Do you trust that your absentee ballot will actually be counted?

[in_cog_ni_to]

If you voted absentee ballot, that is.

Our County Clerk is a repuke, Bruce Clark. That's why I chose NOT to vote by absentee ballot. This is the same man who chose to store our county's evoting machines in a Olivet University (Education with a Religious Purpose) warehouse. Olivet University received a $300,000 grant for their science dept. BEFORE the '04 election. Who gave them the grant? Repuke Jerry Weller. Bruce Clark also had Olivet University students working at the polling places in '04 to "help" in case there were any "glitches."

Hell would have to freeze over before I sent in a absentee ballot for HIS OFFICE to count. NO WAY. I took my chances with the optical scan machine.

Do you think YOUR absentee ballot will be counted?

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. No, which is why I refuse to vote absentee

If I can't hand my ballot off to someone in the direct chain of accountability, I don't see any point in filling the ballot out.

[ClayZ]

9. Our whole county (Snohomish) is mail in now.

I do not think we had a choice.

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. You should able to drop the ballot off at an official drop

Otherwise, the county is in extreme trouble for requiring what amounts to a poll tax (the 67 cent stamp.) Also, the drop should be in a secure, supervised location. Otherwise, what is to prevent voter fraud?

It seems unconcientable to trust our fundamental civic duty to who knows how many anonymous postal workers, all of whom are employed by a company that is totally controlled by people with a vested interest in the outcome of the election. I am very angry at the mandatory move to mail-in voting; it strikes me as extremely irresponsible.

[MindPilot]

2. No.

Since our SoS says paper ballots--which I assume includes absentees--won't be counted until Thursday.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3740

I've been voting absentee since way before the whole e-voting farce.

[eliphaslevi]

3. It is doubtful

There really wasn't a choice. It was either the e-vote machine or an absentee paper ballot (early voting). -Florida

[station agent]

4. I'm sure mine won't be counted--but...

As Michael Moore says--you can't catch them cheating unless you vote. In my case vote absentee, which I have no choice on anyway.

[Innocent Smith]

5. Maybe not

I remember reading that absentee ballots that are received on the day of the election (or close to it) are only counted if they can change the election outcome. I don't know if this is everywhere or just is some places. They have to hand check every signature on them so it is time consuming. They can't just feed them through their counting machines.

[ClayZ]

6. We have a website where we can check

if our ballot was received. That's it. Who knows if it was counted. We would have to assume that the majority of the counters, were honest.

I wish I could believe that. I am no longer so naive.

....sigh....

[Norquist Nemesis]

7. Nope. Which is why I show up and hope the opti-scan

is working correctly. At least there's my paper ballot for an audit...like that's going to happen, but still.

[uppityperson]

8. Yes. I trust our ballot counters and observers.

[emulatorloo]

11. In '04 a bunch of absentee ballots disappeared in my county - So I won't vote that way

any more. In addition, it seemed like absentee ballots weren't counted until after Bush was declared the winner.

I was also reading a story about Karl Rove called "Karl Rove In A Corner," from Atlantic magazine. A google will help you find it.

There is a story about Karl getting absentee ballots thrown out in the courts so that his candidate would win.

[shrdlu]

12. I'm on a Signature Verification Board...

...and you may have cause for concern. We met for four hours Saturday and compared application signatures to ballot signatures on about 900 ballots. Three of the five people seemed to be looking for any reason to reject ballots. I didn't kick any myself but the board sent about twenty for further review. That resulted in all but one being accepted. So I feel pretty good about my judgement.

Back tonight to do it again.

[Peace Patriot]

13. No, I don't trust that it will be. However, in the huge voter rebellion that

is occurring all over the country, in the form of Absentee Ballot voting--in effect, a citizen revolt against the machines--I do see hope, and also the outlines of a strategy for achieving transparent vote counts. I think that what this huge increase in AB voting is telling us is that a lot of people are now onto the rigged electronics, and are trying to DO something about it, to get around the rigged system. The election reform movement has been very successful at raising consciousness, but it has not been successful at coming up with a STRATEGY for achieving our goal.

So here's the strategy: Mobilize all these many new rebellious voters to put pressure on LOCAL election officials to, a) HAND COUNT the Absentee Ballots, and b) POST the results BEFORE any electronics are involved. This is what Absentee Ballot voters WANT, and these are quite modest, common sense demands for this big block of voters. I think it's doable. And, as we succeed with this, more and more people will vote by AB, because that will be the only way to get your counted. (AB voting is already up to 50% and 60% in some places--in Calif, half the voters in the entire state are voting by AB!) (That's a lot of citizen clout.) Then, if necessary--and if we can--extend these two simple principles to the optiscan ballots (count the ballots, post the results before they are sent to the central electronic tabulators).

Thus, we create a paper ballot system BY DEFAULT. This strategy avoids a head-on collision with the chief obstacle to transparent vote counting, the billions of dollars in e-voting contracts (which has affected both Dem and Repub election officials and legislators). Let them keep their big contracts and lobbying perks and all the rest, but gradually erode the power of TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code--which is owned and controlled by Bushite corporations--by organized AB voting groups in each county demanding that THEIR votes be treated as the AB voters want them to be--counted and posted apart from the electronic system.

Another aspect to this Absentee Ballot rebellion that appeals to me: It's like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, in the sense that, if you don't like this system that is oppressing you, STOP USING THEIR SEGREGATED BUSSES. Walk to work instead. If you don't like this rigged voting system, STOP ENDORSING IT BY VOTING ON THEIR MACHINES! Every time you willingly vote on their machines, you give more power to Diebold and ES&S to corrupt our democracy. They may be scanning your Absentee Ballot right into the rigged electronics, but why COOPERATE with this? Why endorse it? Why not fight it, REFUSE to vote on these machines, and DEMAND that YOUR ballot--and those of all other AB voters--be hand-counted?

It's a REBELLION. That's what I love about it. So let's help empower these latter day Rosa Parkses--who are refusing to vote on the goddamned rigged machines--and are doing so in such big numbers--and give this movement some leadership and focus. It is gift to election reform activists --a gift from the People.