November 7th, 2006 | |
Posted in Minnesota by Chris Pommier
Election problems: New machines, databases, rules
Programming errors and inexperience dealing with electronic voting machines frustrated poll workers in hundreds of precincts early today, delaying voters in Indiana, Ohio and Florida and leaving some with little choice but to use paper ballots instead.
In Cleveland, voters rolled their eyes as election workers fumbled with new touchscreen machines that they couldn’t get to start properly until about 10 minutes after polls opened.
“We got five machines one of them’s got to work,” said Willette Scullank, a trouble shooter from the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, elections board.
Voter ID Numbers
Around noon today, the DFL volunteer army made its five millionth voter identification call.Five Million. 5,000,000 calls made.
Among those, more than 1.8 million voters have been identified successfully.
That, my wonderful readers, is what we call “ridiculous.”
Minnesota Campaign Report
Published: Tuesday, 07 November 2006 15:31:08
Despite delays, glitches,…
Despite delays, glitches, and other snafus, most polls will not extend voting hours. In Denver, where the lines are long, the Democratic candidate for governor waited nearly two hours to vote, presumably for himself.
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall
Published: Tuesday, 07 November 2006 15:25:43
In CO, Dems Allege Threats to Latino Voters
From Roll Call: In automated and live calls, Democrats allege, Latinos have been told that their ethnicity makes them ineligible to vote in today’s elections. The calls also threatened that Latinos would be arrested at polling places if they did…
TPMmuckraker
Published: Tuesday, 07 November 2006 15:23:07
MD GOP Candidate Recruits Homeless to Pass Out Deceptive Flyers
Misleading flyers were handed out at several Maryland polling places by men and women recruited by the GOP governor’s campaign from out-of-state homeless shelters, the Washington Post reports. The flyers, given to voters in a heavily Democratic area, showed GOP…
TPMmuckraker
Published: Tuesday, 07 November 2006 14:32:34
Northern Minnesota Report
Things are going well in the Bemidji DFL office, according to reports from the northern part of the state. A light rain is falling, but turnout appears to be high. Plenty of volunteers, and not so many in the local Republican office. Sporadic reports of voter intimidation in largely Native areas, as well as issues getting some voters in the Red Lake area to the county courthouse - they were supposed to vote by mail, and were unaware that the precinct voting location would not be open. Drivers needed - if you’re near there, go help out.
Election 2006: Penetrating The Voting Vortex
By Erin Thompson
Google the terms “hiccup” or “glitch” along with the words “electronic voting equipment” and you’ll get some interesting insight into widespread chaos that could hit polling places this November. In primaries across the nation earlier this year, problems with newly implemented computer-based voting systems, often blamed on software “glitches” or election “hiccups,” caused voting results to be delayed, tallied incorrectly or reversed entirely.
Election 2006: Resisting The Voting Rights Rollback
By Ula Kuras
Among the new voting requirements recently contested in courts are state-issued photo IDs and tight restrictions on voting registration drives. Proponents of such requirements tend to be conservative white Republicans who argue that tighter rules are essential for preventing voter fraud. However, critics say such laws will unfairly impact the poor, the elderly, the disabled, and college-age students, all of whom tend to vote more for the Democrats.
Further Reading on Words & Tricks
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