My Voting Experience in SW PA today

[scheming daemons]

Since others have the Gallup poll, I'm changing my thread...


Here's what happened when I went to vote today:


I showed up at my polling place at 8:30am... and there was a sign on the door telling me that the polling had moved from the fire hall where it had been for at least 10 years, to the new middle school - 3 miles away. A slight inconvenience, but not insurmountable.

When I got there... there was NO LINE AT ALL. I was the 84th person to vote in my precinct, and it was about 8:40 in the morning. So.... they were averaging less than a person a minute.

As I walked up to the school, there were some blue-haired ladies with Hillary buttons that were handing out flyers to people as they entered the school.... As one handed a flyer to me, I crumpled it up and said, "Lady, there is no way on God's green earth that I'm ever voting for her. You're wasting your time." She replied with a grumble under her breath and I walked into the school to the gymnasium.

As I walked in, I saw one of the 6th-grade girls that is on my daughter's soccer team and she said, "Mr. F! Who are you voting for?" I replied "Who do you think I should vote for?" She said, "Obama! Vote for Obama!" And to humor her, I said, "Alright. I'll vote for him because you said so."

So entering the gym.... I see my Aunt Marilou working at the polling place like she always does.... and she's wearing a Hillary button. I said to her, "Aunt M... are you sure you're allowed to wear that while you're working here?" and she said, "Probably not... but I'm not taking off my button for anybody." I replied jokingly, "If you weren't family, I'd turn you in." She just shrugged her shoulders.

My little corner of SW PA is mostly old folks, and mostly Hillary's base. But at least one Obama vote was cast here.



Previous thread info:





http://www.gallup.com/poll/106738/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Maintains-National-Lead.aspx

[flpoljunkie]

1. Thanks for posting!

[Triana]

2. won't matter if bu$hit's DOJ takes to "monitoring" the votes in the GE, too. (n/t)

[barack the house]

3. I can dig that poll. =)

[grantcart]

4. Clinton has a 5 point drop in 3 days

that is not easy to do on a daily tracking poll that averages over 3 days.

Tomorrow should be very revealing.

[mckeown1128]

33. Hey cart what is your prediction...

you seem to have a good read of things usually.

[Zachstar]

5. That is quite a lead despite the low amount polled.

More importantly it causes damage to Clinton's fundraising effort she will use her victory speech for tonight. Unless she wins by over 20. I suspect people are going to be worried that they are going to donate to a black hole of a campaign.

This polls again helps say that her chances of winning are still VERY low.

[OnlyObama]

6. Great News!!!! (nt)

[scheming daemons]

7. Kick... because I changed the thread theme

[lumberjack_jeff]

8. Isn't electioneering forbidden within some distance of the polling place?

Or is that just the law in my state?

[scheming daemons]

10. I don't know.... they were standing outside the entrance to the school...

[Phillycat]

12. That is correct. There's a certain distance from the entrance here in PA too.

[rinsd]

17. Electioneering is forbidden in polling place though states have different distances.

In CA, I believe it is 100 feet but I am not sure.

I do know that the house across the street from the masonic lodge where I vote had an Obama sign up and was asked to take it down just for voting day. The owner had little problem with it.

[Texasgal]

19. Not for primaries.

I was shocked to see so many candidates buttons in our primary.

[Aloha Spirit]

23. It's illegal here in Massachusetts... they spray paint a line showing how far back you have to be...

and no buttons/shirts allowed, but the button/shirt part isn't enforced.

[Texasgal]

25. Ahhh.

I guess it varies from state to state. It wasn't illegal here in Texas, and belive me people asked and asked until finally a poll worker made an announcment.

[BlueGirlRedState]

24. I was a Texas primary poll worker in Travis County

No electioneering within 100 feet, and certainly no buttons on poll workers! We had one boy with an Obama shirt and his father was asked to have him cover up with his jacket.

[Texasgal]

28. Hmmm.

Maybe I am confusing it with the caucus. There were TONS of poll workers with buttons on...

This is really making me wonder now.

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. I was a election judge and couldn't wear a button advocating anything

Aunt Marilou, who sounds nice, is breaking the law.
Great Story BTW.

[Adelante]

11. Thanks for your report

Call in on your Aunt Marilou, she'll never know it was you - this is politics, not table tennis :evilgrin:

[Tesha]

13. You should have turned her in anyway, whether it was an Obama button or a Hillary button.

> So entering the gym.... I see my Aunt Marilou working at the
> polling place like she always does.... and she's wearing a
> Hillary button. I said to her, "Aunt M... are you sure you're
> allowed to wear that while you're working here?" and she said,
> "Probably not... but I'm not taking off my button for anybody."
> I replied jokingly, "If you weren't family, I'd turn you in."

You should have turned her in anyway, whether it was an Obama
button or a Hillary button. This sort of behavior is exactly
what undermines people's faith in the accuracy and impartiality
of our elections.

Tesha

[scheming daemons]

15. I considered it harmless.... it was on her sweater, which she had draped over her shoulders.....

...I can't see it affecting anybody's vote.

[Tesha]

26. But it's almost certainly illegal. Here in NH, we'd have kicked her donkey. (NT)

[yourguide]

29. OH NOES!!!! SWEATER-GATE lol!

I agree.

[SoonerPride]

16. I agree. If she wants to volunteer for a polling place, she has to exhibit no bias

It wouldn't stand here in Oklahoma.

You'd be told to take off your button or leave.

[rinsd]

14. Thank you for sharing your experience and for voting.

On edit: As a way of getting around electioneering in the GE, I always make sure to wear a bright blue shirt.

[goletian]

18. at his worst, he ties with clinton. lol - nt

[mystieus]

20. scheming daemons, thank you for the Obama!

[global1]

21. I More Concerned About The Moving Of Your Polling Place.....

".....and there was a sign on the door telling me that the polling had moved from the fire hall where it had been for at least 10 years, to the new middle school - 3 miles away."

Shouldn't they have told you before you went to vote that your polling place had moved? Is this Rendell's doing? Did the HRC campaign have transportation to take people to the 'new middle school'? Is this sort of polling place movement happening all around the state?

[Tesha]

27. This is a fairly standard "trick", played often. (NT)

[onenote]

35. since the OP indicated that this area is HRC territory, why would Rendell make it harder for voters

Polling places move. Its not always a conspiracy. The OP also mentioned that it was moved to a new middle school from a firehouse. I can think of a lot of reasons why it would be better to have the voting at a school rather than a fire house.

[I Have A Dream]

42. I think that I may be in the same voting district as scheming daemons...

and the polling place had actually changed as of last November. If a person voted in November, they would have known. Rendell wasn't involved.

The change in venue was due to the fire hall no longer renting out space. There was nothing nefarious going on. (However, even last November, they should have officially informed everyone, which they didn't.)

[thewiseguy]

22. Thanks a bunch dude!

[Hazelrah]

30. This obama vote in SE PA.

I live in an area with a lot of senior citizens and young families, the majority of which are white. Only Hillary signs out front and I got a few looks walking in with my Obama button but everyone was perfectly nice. Around 1000 people switched from Independent/Republican to Democratic for this election. So overall I think everyone, us Dems anyway, are just pleased as punch to see this area go blue, no matter who we end up with. Although even my pathetic math skills know it will be Obama, *GoBoma!*.

We use paper ballots, which are then inserted into one of two electronic boxes. Each box, not sure of the proper name, has an electronic counter showing a running total of votes inserted. I was given a paper receipt with my ballot number on it (186), so if the need arises I can verify my ballot, a true paper trail. This is the white affluent Philly suburbs, I wonder if ethnically diverse, poor/middle class, inner-city Philadelphia has the same set-up? Somehow I doubt it.

Who will win PA? My guess is as good as yours. I hope it will be Obama but if Hillary wins it, I won't be surprised.

***Oh please, please, please I don't want to count. I have never in my life wanted so much to be like an Iowan. . . or is it Iowian . . . or maybe Iowien. . . oh hell, a person living in the beloved state of Iowa.***

:toast:

For the curious, my township: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tredyffrin_Township,_Pennsylvania

[futureliveshere]

31. Go Obama. Glad you could make a difference. K&R

edited for a typo.

[EFerrari]

32. This is like the third polling place that I've read about

that was changed without good directions. How would you describe this area of PA for those of us who have no clue? Is it suburban? Rural?

[scheming daemons]

34. Suburban.... 20 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, just outside Allegheny County...

...

[Spider Jerusalem]

36. Don't know how it is in PA...but here there's no campaigning within 100 yards of a polling place

and poll workers aren't allowed to wear campaign buttons. Those bits sound decidedly irregular if not probably outright illegal, regardless of which candidate they're supporting and/or campaigning for.

[scheming daemons]

37. I just don't know if the rules are the same for the GE as for primaries.....and...

They were definitely within 100 yards.

They were just outside the entrance to the school, and the voting was in the gymnasium.... maybe 25-30 yards inside the building.

[TragedyandHope]

38. Thanks for sharing your voting experince!

:kick: You made the right choice!

[Cosmocat]

39. three issues here ...

1) Polling places move all the time, no way it was candidate related, there just are a lot of reasons ... However, the county elections office should go to great lengths to inform people ahead of time ... Public announcments, mailings or even phone calls to every registered voter ...

2) The official distance you need to be away from a poll in Pa is something like 10 yards ... Basically it is unenforced to the point that you can be just outside the outside door ...

3) No way, no how should any poll worker have any candidate related material exposed, relative or not ... This is a clear violation, and one that any poll worker with any ounce of respect for the job would not even consider going against ...

[grantcart]

40. kick for the evening

[Raine]

41. I reported a rethug that was electioneering

outside my polling place in the CA Governor's race the last time. The poll worker came out and ran them off. The little creep knew he had no business being there but figured he would stay as long as no one made him leave. I wasn't going to put up with that. :evilgrin:

[I Have A Dream]

43. scheming daemons, I think that you and I might be in the same voting district.

I voted at about 8:40 this morning, and there were very few people there. We probably just missed each other! :)

(Actually, there are two voting districts that vote where I do, so you might be in the other one.)

[WillyT]

44. Thank You For The Report !!! - K & R !!!

:bounce::yourock::bounce:

:hi:

[TexasLady]

45. That's how a lot of us Texans and other redstaters feel when voting

and for us(immediate family) we are the black sheep and outcasts amongst the family.

I say GOOD! I'm raising Rebels, dammittohell!