Maryland absentee ballot crisis

[LiberalEsto]

Not only did Maryland experience serious problems with its electronic Diebold "cheating machines" during the September primary election, but now there are big shortages of absentee ballots. I guess if they can't steal votes electronically, they'll try by preventing people from voting absentee.

Surprise, surprise -- Diebold prints Maryland's absentee ballots!

And these ballots are not being delivered on time, especially in the state's big Democratic jurisdictions, Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

Montgomery was 7,000 absentee ballots short as of Saturday, able to fill only 20,000 of 27,000 requests. Prince Georges reported getting only half its requested 13,000 absentee ballots.

Yesterday, in a teensy six-paragraph brief in the Washington Post's "Maryland Notebook" political column, the Prince Georges County elections supervisor, Robert Antonetti Sr, called for state elections supervisor Linda Lamone to resign or be fired.

"This is unforgivable," the Post quoted Antonetti as saying. "She's done a rotten job." Lamone is Diebold's biggest supporter in Maryland. The irony is that she's supposedly a Democrat, and the rethug governor wants to get rid of the Diebold machines.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/elections/bal-md.voting27oct27,0,5601818.story?coll=bal-election-headlines

The company that makes Maryland's heavily scrutinized electronic voting machines, Diebold Election Systems Inc., also prints the state's absentee ballots.


http://www.votersunite.org/electionproblems.asp?sort=date&selectstate=MD&selectproblemtype=ALL

Local officials in four major Maryland jurisdictions say ballots, printed by Diebold, are unusually late. "Voters are requesting absentee ballots in large numbers this year because of glitches that have plagued the new electronic voting machines built by Diebold Elections Systems Inc." Local officials say the ballots normally arrive 30 days before the election. State board of elections agrees with Diebold, who says the ballots aren't late.

October 26. Ballots are "trickling in" from Diebold. Some jurisdictions have half what they need. Some only have 20%. "It's really terrible," said Robert J. Antonetti Sr., elections administrator in Prince George's County. "Time is running out. It's going to deny people the right to vote."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/26/AR2006102601581.html

http://somd.com/news/headlines/2006/4663.shtml

[Wheezy]

1. Do you have a link? n/t

[LiberalEsto]

2. Thanks for reminding me.

I forgot to paste in some clips and links. Revised on edit.

[seemunkee]

3. Damn, glad I got mine last week

[zbdent]

4. And, don't forget ... if you requested an absentee balott, you're probably

not allowed to show up at the polls ... because they have you recorded as "already voted" ...