Just went and did my duty and voted early since I will be out of town on election day. Manchin, Oliverio, etc. Pulling the lever for Oliverio was tough, but I just can’t handle the idea of a Republican House.
Reader Interactions
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Carnacki
Yay!
jacy
You’re lucky, here in Louisiana we have elections at least once a month. And that’s not counting if there’s a run-off. Luckily there’s only one polling place out here in the sticks and it’s only two blocks away.
chopper
impure!
Steve
Now when a firebagger tells you they’ll be staying away from the polls on Election Day, you can say “me too.”
Violet
Can’t believe it’s early voting time already. We can vote early where I live too, but not this early.
I don’t know where my voting location is, as I have moved recently. Guess I’d better look that up or vote early when that starts. I did finally get my new voters registration, so I’m set to go.
Three cheers for doing your civic duty.
Maude
@Violet:
I get a sample ballot before election day. It states the polling place and district #.
Call the board of elections. They will help you.
cleek
i could vote today, if i wanted to drive to Raleigh. but i’ll wait till the 22nd to vote closer to home.
gonna vote straight Tea Party. cause i want to return to the Constitution.
Zam
Gonna repost this here since this thread is more appropriate
Not to bring everyone down, but I am fucking pissed off. I went to cast my vote today and was told directly by the lady working the desk that the dems and specifically my candidate were liars. This comes after several other attempts here in Wisconsin to intimidate voters by claiming that early voting is illegal as well as voting while black.
Violet
@Maude:
I think it’s all available online. A few years ago there was a runoff in a local election and the precinct consolidated voting locations because they knew they wouldn’t have very many voters. I found my runoff voting location online pretty easily then, so I hope finding it for a bigger election will be simple.
Lev
I sent in my absentee ballot the other day. Voted for Jerry Brown with more enthusiasm than I thought I would a few months ago, Barbara Boxer, and all the other statewide and local Democrats, including Newsom, which I really didn’t want to do, but Brown is old. Voted for majority budgets, pot legalization, all the sensible positions. Don’t think we’ll dislodge carpetbagger McClintock, but his time will come.
I share John’s wariness at a GOP house, since they’ll probably screw with agency budgets and stuff like that. But the silver lining would be that the new Teabagger congressmen would force Boehner to consider things like social security privatization, and with a small majority he wouldn’t exactly be able to ignore them. Want to see seniors whip back around to the Dems? That’ll do it.
Violet
@Zam:
Seriously? Did you report this incident to whoever oversees elections and voting in your area? Call your candidate’s office too. That kind of thing is inexcusable. I know they’re all volunteers, but that person shouldn’t be allowed to volunteer.
TR
@Zam:
I’m pretty sure that’s illegal. Seriously illegal.
Report her to the elections board, tell the local Democrats, and alert the media.
Violet
@Lev:
No it won’t. They wouldn’t privatize Social Security for people already receiving it. They’d phase it in so it would only affect younger people who will receive it in the future. Current seniors would be sitting pretty. The GOP knows who votes for them.
Corner Stone
Man. I really want to be pissed off right now about multiple topics, but Tamron Hall is so indescribably awesome that a lot of the little things just don’t seem to matter anymore.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Violet: She prolly already ate Zam’s ballot, dipped it in her coffee to soften it up and chewed it slowly, savoring each hanging chad.
Zam
@Violet: I made the calls immediately after leaving the building
Zam
@Just Some Fuckhead: My ballot was put in a sealed envelope and I don’t think she will tamper with it, but I seriously worried about this shit happening to someone who might be on the fence about a candidate. Being told that Feingold is a liar as you fill out your ballot is a serious fucking thing
Blue Neponset
@Zam: What did the they say?
TR
@Corner Stone:
Yeah, she really is.
TR
Amazing. I’d seriously call the local media — newspapers, TV, whatever — and alert them about this.
Actually, better yet, you should get a friend to go to the same polling place with some recording gear and get this woman on tape when she tries to do it again. (Check if that’s illegal first, of course!)
geg6
@Zam:
That is majorly illegal. Majorly. I’d be reporting that nut in about three seconds.
eemom
@Zam:
as noted on previous thread, you should also contact Election Protection.
Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE for the hotline.
JPL
Zam, I’m glad that you made the phone calls.
geg6
Oh, how I wish PA had early voting or mail-in ballots and not just absentee, which has so many pain in the ass aspects that it’s not worth the trouble. I’d get it done and then bury my head in a vat of some nice red wine and forget about it all.
Unfortunately, I can’t do any of those things, so I guess I’ll hit the BJ Act Blue link and throw a little cash at Sestak.
Amanda in the South Bay
@Lev:
I remember reading the voter guide just for shits and giggles, and noticed all the prominent state wide Democrats coming out against Prop 19. I figure its just for show-even in a deeply blue state Dem candidates (like Brown and Harris) need to appeal to fucking moderates in order to ensure election. Though I don’t doubt DiFi is sincerely against it.
Also noticed MADD’s editorial against it, rest assured if they are against something, the right move is to be for it.
Violet
@Zam:
Are you comfortable contacting the media? Seems like they might be interested in this. Isn’t voter intimidation in WI a big issue right now?
TR
Yes, what she did is illegal.
Wisconsin law forbids “electioneering” at the polling place by all workers, and they define that as “any activity intended to influence voting at an election.”
I’d say denouncing specific candidates as “liars” would qualify there. Report her to the Government Accountability Board.
Wisconsin pays its poll workers, by the way. She’s getting taxpayer money and violating the law while doing so.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Zam: This is a pretty big deal, especially someone in her position. As others have said, report it to the media. And call the number eeom gave.
You shouldn’t rest until she gets fired.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
Misery’s the same way, only absentee.
I live in MO-09 where climate change denier, wingnut, every-bit-as-odius-as-a-Repub-from-SW-MissouRAH Blaine Luetkemeyer is running unopposed. Yup, good ole Misery Dems are handing a freebie again. Thus, it’s hard to really want to vote except for some knucklehead for Presiding County Commissioner (aka Moe of the Three Stooges) and a vote for Carnahan, who is running an incredibly lackluster campaign and will most likely get her head handed to her by Roy Fucking Blount.
Somebody take this state, please.
Lev
@Amanda in the South Bay: Of course they’re against it. The profile of a typical Democratic voter is the opposite of the profile of a typical political officeholder. On pot and gay rights there’s a huge disconnect between Dem elites and actual Dems, but it’s true that the stigma of being the marijuana candidate might still be potent.
As for MADD, let’s be perfectly frank. People who are alcoholics are often in denial about their addiction, they think they can handle it and that it doesn’t impair their abilities. People who smoke pot are usually not addicted to it and are generally perfectly capable of recognizing when they’re fucked up. I don’t want either group driving a damn car, but I know which drug I’d rather people use.
Violet
@TR:
Ohhhh, she’s getting PAID to intimidate voters? That’s even worse. She definitely needs to be removed from the job.
zattarra
@Zam:
This would not surprise me in my area, apparently to work the polling places here you ahve to (1) promise to be impartial and (2) be a partisan Democrat or Republican. Seriously, seems a little conflict of interest to me.
In 2008 I tried to volunteer to work at a local voting location – when I told them I wasn’t a member of any political party they had to transfer me twice until I got someone who told me that they had to have an equal number of Democrats and Republicans at each location and they couldn’t handle independant/non-affiliated. Apparently the volunteers can’t be trusted and they have to watch each other to make sure nothing illegal is going on.
Martin
@Zam: Call the Secretary of State directly and report that.
stuckinred
@Zam: Call the “mainstream media”!
suzanne
@Zam: God, that is a special level of sick. My superego hopes you pursue this through the proper channels. My id wishes you had punched her in the face, or slashed her tires, at the very least.
Lurker
Thank you for voting early, John. :-D
FWIW, I mailed in my vote yesterday. California offers permanent Vote-By-Mail status to anyone who signs up, which is a godsend for people like me with uncertain work schedules.
@Zam: — that sucks. I’m glad you made those calls.
Violet
@Zam:
Were you told that you’d be hearing back from the people you notified about her actions? Is there any kind of follow up or follow through? Seems like there should be.
Earl Butz
Obamabot, tool, shill, Republican just like you used to be, etc, etc, ad nauseum
/Joe Beese
John PM
I am going to vote early tomorrow.
I am also going to see if I can volunteer to poll watch to make certain that Kirk and Illinois Republicans don’t try to do anything hinky.
Sue
Zam, any chance you’re willing to tell us where you voted? I live in Wisconsin and would love to know.
Joe Bauers
When I go to vote I’ll probably get mixed up and look for Michelle Bachmann on the ballot even though I live in Indiana, just from all the subliminal exposure to her ads here on Balloon Juice.
Actually, I frequently click on them just because I enjoy the thought that it’s making her send Cole a little bit of scratch.
Barb (formerly gex)
@Violet: I think Zam just got on a list to be caged next year.
mikefromArlington
I should get my early voting outta the way too soon.
On a side note:
If there was any doubt Koch was behind the astro-turf organizing against Obama, this should put an end to that.
youtube.com/watch?v=0JjQxPJOAfg
h/t exiledonline
Omnes Omnibus
@Zam: Where was this? Contact the GAB immediately. Complaint info here.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Lev:
The pot smokers are doing about 20 under the speed limit which is damn near the speed of light in the driver’s seat.
liberal
Re election, I want it to be over, just at least insofar as I’m sick and f*cking tired of getting all these emails from MoveOn, the candidates, etc.
liberal
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Heh.
Zam
@Violet: I currently cannot talk to the media because of my job for the dems, but I have a friend going to see if the same thing happens to him right now. If it does he will likely be on top of this
I did talk to people in the Wisconsin dems and they are hopefully on top of this, and called the county people as well.
Barb (formerly gex)
@Just Some Fuckhead: I believe UC Davis did a study on the issue. Pot smokers WAAAAAAY safer on the roads than drunks.
Dennis SGMM
@liberal:
I’ve unplugged my land line for the duration.
Omnes Omnibus
@Zam: Even if you can’t go to the media, you can report illegal activity.
ETA: Are you willing to share which town you were in? If not, it is understandable and cool.
Zam
@Omnes Omnibus: Yea I talked to some higher ups in the county and they said they would look into it and get back to me.
liberal
@Dennis SGMM:
For me, the phone hasn’t really been a problem. We get crap calls from other sources though—here’s hoping that someone nukes “Public Interest CM”.
Omnes Omnibus
@liberal: I got rid of my landline a few years ago. I get no political calls at all. I also have never been polled.
Violet
@Zam:
Let us know if anything similar happens to your friend. I understand why you can’t talk to the media, but hopefully the other channels will produce some results.
Is there any reason to think that the poll worker knew you worked for the Dems and thus wouldn’t be able to go to the media? (Just thinking out loud…)
Poopyman
@Omnes Omnibus:
Which reminds me of an interesting factoid that Jed Lewison reported over at the GOS.
Excluding cell phones biases poll results in GOP’s favor
Zam
@Violet: Well she knows who I am (it’s a fairly small area) so I thought that it might just be that she knew my family was partisan, but there were other people in the room waiting in line for some sort of business, and being in a small room they heard what she said.
She shouldn’t know my friend so he’s gonna verify.
Edit: She does not know I work for the dems, I keep that fact fairly secret from people I know so as not to start conflicts
Jim, Once
@Zam: Just gotta weigh in with the rest of you: un-fucking-credible. I’ve worked as a poll worker many times in neighboring Iowa, and not once did I ever see a single VOLUNTEER poll worker pull anything resembling that shit.
Also too: Just got back from ten days in Texas (Austin City Limits Music Festival – wootwootwoot!), and couldn’t wait to vote early when we got here. Sent it in an hour after setting the suitcases down, and it felt sooo good. Have to share one of the many seriously weird billboards we saw: At the top, in large letters, “Yes We Can With Jesus!” Then a pic of the candidate and the exhortation to vote for him for governor. Wrong on so many levels – I fretted for fifty miles of driving. My husband finally told me to get over it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Violet:
That shouldn’t matter. Moreover, the poll workers bigger concern should be the illegality of the action, with the possible loss of job and prosecution as penalties. But then, the poll worker sounds like an idiot who would not think of such things.
Every time I have voted the poll workers have been nice old people who seem happy that people are voting. Obviously this is not the case everywhere.
TR
@Omnes Omnibus:
Same here. They’re always great. I love it.
Please keep us all posted, Zam, and whatever happens with your friend, do what you can to get this poll worker fired from the job. She clearly isn’t qualified for the honor.
Dennis SGMM
I live in one of the most thoroughly Republican small towns in Southern CA’s San Gabriel Valley. In all the years that I’ve voted, and of all the times I’ve worked at the polls, I have never heard a poll worker say anything remotely political. What happened to Zam is definitely illegal and definitely fucked up.
kindness
Oh Noes!!!! (image of famous painting ‘The Scream’ comes to mind).
Now we can add John to the meme of him having ‘ voted with Nancy Pelosi x% of the time’.
If only I could post that picture….
Corner Stone
@Lev:
Screw you. I can quit any time I want.
Now watch this drive.
Corner Stone
@Dennis SGMM: Agreed. I live in the deep dark heart of wingnuttia in TX. And all the people at the polls are just as nice as can be, but usually trying to still figure out what the correct steps are.
geg6
This. The oldsters who work the polls at my precinct are sweet old things. Even the old bat who hates my guts because I worked to kick her ass out of office when she was on the school board years ago (a short-lived fundie takeover) is nice on election day.
joe from Lowell
@Zam:
I’m a poll worker, and that is way out of line. If she was doing that, then it means that the other poll workers there were letting her.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@Dennis SGMM:
Same here, county that went 73% for McCain. Dems are so scarce, they have a tough time finding any willing to sit in the polling place all day.
So, I go in there knowing their all staunch Repups who love the teatards. And yet, they’re generally elderly folks who are nothing but respectful and apolitical when doing their polling station duties. Probably too busy catching up on the latest gossip about the going ons here in Hillbilly Peyton Place to worry about intimidating me and the other 3 Dems who live here.
Martin
@Dennis SGMM: Same experience here in OC. Poll workers are great, helpful, friendly. Hell, even when I’ve run into the folks from the party offices checking voter rolls they were extremely respectful of the voting laws and helpful pointing someone in the right direction etc.
One observation: In my experience, California has quite small voting precincts. Much smaller than I saw in other states. 5 voting machines here, vs dozens elsewhere. I was shocked the first time my polling place was in somebody’s garage. I don’t know how much more expensive that is to run in CA (it was certainly cheap when we were climbing in the cardboard box with the trash bag for a door), but it means that you’re MUCH more likely to know the people you encounter at the polling place, and much less likely for shenanigans to take place.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
I’ll be early voting tomorrow here in Chicago. You can vote at any early voting location so I’m gonna stop off at the city college on my way on the red line.
Dennis SGMM
@Corner Stone:
LOL! We use the InkaVote system here so it’s pretty straightforward. I enjoy occasionally working the polls because it’s refreshing, at age 62, to be the youngest person in the room while we’re setting up.
Sue
Re the Zam comments: since this is early voting, it shouldn’t be a “poll worker” he’s dealing with, rather someone in the clerk’s office, a regular municipal worker. Right? It might explain the behavior if it’s someone who hasn’t received training. Not that it doesn’t go beyond the limits of any kind of professional behavior.
If it’s a small town, it’s quite probable that the worker is a relative of a board member, lives next door to the town chairman, teaches Sunday School to the kids of the town clerk and is generally related by blood or marriage to 3/4 of the local families. Zam’s liable to get in more long-term trouble for complaining than she is for blatant illegal activity.
Zam
@Sue: The town isn’t that small, but yea, it was a city employee.
joe from Lowell
Whoops wrong quote.
General Stuck
I wrote in Mickey Mouse for every office, since there is no longer the ACORN, somebody has to take up the slack.
Zam
@General Stuck: We made a coordinated effort in the primaries to get a write in like that enough votes against a person running unopposed.
General Stuck
@General Stuck:
Except for dogcatcher, where I figured just some fuckhead would do.
Just Some Fuckhead
@General Stuck: Never had to catch my dog Stuck, since he never ran off. I’d say yer prolly more qualified in that area. :)
General Stuck
@Just Some Fuckhead:
i here your opponent this year is nobody special. I’m rootin’ for you though, being the #1 Huckleberry.
MattR
@General Stuck: No love for the Lizard People?
ruemara
@Zam: I believe that is a reportable offense. Contact your local board of elections with the poll workers name and detail the incident.
Carol
I’ve been wondering about the whole thing regarding the polls. Traditional polling relies on telephone polls using landlines. Now I have a landline of sorts, so I get polled-but with caller ID, if I don’t recognize a number, I just don’t pick up. My cell never gets polled at all. As for TV ads, I hardly watch anymore. So who is it that’s being polled? People who are the only ones who watch a lot of tv, and who have landlines. How old are those people? I’m 54 and my landline is only because I don’t want to rely soley on my cell and use up the prepaid minutes-and oh, 911. From what I’ve read, a lot of households are strictly cell only. If I didn’t need some sort of emergency access, I probably would cut the cord myself.
The typical voter? With Obama’s massive voter registration effort, how has that changed the actual likely voter profile? Has it made the likely voter younger and more liberal than before, and If so, are the Republicans missing something here?
Kryptik
Wow, sweet green Jesus, Zam. That’s stuff that’d set my teeth swimming. And somehow, I doubt it’s isolated.
Sounds like she was ‘inspired’ by bullshit like the newest line of utterly offensive Anti-Obamaisms to grace billboards.
General Stuck
@Carol:
According to the firebaggers, the young people are burning effigies of Obama in their dorm rooms, whilst wanking off to newest FDL centerfolds. Somebody is missing something in this country polled very well. I think.
Kryptik
Anyone here in or near CA-11? Anyone that can give a ground update on things there, considering Raw Story making note of the current frontrunner for that district’s house seat saying he wants to abolish public schooling?
The fact that this asshole is winning…and the fact that he’s still probably not the nuttiest motherfucker slated to win his election makes me really just want to crawl up in a corner and sleep the next couple weeks away.
General Stuck
@MattR:
Lizard people are out. Tea Tard Zombies are roaming the country side, along with Progressive Zombies. The Tea Tards are winning that election though, feasting on brain, while Progressives insist on napkins and bibs.
R-Jud
I filled out my absentee ballot, sealed it, brought it to Chicago with me … and forgot to put it in a mailbox. I’ve just found it while unpacking. Now I’ll have to pay to post it via Royal Mail. Is our absentee voters learning? Not in my case.
Tulip
@Kryptik:
Wow… I knew Dublin was fairly conservative, but that’s a little surprising.
Though on bonds and measures there’s a definite fu, I’ve got mine voting history.
JR
@Zam:
Turn the B*tch In, it’s illegal for her to attempt to influence voting.
First, get a friend to vote early, with a video camera in their shirt pocket! Or go to a federal prosecutor. I got a gift of a bottle of whiskey at a polling place, the end of the day, I’d already voted and gave a neighbor a lift to the polls, and I called the feds when I got home.
They’ll take care of business, and the B*tch will lose her job, and probably her pension. Since we’re all losing those to the Wall Street Tycoons, she might as well get an early start!
Nick
My grandmother voted today. Absentee has she’s too infirm to go to the polls. First time she has EVER voted for a Democrat for governor.
She was a field director for Pierre Rinfret!
Reid Magney
@zam: I’d encourage you to visit the Government Accountability Board’s website, which has a brand new complaints section. We take complaints of this sort very seriously, and want to encourage voters to report any problems at polling places.