I know just how he feels (An Ode to Election Ladies)

[CornField]

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/column/index.php?ntid=78798&ntpid=1

Today, for the last time, I'll walk into the Blue Mounds Town Hall, mark my choices, and carefully fold my paper ballot once and then again, and stuff it through the slot of the wooden ballot box.

Then, later tonight, the capable hands of Town Clerk Helen Kahl, or one of the other election ladies, will unfold the paper and smooth out the creases. She'll announce the votes marked on my ballot, and another lady will duly record them.

...

And, here's the thing: I trust Verna and the rest of the ladies. Even if they think I'm voting for an idiot, they'll record my vote. I know they take their responsibilities seriously. Machines are of a category that includes computers and cars, and we all know they fail you at the worst possible moment. And voting machines? Why the very phrase conjures images of Chicago and its legion of dead voters. Or Florida and its "hanging chad" machines that are overseen by the likes of that creepy Katherine Harris. When democracy hangs in the balance, I'll trust the town of Blue Mounds election ladies over the over- mascaraed Harris every time.

Just a nice little column in a Wisconsin paper about election changes vs. traditional voting.

[nicknameless]

1. A few more paragraphs:

We're the last polling place in Dane County with hand-counted ballots. The two other holdouts - our neighbors in the town of Perry to the south, and the village of Rockdale - are switching over to a machine that automatically counts votes for today's election.

We're installing the new machine in time for the September primary, and I can't say I'm happy about it.

Oh, I know the replacement of election ladies with an optical scanning machine doesn't have the poetry of poor John Henry busting his heart to drill holes faster than the railroad's steam-powered drill. Or of Edgar Guest's lighthouse keeper, who laments: "The light I have tended for 40 years is now to be run by a set of gears."

But I would point out that the longest serving of our election ladies, Verna Docken, has been working elections for at least 40 years.

The "election ladies" may be on their way out now, but hopefully they'll return again soon, replacing the machines that never should have been purchased.

That was very moving. Thanks for posting it.

Nominated.

[Virginian]

7. They will still be needed.

Do you just find a machine somewhere and vote? Don't you have interaction with humans at the polls on election day?

Would you want your grandmother to get up to be at the polls at 5:00 am, then work all day and then stay up until who knows what time to count the ballots?

Ok, sign up to work the polls. Before there were machines to do the cheating, there were election officials who were bribed to cheat. It isn't who votes, but who counts the votes that matters. Make sure your precinct is not run by 100% Republicans. Sign up with your local electoral board to be a part of the process and make sure the humans are kept honest. It's a long day and an exhilerating day. Don't work the little old election ladies so hard, give them some help.

[nicknameless]

9. You're missing the point.

These are the ladies who have been counting people's votes for decades. That's what's being lost.

Yes. Some people are just democracy fanatics. They do get up at 5:00 a.m. and work all day at the polls and count the votes when the polls close. They still do it that way in REAL democracies. They believe that democracy is worth fighting for -- and that it's worth one very long day. How many YEARS of * have we had to endure because expedience has been overvalued -- particularly by those who oppose transparent elections? YEARS vs. one very long day.

Your post echoes the county clerk:

Ohlsen assured me that the election ladies will still be plenty busy taking care of the new voter registration requirements. And with the machines counting the votes, he said, "I think they'll be able to go home a few hours earlier."

And why should we believe that any poll workers will be having an easier day than when votes were hand counted? Now they have to tend to machines that won't boot up, machines that malfunction all day, printers that jam, angry people whose votes aren't being registered properly, angry people who can't wait longer than six hours to vote without losing their jobs, right-wing election thugs, whose job it is to interfere with and intimidate voters, too few machines, etc. ad nauseam.

I wonder which scenario is preferred by the "election ladies"?

Election theft nowadays bears no resemblance to voter fraud incidents of the past. No ballot box stuffer can add or delete tens of thousands of votes, cause the count to reverse, or flip the vote count so that the losing candidate is suddenly ahead at the same percentage he was losing just minutes before -- all in a matter of seconds, all unobserved and leaving no trace.

Peace Patriot summed it up nicely in a recent post: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=420580&mesg_id=420588

Of course everyone who can help out at the polls should do so.

[Virginian]

10. I work the elections. It is a long day. I suggest you try it. n/t

[Kurovski]

2. Any writer that calls out Katherine Harris as "creepy"

is A-OK in my book. Nice dig at my hometown of Chicago, too.

A charmer of a column that nevertheless points out that the new way of voting is far more untrustworthy.

[BeFree]

3. What a great story

And oh so true. The machines can not be trusted like we've traditionally trusted the ladies down at the elections office.

[BeFree]

4. Hey...

Why doesn't this thread have a dozen rec's? Hello? Is anybody home?

[BeFree]

8. Hey! Thanks.

[Kurovski]

5. Kick(nt)

[nicknameless]

6. Kick