People not allowed to vote? (Non-partisan thread)

[Windogg]

I was reading on ABCNEWS.com that people in Missouri may not have gotton their votes in because an initial court ruling to let polling stay open past the 7PM deadlines. That's pretty damn fsucked up. What the hell were those judges thinking?!?!? Don't they realize the many had commitments that may have led to them voting so late (Jobs, children, emergencies). Don't they realize that people are a lot busier than they were 50, 100, 150 years ago? I don't think any candidate lost because their supporters weren't allowed to vote but its a real black mark for the entire process when stuff like this happens. I know of many people that don't vote simply because, "it's inconvenient." It should be the goverment's responsibility to ensure that anyone who want's to vote be allowed to vote. What next? The reinstatement of the 3/5 rule?

Wisconsin and Maine also had similar problems.

Windogg

 

[denali]

If the law says they close at 7 then they should close at seven. AFAIK in every state you can vote early if you are that concerned about not being able to vote on election day. In Colorado the polls close at seven but if you are in line you can still vote until nine, after that your SOL. In Colorado 25% of the voters voted early, including me.

 

[PCAddict]

The judge who made the ruling keeping the polls open in an additional 3 hours St. Louis is a lapdog of Gephardt. His ruling was overturned by a 3-judge federal appeals court. They ordered the polls closed immediately. I think that happened around 9PM.

 

[Ulfwald]

The poll "nazis" almost did not let my wife vote, because their list still had her under her maiden name, not her married name. When I produced our marriage certificate, they still almost would not let her vote. Then we also showed the confirmation of name change from the Social Security office, they still said no. Then I pulled out my cell phone and began to call 911, the arsehole behind the table then allowed her to vote.

 

[Schola]

What a crock of s&hit, I mean come on, even with that much evidendce the still were not going to let her vote. Damn (&*(

Schola

 

[fdiskboy]

The thing in St Louis (as I've noted elsewhere) is that after the initial ruling, the Democrats tried to round up volunteers to "Get out the Vote" some more.

It's one thing to keep the polls open for people in line or on the way. It's quite another to keep them open so that one party can drag more people to the polls. Also, if a state is going to keep polls open--and I don't necessarily have a problem with that--it should have to keep ALL polls open, not just one city or precinct. That was a major problem in MO.

 

[Windogg]

denali: Yes, if they say the polls are closed at 7PM and you arrive 2 hours later at 9PM to find locked doors then too bad. You're SOL because of your mistake.

On the otherhand if you arrive at 6PM for a 7PM closing and there are about 100 people in front of you because:

A) There is high turnout
B) Not enough voting booths
C) Technical problems
D) Short staffed
E) Something out of your control.

then the polling station should by all means stay open to accomodate those that want to fulfill their civic duty. It is not their fault the election board screwed up. There were many stories of people waiting hours to cast their ballot. They are taking time out of their lives voluntarily, not because they were forced.

ulfwald: That is really messed up.

Windogg

 

[BoberFett]

By law your employer has to give you time to vote. There's no excuse for not voting. And if somebody values their other commitments over voting ("Oh dear, Timmy can't miss his ballet lesson!&quot then that's their problem.

 

[SKiller]

True, but I'd still rather see a 24hour polls just to make sure everyone's covered.

 

[SuperTool]

I think that they should have let whoever was in line by 7 pm vote. That would be a good comprimise.

 

[denali]

Windogg, if they were in line at seven they should have been permitted to vote in accordance with Missouri law. However, if they show up after so sad to bad. I'm not exactly sure what happened in Missouri. Thats why I think we should have our elections over several days like many countries do.

 

[Adul]

We hadsame problem here with higher than normal turnout. Plus lots of stuff on ballot. But they kept the polls open until 9 if you where in line by 7

 

[Wingznut]

In Oregon, we had mail-in balloting this year. That totally kicked @ss! I voted last week, from the comfy couch. Voter's pamphlet in one hand, ballot in the other, the internet at my disposal. Not only did I not have to be inconvienenced by going to the polls, but I feel I was able to be much more informed by being able to reference information while making my decisions.

We also had a near record (if not a full record) turnout.

 

[Raspewtin]

<< n Oregon, we had mail-in balloting this year >>




ya, I did mail-in absentee ballot also here in CA, which was cool. I was able to much more informed esp. re: state propisitions on the ballot.