This weekend my husband and I went to cast our votes in EARLY VOTING at our neighborhood library and because our dog KOKO was with us, we decided to take turns going in to cast our vote so that one of us would stay outside with Koko while the other one voted.
My husband wanted to stay with Koko while I went in to vote and he elected me to be the first to go in... (A young man canvassing the neighborhood on Saturday for the Democrat in our voting District suggested that we Early Vote.)
What a marked difference this time around from previous past experiences, just to go in to a polling place to cast our votes.
Prior to the year 2000, the first year in which the Bushes put in full play their blueprint for stealing votes, it was usually an effortless affair to go in and vote, except for some long lines at the polling place, you would, then, show your voting card to the poll worker, he or she would take you to the registration table where the worker would check your voting card against her book to make sure you were a registered voter and give you your ballot. Another poll worker would then walk you to the punch card machine, the worker would sometimes insert the card for you in to that punch card machine, and you would punch the card 'till you completed your last little punch hole and had voted your best for whoever you believed would best represent you.
All of that ended with Teresa LePore, the Butterfly Ballot in Palm Beach County and the Bush Election 2000 Steal... Since then, the Bushes have perfected their blueprint for stealing elections and voting is no longer the free and freedom producing experience that it used to be.
Yesterday's voting experience for me resembled more that of Election Day in any Police State than any Election Day I can previously recall here in these United States.
When we got to the Early Voting place, there were people already lined up waiting to vote. Those people who had, already, as a first step to go in to vote, shown their photo IDs, to the man sitting at the table in the hallway of the voting place.
Next came a second check point. While standing in line when a uniformed security guard of Haitian origin again asked to see my Drivers License or other Photo ID and instructed me (and other voters) that, "if you have any cell phones those should be turned off or 'silenced'". How ironic! He meant "muted" I am sure-but what an ironic choice of words to be used by a uniformed security guard, in what already had the full specter of election day in any garden variety police state. It just tended to add more to the air of 'your votes will be silenced by the Bush Family,' that is floating throug this election cycle.
The third check point came once you stepped in to the room where they had the voting machines.
In step 1 inside this room, you had to again give your Photo ID (Drives License) to one of the three women sitting at the head table in the room.
In step 2 they scanned your Drivers License into some computerized, electronic machine in front of them, then they waited for the voter's information to show up on the machine,(information which, in my case, the worker seemed to have some trouble pulling up, though, finally, some information did come up which caused her to confer in whispers with the second woman sitting next to her,) then she turned to me and asked for my address in order to verify that the information on her machine was correct.
Step 3 consisted of having me sign a printed receipt which looked like the receipt for groceries you get at any grocery store checkout counter.
In step 4. I had to take the receipt to yet another person who walked with me to a voting machine, then punched some information from the receipt into the machine before allowing me to pull up any screen with the voting ballot on it, and then told me the number for my precinct-at which point I said, "What? Wait a minute! That is not the precinct number that is on my voting card. Why is this machine changing my precinct number? This is how George Bush, Brenda Snipes and all the rest steal elections. They have machines that change anything from precincts, to votes, to vote counting and I want to know, before I vote, why this machine has changed my precinct number."
She took me back to the table at the entrance and told the ladies sitting there that the precinct in my voting card and the precinct in the machine were different. One of the ladies there said to the other, "that is what I was trying to tell you." Then that lady told me, "that is your precinct. You just have to get a new voting card"-to which I responded, "Why? " She said something about address change (and quite frankly by that time I was seeing green, or yellow, or whatever color. I had not changed my address, and I had lost any sense of calmness and they knew it).
I said, "How can you say anything about addresses when, as you can see, the address in my drivers license and the address on my voters registration card and the address where I physically live are all one and the same." At this point her explanations made absolutely no sense at all. I was boiling mad and I said loud and clear for all present in that room to hear again, "this is how George Bush and this Supervisor of Elections steal votes. They have the machines change whatever the machines want to change, so they can go ahead and discount whatever votes they want to, or they add whatever votes they want to the Republican side. And then, when caught, Brenda Snipes is all apologies, saying 'O, the machine had the hiccups. Or, the machind had a glitch.' I am not voting here and I am not voting again until someone returns back to pencil and paper voting, to true democracy and to true vote counting." With that I stormed out of the room, not, however, before they said I could not bring with me the receipt I had signed for them in the beginning--their proof that I had been there to vote.
When I got home I called the office of the candidate I had intended to vote for, and again got into an altercation with the person on the phone because she said, "Why did you walk out? You should have voted!" Again, I explained the precinct number switch from my voter's registration card to the one on the machine. A switch I did not understand and no one had explained to me and she couldn't either, though insisted on her point that I should have voted anyway.
Teresa Simon-Noble is a computer activist for peace. She is a former mental health clinician. A poet and a freelance writer. Her work has been published in several online publications.
First of all, thanks for posting your horrific experience. I'm sure you're well aware that it's not the first, and will surely not be the last. I hope that as more and more people share their experiences, a pattern shall emerge, making it easier to "connect the dots", so to speak.
The question I have at this point is: given the clear and unequivocal security, accuracy, and accountability issues and problems already raised regarding these computerized voting machines, why has there been no organized scientific challenge to seek a legal injunction until the matter can be (expeditiously?) resolved/settled?
by
Lilith's Spirit (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 99 comments)
on Monday, October 30, 2006 at 7:24:50 AM
As somewhat of an aside, I find it incredible that a mass movement to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case could be mounted seemingly overnight, yet this Orwellian debacle with regard to these new voting machines remains substantially untouched. And while not meaning to minimize the significance of the Schiavo matter in any way, I hardly think it comes close to what's going on here in terms of expecting and demanding accurate and fair elections, at all levels.
Voting is arguably THE single-most important element in every country in the world, and when its validity comes into question, it must be resolved first and foremost before anything else can be addressed. Yet, after 6 years, it has NOT been addressed in this country. To my way of thinking, this constitutes a crisis of the highest magnitude.
by
Lilith's Spirit (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 99 comments)
on Monday, October 30, 2006 at 7:35:01 AM
As somewhat of an aside, I find it incredible that a mass movement to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case could be mounted seemingly overnight, yet this Orwellian debacle with regard to these new voting machines remains substantially untouched. And while not meaning to minimize the significance of the Schiavo matter in any way, I hardly think it comes close to what's going on here in terms of expecting and demanding accurate and fair elections, at all levels.
It's an apples and oranges kind of thing. Everyone jumped on the Terry Schiavo bandwagon because it was a means to make a political statement and rally the Jesus Freaks. Of course those who were interested in making political hay while the sun shone were going to stand up in earnest.
There isn't as much interest in doing the same for free and fair elections because "we the people" just don't give a shit. In a country where more people watch the StuporBowl than vote, how can we expect there to be such an outcry?
For whatever thing, the people are apathetic unless it's about one of the following issues: Death or sex. Why do you think Terry Schiavo was so interesting? Why do you think that Foleygate has done more to damage the Republicans in congress than all the other manifold scandals in which they were involved combined?
Perhaps if we made voting sexy, that might help. You know, we dress all the election workers in sleazy clothing, and as little of it as possible. Either that, or we give away dildoes or other sex toys upon a sucessful vote. We could also make the levers of the voting machines look like little penises or breasts (depending on the likes of the voter). The possibilities are endless.
Or maybe, we could show the corpses of those who have died or been killed because of politics gone bad due to apathy. It's not like we'll have to search far and wide to find these corpses. Just show pictures of New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina hit, and before "Brownie" and his gang of idiots showed up to make an even bigger mess. Keep the documentary When The Levees Broke running on continuous loop at the polling places.
Voting is arguably THE single-most important element in every country in the world, and when its validity comes into question, it must be resolved first and foremost before anything else can be addressed. Yet, after 6 years, it has NOT been addressed in this country. To my way of thinking, this constitutes a crisis of the highest magnitude.
To you and I, it is the single most important element of every country in the world. To the rest of Americans, it's a pain in the ass, a liability, a bore, or something we can all do better without. There simply isn't an impetus to change things because so few people care.
Those of us who do care are already so committed to so many other important issues, we have little time to devote to this one. It is our failing, as well as the failing of everyone who looks upon politics as an annoyance, a necessary evil that comes with being a social animal.
It is up to us to make these changes happen if the new iteration of congress is more in our favor. We cannot afford to let up at all if we expect any real changes to take place in our government. If the issue of free and fair elections is allowed to fall off the radar of our government officials, then we will have no one to blame for this but ourselves.
Blessed be!
Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments)
on Monday, October 30, 2006 at 2:17:41 PM
Thanks for responding, Pappy. I understand that bringing the two issues together in one context is clearly apples and oranges, if not apples and horseshoes. However, I'm not sure if the voting machine issue is simply not important enough/the victim of apathy, or what.
My reason for focusing on the Schiavo matter was to contrast the speed with which people not even directly involved in the case were able to blast the case into courts at various levels, while the well-documented faulty voting machine issue (and the apparently lopsided way the faults consistently seem to favor the Republicans) has languished in a virtual vegetative state for over six years now. This just might be one "right to life" issue the Democratic party ought to vote "Yes" on -- the right to their OWN life AS a party.
That's not to say there haven't been court battles in Ohio and Florida; and it's not to say there haven't been rallying cries to beef up the Exit Polls this November. It just seems to me to be yet another anemic, weak strategy yet again oozing out of the "Let's Not Make Waves" party-in-search-of-an-identity.
To focus on one specific example, the Senatorial race in Virginia (as well as the one in Tennessee) is seen by some analysts as critical in any serious attempt to gain Democratic control of the Senate. Apparently, there was some problem with getting Jim Webb's full name and party affiliation to appear on the Touch Screen machines. As I understand it, his first name is listed, and I believe the office he's running for, but not his last name or party affiliation.
The response by the "powers that be" in Virginia said the matter would be fixed by 2007. And that was that. On with the election of 2006. I don't know all the particulars, but to me, if Webb can't find a way to mount some effective counter-response so that his full name and party affiliation can be listed properly on the voting machines USED TO POTENTIALLY ELECT HIM, it makes me wonder just how effective he'd be if he were to actually GET elected. I don't know if the amount of problems related to the machines themselves has ever reached this degree in the history of this country. Whether others see it as a problem or not, I definitely do.
by
Lilith's Spirit (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 99 comments)
on Monday, October 30, 2006 at 3:33:05 PM
I too don't understand the country's silence on electronic
voting and the stealing of elections by the Bush Family.
This country needs to be up in a verbal rage about the stealing of our votes and elections ... yet, people are very silent, either out of fear, or out of marching lockstep with bush.
When I began to raise the question about the disparity between my voting card and the machine's precinct for me, people in that room seemed to freeze.
I think that is it. I think people freeze either because they need to believe that their votes are not being stolen, or because they are afraid that something will happen to them if they speak out.
the other part of it is that, silence is also coming from those who know the bushes and other republicans are stealing our votes but say nothing because they march in lockstep with the bushes... it seems their own self-interest weighs more at this time for them than their interest for this country and democracy. they may live to regret it one day when the Bush dictatorship turns against them.
and ... i also think Terri Schiavo, Mark Foley, etc., are all side issues to provide a distraction from the real core issue of the Bush Family's stealing of our elections.
by
teresa simon-noble (56 articles, 17 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 81 comments)
on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 9:02:08 AM
This country needs to be up in a verbal rage about the stealing of our votes and elections ... yet, people are very silent, either out of fear, or out of marching lockstep with bush.
No, we don't need verbal rage, we need the real thing! Verbal rage has done nothing. We need to distill our rage into real action, not just spouting words.
When I began to raise the question about the disparity between my voting card and the machine's precinct for me, people in that room seemed to freeze.
I think that is it. I think people freeze either because they need to believe that their votes are not being stolen, or because they are afraid that something will happen to them if they speak out.
Of course they are afraid. Herein lies the true heart of courage. Those who show courage aren't doing so because they aren't feeling fear. They are showing their courage in the face of the fear they are feeling. There are simply too few people of courage left in this country. They have either been rendered silent because of the stone walls they face when expressing their grievances, or they have allowed themselves to become apathetic. In either case, they need to rediscover their courage, and then let it show!
the other part of it is that, silence is also coming from those who know the bushes and other republicans are stealing our votes but say nothing because they march in lockstep with the bushes... it seems their own self-interest weighs more at this time for them than their interest for this country and democracy. they may live to regret it one day when the Bush dictatorship turns against them.
Yes, they will live to regret it, as will we all. When their freedoms no longer exist, then it will be too late for them, and us.
There are far too many delusional people who think there isn't a problem with allowing a fascist state to rise in America. The saddest thing is many of these silent conspirators will face the hell they are allowing to grow. They will face it first hand, and sit in wonderment as to how it could have happened. They deserve every bit of the hell they bring upon their own heads.
and ... i also think Terri Schiavo, Mark Foley, etc., are all side issues to provide a distraction from the real core issue of the Bush Family's stealing of our elections.
You may be right. On the other hand, these other issues may be the proof in the pudding of which others speak. Just as an aside, I don't think it's just the Bush Family that's participating in election theft, it's the entirety of the Republican Party. They will continue to do these things until such time as we stop pretending it's ok with us if they do. Until that day dawns, we can expect more of the same.
Blessed be!
Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments)
on Thursday, November 2, 2006 at 12:31:07 PM
people, "have either been rendered silent because of the stone walls they face when expressing their grievances, or they have allowed themselves to become apathetic. In either case, they need to rediscover their courage, and then let it show!"
I confess that it isn't easy to find one's courage to speak out. It wasn't easy for me to speak out at the Early Voting Place. I did. And I am Glad I did.
The feeling I got after having done so was, "I am not afraid of you, GWB... nor of your representatives". I felt like I had exerted a right of mine and I felt good about it.
................................................
(I also think that if we can speak out in a calm way, before we get to the point of losing our calmness like I did, we might have a better chance of having the essence of what we are saying really being heard).
by
teresa simon-noble (56 articles, 17 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 81 comments)
on Thursday, November 2, 2006 at 1:36:12 PM
I confess that it isn't easy to find one's courage to speak out. It wasn't easy for me to speak out at the Early Voting Place. I did. And I am Glad I did.
It is never easy to find courage. I was reminded of this truth this past summer in a job I held for a little over two weeks. The job in question wanted the workers in my section to put in nineteen back to back ten hour days...no break, no time off. Due to bad planning on the part of the company, they put themselves behind the eight ball on a contract, and they felt they could pull themselves out of this bad space by forcing everyone to work these insane hours.
At day thirteen, I stood up and revolted. I spoke as clearly and succinctly as possible. I said, "NO!" I said it loudly, plainly, and in front of the goddess and everyone. The higer ups looked at me in complete disbelief. It got even better when there was a mandatory meeting of our section, and I once again said "NO!" This time, I said it to the head of the section. He blathered on about how we had to make this sacrifice (everyone that is but him, and my immediate supervisor), and how if we worked the nineteen days, we'd all get our three day Labor Day weekend. I told him I didn't believe a word he said. This pissed him off, and I could tell it was probably my last day (which it was).
It took a lot of guts to do that. I have a real difficulty in being confrontational in person. I suppose like many I have seen here, I am not averse to confrontation if it takes place with a computer monitor as a buffer. However, for me to get up in someone's face in person, especially a male "superior" requires every ounce of courage I can muster. I mustered that courage simply because I was not about to be lied to by another employer that was offering me empty promises. Once again, I am more interested in principle than I am in just about anything else.
So congratulations for standing up for yourself. When it comes down to it, there is no one else who will stand up for us besides ourselves. More of us need to be able to do this. If more of us did, the problems in this country wouldn't be anywhere near as shitty as they are.
The feeling I got after having done so was, "I am not afraid of you, GWB... nor of your representatives". I felt like I had exerted a right of mine and I felt good about it.
Once again, this is a good thing. We all need to grow that extra set of testes. It's the only way we the people are going to take back our country from the hypocrites and charlatans that currently hold it in a death grip.
(I also think that if we can speak out in a calm way, before we get to the point of losing our calmness like I did, we might have a better chance of having the essence of what we are saying really being heard).
Perhaps, but never underestimate the power of properly applied anger. I have found that at times, the only way to really communicate one's displeasure is to do it in no uncertain terms. Dancing around the issue and beating around the bush can be effective at times, especially when the situation demands diplomacy.
However, there are far too many times where the only way you are going to get noticed is to demand in as forceful a way as you can that you get noticed. I have been in a few situations where my patience has been stretched to the breaking point, and I was forced to use my size and fearsome deportment to stop people from minimizing or ignoring me. It's an amazingly effective tool when properly utilized. Putting the fear of god into some schmuck who desperately needs it is something which should never be underestimated. If you can do it, by all means, do it.
There is nothing wrong with anger. I am sick to death of all the pop psychologists and other "feel good" gurus who tell me that my anger is bad for me. If I allow it to fester, or I point it inward against myself, it is very bad, and incredibly harmful. However, if I point it towards its intended target, it can be a very effective tool in making my point. If I deal with it immediately, and at a managable level, it can open many doors, and put a halt to all manner of bullshit.
Anger expressed responsibly hurts no one. Anger allowed to fester hurts everyone who gets in its path. Anger can move mountains, fuel revolutions, and bring resolution to some of life's problems. As long as we keep our heads, there is nothing wrong with being pissed off.
In your case, it clearly had a positive effect. So why second guess it? There are times in life where it's the only tool we have at our disposal. As long as we know how to use it properly, I say use it.
Blessed be!
Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments)
on Friday, November 3, 2006 at 2:02:03 PM
1. If you vote Absentee and mail your ballot late and it does not arrive by November 7th, your vote WILL NOT BE COUNTED until up to 5 days later.
2. You may NOT take a camera with you to snap a picture of your completed ballot (paper or otherwise) this is illegal.
3. Overseas and Military ballots that do not arrive by November 7th will NOT be counted until up to 10 days later
There may be more of these, but for now it's all I've got.
Faith carr
Resistance is Required
Revolution is Possible
by
FAITHCARR (13 articles, 4 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 45 comments)
on Monday, October 30, 2006 at 11:23:04 AM
I did go to another Early Voting site yesterday (Monday) to cast my vote. The atmosphere there was a whole lot closer to the one that used to permeate this country on Election Day prior to the Election Steal of 2000 by the Bushes.
On the check-your-vote part of the process the machine seems to have recorded each of the votes i cast, the way i cast them. However, there are no printed records of mine or anyone else's vote in Florida. Jeb has outlawed paper trails in Florida ... so from the deep blue sea of anxiety, the only thing left now is to hope that what the machine showed me for my vote will be one and the same as what will be counted by the machine.
Someone on Free Speech TV today called this kind of voting, "Faith Based Voting."
by
teresa simon-noble (56 articles, 17 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 81 comments)
on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 9:09:44 AM
Voters have the right to something called a provisional ballot even if the election judge believes they are not eligible to vote for any reason. They should have also told you that at the time as well as calling while you were there to get a higher authority to verify your precinct.
If the judge or other election workers can verify you did not mark your ballot, or even if they can't, you can cast a provisional ballot explaining the problem. It would clearly help if others signed that they witnessed the incident and you did not cast a ballot. It would then be up to the provisional ballot committee to decide rather or not to accept your ballot. The provisional ballot is for any case where this is a dispute as to the validity and eligibility of the voter.
These provisional votes will be counted after the other ballots after the election. This is not to say your vote will be counted - that is up to your state laws and the decision of the committee.
by
Gary (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Monday, October 30, 2006 at 3:34:14 PM
I did vote yesterday (Monday) in an Early Voting place where the atmosphere more closely resembled that of Election Day prior to the 2000 Election Steal by the Bushes.
On the "check-your-vote" part of the process the machine seems to have recorded the vote as i cast it. Since Jeb has outlawed paper trails in Florida, and there are no paper verified trails, one can only hope that the machine will now count the vote as it was cast...although, Bev Harris has said, machines can be programmed to show you one thing but count another.
Someone called this kind of voting, "Faith Based Voting"...
It seems to go hand in hand with the Bushes "Faith Based Everything."
by
teresa simon-noble (56 articles, 17 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 81 comments)
on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 at 9:15:14 AM
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