Voting concerns for the upcoming election

[Maria]

Here ya go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF5Kdm4Eu6w

"Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early"

[Cerin]

Truthout is perhaps the worst, most unreliable site on the internet.

On the basis of one story they got wrong? That seems a rather extreme reaction.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

That one story is simply symbolic of their methodology. They want something to be true so they report it to be true. I don't trust them, any more than I trust an equivalent right-wing site.

[Dave_LF]

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/ ... 34499.aspx

VIRGINIA: Dozens of polling places are experiencing varying degrees of machine malfunctions. Some polling places are either completely closed or have been closed for hours. Thousands of voters may have been turned away illegally by polling workers. Voters have illegally been issued with provisional ballets where machines have been broken.

Students at Virginia Tech, previously the victims of misinformation, have seen their polling place suddenly and unexpectedly moved six miles to a location with little parking.

PENNSYLVANIA: Voting machine malfunctions are widespread and at least a dozen locations, mainly focused on Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Election Protection has received reports of campaign materials being illegally distributed at polling locations in Pittsburgh. Voters across the state are reporting that they never received their absentee ballots, which is creating additional chaos at the polls.

Several other states like Florida, Ohio, Colorado and Michigan are reporting long lines due to problems with registration lists and poll locations.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/4 ... 386/652522

If you are in Philadelphia, PA and you click the box for Obama, and then click straight Democratic ticket, it will cancel out your vote for Obama. No one is quite sure why, but it's happening . I just talked to the Obama campaign , and they are urging folks either to just vote straight Democratic ticket , or to choose each candidate individually- but not both. Please Digg and spread this piece of information to anyone widely. My understanding is there are Obama folks in Philly trying to work through this problem, but please let anyone who might be voting know as well. Sorry for the shortness of this diary , but I just wanted to get the word out there.

This is why it has to be a landslide; outside the margin of litigation and dirty tricks.

[halplm]

I find it interesting that no one here is concerned about the stories coming out about blatant attemts at fraud like this one:

http://townhall.com/blog/g/cf47766b-5a6 ... 60631bcadc

[Primula Baggins]

Hal, there are ten thousands news stories about the election out there today. I'm not saying this isn't newsworthy. But it's one story; why would you expect this one story to be picked out for discussion?

[halplm]

I suggest you expand your news sources to include drudge for at least today, so you can see the stories where democrats are the ones trying to fix the election.

[Primula Baggins]

Sorry, Hal, after the "B-carving" thing I think it's entirely reasonable to assume that anything on Drudge is a hoax or an exaggeration posted for political reasons, until I see it confirmed by several other sources. Going to be skipping Drudge today (and every other day).

[halplm]

well, I'm sure all the stories about democrats breaking laws, intimidating voters, and such are a hoax, I mean, the videos and pictures are surely faked... and the LINKS on drudge have to be a conspiracy among all those different news sources.

So it makes sense to only hear what you want to hear I guess.

[Primula Baggins]

Hal, where did I say I thought they were faked?

I said there's a lot going on, and a lot to hear. You were complaining that we weren't all talking about the one story you want to talk about, and I explained that there are a lot of stories today.

And, sorry, but I have no interest in wasting my time reading Drudge. They don't check their stories, and they cherry-pick what they put up. I wouldn't believe a "news story" on Drudge without supporting evidence any more than I'd believe one in a Daily Kos diary without supporting evidence.

If a story can only be read on Drudge, it's not a story. If it's being reported elsewhere, I'll read it elsewhere.

[Dave_LF]

Heard a TV announcer say that both camps are satisfied with the way the election has been run so far and that there are 20,000 lawyers sitting around with nothing to do.

[Inanna]

they're still billing.

[Primula Baggins]

Well, we have 20,000 satisfied lawyers, but that appears to be it. No massive voter fraud; no massive voter intimidation; as far as anyone seems able to tell, no mysterious discrepancies in results. A fair, orderly, and high-turnout election.

Either the fraud and intimidation was never going to happen anyway, or all the fuss over the possibility was enough to keep people from trying it.

[ToshoftheWuffingas]

With the mass of data that has been collected I think that now is the time to look for anomalies. Statistical investigations will prove more valuable than anecdote.
And you need a Federal voting law that does not seek to disenfranchise by inequality of access, by purgings weeks before an election and that investigates and punishes attempts to interfere with the voting procedures by the circulation of maliciously incorrect information.
Why was the control of elections transferred from bi partisan boards to partisan politicians?

[sauronsfinger]

Tosh - you are right. And I fully expect some sort of reform of many of the provisions in the Help America Vote law. One giant step we made was the expansion of the time for Americans to vote. In practical terms, many states now have what amounts to voting for several days or even a few weeks. That is a great step. I notice that Rush Limbaugh - noted conservative Republican political commentator - was railing on the radio about this saying "now we have election Month - whatever happened to Election Day". And he charged that such changes amounted to stealing the election. If people like Limbaugh are against it, then we know we are doing something right.

Because of the unique American system of federalism and states rights in running elections, reform is not easy. People forget that in the USA, there is no election for President. There are 51 individual elections for President. Each is administered by a different state (and WashDC) and each makes up its own rules in keeping with certain federal rules and guidelines.

[Holbytla]

There are 51 individual elections for President.

Actually there are 51 individual elections for electors.

And that is one of the things that is being discussed in many states. Whether to keep the electoral college or shift more towards a popular vote. Massachusetts has a bill in committee that favors district voting like Maine does.

Obviously that won't solve any issues with the actual casting of ballots, which ran suprisingly well considering all the hubub leading up to the election.

[sauronsfinger]

Small states are advantaged because of the Electoral College system and would probably never ratify and suggested Constitutional Amendment necessary to formally change the mechanism. There is a move afoot to automatically pledge a states electors to whatever candidate finishes first in the popular vote. A few states have already passed in within their state. When the number hits 270, then it would become sort of a defacto Constitutional change - if that is possible.

NJ lawmakers back giving electoral votes to popular vote winner
by South Jersey News Online
Thursday January 03, 2008, 6:23 PM
By TOM HESTER Jr.
Associated Press Writer

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday approved entering a compact that would eliminate the power of the Electoral College to choose a president.

The Senate voted 21-12 on Thursday to approve legislation delivering the state's 15 electoral votes for president to the winner of the national popular vote, though the measure could result in the electoral votes going to a candidate opposed by Garden State voters.

The Assembly approved the measure in December, so it only needs Gov. Jon S. Corzine's signature to become law.

"The bill is subject to a thorough review, but Gov. Corzine has long been a supporter of this concept," Corzine spokesman Jim Gardner said.

Still, the compact would take effect only if enough states -- those with a majority of votes in the Electoral College -- agreed to it.
A candidate needs 270 of 538 electoral votes to win.

[sauronsfinger]

And for those suspecting that despite the Obama victory there may indeed have been suspicious with some suspected voter fraud, todays Washington Post has a most interesting article about one state where the turnout was shockingly low considering who was on the ballot and the results surprising despite late polling to the contrary.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/washin ... ise_q.html

[Ellienor]

Yes, I've been following that too, SF. Frustratingly enough nobody seems to be saying much of anything. The other weird thing is that the vote in 2004 was 61% Bush, 38% Kerry. This year....61% McCain, 37% Obama. And this flies in the face of the late polling. And Obama ran better than Kerry in virtually every state this year. And turnout significantly lower than 2004? With a native daughter on the ticket?

I just hope the Democrats are able to mount a decent investigation. It baffles me why nobody seems to be noticing this.

[sauronsfinger]

Glad you noticed Ellienor. I suspect that unless it impacts the Stevens Senatorial race - it will be swept under the rug. And that is sad. The more we find out about Alaska politics, the slimier and dirtier it seems to be.