in this Act shall be effective until such time as the federal Election Assistance Commission develops and adopts new voting equipment standards to govern the design of a voter verifiable paper record of a ballot for direct recording electronic voting systems and its use by all voters, including voters with disabilities, and until such time as the United States Congress appropriates adequate funds to pay for the addition of such voter verifiable paper record enhancement to Georgia´s direct recording electronic voting systems." how likely will that happen? :eyes:

I knew Cox opposed SB 500, but not because she was opposed to the paper trail. Rather the Senate would not work with the House to fund the necessary printing equipment. Diebold will not give this stuff to Cox for free!

[Cookie wookie]

12. That poison pill amendment was added

because of Cox's lobbying for it. Yes SB 500 passed the Senate, which is composed of both Dems and Republicans. The Dems only voted for it with Cox's poison pill amendments added, which included the paragraph you cite above as well as the 2006 implementation date rather that 2004 of the original bill, added by Hooks and Thomas, after Cox wrote them.

As far as the costs for printing, if the truth had been allowed to be told (in other words, Cox had not mislead our legislators), both parties would have come up with the necessary funds - between 12 and 15 million.

After all, if our votes are not secure, and the Secretary of State's Office has put us in that position, then they OWE it to us to come up with a solution before the election. If not vvpat then allow us the option to vote on paper. That's what we were hoping for, since SB 500 wasn't a perfect bill even before the poison pills were added because it didn't call for random audits, however we hoped to have that added in committee (but got poison instead!!).

They could also have sued Diebold, like Shelley did, because they had as much evidence of possible fraudulent claims re security by Diebold as California did. But Cox chose to cover up for and promote Diebold and paperless voting instead.

I don't blame the Dems for undermining auditable elections, I blame Cox. They took her word for it, why shouldn't they?, even went so far as to withdraw Thomas' bill for vvpat, when it came to security. All evidence of the contrary on security has been squelched by the SOS from the beginning, in the summer of 2002, when the machines were delivered and patches were being applied without certification.

As far as Cox not opposing SB500 because of opposition to a paper trail, did you attend any of the Town Halls or the Kennesaw Election System public events? At those the SOS's office openly opposed the use of any paper in Ga elections. Paper = faud they said, over and over. Cox said the same at the SLOGO meetings. It would slow elections, it is unnecessary as the system is "secure". It's easier to steal elections if there is paper involved. Votes will be stolen. These were their words. Is she now trying to act like she didn't oppose paper? HAHAHA. What a cunning little political manipulator she is. If so, I can post some documentation to prove otherwise, it you want, but it will have to be after the elections when I have more time to search and gather.

[flaminbats]

14. Docendo discitur...

Scire tuum nihi est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter. Facilius per partes in cognitionem totius adducimur. :toast:

[Cookie wookie]

15. "nihil"

O praeclarum custodem ovium lupum!. Emitte lucem et veritatem

[Laelth]

16. My mind is closing on this subject ...

Evidence that I've seen is very persuasive. The black boxes robbed both Barnes and Cleland. Don't care whether Cathy Cox knew about the plan or not, but she is suspect. I'll support Taylor.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

-Laelth

[napi21]

10. OHHH, do I hope you're right! I live in Hall Cty.

We voted yesterday. Line was about 150+ long and it took about 1 1/2 hrs to get to the voting machine. When we left, the line was longer than when we first came. I don't know anything about Bibb Cty, or even where it is. I've heard that nationally, the Dems win when the turn out is high, I don't know if that applies to Ga or not.

I hope it does, because it looks and feels like turnout is going to be high everywhere.

[Laelth]

13. :) Bibb County

is in Middle Georgia. Its county seat is Macon. This county regularly goes Democratic, so it's good to see long lines here. Hall County, though, hasn't gone for the Democrat since 1980. Hope you surprise us up there.

:smoke:

-Laelth