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john_galt · 10-11-2010, 05:58 PM

Today it was revealed that many counties in New York state have failed to mail out military absentee ballots by the deadline (1 Oct.) despite getting a Justice Department extension. Should we have more concern about our serving military and their right to vote? Criminal misconduct in heavily democratic districts or incompetence? Either should be a firing offense.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...e_ballots.html

Tomorrow I'm contacting the offices in MO and KS to see if they made the grade.

I remember how angry I was when following an election in which I voted from overseas I was back home doing business at city hall. I saw my ballot on a stack of other ballots UNOPENED! This was six months after the election.

We have to do better and hold those accountable who are responsible.

For the gadflys; this is not a GOP or a Dem thing.

dirty dog · 10-11-2010, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john_galt

Today it was revealed that many counties in New York state have failed to mail out military absentee ballots by the deadline (1 Oct.) despite getting a Justice Department extension. Should we have more concern about our serving military and their right to vote? Criminal misconduct in heavily democratic districts or incompetence? Either should be a firing offense.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...e_ballots.html

Tomorrow I'm contacting the offices in MO and KS to see if they made the grade.

I remember how angry I was when following an election in which I voted from overseas I was back home doing business at city hall. I saw my ballot on a stack of other ballots UNOPENED! This was six months after the election.

We have to do better and hold those accountable who are responsible.

For the gadflys; this is not a GOP or a Dem thing.

Please let us know what you find out inspector goofstou.

Cheaper2buyit · 10-11-2010, 07:09 PM

Criminal misconduct in heavily democratic districts or incompetence? Either should be a firing offense. these are your words what do you mean by them then when you say this For the gadflys; this is not a GOP or a Dem thing. DICKHEAD next you'll say its obama trying to take over or hitler did the same thing DICKHEAD

kcmark · 10-11-2010, 07:09 PM

Dirty, john galt maybe one of the few things you and I can agree on...
goofstou....lmao

CuteOldGuy · 10-11-2010, 09:24 PM

Election fraud is committed by both parties, and the other side is always outraged. It's become a sick tradition. Our liberty is hanging by a chad.

lacrew_2000 · 10-11-2010, 10:43 PM

Please nix the name calling.

Cheaper2buyit · 10-11-2010, 11:25 PM

crew who are you talking about me saying johns nick name dickhead is that what your taking about you have to be clear I mean say what you mean I know this is maybe just a hobby for you but I respect you as all the mods however you have to know me I call a spade a spade & a dickhead a dickhead

Longermonger · 10-12-2010, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy

Our liberty is hanging by a chad.

Hey Chad, how's your liberty hangin'? He says it's dragging on the ground so I think we're cool.

john_galt · 10-13-2010, 08:38 PM

Now it is Illinois cheating service people and on the navy's birthday no less.

http://www.wlsam.com/Article.asp?id=1985148&spid=

kcmark · 10-13-2010, 10:50 PM

I am less concerned about this than the electronic voting machines programmed by republican leaning corporatin Diebold....with no means for a paper trail...kinda the way we ended up with GWB...only president in american history not to ever win an election...

CuteOldGuy · 10-13-2010, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcmark

I am less concerned about this than the electronic voting machines programmed by republican leaning corporatin Diebold....with no means for a paper trail...kinda the way we ended up with GWB...only president in american history not to ever win an election...

That's not the real problem. It seems whoever wins, the big losers are the Constitution and the American people.

Longermonger · 10-14-2010, 01:12 AM

...so the outrage is because military personnel might not have their votes counted...and they are presumed to vote for Republicans...yet no mention is made of the dirty tricks used to turn minority voters away...or some votes not being counted at all (See: Florida 2000, etc.)...or the Republicans soliciting money from companies* that ship American jobs overseas...or donations from anonymous billionaires...or the lies told to people to trick them to voting for Republican candidates.

*domestic or foreign

Ask yourself, "Who paid for that political ad on TV? Is it 100% true?"

Guest052813-01 · 10-14-2010, 06:40 AM

So - everyone in this thread is complaining about election fraud and abuse by both parties. Each state has their own laws regarding the administration of elections. The governor of the state selects the election commissioners in the various counties - normally of the same party as the governor. It is up to the election commissioner of the county to run the election and the secretary of state to certify the results of the election. It's all political.

How do we correct this? Suggestions?

Mine would be four-fold.

One - to avoid abuse at the ballot box on election day - require each person who votes to show ID at the polling place to ensure that they are who they say they are and that they are eligible to vote. This would also mean registering for voting at least 14 days prior to the election, in person, at a place or places designated by the election commissioner. To register would require some type of government-issued ID (driver's license, ID, passport or birth certificate). If you aren't on the registration rolls - you don't vote.

Two - to avoid the "hanging chad" controversy - have a standardized ballot process for the entire country. Make the ballot a paper ballot that would require making an "X" in the box for the choice. No punch holes, no electronic device. Standardize the ballot to make the boxes and associated text large enough to view for a person with 20/100 vision. Have the ballot inserted into an envelope with a window that would allow the poll worker to quickly scan the ballot to make sure the "X" is checked correctly (one "X" per category and it would be in the form of an "X") before inserting into the ballot box. Use optical character reading computers to read each ballot for tabulation. Have standardized rules for ballots not filled in correctly, that is, an "X" in more than one selection invalidates that vote; an "X" not completely in a box still counts as a vote (superceded by the previous rule); no "X" means no vote.

Three - to ensure full participation - allow advance voting at least 30 days prior to election day. You could only vote in advance (either by mail or in person at the election commissioner's office) if you have pre-registered and have voted in person at a polling place at least once. Make the request for advance voting by mail as simple as making a request on line without having to mail anything in in advance. Also, move election day to Saturday instead of Tuesday or, in place of this, make election day a state holiday for primaries and a national holiday for general elections. And, to ensure there is no "advance" reporting of poll results, all polls for national elections (the years that are even, like 2010 and 2012) would be open for 24 hours - from midnight local time through 11:59:59 PM local time on the election day - and no poll results could be reported until 12:00 Noon Eastern time the day after a national election (11:00 AM Central, 10:00 AM Mountain, 9:00 AM Pacific, 8:00 AM Alaskan and 7:00 AM Hawaiian).

Four - for the military - have the military have its own election commissioner. Have military personnel stationed overseas vote at least one week in advance and send all ballots to an election commissioner's office set up in the Pentagon. Make it the responsibility of the military election commissioner count the ballots for the various states and report the results to the election commissioner of the counties to include in their voting results. It's not foolproof, but it would provide an extra level of reporting that would ensure the voting of military personnel gets reported regardless of the party in power.

john_galt · 10-14-2010, 08:41 AM

Fritz I agree with some on what you write; ID check has been promoted by conservatives and some GOP for years. You have to have ID to rent a car, rent a room, or buy a beer none of which cheats anyone else. You cheat while voting you are cheating me and every other legal voter.
You know I have never been a fan of early voting. Too many things happen before elections; allegations of criminal activity, proof of criminal activity, death of the candidate (think Carnahan), or the candidate, behind in the polls, withdraws (hello New Jersey). I would support a three day voting period covering two weekdays and one weekend day. You can't deny the press freedom but maybe hold them to their pledge not to release results until after the polls close. In 2000 the press posted their results and expected outcomes in Florida at 1901 EST but the panhandle is in a later time zone and turnout was suppressed because they thought the election was decided already for Gore. The panhandle votes mainly republican because of the military base.
I can't support the idea of a military election commissioner. You would need too many to do the job right. There are 50 states (57 according to someone), 435 congressional districts, and over 2100 state legislature districts plus all the wards in the cities. Better to make iron clad rules concerning getting the ballots to the troops and back to their homes. By iron clad I mean establish a punishment for those officials who fail to do their duty.
As for chads; never underestimate the ability of idiots to do stupid things not matter how easy the task. Why do you think the democrats find votes in homes for the mentally disabled? I was in Florida during the chad controversy and my friend and I had a terrible argument. He is a fairly smart guy but he wanted to know who checks the back of their ballot. I was able to tell him that I did. He walked away angry.

FYI kcmark; many times in our nations history the winner did not receive the majority of the popular votes. Lincoln, Hayes, Garfield, Cleveland (twice), Harrison, Wilson, Truman, Nixon, Clinton (twice), and GW Bush. They won by a plurality. There have also been three times that the winner received less popular votes than the loser; Hayes, Truman, and Bush.

Longermonger · 10-16-2010, 05:39 AM

"Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities."
---conservative activist judges, SCOTUS, circa 2000

I know you guys hate big federal government, but why don't we have professional full-time election officials? You wouldn't let local part-timers with political agendas do other government jobs, would ya? Ten years later and there hasn't been election reform at all...