I worked as a poll watcher in a decidedly Red outpost in IL all day yesterday. Very few minorities and very little reason for shenanigans at this polling place, at least for the national ticket. What I witnessed yesterday disgusted me beyond belief. I don't claim to be the most involved in US elections, and I surely don't know all applicable laws, but I do know that what I saw yesterday is wrong in a country that prides itself on being a democracy where every vote is supposed to count. It may have been an active effort to disenfranchise or merely incompetence and laziness, but it was there.
I'll list a few of the problems I witnessed:
First, to the voters who were disenfranchised yesterday. Not huge numbers here, but still troubling. And I think it DID change down-ticket results.
- The VAST MAJORITY of disenfranchised voters at this precinct were a result of this: Our Secretary of State and DMV offer the option to either change your residence or register to vote at the same time you get/change your driver's license. The majority of people who either could not vote at all or were given federal only or provisional ballots thought they had registered/changed their address through the IL Secretary of State at the very same time they took care of their drivers license. This is an ongoing problem more than ten years old. I have no idea who these people were going to vote for, but someone has to notice when American adults are standing at the polling place crying because they have been denied the right to vote a regular ballot. And they went through a government office to handle their paperwork.
- Sometime earlier this spring (2008) a woman participated in her citizenship ceremony in downtown Chicago walked out of the building and saw a table set up with people registering the new citizens to vote. She said MANY new citizens registered to vote at that table. She showed up to vote yesterday, and there was no record of her. She was given a provisional ballot which we all know will not count. So ok MSM and all those concerned with Acorn and registering voters - WHO was outside a government building pretending to register new citizens to vote? How many of these new citizens across the country could not vote yesterday?
This is a big deal! Is it that difficult for the board of elections to get after these people? Just what do they get paid for during the "down times"? I've gotta tell you that I was completely disgusted with the women I saw on TV before the election complaining about having to do a little extra work sorting out Acorn applications, and being either ignorant of the law or misleading about why those applications were submitted. Maybe a little less complaining and a little more thought about how important your job is would help. That, or quit so someone who does care about preserving our democracy can take that job.
Second, the machines. Two precincts had one electronic machine and one ballot counting machine. The electronic machine sat unused most of the day. Less than 10% of almost 800 voters used it. Not much of anything in the way of problems, but it wasn't stressed either.
The ballot box was another story. ALL DAY LONG it jammed or spit back ballots. One woman slid her ballot in, turned to leave, and her ballot came spitting back out and hit her in an ankle. This was common with ballots flying out and sliding a long way across the floor. TWICE the election judges UNLOCKED the box and spewed ballots all over the floor so they could reach up in and unjam the ballots. The other option would have been to close the ballot machine until a technician came to fix it and use only the one electronic machine? The ballot box machine came to this polling place already unuseable. It NEVER worked without jamming.
I can't believe that the USA does not have people competent enough to fix these machines and keep them in decent working order. In fact I refuse to believe that the USA doesn't have competent workers who can maintain these machines properly!
Third, WHERE WERE THE VOTERS? We had a huge influx of voters early, the a line starting at 5:30 a.m. until about 7 a.m. Election judges were prepared for the onslaught they expected. We had an efficient and orderly start. Then, a steady trickle during the day. Everyone was ready for the after-work crowds they expected. We had 25 voters in the last hour and a half this polling place was open! You have got to be kidding me!!! Judges FROM BOTH PARTIES were disgusted and disappointed.
This was a suprise: Whenever an election judge came across a first time voter, they called it out and we all clapped and congratulated the voter. That was a nice touch I've never seen before. Appreciation for the participation! It did, however, point out the fact that the new voters in this precinct were few and far between.
OK, so I haven't been into this for most of my life. But what an eye opener yesterday was. You can bet that I will be one of those who is holding our elected officials' and public workers' feet to the fire from now on. It is too late when you wait for election day, the work apparently has to be done NOW to prepare for next time. There is no excuse for what I saw yesterday. My first stop will be the sidewalk outside government buildings where citizenship ceremonies are held.