Not to distract anyone but, there are 5 states holding elections today

27 June. Senate primary runoff election.

And thanks 10ashus for this very important public service announcement.

It's only a primary and so it doesn't get a lot of attention. Here's hoping our DUers in those 5 states today have voted or will be voting.

:hi:

living, breathing citizen would pass up the opportunity to vote. It saddens me. I don't have children but I stay abreast of and voice my opinions on local school board issues. (My logic, I don't have kids but I do pay taxes.)

Thanks again.

NOW EVERYBODY GET OUT AND VOTE.

I don't have kids but I pay a helluva lot of taxes.

33%!!??? More people vote for American Idol. So incredibly sad.

Most local races are without opposition (my legislator and state senator are both Democrats running unopposed in the primary).

On the Democratic side, we have a race to replace Olympia Snowe in the Senate (which most people think is impossible and not worth the time) and the governor faces token opposition.

The Republican side has a tight, three-way race for the gubernatorial nomination.

There are no bond issues, referendum questions or other majot contested races to draw people to the polls.

Already voted bright and early today :D

And welcome to DU!!!

:hi:

88?????? Please tell me you live in a VERY small town with a very small population.

I was number 19 at 2pm...my city has 75,000 people, and my polling district has over 5,000 people in it. Final tally was 100 votes cast, 52 for Webb, 48 for Miller...about how the state itself is breaking down.

and got Democrat #117. That's small for this area, but I was told that it was twice the Republicans.

So, big deal. George Allen has GOT to go.

And the voting machine I had to use was a piece of junk. I'm not encouraged.

When is this going to be a priority of our elected officials? It's as if they don't care as long as the vote favors them. The NY machines are old clunkers too.

That's the nightmare.

They honestly were not as well-made or well-designed as some of my kids' old toys. The good ones.

It really shocked me, how primitive and badly-done they were. Even the volunteers sort of rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

That's just so wrong. I am no longer able to associate myself with this country in so many ways. It's getting so you can't turn on a t.v. or open a paper without finding something new to discourage.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

I was afraid that Republicans would show up to vote, but the other lady who was voting when I was was a Democrat. We both commented on the Diebold machines and stealing elections.

;)

It's all smoke and mirrors. ;-)

:kick:

I had issues with both candidates - in the "old days" I tended to use primaries to make a statement to the party, this year it's too important to get a candidate who can beat the "California Cowboy"...

I wasn't allowed to vote. Was told that new voter registration cards had been sent out and they won't accept an old one (even with 3 pieces of ID...2 of them photo). I never got anything; the local paper and news outlets (including online) somehow managed to miss the fact that the cards were changing.

About half the line while I was there had the same problem.

Did you contact somebody? Are you in a low income precinct? Did you go to other precincts to see whether everybody is treated the same?

This crap pisses me off. I have never been asked for a voter registration card in my life. I'm not even sure that I was ever asked to do anything except sign the book.

I was going to respond along those same lines. It pisses me off too. I've only been asked for my ID, which in the last election still was my Illinois ID and I now live in NYC. They let me vote.

We have mail-in so all we ever have is our signature. After the last election they mailed cards to verify addresses and registration for the next 4 years. I've also voted in Montana and California and I just don't remember any of these kinds of hassles. I don't understand why it's tolerated. Do people just not know this stuff doesn't happen everywhere or what??

'You don't have the proper card, please move out of the way'. I saw at least 15 other people told the same thing and was approached by a cop for just sitting there watching. My medical condition would be a bad thing to mix with being tasered so I turned my scooter up to jackrabbit and got the hell out of there.

We are VOTERS and we have RIGHTS. To feel threatened at a polling place is the last straw. I'd have to come out swinging on that one.

:rant:

Can you pick whichever one of these people is closest to you and email them? Ask them how in the world this could be allowed to go on without them informing people, along with the question about the provisionals etc.

http://www.scdp.org/state.php

No problem there. But these are the same people who stalled me and gave me all kinds of excuses (including stating that I didn't exist) when I tried to get an absentee ballot for 2004.

It really upsets me. SC doesn't require you to declare a party when you register, so I didn't, believing that that would be a safer alternative...I'm not immediately identifiable as a Dem.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. I've been keeping track and in over a month of heavy political ads on TV, there has been only ONE shown here for a Democratic candidate. All the rest have been trying to outrepublican each other.

You should probably contact the ACLU because they aren't following SC law. I have also read that you can sign an affidavit stating who you are too.

"For identification to vote, you may present either your voter registration certificate, a valid South Carolina driver's license, or a South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles issued photo I.D. card. If your registration card is ever lost or stolen, you may obtain a duplicate, even on election day, from your county voter registration office."


http://www.state.sc.us/scsec/

(a right-winger I have little to do with). He received the new card and showed it to me.

On it is printed

"Please check this card for accuracy. For any questions, call your Voter Registration office. YOU MUST (emphasis here is mine) present your voter registration notification, a valid South Carolina License or a photo ID that has been issued by the Department of Public Safety when you go to vote. You may request a duplicate notification card from your local Voter Registration Office if your original is lost or stolen.

If you move within this county, follow directions on back of notification card. If you move to another county, you must register in your new county of residence."

He got his about 3 weeks ago. There is no mention of when you may request a new 'notification' (they don't even call it a card any more) but it seems that what you found online is no longer valid.

The only thing I can find is that people after 2004 had to show ID when they registered so those who registered before that would have to bring additional ID when they vote. Maybe they sent out new registration cards for those who registered after Jan 2004. But there is still supposed to be a way to present ID and vote, I think your county got their information wrong.

http://www.charlestoncounty.org/index2.asp?p=/departments/BEVR/d-bvotereg.htm#identification

And had to re-register in 1987, when they lost my registration and again in 1994 when they took my registration away from me for not having voted in 2 previous local elections.

No, the county doesn't have it wrong. It's just a concerted effort to make sure that only those they want to vote do so.

It may very well have to do with my campaign against the Diebold machines used here for the first time.

Curious to see what they have to say because this doesn't match any of the laws, new or old.

which is nothing.

If they don't email, I'll call tomorrow. This is sure baffling. If they are following the law, then they're keeping some of the law from the people in order to surprise them at the last minute, seems to me.

What's on the new voter 'notification' is definitely different from what's on the website...and I copied it out, word for word.

Guess it's easier to blame it on a federal institution (the Post Office). "What, you didn't get your notification? Well, we can't help it if the mail doesn't go through".

You registered in 1994.
You have lived at the same address since then.
You voted in 1994, 2000, 2004.
You received no notification that you needed the "new voter registration card" and did not receive one in the mail.

Is all of that right? Have you voted more often?

Are you willing to contact the media in your area? How about Bradblog? While it isn't always my fav news source, Brad does do a very good job covering voter suppression & election fraud...

I am :mad:

You registered in 1994.
You have lived at the same address since then.
You voted in 1994, 2000, 2004.
You received no notification that you needed the "new voter registration card" and did not receive one in the mail.

The first time I registered in this county was in 1974. We've lived at this same address since 1979.
No, I was not allowed to vote in 94...was refused because my registration was revoked. Reason given was that I hadn't voted in 2 previous local elections. Was bullshit and a friend who works a differing precinct at the polls was able to help me get it straightened out. Too late to vote, but fixed.

I voted in 2000. In 2004 I needed an absentee ballot. I first applied for one in March of 2004. In June I emailed them to find out why I'd received no acknowledgement...was told they never received the ap. Reapplied end of June. In August I called to find out why I hadn't gotten mine yet. Was told it was mailed out to me and if I didn't receive it by Sept. 1 to call again. Called again Sept. 2, was told that my address didn't exist and was threatened with legal action for trying to perpetrate a fraud. Sept. 15, sent registered ap for absentee ballot with copy of non-driver's ID, registration card and header from electric bill in my name showing that my address DOES exist. Oct. 15, called to find out where my absentee ballot was. Told that it was too late to apply for one and if I couldn't get to my polling place that I'd just have to forego voting. I didn't vote...no way to get there from where I was.

No, I received no notification of needing a new registration 'notification' (as they are terming it now) and no new card. And there was nothing in the local media about it...print, broadcast or online. My neighbor, his son and grandson all received theirs. I suppose if I had more to do with them that I'd have found out about it but I just cannot listen to them blaming every bad thing that happens on 'ragheads' and 'niggers'. And that attitude has gotten worse as our neighborhood has become more integrated.

Willing to contact the media? No. Not any more. Because I don't have a hope of it doing any good. (If they didn't publicize the need for a new card, why would they publicize the need for a new card just because people weren't allowed to vote without it?) I fall into 3 of the 4 categories of people least likely to be allowed to vote (or wanted at the polls). I'm 60, female and disabled. It would be a grand slam if I were also black but I missed that one.

more or see more in your local media about other voters having problems.

Edit! I was shocked by your statement that about 15 people at your precinct (who happened to be there while you were there) were having the same problem...

What proportion is 15 of the total number of people who were there while you were there?

Especially considering there was such a low turnout. Makes you wonder...

:shrug:

I was asked my choice of ballots (paper or a *new* e-voting machine), and chose paper.

I also asked the folks manning the tables if most people were choosing paper.

They said yes, but only by about 60/40 or so.

Still, it beats all machine.

What more can we do than show up at the polls on election day and hope our vote counts? But at least you voted.

:patriot:

need a few upsets to win back the Senate this year.

The primaries are too important to miss.