have you voted yet? how to make sure your vote gets counted (hint: vote early)

Have YOU voted yet? According to the New York Times, 1/4th of registered voters nationwide have already done so (10/30). I'm telling you, it's really exciting, and it seems the best insurance that you won't somehow get disenfranchised on Tuesday.

Here's a link to the NYT article -- check out the picture of people in Nevada grocery shopping, gambling, and voting all at the same time!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/us/politics/30early.html?em

Please vote and tell everyone else you know -- get out and vote NOW.
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Voting problems and how to avoid them:

There is a great article in Newsweek this week about all the problems. I'll summarize some of them and here's a link to the original article: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1853246_...

Since the election debacle in 2000, many measures have been taken to try and prevent similar problems. Of course, some of the "fixes" may have made matters worse! For one thing, all voter records are now digitized, and if they made a typo when transcribing your name, you have a problem! For example, if John got switched for Jon, then he may not be able to vote on election day this year. However, if you go early, this problem can be detected and hopefully fixed before next Tuesday.

Do you have a driver's license? Depending on where you live, you may need a state issued ID (driver's license, state ID card) in order to vote. This is also new in many states and it is a problem since it is estimated that 10% of voters do not have valid driver's licenses/ID cards.

I think everyone knows that there's going to be a whole lot of new voters this year, but apparently many states have not prepared the infrastructure to accommodate all these people. There might be tons of new voters crowding to your polling place, but no more machines than in the past. This means, of course, that lines could be astronomical on voting day.

Then there are the touch screen machines. Voting via computer always sounded like a great idea to me, but turns out there are problems. In Florida there was an irregular outcome and then the officials realized they couldn't do a recount due to a lack of a paper trail. So now we are back to paper ballots. Other states, though, have kept the new touch screen machines. In these places, some people are videotaping their own votes as documentation. Sounds like an intriguing idea.

Where I live, the ballot is pretty complicated, with president, US congress, state senate, state representative, proposed state constitution amendments, proposed county rule amendments . . . and all in three languages (English, Spanish, Creole). Whew, I was mighty glad I studied and marked a sample ballot in advance, and I suggest everyone else do so as well. Otherwise, it could take 10-15 minutes to read and fill out the ballot, and you can imagine how that will contribute to the lines on election day.

So VOTE EARLY and then try to get all your friends and loved ones to do so, too. You don't want to get stuck in line for four hours on election day, or, worse, get discouraged and miss out on voting altogether.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by carolyn on October 27, 2008 at 9:51am: is a passport good enough? you can't vote early in my town; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by genie on October 27, 2008 at 1:44pm: Hi Carolyn,

I believe that a passport is acceptable, but I think you should double check with your county voting registrar.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Crazy Sexy Life on October 27, 2008 at 12:31pm: There will be problems, there always are. We've read many stories already of legitimate voters being turned away at the polls because they've been wrongly purged from the list. One of our biggest weapons in our fight for true democracy is our video cameras and cell phone cameras. Make sure you take yours with you. If you encounter a problem, document it and put it online - either on YouTube or at sites like http://www.videothevote.org. There are others.

If you stay a legal distance from the polling place, you can also interview any other voters who had problems.

"Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman"
- Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Callie on October 27, 2008 at 2:00pm: OH this is a fabulous idea..............wow.... I would have never thought of that... goodone.. gonna employ this a lot in life.. there are a thousand ways you can use this... callie; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Austin from Earth! on October 27, 2008 at 12:37pm: There was an article on CNN.com this morning, Georgia (my state) has "purged" 50,000 names from the rolls.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by genie on October 27, 2008 at 1:45pm: Exactly why you need to vote as early as possible -- to allow time to fix any inappropriate purging.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bren from Rivendell on October 27, 2008 at 2:07pm: Hoot! My eldest girl went early and was one, so thank heavens she went early to "fix" it! Fla is not the only player in this cluster f*** of mess-ups. Oops, did I just swear? So Sorry...but how hard is this guys?? Bren; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by genie on October 27, 2008 at 3:36pm: Oh Bren, she was one of the "purged?" And now she has been restored? I've been curious how that works and IF it works.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brian F on October 27, 2008 at 8:30pm: yeah, Georgia's a sad case - so many new voters registered, and at least as many dumped off the rolls... Austin, didn't they pass a law in Georgia requiring a drivers license to vote?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Austin from Earth! on October 27, 2008 at 8:40pm: Doesn't have to be a driver's license, but it has to be a state issued ID. There is a free voter id card available, issued through the county registrar or the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Should any GA residents need info on this: http://sos.georgia.gov/gaphotoid/default.htm; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bren from Rivendell on October 28, 2008 at 3:17pm: Hi Genie and Brian ~
Thankfully I taught both my girls, now 22 and 26 to always take the "official" voter registration card, drivers license, SS card and their freakin passports to prove identity. Always have but since the last few were so close and screwed up, we go armed to the freakin' gills.

For Naomi, my eldest, luckily it paid off...they said one form of ID is not sufficient now, with all of the potential voter fraud (in addition to the damn computer server being down), be it "dead" people, multiple voters or illegals, they want to be sure that you are who you say you are. With all of her ID, they registered her since a representative from the Board of Elections was there and had a paper ballot. Someone took a "phone picture" to document it.

Early voting..heck its a 5-6 hour wait in my area of Ga. People are losing it and not voting. You cannot "save" your place in line, even to go to the potty, with a family member waiting in line for you...wth???

Sara is voting absentee since she cannot come back from TN. She has to teach. So her's was mailed.

Gawd help them if they mess with my 6' 6-1/2" bruiser of a husband when he goes to vote and takes my paper ballot in. Especially if they won't let us take pictures or videos of mine being entered on the spot. Rick's like the old Grizzly Adams TV character, but with both, don't piss them off....; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Callie on October 27, 2008 at 2:04pm: This is so important I think we are heading for a debacle I dont want to put negative energy out there but I think being safe and preparing will help.. look up your states ballot and familarize yourself with it and make sure you know how to feed the thing into the maching properly. Everything counts.. And take some time to notice the amendments we have lots of rights at stake this election season and we dont want another patriot act mess.. so know what you belive vote it and make it count. I am heading out today and making sure we are straight and can vote.. thanks and this is a very good article. hugs callie; ▶ Reply to This

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