Your Vote
I think people here are aware of these issues, but I wanted to post this anyway:
The deadline for registration is immanent and I certainly hope that everyone here is registered to vote! Then the next important step is making sure your vote counts. In Danny Strong's Recount they mention that the only votes that can be counted are the ones that are cast, but in fact there is a common, and serious problem in voting:
Caging: in Florida in 2000 the Republicans sent out a list of 8,000 people who were not permitted to vote because they were convicts, and on the basis of that list 200,000 people were prevented from voting because their names were similar! This year there will be similar attempts to intimidate and discourage people from voting because the address doesn't match their drivers license, or they are on a list of homes that have been foreclosed. It is very important that you never just leave the polling place without casting a ballot. You should have a right to cast a provisional ballot (held aside until a court rules on the situation, believe me: there will be free lawyers who will take your case!). If you are refused a provisional ballot then call the local TV and radio stations IMMEDIATELY! Shine a bright light onto the situation until your rights are upheld!
Non-functioning voting booths: it is common for there to be broken voting booths or a shortage of ballots in some areas, this is frequently an attempt to discourage voters who cannot wait in lines for hours. If this happens then call the local TV and radio stations! Seriously, make it clear that there is a problem that needs to be fixed. Don't complain about it the next day, after the election is over!
Electronic voting: many communities are not using these any more at all because there is so much evidence that they have been 'hacked'. In Recount there was evidence that the vote count for Al Gore was rolling backwards, which was a sign of tampering with the electronic count, but only the paper ballots could be recounted. I encourage people to watch Hacking Democracy which is a documentary about problems in the 2004 election. More recently there was direct testimony about the fact that this is NOT paranoia but a fact.
We have to protect our rights as citizens, but we do have help! Believe me, if you suspect any problems you will have support.
The deadline for registration is immanent and I certainly hope that everyone here is registered to vote! Then the next important step is making sure your vote counts. In Danny Strong's Recount they mention that the only votes that can be counted are the ones that are cast, but in fact there is a common, and serious problem in voting:
Caging: in Florida in 2000 the Republicans sent out a list of 8,000 people who were not permitted to vote because they were convicts, and on the basis of that list 200,000 people were prevented from voting because their names were similar! This year there will be similar attempts to intimidate and discourage people from voting because the address doesn't match their drivers license, or they are on a list of homes that have been foreclosed. It is very important that you never just leave the polling place without casting a ballot. You should have a right to cast a provisional ballot (held aside until a court rules on the situation, believe me: there will be free lawyers who will take your case!). If you are refused a provisional ballot then call the local TV and radio stations IMMEDIATELY! Shine a bright light onto the situation until your rights are upheld!
Non-functioning voting booths: it is common for there to be broken voting booths or a shortage of ballots in some areas, this is frequently an attempt to discourage voters who cannot wait in lines for hours. If this happens then call the local TV and radio stations! Seriously, make it clear that there is a problem that needs to be fixed. Don't complain about it the next day, after the election is over!
Electronic voting: many communities are not using these any more at all because there is so much evidence that they have been 'hacked'. In Recount there was evidence that the vote count for Al Gore was rolling backwards, which was a sign of tampering with the electronic count, but only the paper ballots could be recounted. I encourage people to watch Hacking Democracy which is a documentary about problems in the 2004 election. More recently there was direct testimony about the fact that this is NOT paranoia but a fact.
We have to protect our rights as citizens, but we do have help! Believe me, if you suspect any problems you will have support.
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