Voting: Updating During the Day

As a result of my voting experience this morning, I thought we would do something different today. When I reached the polls and filled out my ballot, I placed the ballot into the "counting bin." I then was told by an election worker that the machine was down and that "they had been called and were on their way to fix it." The "counting bin" was nearly overflowing with ballots, and it was still very early in the morning.

This told me a couple of things.

1) The machine clearly was not working when the polls opened, and Lord only knows when "they" will arrive to fix it. There were many people waiting to vote, so they had either better fix it quickly or find an additional bin to place uncounted ballots in.

2) The turnout is extremely heavy. Where I vote, there are never lines no matter the time of day. Today there were. Being in Indiana, we have received much national attention over 3 particular House races that could well determine who carries the House in this election. The district that I vote in is NOT one of the highly contested areas mentioned nationally, yet I have never seen the numbers of people at my polling station that I saw today. We have a competitive House race and a race for prosecutor that most deem important, but other than that nothing terribly earth shattering.

They are not, as of yet, counting votes in my district. The fact that the "machine is down" is disturbing. Did they not test it yesterday to see that it worked? We are not using "electronic voting," but physically marking candidates with a black pen. I guess that is a step up from the "pull the lever" approach we have used until now. Apparently the new technology, however basic it is, must have some flaws, at least initially.

If you have any stories of problems or anything else of import at your voting station, please email me at:

cyclone@cyclonesrealdeal.com,

and tell me what is going on. I will put it up for all to see, protecting your identity of course. Tell me what state you are in, what races are important and we'll see how the day goes. I would also be especially interested in your view of the turnout in your particular location, as it appears to be extremely heavy in mine.

If you respond, I will update this throughout the day. We are going to see problems everywhere with polling stations not opening, machines not working, etc. This will be interesting and lawsuits will undoubtedly be filed. Let's keep track of whats going on today, until the counting actually begins.

I will update this as necessary below.

Thanks,

Cyclone


*Update #1---- I have already heard from a reader in southern Indiana, one of the districts that IS in play nationally. They are using electronic machines, and they are not working. This reader showed up when the polls opened and was unable to vote. He stayed for over two hours, then went home. He is soon to head back and try again.

(I have since learned that a lawsuit has already been filed asking the courts to keep the polling places open late in several southern Indiana counties where the e-machines are not yet working)It's going to be a long night, folks. This may make 2000 look like a very short election process!

Update #2----- I heard from a concerned voter in Columbus, Ohio. She said that 18 live television outlets were present, not surprisingly. Though things seemed to be working properly, this reader said that she was disturbed by the apparent light turnout. She said that the last election she waited for over an hour, this time she walked right in and voted. They were using electronic machines, and she said that there was a ticker tape print out coming out behind a glass enclosure behind the machine. She thinks that this may be some sort of paper trail; we can only hope so. ( Cyclone's comment: I hope that Ohio voters are not staying home because of the fact that the Republican party appeared to write off Ohio a long time ago. With the Ohio history of voter fraud and manipulation, a landslide is needed there perhaps more than in any other state.)

Update #3------ I heard from a Virginia voter. This is not a voting problem, (he had already voted) but a phone call. After voting, this person received a phone call with the caller stating that they knew that he lived at a different address than that listed on his registration rolls and that he would be arrested should he decide to vote. Needless to say, this reader was upset by this call. (Cyclone's comment: Though little surprises me these days, this is utterly apalling. This was a Republican operative, apparently calling democratic voters. I have since learned that this is not the only case where this happened, and that the FBI is investigating similar claims. This seals it for me, George Allen is a sick pup. And he wants(ed) to be our President? One psycho following another, I guess)

Update #4----- An Alabama voter reported that she went to the polls at 10:30. The weather was bad, about 30 people (mostly seniors) were in various stages of voting. She said that her ID was verified 4 times by 4 different people before she was handed a ballot. After filling it out, (not electronic) she had to wait in line to insert it into the reading machine. They have three machines at the location, only one of which was working. She was told that they would not be fixed! She closes by saying that if her precint is indicative of others in Alabama, there will be problems in Dixie tonight!

Thanks to all who participated, it kept me occupied until the polls were closed. I apologize for those who's comments I didn't get up, but once the results started coming in I chose to stay glued to the information as it became available. I had comments from a pretty widespread group, and all in all there weren't too many horror stories. I'm sorry to say that I didn't hear from anyone in Florida as I'm sure Jeb Bush was running around somewhere with a shotgun!! I would say that the Virginia situation was the worst, though Indiana wasn't far behind. The FBI is also involved in a couple of places in Indiana for various indescretions. I will soon have a post on the election and it aftermath, along with expectations for the near future.

Cyclone