Tim Robbins' Polling Place Nightmare: He's Turned Away! (VIDEO)

Politically active actor Tim Robbins almost didn't get to vote in New York.

TMZ reports Robbins was turned away at his polling place.

There was some kind of ruckus and the cops were called.

Apparently Robbins has been voting at that polling place for more than a decade, but today his name wasn't on the register. They told Robbins he had to fill out a provisional ballot but he didn't want to do it. An argument erupted between Robbins and the poll worker. Robbins allegedly got loud and the poll worker said he was calling the cops.

Robbins accused the poll worker of trying to intimidate him so he wouldn't vote.

Robbins went downtown to the City Board of Elections to get proof he was good to vote.

That's where a TMZ camera caught up with him. Robbins held up his papers and told the camera:

"This is what you have to do to vote... I had to go down to see a judge... My name was not on the roll, and I'm not the only one. According to workers, 30 people in 5 hours had been taking off the rolls. You can do the math on that. 6 per hour, per district across America..."

WATCH:

Comments

[ceasespin]

advocate for a return to objective journalism - go to CeaseSPIN.org to learn more - www.FixNewsNow.org

[dadd]

Thank goodness he voted, it was a close one in CA.

[BigBagel]

It was NY. The three Republicans in the state conspired against him.

[pmag88]

In light of this and other issues with the tools of our democracy, we should thank those who stood in lines for hours and who stood up to make sure they were able to vote and that their votes actually counted. Also thanks to those who monitored and provided assurance that the system didn't break at a critical time. For those who early voted, a very special thanks to you. You made the win a lot bigger and you made the experience of participation a lot more pleasant for the rest of us.

[gusismycopilot]

THOUSANDS OF VOTERS WERE DROPPED from rosters all over Los Angeles County, with a heavy percentage affecting college students and new registrants in general. Monitors from Work the Vote LA observed a suspiciously high volume of pink provisional ballots increasing throughout the day at precincts in various parts of the county - with a population larger than 41 states - in many cases as high as 35%.

Over a half million new registrations were filed, according to the Registrar, yet reports are flooding in from many who went to their designated precincts, proof in hand, only to be MIA on the roster. Many more, like Tim, were dropped despite being regular voters at the same precinct for years. Many were told their provisionals would be included in the Election Night count - NOT true! Why were some (or many?) early voters in Norwalk made to vote on ballots marked "emergency" after waiting 4-5 hours for supposedly precinct-specific ballots? If any of this was your experience, log onto http://www.workthevotela.org ASAP(!), download and print out the Incident Report Form PDF, tell your story, giving as many factual details as possible including your precinct # if you have it, plus your phone# and address ( or the Board of Supervisors will dismiss you and your voting issues as imaginary.­) Fax or Mail it ASAP - this is urgent- info at bottom of form.

Protect Your Vote! Expect and Demand Election Integrity.

[VivaZapata]

One thing the Democrats must address for the future is to make the election process cheat and goof proof. There are many good suggestions out there. It shouldn't be too hard. Also, electoral college is archaic and bizarre.

[simsim]

I enjoy Tim Robins acting. Remeber that film with him and Martin Lawrence, "Nothing to Lose". Funny stuff. Cant forget "Shawshank Redemption".

[williambanzai7]

They can find you for a parking ticket but they can't find your right to vote. So typical.

[bioluminescence]

There have been some mind-numbing images from this election. But these two stand out because they are so different.

On the one hand there is the image of the CNN reporter whose image was beamed into the main studio using 34 high def cameras. It was a Star Trek moment. On the other end, are the images of voters lined up like lemmings going to the sea waiting hour after hour to cast their ballots.

The question becomes,if we can communicate with digital, infrared, hyper-drived, gazilla-byte laser images why are we still voting with quill pens?

If there is something sacrosanct about having to line up for hours, having to deal with crazed bureaucrats along the way, we would like to know? Surely, there must be a better way.

[AussieReader]

Good call...we could make Murdoch and the media take care of the voting. We could virtually vote on our TV's and watch it all unfold in the safety of our lounge rooms...

Oh, hang on, they already do!!
;-)

[ZKMC]

Um... actually the quill pens are much better. Here in California, I didn't wait in line. Walked in, picked up a ballot and voted within 5 minutes. Painless. It's the MACHINES that don't work. The pen and ink work just fine.

[deegee99]

Paper and pencil are the way to go. Canada votes this way and the results are known within 2 hours.
Most everyone knows that computers are only good if they work. They crash all the time, especially when they are old AND they are easily hacked to alter results. Give me the "quill" any day.

[tcwillis27]

Whatever. Don't dis him for using his fame to help bring a problem to light. This is one area where you can't be too perfect. Of course nobody would care if it was an unknown person but I'd much rather see a celebrity use his clout for the betterment of something that matters rather than to endorse designers. Save your passion for things that matter. Like what Sarah Palin wore on her flight home to Alaska. Geez.

[berrycooda]

Oh...boo hoo....you made it didn't you.

A lot of people had problems but they aren't in the news.

[slamkitty2]

Has anyone told you that there is this biga-- chip just sitting on your shoulder?

[NicePerson1]

Isn't it true that, if you do not vote on a regular basis at your designated precinct, that your name falls off the roster? There are many voters who only vote in the "big" elections and when it comes time to vote in a forum that matters to them, there is a problem such as this. The solution would be to vote at your precinct for every election concerning your district.

[simsim]

Maybe he hasnt voted for a few elections.

[vegangoddess]

Just to clarify, I saw him on another interview and he has voted in primaries and elections there for the past 15 years! He also just voted there in the primaries. What part of disenfranchisement are we not getting here?

[unhipcat]

If you aren't on the register, you file a provisional ballot. The Registrar of Voters confirms your name, address and registration and that you can legally vote. To yell at the people working the polls who volunteer their time to ensure that others can participate in the election is misguided, at the least.

[BigBagel]

Yea, but they're the little people. They're there to be yelled at by morons like Timmy boy. .

[condew]

Funny how the most abusive people are always faceless and protected by multiple screeners and secretarys. Tim Robbins did good. Better would have been that the politician or beaurocrat who took his name off the rolls should have been identified and publicly humiliated as one of the less American of those who live here.

[merr7242]

How prophetic after his warning on Real Time with Bill Maher. He warned that your voting experience could be frustrating if they don't find your name on the roles at your polling place. Tim found that out first hand but was daunted. He refused the provisional ballot that he warned about and went to court to get his vote counted. I wonder how many other Americans were turned away for the same reason and didn't force the issue like Tim.

[cblmc]

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT ANYONE WOULD DIS ANYONE THAT IS TRYING TO VOTE!! HE VOTED IN THE PRIMARIES AND SO HIS NAME SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE ON THE ROSTER....­UNLESS SOMEONE WANTS TO BE SURE THE VOTE GOES IN ANOTHER DIRECTION.­...EVERYON­E KNOWS THAT T.R. IS FOR OBAMA.

THANK GOD, HE HAD THE TIME AND THE WHERE-WITH-ALL TOGET THE JOB DONE. HERE IN INDIANA, A CLERK IN EVANSVILLE STOPPED THE PEOPLE THAT WERE WAITING IN LINE FOR 4 HOURS THE DAY BEFORE VOTING DAY AT 12 NOON. "THE RULE IS - NO ONE CAN ENTER THE LINE AFTER 12 P.M.....TH­EY TURNED ALL THOSE VOTERS AWAY THAT HAD BEEN STANDING THERE ALL THAT TIME...'ME­MBER INDIANA IS REPUBLICAN­......AND THANKFULLY WENT BLUE IN SPITE OF THIS BETRAYAL!!!

[Vixter]

Being a Dem. poll supervisor in MO, I had to reread your comment twice to make sure I understood - you contradicted yourself. If the people had been standing in line for 4 hrs, then they were there before 12 noon, then they got to vote. If not, why would someone come out at 4:00p.m. to tell them that they had to be in line before noon?

Provisional ballots are counted...­in fact, I'm p.o.'ed that the U.S. map has MO as a red state. There is a difference of 6000 votes between Obama & McCain with 7100 provisional ballots to count. Ergo it is too close to call until provisionals are counted - which won't be until approx. 11-18 (according to local news channels, & St. Louis County election board). Thank God Missouri isn't needed to decide the winner - the best man for the job already won.

I can't stop smiling for so many reasons - one being that we finally have our dignity around the world returned.

[RonBlack66]

Tim Robbins and others here seem to think that it was some sort of conspiracy to keep him off the rolls. In New York? I would think that New Yorkers, knowing Tim Robbins' political leanings, would be excited to have Tim Robbins vote as many times as he wants to.
A vast, right-wing conspiracy in New York. I think I've seen and heard it all now.