Over 100,000 Have Complained About Voting Problems

UPDATED at 7:30 P.M. on November 3:

Today, Barbara Anwine of the Election Protection Coalition (1-866-OUR-VOTE), a nonpartisan group, told MSNBC about voter suppression tactics they have witnessed around the country.

The group says it has received over 100,000 voter calls at the Election Protection Command Center.

- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Callers have reported receiving robocalls telling them that Election Day is November 5th.

- Ohio: Voters have been falsely told that they can send in absentee ballots as late as November 14th.

- North Carolina: Fliers were left on cars at a shopping mall instructing Republicans to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 4th (actual Election Day) and Democrats to vote on Wednesday Nov. 5th.

- Louisiana: People who moved out of their damaged homes after Hurricane Katrina are reporting confusion about their registration status and voting precinct.

- New Jersey: The state registration database is operating too slowly to update with the names of recent registrants.

- Maryland and Virginia: Voters report receiving calls from the purportedly from the Obama campaign with inaccurate polling place location.

- Indiana: Early voting centers are closing at noon and many people left standing in line have been sent away without getting to vote. Election law is unclear about this situation.

- Michigan: Many registered voters' names are not appearing on the state web site that verifies registration status. This also means that people can't find their polling location on the site.

- Kansas City, Missouri: Reports are coming in from voters at a largely African American polling location, who are being warned of a 6-8 hour wait to vote (despite the line being short) and forced to put their names on a list while in line to vote.

Comments

[monimd]

12:49 PM on 11/04/2008

After waiting almost an hour and a half in line and given a ballot to complete, "Kal" (the volunteer) tried to prevent me from turning in my ballot because my dog had a "bark for barack" tshirt on. He stated that the t-shirt saying "Barack" could not be within one hundred feet of the polls. What if I was wearing the tshirt-I can't vote? He did not respond. I tied her up outside and away from the poll and he said she needed to be farther away. I removed her shirt and only then was able to turn in my ballot. By the way, there were two dogs inside of the polling station (just not supporting Barack).

[ozofjakes]

03:09 PM on 11/04/2008

It is illeagal in most states to campaign within 150 feet of any polling place, this includes political t-shirts. If your dog was wearing a McCain shirt you would have had the same problem

[PattyElle]

11:57 AM on 11/04/2008

VOTER PROTECTION HOTLINE:

REPORT ANY PROBLEMS AT YOUR POLLING SITE:
1-888-OUR-VOTE/ 1-888-687-86-83

Watch this important piece of information:

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/3/on_eve_of_election_day_is

[talkreal34]

11:13 AM on 11/04/2008

I went to my voting location today in Jersey City, New Jersey, the same location I've always gone to, and the ladies behind the desk tried to tell me that I was at the wrong place!! One of the women looked at my voter's registration card and said that my District # was a (2) when it was clearly a (14), and was going to have me speak to a deputy about finding my "actual voting location". Now mind you, this was all before they even checked to see if my name was on the voter's list. So I stood there and insisted that they identify my name on the list. Guess what? My name was there. No apologies were given except for uncomfortable smiles and fake compliments about my hairstyle (I know, right?) But the icing on this cake was the fact that there was another woman standing right next to me who was having the same problem as me. And like me, she was African-American. Coincidence?? You decide. I know what my opinion is. Inspite of these unfortunate shenanigans, I did cast my historic vote today.

[PattyElle]

11:47 AM on 11/04/2008

Bravo!!!! I really hope there is somebody at that poll who can assist less assertive people then you. Thank you for speaking up!

[sylar]

10:14 PM on 11/03/2008

http://www.gregpalast.com/
http://www.gregpalast.com/sbyv/download-the-movie.html

6 million purged/mucked already

Computer fiddling to come.

The only way to win this is to VOTE your way through the theft attempt.

[tomgerety]

06:18 PM on 11/03/2008

Miles Gerety again from South Dade, Florida:
Sometime after 2:30 a man with a Jamaican accent called me and asked me to help an elderly man who was "fading." The elderly man, George McLain (85), father of a police officer and of a speech therapist and grandfather of twelve, looked very tired. It was obvious he needed to sit down. So I walked Mr. McClain across the grass (avoiding the longer sidewalk path) and into the library and found him a seat. The system was that someone in the line would have to act as Mr. McClain's placeholder. Mr. McClain had laughed when I'd softly said I thought Obama would be our next president and he responded "a black man can't be president." He looked frail, I didn't want him to be kept waiting too long inside, so rather than having the Jamaican man act as his place holder, I asked a group of women closer to the front of the line to claim Mr. McClain as their own.

Sometime later, I saw Mr. McClain leaving the polling place. He had voted. I said."Mr. McClain can you tell me who you voted for?" He looked up (I noticed he had a cataract growing in his right eye), tilted his head close to mine, and whispered "Barack Obama, who did you think I'd vote for."

Miles Gerety

[craigary]

07:47 PM on 11/03/2008

That was awesome, thanks for sharing it. Made me kinda teary eyed actually, thinking of my own grandfather who lived in that area for decades and who passed away a year ago, and who was always very politically engaged up to the very end. He was always kind of a paternal racist (and an incredible man otherwise) but late in his life some of that slipped away and he was taken care of by a Jamaican man when his health finally started failing (at age 99!) If he was still alive today he may have had trouble voting for Obama, too, but I bet he quietly would've done it.

[PattyElle]

11:49 AM on 11/04/2008

My husband is disabled and I cannot be there today to help him in the lines. Thank you for sharing this important story. We need to help others today! And everyday.... The American Way!

[tomgerety]

06:15 PM on 11/03/2008

Miles Gerety reports another incident from the long lines of early voters in South Dade:

I got to the South Dade Regional Library just after 11:30 Sunday, Nov. 2, the last day of the Florida early vote. By noon, a line was building. By 1 p.m. when the voting began, the lines wrapped around the building and out towards the parking lot. It was by then "a five-hour line." It was raining intermittently. I talked to small groups about getting a sample ballot when they got into the library to make their voting more accurate and quicker. Speed would help everyone behind them get their right to vote. The skies cleared and another volunteer lawyer and got sample ballots to ditribute to all the voters
Jon Margolis, a lawyer from Boston, a veteran of Florida 2000 and 2004, augmented our speech on the sample ballot with a little lecture on the voting process as the voters got within 200 ft of the library entrance.
The combination of the three of us worked well and the five hour line became a four hour and sometimes three-and-a-half hour line. As we began to fade three other voter protection lawyers arrived and we got them distributing the sample ballot and talking up the voters. AJ Johnson, the Vikings football star and local coach, worked the line encouraging people to stick with it. Just about everyone did.

[tomgerety]

06:06 PM on 11/03/2008

Miles Gerety, a Connecticut public defender volunteering in South Dade, reports on someone voting in the midst of a personal tragedy:
One of the older women in the 3-4hour line in South Dade had a husband in Hospice. She'd told the others around her that Hospice had given her husband a week to live. She said it was a relief for her to be in the line. That woman was past the hundred foot mark, perhaps 80 feet from the library doors, when I heard her wailing. Another woman approached me, literally grabbed onto me, saying I had to help this woman, her husband had just died. Hospice had called with the news. As a former Hospice volunteer myself, I was determined that this poor woman was going to vote immediately if that was what she wanted. The death of a loved one should trump everything else, period. She said she wanted to vote, she was imploring me to help her vote. It seemed she wanted to vote for her husband though she didn't say those words. So vote she would. Mustering all the confidence I could, I put my arm around her and marched her into the library: "Her husband has just died, you should by law let her vote immediately." My voice tremored; she shivered; the poll workers embraced her, and this poor woman got to vote. If nothing else, her vote made my trip to Florida worthwhile.

Miles Gerety

[TheGuide]

08:32 PM on 11/03/2008

Thank you very much for all of your reports. This is by far a living-drama election for every American. It's nice to be a part of it.

[billblow3]

03:40 PM on 11/03/2008

Republicans are putting flyers out in black neighborhoods telling people that Republicans vote Nov.4 and Democratics vote Nov.5., sending out robo-calls telling people if they have a traffic ticket you will be arrested at the voting booth, knocking on doors telling the people that their Detectives and if they leave their neighborhood their subject to be arrest if seen leaving, taking peoples name off the voting list, out in Colorado the (State Sec., A Republican) took 30,000 peoples name off the list because he said some of the letters were not capitalize, street names were not spell right you name it he did it, now he's under investigation.

[billblow3]

03:29 PM on 11/03/2008

All these problems are a product of the racist republican party tactics to prevent people of color from voting. Just look at were all these problems are, in black neighborhoods, where there are people of color and the poor. You go out in the white neighborhoods and there's no problem, in and out in 10minutes.

[BSERIUS]

04:56 PM on 11/03/2008

wouldn't the polling places in black neighborhoods be monitored and run by Democrats? Can't imagine many evil republicans wreaking havoc outside a polling place in South Central LA or in Harlem.

[ThePublicRecord]

03:21 PM on 11/03/2008

http://www.pubrecord.org/sarah-palin/442-palin-faces-more-trouble-over-troopergate-.html

Palin Faces More Trouble Over 'Troopergate'

Sarah Palin faces another likely setback in an investigation into whether she entangled her duties as Alaska governor in a family feud with her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper, according to a senior state legislator.

[sylar]

01:54 PM on 11/03/2008

http://www.freeforall.tv

Be prepared from the steal, folks. If it happens, get off your couches and protest!

[PattyElle]

11:53 AM on 11/04/2008

Right On!

VOTER PROTECTION HOTLINE: REPORT ANY PROBLEMS AT YOUR POLLING SITE:

1-888-OUR-VOTE/ 1-888-687-8683 - Pass it on!!!!

Watch this for more important information!

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/3/on_eve_of_election_day_is

[hcbuck]

01:52 PM on 11/03/2008

Why a homeless person would be denied the right to vote is beyond me. It's not like they would be precinct hopping, going from town to town casting votes. Give me a break.

[Harmony1812]

01:21 PM on 11/03/2008

Even homeless people have the right to vote. The correct address should not be necessary. Just because someone is poor should not prohibit them voting. There must be a way. This sector of invisible people need representation more than anyone else.

[catzoned]

11:59 AM on 11/03/2008

I voted this week (10 minute wait at lunch time) and there is important information for you need to have when you go: You need to print and write your name as it is registered exactly with the State. And if you live in an apartment make sure it is considered an “apartment” and not a "Unit". I live in an already heavily GOP contested (infested?) swing state and surely would have messed up the “apartment versus unit” situation if I hadn't had my info from the local Secretary of State. So if you don't have the mail from Sec of State please call and square it away before your vote is contested by the GOP as it is here! Just go prepared. When I went to fill out my card to get a nice paper ballot and I had my registration info to refer to - the first thing out the volunteers mouth was “you don’t need that here”. Well, yes I did! And so do you, so go prepared. (1-866-OUR-VOTE)

[ColoradoDan]

11:42 AM on 11/03/2008

The ONLY hope for McCain and the GOPis to rig the machines again.

THIS time, if they do, we ALL know the fix is in and that the American Voting System is woned by some corrupt folks.

How we have allowed private Republican Companies to own the two voting machine companies is kind of insane.

[kace]

12:18 PM on 11/03/2008

Do you mean the corrupt ACORN? The dems always complain of disenfranchised voters. The way I see it, the disenfranchised are every honest voter. With Mickey mouse being registered and people being registered numerous times, the disenfranchiser is ACORN. Or anyone who commits voter registration fraud.

[Congzilla]

12:31 PM on 11/03/2008

None of those phony registrations actually turn into votes, so how does a few canvassers tricking the system for a few extra bucks effect anything? It doesn't.

[soithoni]

01:00 PM on 11/03/2008

Corrupt ACORN???

You are living proof of the adage "there are none so blind as those who refuse to see".

[citipearl]

01:26 PM on 11/03/2008

Agreed! Watch "Hacking Democracy" (HBO documentary; preview on http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/hackingdemocracy/index.html) and look at the website of the subject of the documentary, Bev Harris, and her organization, Black Box Voting, org: www.blackboxvoting.org -- it is a wonderful source of information with specific concerns state by state.

The problems with election results arise not just because of Diebold (assume that's the company to whom you're referring) but also because of corrupt election officials. The documentary shows just how easy it is to tamper with the results and how officials destroyed signed original results and offered "revised" results -- and specific proof that this had been done was shown.

New York State still has the old machines that were a type put in place after Tammany Hall was brought down so that the counting process was/is transparent and more easy to follow -- but the push is on to change that to the new (more easily tampered with) computerized systems.

The ACORN matter is a smokescreen to divert attention away from the more serious matters with election tampering. I have been voting since 1972 and it has never been more difficult to vote than it is now!