Heads Up NC Voters! The "Fix Might Be In! NYT's Article:

[KoKo]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=edit&forum=364&topic_id=2429020&mesg_id=2430995

Please check out AutoRank's post above with link to NYT's article mentioning NC's infamous Cheri Poucher and what she predictes for November Election.

Just posting this for info so we all keep our radar up when we vote, since NYT's article has NC cited as a "problem area." We have verifiable paper trail...but these are the ways we could get screwed:

Quote from NC Elections Official Poucher in NYT's article:

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Still, this is a year of firsts for some local election officials. Cherie Poucher, elections director for Wake County, N.C., which includes Raleigh, said she expected 350,000 voters on Election Day, up from the 30,000 in the May primary. She worries that the county’s 218 optical scan machines may be unable to handle the increased load. During the primary, 12 of the new machines would not boot up and needed to be replaced.

“In the end, we were lucky,” Ms. Poucher said. The machines were replaced within hours, she said, and since her county uses optical scan machines rather than paperless machines, voters were able to deposit paper ballots into a ballot box until replacements arrived.

“I’m an optimist,” she said. “But if we have more failures than we have total machines, it could be really difficult even with the paper ballots.”

-snip-

North Carolina, for example, requires that information provided by voters for registration forms match information in the motor vehicle or Social Security databases.

“If someone is listed with their maiden name in one list and their married name in another list, that voter will be blocked from the eligible voter roll,” said Mr. Levitt, adding that these voters may show up in large numbers and not realize that there is a problem.

[pecwae]

1. That's why I just checked

my registration. Additionally, absentee applications (written request only by fax or mail) must be in to BOE by COB 10/31.

[struggle4progress]

2. You can check your registration here

http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/

If there's a problem but you believe yourself entitled to vote, ASK FOR AND CAST A PROVISIONAL BALLOT

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

3. rebuttal to BS in the New York Times

I hit the ceiling when I read that report.

The NY Times interviewed an Anti Paper election director who had "sour grapes"
because she wanted touchscreen machines but the citizens fought her and
got 100% optical scan machines.

I have sent a letter to the editor of the NY Times to address where
NC really stands.

MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS TO FOIST TOUCHSCREENS ON WAKE COUNTY VOTERS:

First of all, Cherie Poucher used her hired consultant, Glenn Newkirk
of Info Sentry to say that optical scan used for early voting would be
"experimental", even though Wake has used OS for 13 years.
She had him argue that the county should purchase the touchscreen
machines with the toilet paper ballot.
http://www.triadblogs.com/NCVoter/1562/

Next, she tried to scoot the county into using Vote Centers, where the only practical
machines WOULD be touchscreens.

Finally, the citizens were victorious and convinced the county commissioners to
refuse to pay for touchscreens, and the county remains 100% optical scan today.

*Wake rejects touch-screen voting* February 13 News and Observer
"Why spend extra money for a dubious and experimental technology?"
said Andrew Silver, 64, a Cary epidemiologist... Commissioner Phil Jeffreys,
a retired postal worker, said he was not concerned about the difficult of
hand-sorting an estimated 90,000 ballots after next fall's Election Day...
"I worked in a post office for 30 years and it's not a lot (to sort)," he said.
http://www.newsobserver.com/114/story/399788.html

I believe that Cherie Poucher is causing the problems in Wake County,
partly by under buying voting equipment, and also by purchasing nearly twice
as many ballots as needed.

Ms. Poucher apparently wants to say that Optical scan costs more,
so the only way to do that is to buy way more ballots than the law requires,
so she can complain about the cost.

NC law requires enough ballots printed for 100% of registered voters.

Cherie prints 150%.

Other election directors say they have NEVER printed more
than the state required 100%.

Poucher printed up 750,000 ballots for about 500,000 registered voter
(and an expected turnout in the neighborhood of 300,000) at a cost
of $0.33/ballot. She just tossed between $85,000 to $150,000 out
the window for no good
reason.

Even /AFTER/ we complained to county commissioners in 2005 that
she ended up tossing out about $100,000 worth of ballots in the 2004
General Election because she over-printed like mad, then, too.

It looks like Ms. Poucher skimped on buying enough voting machines:

According to Justin Moore's calculations for Wake:

http://www.cs.duke.edu/~justin/voting/costs/WAKE.html

Wake would need about 219 M100s (optical scanners) to meet minimum requirements
and should really have about 230 to be safe. If they're really only got
218, she skimped big-time.

ABOUT THE NY TIMES COMMENT ON NC'S VOTER REGISTRATION DATABASE:

Later in the article it goes on about North Carolina's "new" voter registration database (which,
from what I can tell) has been up and running since at least March of 2001.

WE DON'T HAVE A PARTISAN SOS, AND WE DON'T BUY LISTS FROM DATA COMPANIES TO USE
TO PURGE VOTERS.

NC GOT A BAD RAP FOR NO GOOD REASON.

[marions ghost]

4. sounds like

Wake needs to get rid of this Cherie Poucher

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

5. our best bet in Wake

is just to be aware, and to stay one step ahead.

This is one very smart lady, she does a good job, but she is
a toughie. She really came very close to slipping touchscreens into
the county.

Thanks to the work of some very dedicated "Agressive Dems",
her diabolical plan was foiled. : }