As the hours tick down to Election Day, there's a lot of excitement. The polls seem to show a breaking wave for Obama, McCain seems to be in denial, and the first step on the road back for America seems to be at hand. Well, don't bet on anything yet.
We should never forget we are dealing with a political party that has demonstrated repeatedly there is no crime they won't commit to hang on to power. If there is any way to steal this election, they will try it. Maybe they can't get McCain/Palin over the top; I don't know, but I do know this. They will still seek every advantage they can gain from this election any way they can. We can not take ANYTHING for granted until it is over, certified, and maybe not even then. I'll uncross my fingers when we make it to inauguration day and Obama and Biden take the oath of office.
I've put some ideas together here on what we should be doing when we go out to vote, assuming you haven't voted already. I hope this will make the rec list long enough to still be up on Monday. Its intent to is arm every voter with enough information to effectively counter Republican efforts to block the vote. Lots of links and 2 words: BE PREPARED!
There have been a lot of good diaries about voting at Daily Kos recently, with advice and suggestions. I'm writing this one up to summarize some of the things I've seen here and elsewhere, along with some of my own suggestions. Please feel free to comment on things I've missed, offer additional resources, and otherwise make this a resource so we can make sure Tuesday goes the way it should. (And if I've made some egregious errors or forgotten something major, by all means let me know.)
I may be busy with some last minute GOTV work, but I'll try to add updates from comments as I get the chance. Please REC this diary so it stays up long enough to be seen.
THE THREAT TO THE ELECTION
Now, if you're already convinced the Republicans are going do everything they can to influence the election by foul means as well as fair, you can skip this section and go right to the practical steps below for ways you can BE PREPARED to vote and make your vote count. If you want some more information though, keep reading. The big picture is not pretty and the traditional media really haven't given as much attention to it as they should.
The Republicans and their allies may be evil and incompetent at many things, but that doesn't mean they're stupid. They've been watching the polls for months as their brand goes down the tubes, the 2006 elections certainly put them on alert, and they have been busy getting ready to scrape whatever they can out of this election. The simple fact is this: if everyone votes who should be able to vote, they will lose big time. They will lose not just the White House, but their firewall in the Senate, plus the damage they'll take in all of the down ballot state and local races. Now they may not be able to get the Electoral College numbers for McCain (unless they can do what they did with the Supreme Court and Florida in 2000, or the Ohio voting suppression in 2004) - but they will still be trying to hang onto Senate seats and anything they can do to keep the 'wrong' people from voting they will do and are already doing. (Want to see how scared they are, and how they're demonizing the Democrats? Check out this GOP Senate Campaign video. It's worth watching if only for the 'face of Liberal Evil' at the end.)
There's plenty of documentation of this already. One big narrative they're pushing is widescale voter fraud. Digby has been covering this for some time now. Take a look here and also here. (georgia10 has it covered here, too)
The GOP is terrified by the numbers of people registering to vote, and they want the press primed with the idea that there is widescale fraud going on. This is to prepare the ground for the tactics they are using to keep people from voting (TPM here, here, and here), preemptively shape the news coverage, and for the legal challenges (NY Times here and here, and a diary by Big Blue with relevant followup from TPM) they are mounting before and after the election in critical states. (Hilzoy at Washington Monthly has a couple of commentaries on how vulnerable our voting process is, here and here.)
Let's not forget the other things going on as well, the attack ads, the robocalls, the mailings, the suspicious leaks to the news. (H/T to TPM) There's outright criminality and dirty tricks as well: here, here, and here. (H/T to DCCC for these last three. Check out the link for a video very relevant to this diary.)
Where the Republicans succeed in their efforts to steal the election, expect to hear a lot about the "Bradley Effect" which will be used to explain why exit polls and surveys were wrong. CNN and TIME among others in the traditional media have been priming the pump with articles on this already. Questions that should be asked where this happens are, how do the rest of the voting numbers work out - that is, are there suspicious patterns on other ballot totals that suggest some of the totals may have been 'jiggered' somehow? Although there have been efforts to discount exit polls, they are still a pretty good indicator of the validity of an election result if done correctly.
As if that prospect wasn't bad enough, it should be remembered that the White House and the Republicans have done everything they can to pervert the Department of Justice. Although there have been resignations and other shakeups over U.S. attorney firings back from 2006, the department is still politicized. The White House attempted to have the DOJ intervene in Ohio to aid GOP efforts to exclude voters. The DOJ declined to follow through, much to the disgust of some. Now here is a question to ask. Did the DOJ decline to intervene because of the lack of merit and blatantly political nature of the White House request - or so the Republicans can point to the incident as 'proof' the Department of Justice is not corrupted? This could be a factor in legal maneuvers after election day. It's not like the Republicans haven't been trying to use the courts to swing the election after all. This could be a bit of Kabuki Theater on the part of the administration to establish plausible deniability for post election legal warfare.
(When the dust finally settles, the entire staff of Talking Points Memo should be awarded a Medal of Freedom for their focus on threats to the integrity of our elections.)
Now the point of this small sampling of GOP machinations isn't to inspire horror and disgust (though it should) - it's to make you aware of what we're up against. There's another point to consider here too. Every allegation of voter fraud, every story of alleged criminal behavior or irregularities on the part of Democrats is intended for after the election too.
The Republicans expect to lose; this is all about A) attacking the legitimacy of a Democratic White House and Congress, B) discrediting the Democratic agenda, and C) being able to claim they and their ideas weren't soundly rejected by America - the election was stolen from them. They are already digging in to totally oppose everything the Democrats will be trying to do in the coming months and years.
There's no point in reaching out to these people. The only practical response is to beat them by as big a margin as possible and consign them back to the fringes of American politics from whence they came. So, how to do that? Vote - and make sure your vote counts. BE PREPARED!
STEP ONE: THE BASICS
Can YOU answer these questions?
• Do you know if you are registered to vote?
• Do you know where to vote?
• Do you know what hours you can vote?
• Do you know what you need to vote?
• Do you know who/what is on the ballot where you'll vote?
It's awfully late in the game to be asking these questions, but if you don't have the answers there is still time to do something about it. (Note: answers will vary from state to state and even locale. Don't wait till the last minute to find out.)
There was a good diary by jamess several weeks ago detailing how people are being removed from voting rolls - often with no notification. Sometimes this is just the process at work - but there is also a deliberate effort by the Republicans to strip as many likely Democratic voters from the rolls as possible. Don't be one of them.
To pick up from jamess and his excellent posting on this, here's some links to note:
Checking for registration, where to vote, what kind of ID to bring where you vote, and other resources:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/...
https://www.votepoke.org/...
http://www.canivote.org/ *lots of detail here, down to various voting districts, and other info.
http://www.lwv.org/... and http://www.vote411.org/
http://www.voteforchange.com/
http://truth.voteforchange.com/
States where you should be really concerned about this:
http://www.progressiveblue.com/...
Some additional points to note: try checking your registration through all of the sites above. It never hurts to try, doesn't cost you anything - but also note what happens at the polling place may represent the actual rather than the ideal.
Try to know who/what is on the ballot ahead of time so you don't find yourself fumbling around with people waiting behind you to vote, or screwing up your vote because of an avoidable mistake. The League of Women Voters usually has guides to local issues and other aid. Your local newspaper/media outlets should have information available - check their websites. At your polling place, you may be able to check on voting procedures and what the ballot looks like before getting in line. Do it if it won't hold up voting. BE PREPARED!
STEP TWO: DRESSING FOR SUCCESS
By many accounts, turn out for election day this year may be massive. Vote as early as you can in the day, and be prepared for delays. Make sure you have the ID you'll need for the state where you vote. Wear comfortable shoes, dress in layers for the weather - and make a bathroom stop first. If possible, arrange to have as much time free as it takes to vote where you are.
Bring a folding chair in case the lines are long - heck bring several and share them with others who need them. A bottle of water and snacks may not be a bad idea either depending on circumstances. (It was suggested in a diary I forgot to note several days ago that bringing some spare umbrellas to share with others in case of rain or sun would be a good thing.)
Be prepared to go into stealth mode. That is, don't wear anything partisan that you can't remove or cover up. Some localities use that as a reason to exclude people from polling areas, calling it 'campaigning'. It could also make you a target for a vote challenge, again depending on where you are. American flag pins aren't mandatory (yet) but probably can't hurt. It's our flag too, after all.
One more thing. At the risk of being a bit paranoid, don't wear or carry anything you would not want to be arrested in. With luck this is just a worst case scenario, but given some of the stuff that's already happened this election year, BE PREPARED!
STEP THREE: GEAR UP!
I made reference to being "Armed and Dangerous" in the title of this diary for a reason ( update - but edited it in response to comments). Forewarned is forearmed - I'm trying to put information together here so that everyone can BE PREPARED for what may be waiting on Tuesday. More than that though, there's a commonly available tool that can help keep an election from being stolen: the cell phone. Let me explain.
It is not possible for the forces of Good to be everywhere at once. Many of the shenanigans that will be attempted to steal the election and suppress the vote are predicated on lack of evidence and/or witnesses that can be brought forward after the fact. That can be made a lot harder with a cell phone handy, especially the models with extras. Just make sure it's fully charged when you go to vote, and try this stuff out ahead of time to make sure you can use it if you need to use it.
Does your phone have a camera? If you see long lines or other problems, take a picture. Does your cell phone also do video? Use it to document things that aren't kosher. If you believe your right to vote is challenged unfairly for example, get it on video. Be polite, but firm. Ask the person responsible to identify themself clearly and the reason for the problem. (Also include your own name, location, and time.) No video? If your cell phone can record memos, you can still use it to get people on record. Dealing with an electronic voting machine that is misbehaving? Try to document it.
If you see anything that doesn't look right, use your phone - and ditto if you see it happening to someone else. One more point: Get The Word Out - it IS a cell phone after all. There are places with operators standing by to take your calls!
• ACLU Voter Protection Hotline (1-877-523-2792)
• Lawyers' Committe Hotline (1-800-OUR-VOTE / 1-800-687-8683)
• NPR has a webpage with info on how to use twitter, and upload videos to YouTube and PBS to document voting issues. Also check out the iPhone and Google phone apps. Want to send a text message? They've got that covered too.
Text: Send a text message to 66937. Begin the message with the phrase #votereport, include your ZIP code and a very brief description of the problem.
NPR has a Voting Problems web page that is already up and running with reports.
• Don't neglect PBS either.
• Check out the National Campaign for Fair Elections; 1-866-687-8683 or web page here.
• Ditto for Our Vote Live
• Here's another: Election Protection Wiki.
Other Camera and Video Options:
Video the Vote is another place where information is coming together. You can see the sponsoring organizations at the bottom of the web page.
The New York Times has the Polling Place Photo Project.
Photograph Your Polling Place
The Polling Place Photo Project is a nationwide experiment in citizen journalism that encourages voters to capture, post and share photographs of this year’s primaries, caucuses and general election. By documenting local voting experiences, participants can contribute to an archive of photographs that captures the richness and complexity of voting in America.
Some other suggestions:
• Load the phone numbers from the list above into your phone so you will have them if you need them.
• If your phone has internet capabilities, add in the web addresses/email addresses from the above list.
• Load your phone with the numbers of your local traditional media outlets too. Most of them have tip lines for breaking news.
• Local talk radio show call-in numbers. If you're going to be standing in line, why not use the time to do a little progressive vote propagandizing? (Helps if you bring a portable radio of course - and you might want to be able to get news in any case.)
• The number for the local board of elections or equivalent.
• Emergency medical/fire/police numbers. This would be a good idea in any case. 911 should be saved for true emergencies.
Paranoid Considerations:
Using a cell phone/camera/audio recorder is not something that has been part of the voting process, at least not in the way it could be used this year. Local officials may or may not be cool with the idea, especially if something is going down that they don't want subjected to scrutiny. While I don't know for certain (I'm not a lawyer), it could potentially be used as grounds for police action, depending on local statutes and the attitude of the authorities at the polling place. Be Warned! I'd think it should be permissible outside - but again that's up to the local authorities.
Be polite, be orderly, and be prepared for objections, but don't assume evil intent without evidence. Our election system in this country is crappy enough all by itself even in the best of circumstances. Tuesday is going to be stressful for election workers even if all goes well, so keep that in mind.
Further Paranoid Considerations:
In the event of getting caught up in some kind of police action, if you are arrested your phone will be among the things taken from you. Depending on how organized the police are, they will vacuum every bit of information out of your phone before giving it back to you - if you get it back. Make sure you've sent any sound or video recordings elsewhere before that happens if possible. Don't have any phone numbers or other info saved in your phone you wouldn't want the police to see. Conversely, it probably wouldn't hurt to have the number of the biggest and baddest local defense attorney in there for them to see - even if you have never actually been a client. It also would be a good idea to have someone you trust on speed dial, just so you don't disappear without a trace.... so BE PREPARED!
STEP FOUR: VOTE
That is the point of this exercise after all. Ideally you want to be able to go in and out with a minimum of fuss and fumbling - that's why all the preparation after all. Delaying the process may mean people behind you get fed up and leave without voting. (That's one of the aims of voter challenges.)
Voter challenges are a deliberate tactic to discourage voting. In most cases, these involve a party representative challenging an individual's registration as that voter checks in at their polling place. A typical partisan challenger would claim that voter lives at a different address than what is in their voter registration record. The challenged voter then must produce an ID or a utility bill proving otherwise to vote. This tactic could not only delay that person from voting, but would also slow down others in line. The goal of voter challenges is both to victimize new voters and to prompt others to leave without voting.
The solution to voter challenges is to call your local election office now to ensure that your registration is current. If your information is correct, you cannot be successfully challenged and you will vote. If a problem arises while voting, the challenged voter should call the nation's largest election protection hotline, 1-866-OUR-VOTE, where they will reach an election lawyer or law specialist to help them solve the problem. That hotline is now being staffed during East Coast business hours.
emphasis added
Be as cooperative as possible - but make sure you vote and your vote is counted the way you cast it. (If possible - there's no excuse for the unreliable electronic voting machines that have been foisted on too many voters.) The resources listed above in Step 1 also have information on what to do if your vote is challenged or some other problem comes up that might keep you from voting. The procedures differ from place to place - but they are there to be used. Never give up, never surrender! and of course BE PREPARED!
STEP FIVE: FOLLOW THROUGH
One more thing to remember: Election Day is not the end of the process; it is the beginning. Once upon a time the day after the election was supposed to be a time for losers to lick their wounds and put on a brave face while the winners would be magnanimous and start looking ahead to their days in office. Well forget that tradition.
One of the consequences of political parties that are always in campaign mode is that nothing is ever settled. Expect a full court press from the Republicans to use the courts they've been packing with conservative judges to gain what they can't steal at the election booth. It worked in 2000, they were ready in 2004, and they won't give up in 2008. If nothing else they are desperate to keep Democrats from getting a true 60 majority in the Senate, and if they can manage that with successful election challenges they will.
They count on voters and the press being exhausted from the long campaign. They're well practiced at maintaining outrage and throwing tantrums - and they have plenty of money guys in the shadows willing and able to fund legal maneuvers. They are convinced that they have right on their side, since they've spent the last 30 years proclaiming Democrats are not a legitimate political party. Do not expect them to go quietly. Even if they decide not to put up a legal battle, they'll still be working on the narrative that they didn't lose - the just had the wrong candidate and/or the election was stolen, the press was against them, etc.
But above and beyond all that, our job as voters is never over. We vote to put people in office with the idea that they will do their best to carry out the promises they made to us. That means A) we have to be there to support them in the days that follow and B) we have to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't forget who put them where they are, or why. The current low ratings of Congress are due in large part to the 2006 election - voters threw the Republicans out looking for change, and got...BUPKIS from too many of the Democrats who took power and failed to use it as the voters had a legitimate right to expect.
George W. Bush has governed on the idea that an election is a blank check; the winner is entitled to do whatever the hell he or she wants, and the voters have to put up or shut up until the next election. Oddly enough, a lot of Democratic politicians seem to agree with him. I can guarantee that will not be the case with minority Republicans under a Democratic Congress and White House. There will be war.
This time around we not only have the chance to get rid of more Republicans, we have the chance to demonstrate that we want better Democrats as well. There will be some new faces in government after Tuesday. They need to know we are watching them and we will compare what they promised with what they do.
We haven't busted a gut, donated time, sweat, and money, or made all the other sacrifices to slack off now. The Republicans have held power so long by selling people the message that government doesn't matter, encouraging apathy and a disconnect between what our government does, and what we should expect from it. If we want real change, that's the first place to start. It's going to take constant vigilance, so BE PREPARED!