I just voted - interesting experience

[Kevin]

I just got back from voting.

I am looking at my voter registration card. It tells me to go to 6506 Hwy. 309 South to vote.

When Mary and I drove to this address, it was a soy bean field. Actually, there is no such address. The addresses of the farmhouses went from 6472 and then the next one was 6608.

After going back & forth on the road a few times to determine that there really was no such address, we headed back toward where we thought the voting might be.

On the way we saw two little signs about 8 inches off the ground...about half the size of a real estate sign you would see in a yard. They said "Vote Here".

We pulled in and looking at the address saw that it was 3776 Hwy. 309 South. Not very close to the 6506 printed on our Voter Registration card.

In we walk, very nice people. They ask our names, decline to look at our voter registration cards or our drivers licenses. Have us sign the book, and then we went and voted at some diebold computerized dealymabobbers.

That was it.

Back home now.

[Pamela]

Hmmm...

Wow, Kevin...

That is very strange...

Are you sure that you and Mary didn't all of a sudden "poof" in and out of The Twilight Zone or something?

In any case, I am happy to hear that you both made it home safely from this mysterious voting experience!!!

With Much Love and Gratitude,

Pamela

[future pather]

Kevin,

Did you have to sign something?

Where I am they do not ask for id or anything, but you sign something before you vote that they keep on record. I guess that is in case you have a dispute later on.

That's just wrong about the location issue!!

I knew where to vote here from other elections but I did receive one phone message yesterday telling me where my polling place was. It was incorrect!

Other than that there were just a few minor incidents that I heard about involving places of business that were giving out free coffee, donuts, etc. to voters.

They were made to stop as that is illegal. I guess they don't want anything to come close to people being bribed for their votes. Those places weren't telling anyone who to vote for but I guess the law is there to prevent any pre-arrangements in those situations.

The good news is there were people lined up at many poling places in PA before the polls were even open. I suspect this may be a record turnout.


Jessica

[ANTIQUER]

Voting address?

Hi Kevin.

Sounds like government work to me!

Glad you figured it out and got your vote in anyway.

What's odd is every election the politicians promise to fix everything and instead it just gets worse. Why does anyone believe anything they say?

I have seen an interview twice in the last week with the former head of the federal election aid commitee that congress put in after the 2004 elections to solve the problems. Their answer was to immediately send out $2.3 billion to the states to buy electronic voting machines.

The main problems were there were no standards for the machines, not enough of the current ones were available and the congress would not delay sending the money out, even when he begged them for more time. There were so many problems he resigned in disgust.

There still are no federal standards and many manufacturers have gone bankrupt trying to work with the feds. to develop them.

As several people pointed out, atm machines work accurately millions of times a day, but the gov't. still can't count votes accurately? Ridiculous!

And this bunch is going to fix something?

The next four years should be really interesting no matter who is president, especially as the congress has the real power and people pay little or no attention to who they vote in to those offices.

Al

[Aaron]

election

I wonder how many software "patches" are uploaded to the Diebold voting machines this time around?

My ballot is a paper ballot that I mark my choices with a black pen and put inside of 2 security envelopes and drop in any box at any voting place...multiple churches and libraries usually.

[Aaron]

jam packed

Just dropped off my ballot at the closest library drop off box.

You would have thought there was a free Rolling Stones concert or something! The street leading in and out of the library parking lot was jam packed. Glad to see so many people active!

If you want a good laugh, check out these vids:
Voting Machines Elect One Of Their Own As President | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
You can see more towards the bottom of that page.

[Jetijs]

In my opinion a voting machine is still better than current president Bush

[Pamela Vicik-Smith]

We just got back from voting. Around the Philadelphia area, people are waiting in line up to 2 hours to vote. We were able to walk right in, sign in, and vote within 5 minutes.

This is so exciting

[rickoff]

Re: Bean field

Looks like you got beaned, Kevin. I wonder if there was one batch printed incorrectly, and another with the correct address, and if these were mailed according to how people were registered - perhaps by the MDS (manager of disinformation services).

I voted at the same place I always do, and they had 5 tables set up with signs that specified you should go there if your last name started with letters A through F, G through K, etc. I walked over to the table where my name, beginning with an O, fit in, and a lady asked for my name. When I told her, she looked through her list and said, "gee, I don't see you on here anywhere." I replied, "well, that's rather strange, seeing as I always vote here." After the lady made some inquiries at the other tables, she found that my name was on a different list, and that it had something to do with the neighborhood that I live in. So I go to that table, tell them my name, and they just wave me through. No id or signature required. I could have put on a disguise, told them I was someone else, voted, and come back later as myslef to vote again, and they wouldn't know. When the person impersonated came to vote, there would obviously arise a conflict, but after a little bickering I'm sure he would get to cast his ballot. There would be no way of knowing which ballot, of the hundreds or thousands taken in, is the bogus ballot, so it would still count. The opportunity for voting fraud definitely exists, and so does the opportunity for electronic voting machine and tally machine rigging. All voters should have to show a valid state issued photo id, all ballots should be of the paper type with bulleted circles that you fill in with a pen, and all votes should be manually counted and verified by a team comprising representatives of all parties listed on the ballots. Sure, it would take a day or two longer to get the results, but we can wait for that. It would definitely rule out fraud and tampering, and there would be no demands for recounts, or discussions of possible machine errors. When it comes to voting, low-tech is the only way to go.

Rick

[ANTIQUER]

Video machine for Pres.

Hi Aaron.



That's the funniest vid. I've seen since the Tina Fey/Sarah Pallin stuff on SNL. The Onion has always been an interesting/humorous publication.

Here in Fla.(state of the "hanging chads") our polls closed at 7:00 P.M, but as long as you are in line then you will be allowed to vote. It is now 10:05 P.M. and there are still lines at U.C.F. on the edge of Orlando which will require at least another hour for everyone to cast their vote.

Looks like it will be a record turnout everywhere, which is great! Let's hope it stays that way in the future.

Al

[Aaron]

Barack Obama - President of the United States of America

WOW! What an election!

Even with Bush as "president", I believe it is still the will of God and serves a higher purpose, whatever it may be.

Bush is still in office for two more months and I hope there are no drastic moves on "his" part during that time.

With Barack Obama as President starting in January, I just pray that this country will actually shine some LIGHT in the world and no matter who the president is:

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." - Thomas Jefferson

WOW!

[Adrienne]

hmmmmmm

although am american... yet born canadian...
i didn't vote.
ours was oct-14th
pretty interesting
lol
i see it as chosing which lier has the best story, but knowing deep down inside they don't ever really carry out what they say they will..
perhaps i am ungrateful for my rights as a north american...
i would be grateful if someone could shed some ligth on this for me...
and PLEASE other than the we have freddom in our country...
i guess i see it as i chose this life here... not that i am soo lucky.. i better vote for the most convincing B*** S***er..

not meaning to sound ungrateful... just a gong show in my opinion.. i worked with a local politician once...
and it is such a game...

I just don't get it... not that i really am needing to get it the way that people do, who vote..
just would like to understand.

is it about having hope or something...??
isn't it us with our thoughts that change things..???
ok... please i would like some vision on this... perhaps i can gain some compassion towards what drives people to vote...

love and light
Adrienne

[future pather]

I see you had already posted (Kevin) that you had signed something even though I asked you that, lol.

I really can't believe your story (Rick) where you didn't even have to sign something!!

I think they don't require an id to make it easier on people to vote. Like maybe people who don't have one. But they should have some system to keep people from impersonating others as you say.

One time I heard our county executive (a very exceptional politician, was an accountant and attorney prior to politics - he's done such a good job that the last time there was an election for his office both democrats and republicans wanted him to be their candidate) talk about the electronic voting machines.

He did favor the old fashioned ones we used to have but he also said that they way the audit the machines is randomly pick some and do mock votes on them and make sure they give the proper results.

I am very lucky to have a mayor, a county exec, and a governor who I absolutely admire and respect.

I am also very thrilled and relieved with yesterday's results!! I'll soon be able to add president to the above list

XO Jessica

[wpage]

Not a killing field

Kev,
Glad your experience had a happy ending. It started to sound like something from fearnet.com...

My wife and I had a excellent voting experience and it is a privelige to exercise our democratic rights. We may be in for more of the same under the guise of CHANGE.

There is always the knowledge that God has a plan no matter who gets in
and that is a comfort. As always He is in charge and assures us that we should participate in the dominion of this planet.

W

[Kevin]

This is the first time voting since we moved to this new house...that is why we did not know where the voting location was.

I talked to a few of the neighbors....they also ALL had the wrong (non-existent) address on their voter registration cards.