Virginia Voting: Broken Machines, No Paper Ballots

At the Math and Science Center in Richmond, Virginia, an early breakdown of electronic voting machines led to a three-and-a-half hour wait to vote on Tuesday morning, according to one poll watcher.

"Some people have been here since 6 a.m., and the first voters are just finishing now," said Judith Browne-Dianis, adding that the Richmond location she was watching did not even have backup paper ballots in case of machine malfunction.

"They didn't even have the paper ballots required by state law," she said. "That's not even something we were supposed to have to ask for. I went inside and asked the polling judge, and he said 'we don't have 'em. They [the Board of Elections] were supposed to give 'em to us, and they didn't.'"

Browne-Dianis is also a lawyer with the Advancement Project. That group, along with the NAACP, unsuccessfully brought legal action against Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine as part of an effort to expand polling place hours this evening.

The groups had also hoped to get Virginia to provide more paper ballots for voters in case late evening lines proved prohibitive -- a request that was also rejected by a judge on Monday.

On Tuesday morning, though, Browne-Dianis said her group had succeeded in getting Virginia to announce that curbside voting will be in effect tonight for elderly and disabled voters. She also underlined the fact that anyone who lines up by 7pm will be able to vote, no matter how long the line takes to process.

As for her group's thwarted legal challenge, Browne-Dianis said the judge was sympathetic to the case during Monday's hearing. "He himself described waiting two and half hours, at age 85, to vote absentee. ... He said we need to go to the state legislature and get early voting, and that there is no remedy for voters for this election. And so we are monitoring the polls."

Comments

[MGarr]

This Virginia State Board of Elections, which today failed to provide back-up paper ballots, is the SAME board of Elections that yesterday characterized a fraudulent flyer sent out to Virginia Democratic voters, telling them they needed to vote on November 5, not November 4, as merely a joke and refused to prosecute.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/28/phony-va-flier-gives-dems_n_138510.html

Contact Ms Nancy Rodrigues, Virginia State Board of Elections Secretary, asking her to clarify why voter fraud is a joke and not to be prosecuted.

Suite 101, 200 North 9th Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219-3485
Telephone: [phone]Toll Free: 800 552-9745 FAX: [phone]
sbe.virginia.gova.gov

[lemonyashes]

Thanks I will.

[tel8034]

For a country who always insists on observing elections in other countries to ward off voter irregulataries and voter fraud, and WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD WATCHING THIS ELECTION, this is an embarrassment.

The USA is the most powerful country in the world, and yet in 2008 there are voting problems vis a vis faulty machines, no paper ballots, insufficient machines etc.

How can the USA insist that they monitor other countries' elections when in this country election cycle after election cycle the SAME PROBLEMS exist?

Even 3rd world countries can run voting stations better than this WITH PAPER BALLOTS (no fancy technolgy), and the results are still known before midnight.

[carpevenus]

I live in Richmond, close to where there were problems.....but in my precinct everything was running very smoothly, quick lines, etc.......just spent 4 hours in the drizzling rain canvassing for Obama.........we have WAY more volunteers here than i've ever seen before, the operation is incredibly organized, motivated and thorough..........we have a surplus of people volunteering and waiting to drive people to the polls!! The rain doesn't seem to be affecting us here in Richmond at all!!!! Go Obama!

[CeeHusseinMoon]

Carpevenus,
Can the volunteers head out to the problem areas and offer support? Phone numbers for people to call in their experiences; perhaps make a paper ballot run?
Can one precinct request ballots from another with a surplus?

[sclucie]

Thanks!

[woodson]

I also live in Richmond and was a poll watcher for the Democratic Party at my precinct. There was a very long line at 6 am when the polls opened but took only about an hour or so to reduce the line to only a few minutes wait. There were additional voting machinces as well as additional staff on hand. I was around most of the day and there were few problems.

There really should be no excuse for voting problems in the USA given the technical advances. However, we need a national standard for elections. That might go a long way in preventing future problems

[OpinionsRMine]

And so, was it a mistake that there were no paper ballots available? Of course not! That is the system that we have in place.

[NobodysPoodle]

Help me understand. My polling place in VA had about 50 people in line. Another polling place just 1 mile down the road had hundreds. How did VA assign voters to polling locations? I don't think demographics plays in this since the area is pretty homogeneous.

[Mnemanth]

The powers-that-be don't want to streamline the voting process, or implement an easy program which captures- objectively- the wishes of the population. By keeping it complicated, rule intensive, and non-standardized, they can stir the mud and come up with an outcome that falls in line with the wishes of their corporate keepers.
Yes- regardless of party affiliation.
The two party/ two extremes governence and choices that we have are preposterous. The lack of inclusion or coverage of the other far more moderate affiliations is transparently biased. The manner in which we "capture" the popular vote is, at best, convoluted and exasperating for the public. The "electoral college" is the government's version of a faceless corporation and should have no place in the voting system.
Until we demand better, prepare for another stolen election.

[UnknownSoldier]

and then get ready for the Riots

[Ipanemagirl]

how sinister is this when governors ,senator, , even judges , do not favor voter's rights? What excuse can they possibly give? Ah, they are all Obama voters so who needs their votes, right? Isn't there some jail time for such reprehensible people obstructing peoples right to vote???Add another 1000 votes for Obama for every person that was denied a vote! That would teach em!

[Evisionary]

I voted at 6:00 a.m. this morning and waited in line with 250 people. Obama is going to win! I can't believe that Richmond didn't have paper ballots!

[mancityheel]

I had a 2 1/2 half hour wait this morning in Richmond. Even though it was stop start and part of the wait was in the rain, spirits were pretty good and I didn't see anyone leave the line. The logjam point was not the machines but checking people in. By late morning, the lines were gone and there have been no serious waits since then. In the precinct where I've been poll watching, 60% had already turned out by 2 pm not counting absentee ballots however we are hoping for a big further push of voters this p.m.

[Myrell002]

As a co-worker of mine said this morning.

"We can fly a man to the F*in Moon but can't get our archaic voting system right??!!"

[AlexeiJ]

To help fight anxiety about the outcome, here's some feel-good Obama that you can watch between rounds of phone-banking:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf19H_sHMro&fmt=6

[DiBaskin]

I think we need to call in the UN to police our elections since we can't seem to have an election without cheating.

[torrrep]

So because Virginia doesn't have the common sense to prepare for broken machines it must mean Republicans are cheating, right? You're ignorant.

[CaptainStormfield]

Yes until proven otherwise. If you dont know why then maybe you oughta get informed.

[ClockworkOrange]

whoever you are, or where you're from, you must realize that "common sense" has nothing to do with this. the bottom line: our next job, post-election, is to stand up for uniform voting methods that reflect the demographic needs in each area. preparation is not "common sense"... it's a process, and essential. lack of preparation on a statewide level is suspicious and clearly unacceptable.

i want my vote on paper. in my handwriting.

no more putzing around. Voting Standardization NOW.

in my little corner of rural central Virginia, there weren't any paper ballots to verify the touch-screen selection. therefore, my vote is a leap of faith.

Never, Ever, Again.

[digdeeper]

Yep! Lets do it. It is beginning to feel like Zimbabwe. The US is held up as a great democratic nation yet there is every reason to worry that votes will be lost either because of inefficiency or downright cheating. What a shameful state of affairs.
VOTE OBAMA

[Rockwell]

The problem is we have county election officials who are mediocre bureaucrats and poll workers are 90 year old volunteers. They continue to manage these critical elections as if voter turnout was going to be the usual 20%. Not enough machines. Not enough ballots. Poorly trained poll workers.

The whole process was agonizing. The agony of watching an octogenrian slowly take my driver's license, slowly open the voter roll, peer myopically for my name on the book, licking her finger, flipping pages. Lick, flip. Lick, flip. Slowly (god! so slowly) marking the spot. Then initial a little slip of paper, then wait for 90 year old Betty Sue next to her to counter initial it, then slowly slide the book to me to sign my name and initial my address, then ask me what kind of ballot I wanted only to send me to the other side of the room to wait in line so Melba May could get me a paper ballot.

But thank God for Betty Sue and Melba May because I did this job in the 2006 election and it was a brutal 20 hour non-stop day from 4AM to midnight without a break. There aren't enough volunteers to add a second shift so those poor folks have to stick it out of the whole ordeal. They deserve more help, more equipment, better training and a much more streamline process.

[VOTER]

Obama should win Virginia and GOP scum are attempting to upset this result through
criminal acts.

No surprise! Virginians should not allow these people to stay in their powerful positions.

GET RID OF THE SCUM! TAKE BACK YOUR STATE!

[richmonddem]

the RTD (usually not the best source of info) has been tracking the problems in richmond:

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-11-04-0156.html

The congress knew that VA would be a problem, especially given the trouble with the primary, here's a link to the testimony of one Chesterfield county voter (Richmond'a largest suburb) for the Judiciary committee in Sept. 2008

http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=3535&wit_id=7388

[DiBaskin]

I pray they don't give up. Remember the sit- ins and the Bus boycott. People died so that some of us could have the right to vote. Vote we must. If we can get those crooks out of office it will be worth it all.

I wish I lived in a battle ground state. I hope someone is taking them food and water and offering folding chairs.

Keep the Faith. Keep Fighting. Don't give up!