There are going to be a lot of diaries today on voting machine malfunctions, voter suppression and intimidation, poll worker mistakes and confusion, and on and on and on. But here at Common Cause, we are getting these stories straight from the voters themselves.
Common Cause is one of the public interest organizations running 1-866-My-Vote-1 this election season. Voters can call this number to find their polling place (and indeed, the majority of calls are for that purpose), or to report problems voting.
We want to share these voter stories with you all, so that you can get reports of problems almost literally as they happen, as well as stay up to date on what steps are being taken to correct these problems.
So throughout the day I'll be updating here with news on problems and the hotspots that are popping up around the country. Check back for the latest stories!
Here are two calls that we received from Wayne County, Michigan:
"Hi, Precinct 13 at Adler Elementary on Fillmore. The machine that counts the ballots was not operating this morning just after opening. I left at five minutes to eight; I was there at 7 am, and it was not counting the ballots, so we had to put it in and they assured us it would be hand-counted, but a lot of people were very upset."
"Uh, the voting machines this morning won't take the voting cards. They keep saying error, and like seven or eight of us had to put our ballots to the side while they call in repairs or whatever."
And we're receiving reports that voters in Mercer, PA, are being asked what party they're affiliated with. More on that as it comes in...