Take these phone numbers with you when you vote. And post VOTING PROBLEMS in this thread.

[Skinner]

Take these phone numbers with you when you vote. If you experience problems of any kind, stay where you are and CALL:

1-888-DEM-VOTE (Democratic voter assistance from the DNC)
1-866-OUR-VOTE (Election Protection coalition)
1-866-MY-VOTE-1 (Fels Institute of Government at University of Pennsylvania)

AFTER you get your voting problem solved, and AFTER you report it to the numbers above, post about it in this thread.

We will open additional threads throughout the day if they become necessary.

[TAPat]

1. Thanks, y'all!

Here's to hoping more threads will not be necessary :toast:

Edit: wrong beer!

[peaches2003]

104. GA

GA problem- The Repug Governor and Congressional candidates got not only a vote recorded for them when their box was touched, but also when the top 3/4 of the Dem candidates box was touched. I had to cancel my votes 3 times when my Dem votes were recorded as Repug votes and the X went in the Repug's box. Finally got it to go Dem by touching the very bottom of the Dem box only. Wonder how many people voted Dem and never looked at where the X went.

Heard a woman call in to Thom Hartmann with the same problem in another state. We both had Diebold machines.

We HAVE to have the option of paper ballots from here on in!!!!!!

[wakeme2008]

2. kick and nom nt

[Skinner]

3. You don't need to kick this thread.

It's pinned.

But the recommendations are appreciated.

[adamuu]

75. kick my post count

:rofl:

[Coexist]

4. knr

nice resource.

[ClintonTyree]

5. Kick

Get this one the home page, PRONTO!

[Skinner]

6. It's on the homepage.

:hi:

[ClintonTyree]

7. Thanks. I haven't logged off or seen the homepage.........

since 5:00 AM. It's 'gonna be a LOOOOOOOOOOONG day!

[Pokey Anderson]

102. For a documented list of election problems --

2006 Election Problems

by Voters Unite

http://www.votersunite.org/electionproblems.asp

You can use the filter and just get it by state, by date, or by type of problem.

It includes the link to the original article too.

Getting up near 200 entries.

[Sancho]

8. Voter suppression...Florida of course:

I just saw this thread and called "our vote." I saw an Hispanic turned away in the line in front of me, but couldn't hear the conversation. When I got up to the desk, the poll worker asked for an" ID with signature." I had my voter registration card (no photo) and an employer photo ID (no signature) and I was curious what they would do...she asked if I just had a driver's license with signature. I said sure, but there is no literacy requirement and I could easily prove my ID...they wanted a signature ID so I gave them my driver's license.

This is only an attempt to turn away eligible voters. I'm sure the poll workers were told to challenge potential voters. Just about everyone was asked if their name or address had changed, etc. etc...there were no Spanish speaking poll workers that I could identify.

[blondeatlast]

11. Call your Dem HQ or any of the numbers above now and ask

to have a Spanish speaker dispatched to the site.

Can't make a promise that it will happen, but it's worth a try.

[justiceischeap]

9. Not sure if this constitutes a problem or not

At my polling place in Norfolk, VA, there were 8 diebold machines set-up, an hour long line and only one computer (out of 2) was working to register voters. That said, only 2 or 3 voting machines were being utilized at a time. I saw discouraged voters leave because of the wait.

[Tennessee Gal]

10. Report it!

[blondeatlast]

13. People were leaving? That's a BIG problem.

Don't hesitate--no problem is too small when it prevents someone from exercising their civil rights.

CALL.

America is at stake, my friend.

[Brazenly Liberal]

17. VIRGINIA??? Hell, YES! Report it.

Unless, of course, your precinct is heavily Republican, hehehe. NONONO, who said that? Report it no matter what!

[Blue_Tires]

47. i'm sad to read about this

luckily i had no probs in Va Beach

[marions ghost]

94. Did any Southeast Virginians

hear about the police roadblock in York County VA? Apparently they were stopping everyone going into a polling place (an elementary school) to check IDs and registrations in the morning on Election Day (!??) I'm getting this second hand but my understanding is the precinct contained a lot of typical Dem voters.... :(

Did anyone hear about this?

[johnnie]

12. Posted in a seperate thread, but I should post it here

Went to the polls at 7 this morning and my precinct had 5 machines and only 2 were working. The workers seemed confused, but I don't put any blame on them. This morning on the local news they interviewed a worker and asked her how much training they received and she said basically none.

This was Cuyahoga county here in Cleveland. There was an older gentleman behind me that said "What is this electronic shit? You only need a piece of paper and a pencil". The man in front of me turned to me and said "The payoff checks must not have cleared"..lol

I double-checked my printout when I was finished and it seemed to be alright. Of course that's not saying what exactly went into the system.

Anyway, just thought I would report in.

[harlinchi]

14. Thank you.

[bleedingheart]

15. The Screen that was to CONFIRM my vote DID NOT APPEAR

The woman there said..."it just isn't coming up"....

This is in Westmoreland County Pennsylvania....

I have called the voting hotlines but I am worried about this.

The woman monitoring the machines ...told me it isn't working for anyone...

[IndyOp]

19. Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE and 1-888-DEM-VOTE *immediately* !!!

If you aren't getting a confirmation screen then your vote is most likely NOT counting...

Call your local Clerk's Office and tell them to PULL the machines. Get new ones out there immediately.

:nuke:

[bleedingheart]

30. I called and called

the local office is busy

I called the hotlines and reported it.

[bleedingheart]

37. I just got a call back from the attorney's

I am expecting another call again soon.

[IndyOp]

43. Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Good job! (n/t)

:hi:

[bleedingheart]

68. My vote may have counted, however my issue is that

you shouldn't have documentation that says one thing...and then the screens don't jive.

[Boxturtle]

22. Thanks for the heads up.

I'll be voting later today in York County and will make certain the confirmation screen comes up. Election fraud is the only way Santorum will win. Of course, I'm in a heavily Republican county so I bet the machines will work fine.

[Fly by night]

16. Set-up for election fraud in Memphis, TN

I posted this thread over the weekend, discussing the illegal software and evidence of primary election vote tampering that we have already discovered in Memphis, TN. The Nashville Tennessean (finally) published an article about this situation, quoting the judge in the lawsuit expressing serious concerns about electronic voting technology.

BTW, we had the attorney for the state Democratic Party go along with several of us to meet with the State Election Coordinator and demand that the illegal software be removed from the Memphis Diebold vote tabulator. We have been told that it was removed, but absent a chance to re-check the machine, who knows for sure. (Only the Diebold shadow knows....)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=456432&mesg_id=456432

[Pithlet]

61. Yep. Shelby County having lots of problems.

:mad: I encountered none personally. I live in the city limits, but out in the 'burbs. I didn't have to wait for a machine, and there were always at least two open the whole time I was there. In and out real quick. Further in the city, I hear that isn't the case. Machines not working, long lines, at least one polling place didn't even open, etc. All in heavy Dem areas.

[salin]

18. optical scanner machine did not work

ballots were left - not secured - on a table while waiting for the machine to be fixed. (Indianapolis, Indiana)

[IndyOp]

20. Thank god you posted -- the email I sent you bounced back.

Here is the URL for the Election Incidents Reporting System:
http://eirs.cs.net:8080/EIRS_WEB/Map/begin.do

I called your incident in to 1-866-OUR-VOTE and to 1-888-DEM-VOTE -- the Dem vote line actually put me through to an Election Protection person on the ground in Indianapolis. I gave them your cell phone in case they needed to contact you directly.

YEAH!

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

:hi:

[The Count]

42. Site comes as Error 501 now (worked earlier)

[democrank]

21. Thanks, Skinner.

Important info.

[mikelewis]

23. My wife tried voting for the local court of common pleas and the...

the votes wouldn't register. There were about 6 or 7 judges in that list. I told her she should have told the poll worker but she was nervous because she had already asked the lady 2 other questions. She had tried to vote for one cadidate but another came up and she had to ask how to get the right candidate. She said she felt bad about asking her too many more questions and just submitted her ballot without registering a vote for any of the judges.

Also, a line was beginning to form and at the rate people were voting it would take roughly 30 minutes to 45 minutes to get to a machine. We got there at 9:00 and left at 9:45. There weren't that many people in line either so I can imagine what it's going to be like after work hours.

[librechik]

24. Trouble with elexn computers in Denver

Wash Park Rec Center has long lines and is very slow due to computer problems--only about a dozen folks have been checked in to vote and people are walking away.

This is an extremely liberal neighborhood.

[Oreo]

27. Not good

Denver's board of elections have repeatedly shown their incompetence. They actually bought used Sequoia machines from Chicago that caused MAJOR problems in 2004. I haven't seen 1 good thing that they've done.

[ballabosh]

25. Chicago Illinois

I had the option to choose a paper ballot or electronic touch screen (Sequoia Voting Systems). I chose the paper ballot, but the ballot was rejected by the optical scanner (ballot defective, it said). The ballot of the voter before me was also rejected. They gave us both the chance to use the touch screen, which I did, but the other man left without voting. There was only one touch screen machine. I'm afraid that when it gets busier, many more people will be walking out without voting.

I have reported this.

[schrodingers_cat]

26. DOJ being dispatched to my county (Alameda, CA) to observe votes

My district is hugely progressive. We vote on Sequoia machines, typically, although the primaries were done on paper ballots. Any reason for concern here? I have not gone to vote yet, is there anything that I should watch for?

[slestak]

28. Albuquerque, NM -- completely incompetent

By the time I reached the table, the poll worker in charge of the clipboard where voters are supposed to sign in suddenly realized that, yes, VOTERS ARE SUPPOSED TO SIGN IN. She had let god knows how many folks through without signing in. The poll worker in charge of writing your ballot number on the little piece of paper was duplicating ballot numbers. And the lady tearing ballots off the pad was accidentally ripping every other ballot in half while trying to remove it.

It was like The Three Stooges.

[EFerrari]

87. Lots of incident reports. Machine problems and absentee ballots

not sent out on time. That's the last I read at about 2pm

[LaurenG]

29. Hilltop Elementary Cincinnati Ohio, no voting due to fire/emergency

Don't know how long polling place to be closed.

[happydreams]

52. High concentration of dems there?

[LaurenG]

53. split district from what I'm told nt

[Batgirl]

31. Low-tech vote suppression in Flint, Mich

I was standing in line to vote and heard a man talking on his cell phone. He was standing next to an African American woman and saying something like "this woman was stopped in the parking lot by people who told her they needed to see if she was on the list to vote, then they sent her away after pretending to look up her name and telling her she wasn't registered." They had also been stopping others at this woman's particular polling location. This woman had left that polling place (without ever making it inside) and driven to the next closest one to tell her problem to somebody. I heard the man who was helping her remarking on the phone that "maybe they're floating around from place to place" -- so whoever he was talking to must have told him the same tactics were being reported elsewhere too.

[demo dutch]

32. kick

[bloom]

33. My daughter had to vote with a provisional ballot

because they said she lived at an address that she hasn't lived at in 4 years - in another town.

She voted with our current address (which we have had for over 3 years) in the primary and in the 2004. She got a new ID card with this address this year (I think it was before the primary).

So it's total bullshit.

[SmokingJacket]

99. We had this problem a LOT where I was a poll worker.

Lots of people coming in with cards that showed them to be in our district, but no record of them in the poll books all of them students. Of course they all got provisional affidavit ballots, but what a pain for them.

[Coexist]

34. Voter intimidation - a dem who stopped by at the polling place I'm posted at

said she is leaving to go check on reports in Hillsborough County of men in "official looking" cars parked outside of polling places in precincts that are heavily African-American.

I'm heading back after lunch - I will let you know what happens when she calls me with details.

[hang a left]

35. CA-50 Security Guard dressed like SD CO. Sherriff in front of polling location

This is a new polling location at the local middle school that has not been there in previous elections. Huge Hispanic population here. It is not where I vote. I vote at the big fundy church around the corner from my house.

This is in the Escondido/Vista area that has had all the voter intimidation of the Hispanic population. Big article in the local paper over the weekend. Check the California forum for the thread.

I was dropping off kids at school and saw the signs for the polls. My first thought was "good" the teachers could vote without hassle. Then when I drove around the drive, I saw a man in a uniform. From a distance he looked like a San Diego County Sherriff. I got out of the car to speak to him. He had been hired by the polling location to, get this, direct people to the polls and make sure that no one parked right in front of where he was standing.

I called the Election Protection Coalition line in the OP and reported it. They took all the information and seemed very interested.

[Pierre.Suave]

36. This thread is...

...very disheartening.

[XtraProudDem]

38. "Special Forces" police parked in front of polling place in GA

In DeKalb County, GA (North Atlanta) there was a DeKalb County "Special Forces" police car parked in front of the polling place - Briarcliff Baptist Church. He was backed into the parking place closest to the front door. An officer was sitting in the car. I asked a poll worker (he had a badge identifying himself as a manager or supervisor or something) why the officer was there, and I told him that it looked to me like an attempt to suppress the vote. He said he appreciated that, but then went on about how it's a "crazy world" now and that they needed to be protected from someone who might come in there "with a gun and start shooting." Has this ever actually happened?

This has been reported to the Election Protection coalition.

[Pithlet]

62. Welcome to DU, XtraProudDem!

:hi:

[gully]

39. Also, contact your LOCAL media and ask them to document any issues.

!

[EndElectoral]

40. Huge Voter Problems in Central PA

Lancaster, PA 50 polling locations having trouble with optical scanners.

Lebanon, PA has had to extend voting to 9:00 because the electronic voting machines didn't work (no verified paper ballot with machines either)

York, PA problems with electronic machines

Various townships from Harrisburg and West Shore area having trouble with electronic machines.

It's a mess. They're blaming it on poll worker training. Convenient excuse.

[corkhead]

41. I am in a VERY red precinct and was not asked for any ID before voting

wrote my name and address on a slip and they handed me a ballot

they must have thought I was one of them:evilgrin:

[bobbolink]

45. Please, report that, also.

I think it's significant.

All of this is making me very ill.

:cry:

[Seabiscuit]

44. My complaint to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters

At about 9:15 a.m. I voted at the Solana Pacific School, Room 105, 3901 Townsgate Drive, San Diego 92130.

After noticing that people ahead of me were all being handed plastic cards and directed to the voting machines, when it came my turn I signed in and then said "I want to vote by paper ballot". The woman working there, whose name tag said "Susan" (I've checked her out, she is Susan Santore, Precinct Inspector, and a registered Republican) told me: "We don't do that here." I said "Yes, you do. You've been ordered to provide paper ballots by the Secretary of State" and I handed her my copy of the October 3, 2006 memo from the Secretary of State's office to "All County Clerks/Registrars Of Voters/Vendors (06353)". I told her she was required to provide any voter such as myself with a paper ballot when requested. So she walked back to a back table and picked up a paper ballot and handed it to me. I told her further that she should inform voters that they have a choice to either vote by machine or by paper ballot. She said: "Oh, we don't have to do that. The voters know all about it." I said that if I hadn't known about it, and believed what she first told me, I'd think I had no choice but to use a machine to vote. She got defensive and irritated and told me several times to "go vote", waving me over to the one area dedicated for voting by paper ballot. So I moved on and voted.

I don't know what can be done to stop this practice today, but I found it really appalling that the Republicans at the polling places have stooped to using this tactic to deceive people into using the Diebold machines.

Sincerely,

(Seabiscuit)

_______________

N.B.: I also notified Francine Busby's office and the DNC about the problem by phone. I will be e-mailing the San Diego Democratic Party about it since their voice mailbox is full.

[bobthedrummer]

46. Wisconsin Vernon Co.

Registered during Primary and voted, got official voter registration card, had to reregister-wasn't on list. No one had any explanations.

[Polethebear]

49. All's well in Marshall County,AL

Just want to let everyone know that my dad and I voted with no problem. We even had to update our address from last time but that went fine. I am sorry about all this BS. I'm praying none of it works.

Hope that gave everyone some good news.

[mcscajun]

48. Thanks for this. I'll take these numbers with me to my phonebanking

today, just in case someone there doesn't already have them.

I've already voted...no problems, but I know they're out there. The stories are already surfacing here and in the Corporate Media.

[Kermitt Gribble]

50. Campaign signs at the polling place?

I've seen campaign signs-Santorum, English, Swann, Robbins- posted at the entrances of a few parking lots to polling places. I thought it was illegal to have signs at polling places, does anyone know for sure? I'm in western Pennsylvania. Also, these polling places are churches, which, I would think, are not aloud to endorse a candidate. Should this be reported? If so, who should I call?

Other than this, voting went relatively smooth.

[Tigress DEM]

91. It is illegal. Kline did it here in MN and it was reported to Sheriff's Office.

There can be no political campaign material on church grounds (but Kline actually put his up on the public strip in front of the church) AND the campaign material can not be within 100 feet of a polling location in MOST areas. You would have to check specific laws in your area for the exact distance.

[goondogger]

51. My poor wife . . .

is going to be listening to me swearing and generally being pissed off for a while. Here's my story from Lackawanna County, PA:

This is my first year voting in my new house. I moved within the county and last December got my new registration card, with the correct updated address. When I went to vote, my name was not on the voter registration sheet. I had my registration card in hand and promply called the county elections board who said "we cancelled you in Dec. 2005, we don't know why." They had all my correct information (including new address) in the computer, but said that I was cancelled.

Mary at the county office told me to vote using a provisional ballot. I asked I could know that (a) the problem was taken care of and (b) my vote was counted. Her response was that I would get a new card in December. I told her I got a new card last December and it wasn't doing me much good . . .

Short story long, I filed a provisional ballot and am less than thrilled about it. Curious to know if there's anybody else in Northeast PA (esp. Lackawanna County--very blue in general and pro-Casey in particular, but with repug county gov't) who had any issues.

Keeping my fingers crossed, is anybody else holding their breath all day too?

[blondeatlast]

64. Yikes--I would definitely call one of the pinned numbers.

Especially since you are in PA.

There are oodles of lawyers with boots (okay, Kenneth Coles) on the ground in PA ready to deal with that kind of thing.

The rest of the nation is watching the PA vote intently!

Go get 'em!

[Yellowbird]

72. We have to clean up those COUNTY GOVERNMENTS

Since all votes are counted at the COUNTY LEVEL.

IT IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE WE DO NOT HAVE COUNTIES STUFFED WITH RETHUGLICANS.

IF YOU HAVE TO SHAME SOMEONE INTO DOING IT.

Everyone with Republicans running their counties have to hit the streets, knock on doors, and get Democrats to run for those seats.

This is a must.

[Mutley]

54. I don't know if this is a big enough deal to report:

When I moved I called the Baltimore BOE and gave them my new address. This was in late August '05. I went to my polling place today and was told I wasn't on the list. So, I called the BOE and after some digging the woman on the phone found me on the list at my old precinct. I got to vote, but... still. The whole thing bugged me.

Anyway, the people at the Baltimore BOE already know about this since I had to speak with them to find out where to vote.

[Name removed]

55. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[yellerpup]

56. Strange happenings at the polling place this morning

When Hubby voted at 8 am, some guy in a uniform came in, got the key from the poll worker and reset both voting machines. Hubby demanded to know why, they said they had to fix it so you could vote a straight party ticket on line I. I voted about 10:15 and just before I went into the booth, a different guy in a uniform came in and adjusted the machine where I was set to vote. There was a long line built up and people mildly grumbled (I live in a blissfully deep blue precinct). I asked why and he said he had to adjust the bands so people could vote a straight party ticket on the I line. Hubby came home from lunch and we discussed our voting experiences which was the first time I'd heard about the machine being adjusted for the same reason while he was there. The odd thing is that Line I is for the Socialist Party. We asked each other how many Socialists we had locally who would demand that the BofE fix the machine so they could vote a straight party ticket. He went down there again and questioned the poll workers. When he came home he said that the poll workers told him that the repair men were given the key because they showed the proper ID. This will be a hard precinct to fudge, but I'd feel a whole lot better if we went back to paper ballots nation wide.



Edited for coherence

[Xenotime]

78. This is just more GOP theft.

[yellerpup]

97. We had more Democratic merchandise than they could lift!

We won, we won, we won!!!!!

[truedelphi]

89. The point is this is fishy - and some of what Repugs need

Is the "shave" to take two per cent here or there and that involves the blue precinct areas as well.


You might want to take the itime to get to know your registrar of Voters - most ofthem claim to be "independent" but underneath that is the Repugness of most (otherwise why would we be getting these damn machines!)

[yellerpup]

98. True, the experience did have that fishy smell...

We complained to the BofE, but if they were adjusting it they didn't make a dent in Hillary's 67% lead! Celebrate today! We won!


Edited for spelling

[leftofcool]

57. Voting glitch in Maryland

When I touched the name for Ben Cardin, the screen automatically X'ed the Republican candidate. I made the poll worker help me back track and the second time, it seemed to be okay. This glitch was reported to the Dem Vote hotline.

Left of Cool

[SimpleHarmonics]

58. Illinois dist. 67 and 71 - Cook County Chicago

I went to vote at 11:00am today, in a little gradeschool gym, and there were two sections, one for district 67 (mine) and 71, both I believe in Cook County IL. There were 5 touch screens and 2 punchcard machines for each precinct, ours had 3 working touch screens and NO working punchcard machines, the other precinct had their paper ballot machines working but only 4 of the touch screens. Of the "five" cards that were given to voters, 4 of them worked on our side, and 3 on the other. At 11:30, when I stepped into the line to vote, there were around 15 people in the line with me, most of them senior citizens who *all* required assistance with the touch screens, all 3 machines needed a reboot at one point or another *while I was in line*. I saw the election person manually reboot each machine, wait for the 3-5 mins it took to reboot, and help the senior citizen (all reboots took place while a senior was voting) restart the balloting. Did the person's previous vote get recorded? I don't know. Each machine lets you review your votes both on-screen and in a little paper print-out to the side of the screen, and all seemed well. The person at the voting place told me "the whole state" is having problems with these touch-screens, and mentinoed that the company that was in charge of fixing the touchscreens was not answering calls, as their line was busy since 6:30AM CST.

My experience, after having watched that video on the Diebold machine hacking, was to wonder, "DID my vote get recorded?"

FYI

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

59. It was a clusterf*** here in Denver, at the Convention Center.

I waited until 9 AM, hoping to get there early enough for a short wait, yet not interfere with the folks who were voting before work.

There was a line of about 50 or 60 people. After I stood in line for about 25 minutes, a man came up to me and the others next to me and asked us to go "check in" at a table, to receive, or verify, our voter cards.

He reassured us that we wouldn't lose our place in line. I said to the gentleman in front of me, "You're my marker" to which he chuckled.

The young man behind me said,"They're making this prohibitively difficult" and I told him I couldn't agree more.

We proceeded to a long table at which three women were sitting. The woman I spoke with asked for my ID. When she saw my address on my license was different than the one on my registration card, she said,"Your address is different."

I immediately whipped out the letter from the election commission verifying my change of address. After she carefully read it, she marked my card and I went back in line.

The only thing she marked was a number identifying the polling precinct location.

Another 20 minutes in line and I was directed to yet another table of women, who were working off of laptops.

I sat down in front of one of them who, again, asked for a photo ID.

I told her that I had already been asked for my ID. She said she didn't know why I'd been asked previously, since she was doing the verification.

I told her that there was no reason for voters to have to show it twice, when she and her colleagues were actually doing the verification.

She said she had said the same thing, and no one listened to her.

Now, the machines. There were twenty machines in the place, almost all of them empty. That was because only four had the paper trail on which the voters could verify their votes.

The others were older, without paper verification. No one wanted to vote on those.

Anyway, the poll workers were great, explaining how I could use the paper receipt to verify, and how to fix it if it didn't match my votes.

I voted and verified on the paper receipt.

As I left, there were about 200 people waiting to vote at 10 AM.

Four out of twenty with paper trails. :mad:MKJ

edited to add: made the calls, thank you so much, Skinner, for posting these.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

63. I spoke with someone at our local Dem HQ. He said Denver is a mess.

One of the most liberal cities in the country. Hmmmm.
MKJ

[blondeatlast]

65. I'm hearing 3 hour waits out there? True?

From AAR News at the top of the hour.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

67. I can completely believe that. An hour for me with 60 people in line, when

I left that number had tripled. MKJ

[soup]

60. 1-888-DEM-VOTE not connecting.

electronic answer - "convergsys test only. Orlando switch A" - then silence.

trying the 1-866-OUR-VOTE number now.

on edit:

Got through on the 1-866-OUR-vote number. Reported problems with the blasted touch screen I voted on (or think I voted on anyway)

Darn thing would NOT let me vote Dem. Period. Right down the line. Kept changing my vote the Rep. Repeatedly.
Assistant came over and said "don't push too hard, or this one won't work." I'm not pushing hard. It's just not working.

After a few more tries to vote for Nelson, and no go, she gave me a pencil with an eraser on both ends to try using it rather than my finger. Still took several tries to get it to work.

Move on to Governor - same thing. Wouldn't take my vote for Davis. repeatedly put the check mark by Crist. GRRRRRRR.

The woman working there "helping" shrugged and said "just keep trying". Every Single Vote. Wish I'd had a video recorder with me.

What a joke.

[blondeatlast]

69. Call the local press--seriously. nt

[soup]

73. I called the SOE office

gave them all my info, and they're going to send someone out to the precinct to check the machine. The man they finally transferred me to said it might need to be re-calibrated.

Whether they do or not remains to be seen. I'm just so disgusted right now.

[troubleinwinter]

66. What's this?

Republican caliope in the parking lot of the polling place, with the republican attendants approaching cars.

Is this permitted so close to the polling place???

[Coyote_Bandit]

70. I voted without problem but

called to complain about voter access problems.

I vote at an elementary school. There is parallel parking on a half circle drive. Less than 10 spaces and only 1 handicapped space.

Some healthy folks avoid parallel parking. But some elderly folks with mobility problems cannot easily position themselves to safely parallel park. Assuming, of course, that there are parking spaces available.

No parking is permitted for some distance on either side of the street in front of the school. That means that more than likely when you go to vote you get to park in a residential area and hike down and across the street to the school to vote. There are no sidewalks in this neighborhood.

Parking there is always a problem. I've complained about it to the local election board several times.

I went to vote just after 10 am this morning and what do I observe? A little old lady with a walker with an elderly gent I presume to be her husband slowly making the hike in to vote. Sad. And yet inspiring.

When I got inside there was a much younger voter raising holy hell with the poll workers about the lack of available parking. And I heard more complaints from other voters as I was leaving.

This is an older neighborhood with lots of retired residents. Voter turnout appeared to be heavier than usual. And it is in red state compassionate conservative (J)Oklahoma.

edit for bad spelling....

[Missy M]

71. A strange thing happened when I went to vote......

Missy M (1000+ posts) Tue Nov-07-06 05:03 PM
Original message
A strange thing happened when I went to vote......

I signed in and there was one man ahead of me. There was a person in the voting booth and she was in there 10 minutes while I was waiting so I started mumbling and the man ahead of me turned and said she was already in the booth for 15 minutes before I got there. It was a total of 25 minutes and there were only two simple propositions to read that she could have read before she entered the booth. The poll worker finally told her through the curtain her time was just about up. She waited another 3 minutes after to open the curtain and say "the man ahead of me took just as long" and left in a huff. We still have the lever voting booths so it is very simple to operate. In all my years of voting I have never encountered someone in the booth that long. It was suggested to me those two people could have been stalling to discourage people in line. Has anyone ever heard of this tactic?
Signature lines are currently turned off due to high traffic.

[rman]

95. Never heard of that tactic, but

if the Repubs think it'll help them they'll surely use it.

[cry baby]

74. No paper ballots in Tennessee! nt

[Rude Horner]

76. town of Dodgeville, Wisconsin (small town)

No real major problems. We were given an option between paper ballots and electronic voting. Guess which one I chose? If you guessed paper, you win. :) There was a big sign on the sign in table, saying that the electronic voting machines had been double checked for accuracy, and that if you voted with them it would save the poll workers a lot of time. I said "Sorry. I don't trust them." and took the paper ballot.

Voted a straight Democratic ticket, and answered "No" to both questions - Amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage - No! And reinstate the death penalty in cases where DNA evidence is used as proof - No again!!

Now I'm staying up and hoping, praying, PLEASE ....I want a HUGE, fantastic nights for Democrats across this Nation!!!

[yourout]

80. Ditto here in Mount Horeb.

;-)

[Rude Horner]

81. Hi, yourout!

You're just a stone's throw from me!! Ok, it would be a heck of a throw, but that's besides the point. :) :hi:

[yourout]

82. I guess we need to start the Southwest Wisconsin Dems.

Coffee and doughnuts in Barneveld tomorrow?

[Xenotime]

77. I wish I had these number this morning...

I was getting hassled from one pollster about the change of address on my driver's license. It was pissing me off.

[Bjorn Against]

79. Election problems in Minnesota

My parents went to vote at the Good Shepard Lutheran Church in Inver Grove Heights MN this morning, and there were some big problems.

My Mom went into the voting booth and the pens that were there to mark the ballot with were red, the voting machines do not read red ink. She told the election judge about it and the pens were replaced, but it is unknown how many people voted with them. She called the Secretary of State and they told her they did not know if those votes would be counted.

In addition my father is legally blind, and needed to use the handicapped accessable machine. The screen was facing directly towards the line so everyone could see who he was voting for. My mother called the Secretary of State to complain and they turned the machine around. I live nearby my parents so I vote in the same precinct and when I just got back from the polling place the machine was once again facing the line. My mother just filed another complaint.

I want to ensure that everyone who voted with a red pen in Inver Grove Heights has their votes counted. I work for a survey research company and in the past with our old technology we occasionally ran into problems with surveys that were filled out in red ink, but I know that it is possible to hand enter the data if need be. There is no reason that our voting should use any lower standard. It is not the voters fault that the booths were stocked with the wrong type of pens, and this problem needs to be corrected even if it takes the poll workers a little more time.

[Nobody]

96. I was a poll worker in Minneapolis

On red pens: We had only two. They were to mark the Xs in the logbook for people to sign in.

On the Automark machine: They should never have faced it toward the line.

Do you remember how many people they had working? Was it crowded?

We set up tables for people so they wouldn't have to wait for the voting booths. We kept the pens at the ballot table and made sure everyone got one. We ran out and one of the judges went to get more. We had about 50 people voting at once, most at tables, I saw one guy using the wall.

We'd have lines out the door all day if we had to do touch screen voting. No one should have to wait three hours.

I wish the turnout was higher.

[557188]

83. I posted this earlier - Lucas County Toledo, Ohio

So I get to the polling place and they tell me that I'm in #3 precinct. I go to #3 and they can't find me on the rolls. Then they tell me that my correct precinct is 22. I go to #22 and they can't find me on the rolls either. 22 said I was in the correct place but my name wasn't on the roll. So I had to vote provisionally.

Here is the problem. I have voted there the past two elections. I also was called for Jury Duty recently. I can't be called for Jury Duty unless they have me on the books and I've voted!

This is clearly voter supression and I am letting everyone know about it.

Toledo, Ohio Lucas County. I saw a few other people in this precinct being forced to vote by provisional ballot as well. I called 1-866-687-8683 and complained. I will be calling the Board of Elections tonight to complain as well.

This is fucking bullshit and I am pissed off about this. If they can keep track of me and call me for Jury Duty they should be able to keep track of me when i fucking vote. This is simply unacceptable!

The only good that came out of this I didn't vote on a Diebold machine. But holy shit am I pissed off!

UPDATE

Apparently there was some sort of *glitch* in the computer and my name was "accidentally" deleted. They were able to find my card down at the board of elections and have confirmed that my provisional will be counted.

Apparently I am not the only person it happen too.

[mirandapriestly]

84. Pennsylvania had largest (1300)number of complaints to Common Cause

I heard today.

surprise surprise

[redacted]

85. HOW I ALMOST GOT DISENFRANCHISED IN SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

I voted about 4PM today at the exact same location where I voted a few months ago in the Primary, but this time it was quite a fight first. And I'm really angry.

The poll workers couldn't find my name on the poll list. They checked me against the list of inactive voters, which was curiously this time a thick yellow book. My name wasn't there either.

So the poll supervisor said, "Oh, that's no problem, we will just give you a provisional ballot."

That's when I hit the ceiling: "Like hell you will. I am NOT voting on a god dammed provisional ballot! You guys will never count those for weeks and you all know that."

So they put me on the phone with the county's Registrar of Voters office. The agent said she couldn't find my name in the database. They asked for my date of birth, and I gave it to her.

Meanwhile, a poll worker found my name on a different list somewhere, but the last letter had been changed from a "c" to an "o." It's a frequent mistake that I had been used to dealing with on my Department of Motor Vehicles documents off and on since only around, oh, 1984.

So they checked my name on the poll list with the DMV spelling against my driver's license, which had the correct spelling. Then they called my wife over to make sure that we lived at the same address! The poll supervisor THEN had to sign an affidavit saying that in her best knowledge and belief I was who I was supposed to be. Then, they FINALLY let me vote using the routine optiscan ballots everyone else was using in our precinct.

The Registrar's agent suggested on the phone that the California SOS had in fact run the voter roll names from the primary up against the DMV database. Then, she didn't go any further in talking with me.

But it's obvious that what they're doing is finding name conflicts among Democrats and USING THE NAME THAT DIFFERS from the name in the poll database that was used in the primary. Then they remove your correct name from the voter roll.

There is absolutely no reason for this harassment. It's the first time I've had any trouble voting at all since my first election in 1976.

[Radio_Lady]

88. Wow, Redacted. If I'm ever in a fight, I'd want you on my team!

What a story!

[Tigress DEM]

92. Did you report it anyway?

You were assertive, but it may have happened to others.

[rumpel]

101. It did not go so well for my daughter in Los Angeles County

it is an ongoing matter since she mailed in her registration 10/18. She turned 18 on 10/27.

She had to vote "provisional". Lived in the same precinct since she was born.

I have a couple of threads on this in ERD.

but I will follow the vote - and I am checking oddities in LA County in the statement of registrations -

I believe we have to check every county in the state.

[upi402]

86. Thanks for this. I hope Laura Ingraham's tribe doesn't overload lines

she put the word out.

[kcass1954]

90. I worked in Debbie Wasserman-Schultz's district - not my precinct but

near my home. No major problems to report. We never had more than 10-12 people in line at any time.

We did have one machine acting up. Several times, the screen would go blank and come back up on a different portion of the ballot. When that happened, we voided the ballot and moved the voter to another machine. Our VST couldn't get it fixed, so he shut it down.

Also, after 5 pm, the precinct clerk couldn't get in touch with the SOE call center. We ended up with some provisional ballots which probably could have been resolved on the phone. But no one was turned away.

Several people commented about hoping that their vote would actually be counted. (Thank you, HBO!)

I have a whole new respect for people who work the polls all the time. I'm tired, my back aches, my feet hurt, and I have a headache.

[cornermouse]

93. I didn't have any problems, however....

http://www.joplinglobe.com/breakingnews/local_story_311201321.html

Published November 07, 2006 08:13 pm - Jasper County Clerk Mosbaugh at 7 p.m. had ordered election judges to allow all those in line at the time to vote.
Mosbaugh said voters would be allowed to ballot, but in some cases they may have to wait on ballots.
The county clerk said he would not even attempt to count photocopied ballots tonight, but would wait until Wednesday morning to count those ballots.

7:12 p.m. Party officials seeking extended hours in Jasper County

Jasper County Clerk Mosbaugh at 7 p.m. had ordered election judges to allow all those in line at the time to vote.

Mosbaugh said voters would be allowed to ballot, but in some cases they may have to wait on ballots.

The county clerk said he would not even attempt to count photocopied ballots tonight, but would wait until Wednesday morning to count those ballots.

Mosbaugh admitted that he had underestimated when he ordered ballots, basing his estimate on a 25 percent voter turnout.

Saying the Jasper County turnout is essential for the re-election of U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, Republican Party volunteers where urging people to stay at polling places where ballot supplies had been exhausted or to return.

Party officials also were looking at asking that voting hours be extended to make sure all voters were able to cast ballots, said John Putnam, chairman of the Jasper County Republican Central Committee.

Putnam said he had been told that ballot had run out at a dozen precincts, but said he had been assured by Mosbaugh that all precincts would be resupplied.

“We’re asking people to stay, or getting their names and phone numbers to call them when they get the ballots, so they can come back in,” he said. “We’re begging people to stay, we think we’ll need the Jasper County vote to help Talent win.”

Susan DeCarlo, chairwoman for Jasper County Democrats, said local attorneys Jane Wyman and Jim Fleischaker were looking into problems associated with the ballot shortage on behalf of Democrats before the polls were to close at 7 p.m. DeCarlo said the party’s district headquarters in Springfield also had contacted Jasper County Democrats about the election problems the county was experiencing.

She said she had not received any clear claims of voter fraud by 6:45 p.m.

“I don’t think I’ve caught wind yet of anything being done because of someone’s party affiliation,” DeCarlo said.

Only a federal judge can order an extension of voting hours as a result of a law passed last session that also reduced the number of ballots that counties are required to print, according to Stacie Temple, director of communications for Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.

Temple said she had been told of four or five other counties where ballot supplies had been exhausted.

-----

Whole article on in case it "disappears". Go ahead and delete if you wish

[newworld]

100. thanks!

They were a big help!

[Time for change]

103. As a poll watcher in Maryland

I encountered a Diebold machine that was missing the tamper proof seal that was supposed to cover access to the voter access cards. I and Democratic lawyers insisted that it be taken out of service, but the Montgomery County Board of Elections ordered that it continue to be used anyhow. At the end of the day it showed the highest percent of Republican votes of all the machines used in that precinct. And I was told during the course of the day that due to substantial voter suppression in Prince Georges County large numbers of poll watchers were being diverted there, but that I should stay put because of the problem with the tamper proof seal.

[peaches2003]

105. Posted in wrong place

I posted at the top of this page in error. Please look up there to read my post about voting in the Atlanta suburbs.