Duval County Florida voter electronic check in is down

[JPK]

The precincts in Duval county Florida are experiencing a computer glitch in their electronic voter check in resulting in having to do it by hand. Consequently in addition to possibly longer lines, returns will be slow in coming in. The city is run by the Republicans with the newly elected mayor being a former head of the Florida Republican party. The Supervisor of Elections is also a Republican. It will be interesting to watch. The mayor is also a Rubio supporter.

[Human101948]

1. Guaranteed there will be a major screw up...

Which will be dismissed by both Republicans and Democrats.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

2. Well, at least we're not talking about hanging chads

Progress?

[NightWatcher]

3. They had to look up each voter in the paper book. It took 30 seconds

I don't see this being a problem as the local news was reporting earlier.

[NCTraveler]

8. For those of us who have gone through the process in Florida.

We are well aware it doesn't slow the process. I do like the technology and we need to improve on it, but looking up the name in the book takes seconds.

Good eye nightwatcher. Not saying we done have election issues in Florida. Lol

It's positive that they were immediately prepared for the technology glitch.

[seafan]

4. We've been screaming about this for over a year; it's fallen on deaf ears.

So there are reports of voter database "glitches" in Florida's Duval County today, the day of the Presidential primary?? Who would've guessed.


Florida voter database failing across state; supervisors unable to verify eligible voters, March 6, 2015

Florida’s voter database in dire need of repair

By Jeremy Wallace
Halifax Media Services

March 6, 2015



“Habitual” technology failures in an “obsolete” and glitch-prone state voter registration system could have devastating effects in 2016 if not addressed quickly, elections officials across the state say.

The aging state computer system is used to check in voters locally before they cast ballots to ensure they are eligible to vote. But local elections supervisors say the state system is prone to crash, sometimes for days, precluding them from verifying that eligibility.

They also say the state has been slow to upgrade the hardware, despite millions in federal funding.

Florida’s top elections official, Ken Detzner, was not available for comment on Friday. But his spokesman said fixing the system will be his “highest priority.”

......

Still, several county elections officials expressed alarm that Florida has not been more aggressive in fixing the issue, especially since it already has affected the outcome of at least one local election. With the state’s next presidential primary barely one year away, elections officials say they are increasingly worried — especially given Florida’s reputation for election problems.

.....





It's all by design, my friends.

So, this once *highly touted*, now-outdated Florida Voter Registration System is crashing "for days at a time", particularly affecting those who are new voters and those who have recently changed address.


Now what can we anticipate for the 2016 election in Florida?


Hmmmm.


Longer lines to sign in to vote-----> inability to verify large numbers of eligible voters as eligible voters----> more eligible voters forced into voting on provisional ballots, which stand a large risk of being uncounted----> another hijacked election in Florida


Another consequence would be the inability to verify the 683,000+ voter signatures to place the Florida Right to Medical Marijuana amendment initiative back onto the 2016 ballot. Funny how that would dovetail with the desires of the rabid right-wingers in the Florida Legislature, Governor's office and Cabinet, to defeat this amendment at all costs.

This amendment was defeated in 2014, yet with 57.62% of the voters supporting it. Conveniently, under Jeb Bush rule in 2006, the Legislature inserted its own amendment onto the ballot, that required a Supermajority of 60% of the vote to pass a citizen initiative to amend the constitution, thus making it even more difficult for Floridians to approve an amendment.

(((**UPDATE** The medical marijuana amendment WILL be on this November's ballot.)))


See how nicely it all works out for right wingers strangling Florida's government?

And for others who may want to depress voter turnout for some reason?


As long as our state government is in the grip of right wingers, this will not be addressed.



Don't be surprised to hear of more "voter database downtime" today and in November.

[Betty Karlson]

6. Debbie is firmly against all marijuana legalisation too, isn't she?

Funny how these things happen in her home state, of all states.

[seafan]

11. Oh, yes, little stamp-her-feet Debbie is against medical marijuana too.

She needs to go.

“Almost 58 percent of Florida voters supported medical marijuana and I’d be surprised if that many support her,” Bill Piper, national affairs director with the Washington-based Drug Policy Alliance, told Politico in 2015. “That should be a lesson for Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Florida voters like this policy more than her. And we’ll make sure people know her position.”

Ms. Wasserman Schultz’s criticisms of the bill are linked to the significant campaign contributions she receives from the alcohol industry. In the past year she has received $15,000 from Southern Wine & Spirits and $10,000 from the National Beer Wholesalers Association. Throughout her political career she has receives thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from these organizations, including Wine & Spirits wholesalers of America.

“I just don’t think we should legalize more mind-altering substances if we want to make it less likely that people travel down the path toward using drugs,” Ms. Wasserman Schultz said in a recent interview with New York Times Magazine, reiterating the gateway drug talking points against medical marijuana she used in 2014. “We have had a resurgence of drug use instead of a decline. There is a huge heroin epidemic.”

The gateway drug myth has long since been debunked. In 1999 a report commissioned by Congress found “there is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are casually linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs.” The gateway drug argument is also inapplicable to medical marijuana, as it simply assumes it will lead to recreational legalization.

In the same New York Times interview, Ms. Wasserman Schultz was pressed further on the issue, with questions as to why prescribing opiates weren’t illegal in Florida as they are often attributed to heroin addiction. Ms. Wasserman Schultz dismissed the question, replying “there is a difference between opiates and marijuana.”

The unpopular Ms. Wasserman Schultz will most likely be a staunch opponent of the medical marijuana initiatives moving forward in Florida this year, and this will add to the many reasons she is certain to feel the pressure when trying to reassume her seat in Congress in 2017.

Gawd, we are sick to death of this woman.

[Betty Karlson]

12. Sick to death?

Well praise Nancy; apparently the Reagans are to be credited with starting the national conversation on the plight of those who are sick to death. But just say NO to medical marjuana, guys, and by the way: die already!

This is what Hillary calls silent activism.

[seafan]

13. The People are ready to flush the past 35 years of Reagan/Bushism down the toilet.

Because it has not worked for anyone except those at the top.

Both the Democratic and Republican bases know this clearly now and are strapping themselves in for a pitched battle for the soul of the country.

And I am glad to witness it, Betty Karlson!

[Betty Karlson]

5. Debbie needs to stop tampering with elections

at least until she has stopped cozying up to Ross-Lehtinen.

[NCTraveler]

7. It seems from your words that you don't know what this means.

It doesn't really slow the process and is separate from the voting machines.

How will it slow the returns as you claim?

[TheBlackAdder]

9. These guys only have one job to do, on one day--annually or bi-annually, and manage to fuck that up!

[Lizzie Poppet]

10. I can't believe they might be having election glitches in Florida...

...said no one, ever.