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Nearly disenfranchised in Tacoma, WA because of a clerical error
I was nearly turned away because of a clerical error in my voter registration. My husband and I moved to Washington state in August, and immediately we registered to vote. It took nearly three months of
phone calls, re-registering, and error correction on the part of Pierce County, however, to get us registered. We originally requested to vote at the polls, but our first set of registration cards
indicated that we would be voting absentee. I called the county auditor's office to correct the information, and they assured me that the system had been updated and we would receive new cards. The new cards came, but a few days later, absentee ballots arrived in the mail. Again, I called the county auditor to report the error. They told me that the system was correct, that we were to vote at the polls, and that we were to shred the absentee ballots. Today, we showed up at the polls, waited in line for over 90 minutes to vote, but when our turn came we were not allowed to vote because their records showed that we were to vote absentee. They tried to make us fill out provisional ballots, but we refused: we wanted to take zero chances with risking our ballots being rejected. I told them that I had called the county and had been told to vote at the polls. Their answer: "Well, that just means that you could vote at the polls with
provisional ballots." Nobody ever told us that bit of information! I'm not sure if that answer was true or not. So we asked if we could still mail in the absentee ballots, which we hadn't gotten around to
shredding yet. They said yes, as long as they were postmarked today. So in the end, we were able to vote, but the fact that registration and voting was so difficult and fraught with misinformation and
incompetence is appalling.
Posted:
Nov 4 2008, 7:17 PM EST by
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FULTON COUNTY, GA - FORCED TO VOTE PROVISIONAL
I am a first-time voter who registered in Fulton County, GA; mailed my registration and had it postmarked by the deadline. This morning I contacted the Fulton County Election Office to verify my registration status. I was told that yes, I was registered, and given the polling location (which I already knew from looking it up beforehand, but I wanted to verify with them.) When I arrived at the polling location, I was not found in their system. The manager of the polling location looked on her various other lists and I was on none of them. She tried to call some phone number to have it verified but after 5 minutes stated that it was too busy for her to get through the line. I was forced to vote provisional and was extremely unhappy about it. I went home, but then went back with my father and complained. They were apologetic this time and gave us some phone numbers to call. After I got home again, I was more angry and left a message with CNN's voter complaint hotline (1-877-462-6608), and contacted the election office again, who once again confirmed to me that I was registered. Unfortunately since I had already cast my ballot, there was nothing I could do to change it.
The current voting system is messed up. How can I be in the actual county's database but not in the polling location's? It is an inferior, backwards system that needs rehauling. The polling location I was at was not even busy at all, but I saw that other provisionals had been cast before I had gotten there, so others probably went through the same crap.
Also, though it may be irrelevant, the poll location manager was rather unhelpful and condescending to me, and also seemed to hint that I registered too late, though I know I registered before the deadline.
I'm extremely unhappy with my first voting experience.
Posted:
Nov 4 2008, 4:06 PM EST by Anonymous
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Addtional Voter Protection Resources
We are less than a week from November 4th, and Pennsylvania remains a political battleground that may well determine who wins the presidency and other critical elections throughout the state. But will all eligible voters be able to exercise their basic right to vote and will their votes be counted as cast?
Voter Action and its partners are continuing our Watch the Vote Project, a citizen-led election protection effort by monitoring the national 1-866-MY-VOTE-1 in collaboration with the NAACP National Voter Fund, the University of Pennsylvania and its law school, Video the Vote, state-based democracy organizations, and with citizens like you. Record voter turnouts are expected in the general election, and nationwide reports of voter registration database problems, voting machine breakdowns, and long lines remain rampant. We need your help. At Voter Action, we know that ensuring a functional democracy cannot happen without you. Join us to, your vigilance and commitment to an open and transparent election process can make all the difference. We are currently recruiting on-the-ground volunteers for our Watch the Vote 2008 Program. Team members will work with us on Election Day to identify and verify problems that emerge through the nationwide, 24 hour, English/Spanish hotline, 1-866-MY-VOTE-1, as well as address and report on resolutions. Democracy requires all hands on deck. Can you help us this election? Contact the Voter Action Pennsylvania team today to get started! Thank you for your support! Holly Jacobson, Director and Co-Founder of Voter Action Steve Strahs, Watch the Vote Pennsylvania Coordinator and Co-Founder, Election Reform Network Voter Action is a not-for-profit, non-partisan, pro-democracy organization dedicated to protecting the integrity of our vote and our elections. "Contact Steve@electionreformnetwork.us"? Thanks. Steve Strahs ELECTION REFORM NETWORK www.electionreformnetwork.us 215-782-8218
Posted:
Oct 29 2008, 11:29 AM EDT by
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Owner of CA GOP Bait and Switch Registration Firm Arrested
The owner of a firm called Young Political Majors that the California Republican Party hired to register voters this year was arrested in Ontario over the weekend on suspicion of voter registration fraud. Dozens of voters said they were duped into r
Last updated:
Oct 20 2008, 10:45 AM EDT by winston44
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Ohio's Secretary of State Appeals to The Supreme Court
I just received this information in an email from the Secretary of State regarding the Voter Lawsuit in Ohio. This is only a portion of the information that was sent.
SECRETARY BRUNNER APPEALS TO US SUPREME COURT TO PROTECT OHIOANS’ VOTING RIGHTS
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has asked the United States Supreme Court to protect the voting rights of an estimated 200,000 Ohioans. Because of a politically-motivated lawsuit, eligible Ohio voters could be forced to use provisional ballots if a lower court’s divided decision stands.
“I have appealed to the US Supreme Court because no eligible Ohio voter should be forced to use a provisional ballot, which is subject to partisan attacks and legal wrangling after Election Day. Ohioans who have followed the law and simply want to exercise their right to vote should not be penalized because of a database error,” Secretary Brunner said.
Based on preliminary estimates, as many as 200,000 Ohio voters could be impacted by the Ohio Republican Party’s lawsuit where the Secretary was denied the right to offer evidence but overturned for the failure to do it. The Secretary of State was denied the opportunity to show that some voter’s mismatched information is making them simply victims of database errors. These errors include data entry mistakes and unnecessary software codes that have no impact on an Ohioan’s right to vote.
“This database was never intended to be a litmus test for an Ohioans’ right to vote. If it were, Joe the Plumber and Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted – who are both technically ‘mismatches’ in this database – would have to use provisional ballots on Election Day. Ohio’s bipartisan elections officials have multi-layered systems to catch voter registration fraud and prevent illegal voting,” Secretary Brunner noted.
If you want to see the entire document let me know.
Posted:
Oct 16 2008, 4:25 PM EDT by
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GOP Foreclosures In Michigan - Test
so here's what happened... blah blah right wing blah blah
Posted:
Sep 17 2008, 12:24 AM EDT by
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