"Election System May Buckle"

[lonestarnot]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/us/21voting.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=us&pagewanted=print

July 21, 2008
Influx of Voters Expected to Test New Technology
By IAN URBINA
With millions of new voters heading to the polls this November and many states introducing new voting technologies, election officials and voting monitors say they fear the combination is likely to create long lines, stressed-out poll workers and late tallies on Election Day.

At least 11 states will use new voting equipment as the nation shifts away from touch-screen machines and to the paper ballots of optical scanners, which will be used by more than 55 percent of voters.

About half of all voters will use machines unlike the ones they used in the last presidential election, experts say, and more than half of the states will use new statewide databases to verify voter registration....


...Recent purges of voters from registration lists and the influx of registrations may result in names erroneously being dropped and eligible voters showing up at the polls to find their names not on the rolls. (Advocacy groups have encouraged voters to check their registration with election officials at least two weeks before the polls open.) ...

...The election commission has predicted that at least two million poll workers will be needed in November, double the number in the 2004 presidential election.
......

[SmileyRose]

1. So

they'll be able to explain away another stolen election?

[lonestarnot]

2. Oh no they won't!

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. How are we going to stop them?

[Kutjara]

3. So basically, if they can't rig the election...

...they'll break it? I was wondering how they were going to hide the fact that nobody'll be voting for McDead. I guess this is how.

Don't worry, I'm sure the Supreme Court will work it out.

[yellerpup]

4. If voters show up in the record numbers we are hoping for

the Board of Election is going to need all hands to make sure votes are cast and counted. I'm taking my certification course tomorrow at our local BOE. This year is going to be the most exciting election of my lifetime and I want to be part of it. Sign up, it's a long day (16 hours) but they pay and democracy is worth it. K&R! :kick:

[alfredo]

6. I've been a precinct judge for years. Turn out has been very good

since 2006. Most primaries get seventy five or so voters at our precinct, but this primary pulled in nearly 160 voters. Of that number, only eight voted for McCain. Granted, there was no real reason to vote in the Republican or Democratic primaries, they were both all over but the shouting. People were pumped up to vote in the Dem primary. The Republicans seemed apologetic when declaring their party affiliation. Had one or two switch parties from Rep to Dem.

The Reps will get a richly deserved thumping, then maybe a period of self reflection on the direction of their party.

we just need to get out the vote. If McCain has more of these bad weeks like the one just past, his supporters will be so demoralized they won't get out to work the precincts, much less vote in Nov.

[yellerpup]

8. Thanks for sharing your insights on the inside process.

I just returned from my instruction, certification, and swearing in. I'm excited. In the meantime, it's all about GOTV!

[alfredo]

9. Be sure you bring a book. Just in case. Make sure it is not political.

[yellerpup]

13. LOL! Thanks!

[alfredo]

14. Sometimes you just run out of things to say.

[yellerpup]

15. Guess you can't just sit around and shoot the breeze about politics.

Valuable perspective, alfredo. I never thought about that.

[alfredo]

17. Political speech is a no no. Hopefully you will be so busy you won't have

time to read or bs with your workers.

[givemebackmycountry]

5. I posted this in a thread a few days ago...must have had one of those "premonitions"

What would happen if another 15-25% of Americans decided to vote?
Does anyone have an idea of how many Americans voted in the 2004 election?
45% ?
Lower?

What would happen if 70% of Americans decided that it's time to do their civic duty and cast a vote?
Chaos.
The system would crash completely.
My numbers are purely for illustrative purposes only.
I believe if another 5% show up it's gonna be interesting.
To say the least.

[shadowknows69]

10. Then we have people write their choice on a 3X5 card and count them like that

Why is it every election we look more and more like a third world nation?

[warren pease]

16. Probably because that's exactly where we're going, if we're not already there. n/t

[SoCalDem]

11. Easiest solution ever...and business opportunities for printers everywhere

SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Mon Jul-21-08 04:37 PM

Original message

We don't need new ballots, we need a new definition of "ballot"


States run elections, and within the states, counties run elections. I understand the need for those entities to be able to design their own, BUT....

and it's a BIG BUT.

Those local elections are important ONLY to the people who live there, and most of us don't give a rat's ass about which candidate wins the 13th district selectman spot, or who becomes the 4th city council member of a small town in Alabama.

We DO care, and we care a LOT, about which person wins a particular state's election when it comes to NATIONALLY HELD OFFICES.. Offices like congress, senate and of course, president.

THEIR VOTES AFFECT OUR WHOLE COUNTRY..

Those offices are too important to trust to the whims and vagaries of local "ballot design".

Too many states have been sold hunks-of-junk, and were told that they are accurate ballot counting, recording devices. Maybe those states are willing to use them for their elections, and I am all for states doing what they want...

BUT

I don't want them using them for anything BUT their own elections.

Nationally held offices are different. Those votes deserve to be cast in a uniform NATIONALLY ACCEPTED fashion, and counted by humans, in a manner that allows transparency and unlimited recountability.

A 5 x 7 ballot on heavy cardstock and a sharpie pen is all we need..

This ballot for all states would do the trick..and for easy counting, the vertical gray parts would be perforated....

On the bottom corner, they would be numbered, so each polling place just needs to write down their beginning number and the ending number, and account for all the cards they have..

A bank money counter, could easily be calibrated to count the number of cards at the end of voting, and then once torn apart, they could easily be stacked in groups of 10...by candidate... A team of 5th graders could do it..

The whole counting/end-of-day procedure could be CCTVed and totals tallied, and recorded on tape....Cards secured by sheriff's department..Once this is done, the localities could do whatever they wanted with the non-national office ballots..

For those who say it would be too HARD, or people couldn;t figure it out, I say..BS.. Every parent has managed to figure out the school "packet" that kids bring home every year, and most people have figured out how to fill out a contest form for a free jet-ski or tv. The people sitting at the tables just need to hand each person a ballot and a card.. The Card is for national offices, and the ballot it for everything else. If people only want ONE..the card, then officials need to soul-search a little and ask themselves why people don't care about their local issues..

[Bandit]

12. Vote by mail (Absentee) and know they will be hand counted

Your vote will not be lost in the shuffle from overcrowded precincts. Republicans have been using this strategy for over a decade now and it has served them very well..