Election Day in America

November 7, 2006

Let’s see, it’s Tuesday afternoon on Election Day in the greatest democracy the world has ever known. How’s everything going?

The FBI has opened an inquiry into voter suppression by supporters of Sen. George Allen (R-Va.).

A poll worker in Kentucky was arrested after he was accused of “choking and pushing [a] voter out of the door.”

Colorado congressional hopeful Jay Fawcett’s (D) campaign headquarters were vandalized overnight. The candidate, running in Colorado’s 5th (which includes Dobson country), also received an emailed death threat — his third of the campaign. The HQ vandals also smeared a “skunk” aroma around the facility, making it virtually impossible to conduct work there. The campaign had hoped to have more than 200 people come through the office today to help with Get Out The Vote and Poll Watching efforts.

TPM has documented voting irregularities in Ohio, Missouri, Florida, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. And those aren’t the only problems.

In Indiana, an electronic voting systems failure led a judge to extend voting deadlines.

In Ohio, a congressman was turned away when he tried to vote.

In South Carolina, the governor was turned away when he tried to vote.

And in Arizona, a trio of men, one with a visible firearm, is harassing Latino voters as they go to the polls in Tucson.

God Bless America.

In fairness, you should probably mention the locks jammed with broken keys at Keane campaign headquarters. Of course, his campaign is blaming the Menendez campaign directly, which is insane. Still, it’s yet another case of political intimidation by whoever is responsible.

  • And in Oregon, not to get all smarmy, well okay just a little smarmy, everyone’s already voted (mostly by mail) and the only problem appears to be ballots getting wet from the torrential rain.

    It’s amazing how resilient vote-by-mail is to so many of the familiar election-tampering methods. I don’t know why it hasn’t caught on with the rest of the country.

  • A poll worker in Kentucky was arrested after he was accused of “choking and pushing [a] voter out of the door.”

    In the poll worker’s defense, you are supposed to use a #2 pencil.

    HQ vandals also smeared a “skunk” aroma around the facility, making it virtually impossible to conduct work there.

    A problem easily solved if one highers hires nothing but stoners. 🙂

    Okay … enough of the snark.

    These are all HUGE, GIGANTIC issues. Yes, the nuts at ACORN trying to register dead people is important, and slashing tires isn’t exactly fair play. But the lengths the right will go in order to win makes anything and everything done on the left look like incredibly tiny potatoes.

    It just goes to show how the Rovian “Win at All Costs” mentality is simply unhealthy for our democratic process. For them, winning is the only thing, and they’ll do anything to get there.

    And any self-respecting Republican will stop voting for these fuqtards until the knock it the hell off.

  • And most happily and publicly brought to us courtesy of the party of “values” and “virtues,” the GOP. What a statement these hypocrites make for our kids, teenagers and young adults every two years. It is OK to cheat. It is OK to deceive. It is OK to lie and to testify falsely as to one’s opponent. Maybe things were always like this and there never was the technology to have such conduct broadcast so easily and broadly. I don’t think that is the case though. There used to be some sense of sportsmanship in politics. There were certain lines that just would not be crossed. Not any more. The ends justify the means with today’s Republican party. But with these clowns there aren’t even any “means” to go along with the ends. But what an example for our kids, teenagers and young adults. Disgraceful.

  • Re: #1: Wouldn’t the keys have to fit the locks to be jammed into them in the first place? It seems kind of a transparant attempt at sabotaging themselves to place automatic blame on their opponents. I believe Karl Rove infamously engaged in this sort of stuff way back when, bugging his own candidate’s office to hold a press conference to show off the bug “their opponents” planted.

  • In Ohio, a congressman was turned away when he tried to vote.

    In South Carolina, the governor was turned away when he tried to vote.

    I’m still reading all the links but I assumed the post would be about election-tampering shenanigans, voter intimidation, etc. These two items appear to be above the board. The governor and congressman simply didn’t have the proper ID, which is what the law requires. In one case the linked article said that a utility bill was accepted and the situation was resolved easily.

  • For the next election, Dem GOTV efforts should focus on vote-by-mail and early voting, where possible. The election day intimidation, delays and other wet blankets on the Democartic process whither when the public has already voted before the first Tuesday in November. Others changes? How about taking voting off of the duties of Lt. Governor and placing them in the hands of a bipartisan state voting commission.

  • And in Arizona, a trio of men, one with a visible firearm

    I love the Feebs response: Just keep an eye on the situation. Thanks G-man, I’m sure you’ll be around sometime soon if some cranked up “patriot” shoots some one. I hope someone kicks these bruisers in the ‘nads. Self defense, right?

  • Voting by mail in Washington State is stress free, convenient, and leaves a paper trail. It only requires faith (as does any form of balloting) that Karl Rove isn’t opening my envelope.

  • “It only requires faith (as does any form of balloting) that Karl Rove isn’t opening my envelope.”

    Or has been named postmaster general.

  • I’m still reading all the links but I assumed the post would be about election-tampering shenanigans, voter intimidation, etc. These two items appear to be above the board.

    Fair enough. My general thought was about the mess the election process has become, which these two points helped demonstrate, but the other items definitely addressed more of a “shenanigans” angle.

  • One of the many things we will need to pester our newly minted Congresscritters about is voting reform. Make it simple, make it fair. Take the politicians out of the process.

    I am in NYS, where the gov’ment has yet to certify any new voting machines, and is risking a boatload of federal cash by failing to do so.

    But I am happy to go into the big, clunky shower stall thing, use the big lever, then the little levers, then the big lever. Optical scan THAT, bizzatch.

  • bubba beat me to it.

    I think this is a true index of how pathetic the ReThugs have gotten. They’re having to pretend they’re Democrats to get in office. A sort of fucked up surreal version of Some Like it Hot.

    Steele and the rest of the Gestapo Operative Party have been poncing around saying Democrats take African-Americans for granted. I guess this latest scam in a county with a very large Af-Am population shows the GOP doesn’t just take them for granted, they take it for granted that the average black voter is dumber than a box of dead rats.

    bubba, to answer your question: “That’s why mommy and daddy moved to New Zealand.”

  • In Florida, with their crazy self-defense formulation passed into law a year or so ago at the NRA’s urging, the Latino voters might be legally allowed to kill or at least shoot to injure the intimidating trio. That is, if the shooter could make the case that he felt threatened for his life by what they were doing. Thanks Jeb!

  • tAiO–I have been trying to get my wife to move with me to New Zealand for 5 years now. She loves it there, but it is too far from her folks, she says. Damn.

  • From what I’m hearing, a lot more people voted by mail this time than ever before. Now if only those unfortunate souls who are having to endure endless lines, frustration and disenfranchisement will get the message and vote absentee from now on themselves then all the dirty tricks in the world won’t make a bit of difference.

    If only they’d wised up sooner, but oh well….. (shrug)

  • How difficult would it be to torch the building where the absentee votes are being stored?

    Always assuming that the PO delivered in time…

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