We just can't seem to get this right:
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/04/broken-machines-shortages-plague-voters-country/
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/04/broken-machines-shortages-plague-voters-country/
We're a 3rd world country on election day
- Thread starter Onceler
- Start date
CanadianKid
New member
Its because politics has become too political....
In the past the only politics were with the politicians....
Now there is politics involved in Supreme Court, in poll workers, in election lawyers, in County Supervisors, in State Supreme Courts, in Secretary of States, in polling officials, etc....
CK
In the past the only politics were with the politicians....
Now there is politics involved in Supreme Court, in poll workers, in election lawyers, in County Supervisors, in State Supreme Courts, in Secretary of States, in polling officials, etc....
CK
god you idiots piss me off. You whine when we have computerized electoral methods, so we should go back to pen and paper. Then you whine about lines being too long. Shut the fuck up and deal with it, it's one day out of 1400.
Took me five minutes at 11am but I live in an awesome town so go me.
Took me five minutes at 11am but I live in an awesome town so go me.
Oh, fuck off. I'm happy your town was fine; mine was too. The idea that anyone has to wait 8 hours in a line on election day is absolutely ridiculous.
But go ahead; defend that.
uscitizen
Villified User
Yeah well the republican lines are pretty short this year in CO.
well increased technology would help but many democrats are against that.
We are not somolia enough with the hyperbole you idiot.
We have one of the biggest populations for a western democracy and probably the most major cities with huge populations. If you can think of other solutions to cure long lines because our third world democracy is turning out lots of people I would like to hear it.
Pretty simple: expand early voting to all of the states, and get more voting machines.
There.
Socrtease
Verified User
Fuck a bunch of voting machines. We need paper trails. Make ballots available for different presincts days in advance. Then people can take them home and fill them out at their leisure and then bring them in and place them in a box or scanner. Then no one has to actually wait for hours. Only long enough to verify their identity and place their ballots in the counters or boxes.
uscitizen
Villified User
Cancel 2016.2
The Almighty
Ok.... I went this morning... my polling place has three districts of approximately the same size. I go there today, one line is about 150-200 people deep, the other two were about 10 deep. What is the cause and how do you "predict" that if you are setting up the polling place?
Second... even the two lines of approximately 10 deep didn't move at the same pace. My line people were taking about 15-20 minutes inside to vote. The other line went much quicker. Likely due to people reading each of the ballot issues for the first time in the booth vs. those that came prepared. Again, this is not something that can be predicted with any sense of accuracy.
So my short line took me almost an hour to get up and vote. That long line was taking just as long, so those people at the end are likely still there... unless of course it sped up after I left.
Given that people have the option to use mail in ballots or go to early voting polling places, the excuse of 'oh gee golly, the line was so long, they disinfranchised me' is quite sad.
"Given that people have the option to use mail in ballots or go to early voting polling places, the excuse of 'oh gee golly, the line was so long, they disinfranchised me' is quite sad."
I think it's quite sad that people have 8-11 hour waits on election day.
So, we differ on what we think is "quite sad."
I think it's quite sad that people have 8-11 hour waits on election day.
So, we differ on what we think is "quite sad."
Cancel 2016.2
The Almighty
again lorax... WHY do they have the long wait? Is it because it is like the situation I ran into today? Is it because people don't prepare prior to coming in? Is it the 'luck of the draw' when it comes to precincts, as was the case for me today?
How do you accurately predict these things? If those voters waiting 8-10 hours had the opportunity to vote early or with a mail in ballot and CHOSE not to, then they really don't have much room to complain. IF those voters came unprepared and took 15-20 minutes apiece in the voting booth like those in my line did, then those idiots are responsible for the line being so long.
HOW do you propose that be changed?
Just saying 'oh, golly, they had to wait a long time' is simply pathetic. They very likely had other options.... such as...
1) Vote at early polling place
2) Vote by mail in ballot
3) People come prepared to vote (meaning you have read all ballot measures and have decided on them PRIOR to voting)
4) If possible, don't go right as the polling places open or prior to their closing, these are typically going to be the busiest times.
Look at GA in your article.... 40% voted early... 40%. Which means if they hit the typical 50-60% of eligible voters voting in this election that the bulk have ALREADY voted prior to election day.
That said, there is no excuse for running out of ballots.
I said that allowing early voting in all of the states is a good start.
Also, I have said nothing about "disenfranchisement" on this thread. That's what you're reading into it. I said it's ridiculous for a country like America in 2008 to have 8 hour waits in some districts.
I have no evidence for this, but I would guess that if you took a survey of districts that had long waits in 2004, you would probably see those same districts have long waits this year. I don't think it's nearly as random as you're portraying based on your morning experience.
It's unacceptable, and we shouldn't accept it & just say 'well, they're idiots for not getting their ballots earlier.'
Cancel 2016.2
The Almighty
If it is the same districts having problems, then I agree we should find the answer as to why. Is it that the people coming to vote in that district tend to come at the same times of day due to work (ie heavy in the early am and heavy in the later pm hours)? Is it that they do not tend to prepare and thus the average vote time per person is longer? Is it that they do not tend to vote early via ballot or at early polling positions?
As I stated earlier... that line this morning that was long... those people are having to wait longer because of bad timing combined with long avg vote times. Our districts are about the same size. So why the great discrepancy?
In 2006, it was similar, except it was my district that was screwed with a longer line. But if you were an outsider looking in, you would still see a long line at our polling place in both instances, even though the line was a different district each time.
I am not suggesting this is the case in every repeat long line situation, but I am getting sick of all the whining when there are clearly easy fixes to the situation. Anyone that had early voting places availalbe to them or had the opportunity to use a mail in ballot has little place to be complaining in my opinion.
Socrtease
Verified User
Please, lets try to stay in the last half of the 20th century at least when we are talking about voting.Yep that way I can get pint of whiskey for my vote.
uscitizen
Villified User
that was a stupid thing you said. taking your ballot home to fill it out. would be handy for your employer, union, spouse or whomever you sell a vote to though.
Vote buying still happens.
They just nailed a guy in KY for it this year.
Not bad up to 20 bucks now, cheaper than running commercials too. Direct marketing, cut out the middle man
Good Luck
New member
1: Increase the number of polling places. Having 10,000 people try to vote at the same location is ridiculous.
2: Extend polling to 5 days instead of one day. (not including "early" voting through absentee ballots) Maybe even assign people to specific day, just as they are assigned to a specific polling place. Extending the voting period would also cut down on a lot of the media influence from calling states before polls are closed.
3: Eliminate same-day registration, which undoubtedly slows things up significantly, as well as opens doors to methodical cheating. Advance (30 days) registration would also eliminate all the hoohaw about bogus registrations as it gives the county governments time to adequately check things out.
And to those who think advance registration discourages people from voting - too friggin bad! If people be cannot be responsible enough to take the 5 minutes' effort out of 470 work days in an election cycle to register in advance, they don't deserve to vote in that election. Freedom and rights must be balanced somehow with personal responsibility.
DigitalDave
Sexy Beast!
They should make voting a three day thing, rather than just one. One day be district/local issues, next state issues, next national issues. That would make the lines move faster because there is less confusion.
Good Luck
New member
Why shouldn't we say that? Do you not believe in ANY level of personal responsibility when it comes to the individual authority to select our leadership?
Yes, there are other solutions to cut down on ridiculously long waits in polling lines. But some of those solutions should require a MINIMUM of personal responsibility placed on the individual voter.