Yahoo/AP: Tough ID laws could block thousands of 2012 votes

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Click on the link to read the rest.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/171011...uld-swing-ohio

Eleventh-Hour GOP Voter Suppression Could Swing Ohio


Ohio GOP Secretary of State Jon Husted has become an infamous figure for aggressively limiting early voting hours and opportunities to cast and count a ballot in the Buckeye State.

Once again Husted is playing the voter suppression card, this time at the eleventh hour, in a controversial new directive concerning provisional ballots. In an order to election officials on Friday night, Husted shifted the burden of correctly filling out a provisional ballot from the poll worker to the voter, specifically pertaining to the recording of a voter’s form of ID, which was previously the poll worker’s responsibility. Any provisional ballot with incorrect information will not be counted, Husted maintains

[Larry]

1) Really should post more story than just the headline, IMO.

2) I'm shocked. Really.

[deejaydana]

How much will this thread get bumped when Obama gets pummelled on Tuesday?

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

How much will this thread get bumped when Obama gets pummelled on Tuesday?

Care to comment on the ACTUAL substance of the posts in this thread?

[Larry]

Care to comment on the ACTUAL substance of the posts in this thread?

I think he has commented.

1) He has no problem with it.

2) He hopes it leads to his side winning.

3) If his side wins, then he is looking forward to laughing at the people who think that suppressing the vote is immoral, because his side won.

[deejaydana]

I think he has commented.

1) He has no problem with it.

2) He hopes it leads to his side winning.

3) If his side wins, then he is looking forward to laughing at the people who think that suppressing the vote is immoral, because his side won.

Thanks for putting words in my mouth Larry. To be serious I have a problem with ANY voting indiscretion no matter who is breaking the rules. I don't buy into the theory of the Devil as deeply as you do tho.' Both sides are gonna play victim and sometimes to a shameless degree. We al deserve better. Right?

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Great......

Click on the link to read the rest.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...usaolp00000003

Florida Early Voting Fiasco: Voters Wait For Hours At Polls As Rick Scott Refuses To Budge


WASHINGTON -- Once again, Florida and its problems at the polls are at the center of an election.

Early voting is supposed to make it easier for people to carry out their constitutional right. Tuesdays are notoriously inconvenient to take off work, so many states have given voters the option of turning out on weekends or other weekdays in the run-up to Election Day.

But in Florida this year, it has been a nightmare for voters, who have faced record wait times, long lines in the sun and a Republican governor, Rick Scott, who has refused to budge and extend early voting hours.

"People are getting out to vote. That's what's very good," said Scott.

People are getting out to vote -- but many of them are having to wait in line for three or four hours to do so. One contributor to DailyKos claimed it took 9 hours to vote. In Miami-Dade on Saturday, people who had gotten in line by 7:00 p.m. were allowed to vote; the last person wasn't checked in until 1 a.m., meaning it took some individuals six hours to cast a ballot.

"We're looking at an election meltdown that is eerily similar to 2000, minus the hanging chads," said Dan Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida.

[Larry]

Well, at least it doesn't sound like he's changing the rules, at the last minute, to try to suppress voting.

That's certainly a difference worth noting.

[brandymac27]

Can anyone from Florida comment on this:

I just saw on the ticker on MSNBC that they've cancelled early voting in Miami/Dade county today b/c polls were overcrowded? Anyone have anymore info on this?

[skinsfan_1215]

Update on the VA case involving tossed out registrations. Looks like this could go a lot deeper, involving a longtime GOP operative that has received millions from Romney and the GOP over the years in a multitude of states.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...a24_story.html

Quoting this since it got buried on the last page and I think it's possibly very significant.

[Larry]

You're right, I missed it.

This isn't the first time I've heard allegations like this, against individuals who are part of Republican voter registration drives.

(I recall one claim, last election. Supposedly a volunteer is outside a grocery store, with a stack of voter registration forms, signing people up. He's been there for several hours, when his supervisor shows up. Supervisor goes through the stack of completed forms, pulls out all the forms that registered Democrat, and tosses those forms in the trash. Volunteer objects. Supervisor announces "We aren't getting paid to sign up Democrats".)

Then again, I remember lots and lots of allegations about ACORN, too. And, near as I can tell, every one of those cases involved ACORN employees, stealing from ACORN, and ACORN following the law.

So, I'm really reluctant to jump to the conclusion that allegations = vast evil conspiracies.

Looks, to me, like Virginia is doing exactly what they ought to be doing. They're investigating, and they're going to prosecute at least one person.

Let it run.

[Unforgiven]

There are going to be a few swing states where the results aren't known for a while after Tuesday. Ohio is a good example with republicans doing everything in their power to try and suppress voter turnout for early voting or toss out ballots by changing the rules during the final 3 days of voting to allow them to discount votes. So far the courts have had to keep stepping in to try and stop them but the latest stunt is going to end up in court yet again and delay the vote counting.

I get a bit frustrated at republican apologists who say that both sides have reasons to complain, so in the end it's a wash. No, no it's not....public officials in one party are actively trying to suppress voters and discount votes in an attempt to swing an election in their favor. I was annoyed at all the voter ID laws they tried to put in place to prevent this imaginary voter fraud that's been proven untrue because in the end you had time to deal with it. Now though seeing them try and shut polls down early and find ways to discount votes by changing the rules during the final 3 days of early voting is ridiculous.

[Thiebear]

How about we compromise and just show
Voter registration cards?

Give them a picture by 2016

And bring the HAMMER down on the
Above cheaters/fraud with news reports about them!

[Unforgiven]

Yeah, I mean in theory having a voter ID card with a picture ID would be great. You would simply walk into your polling station and show someone the ID, they verify the picture is you then swipe the card and it registers you as having voted. It would be a pretty big undertaking though to get it setup and costly also, but if it would help satisfy people about fraud and possibly move people in and out faster it would be worth it.

[Larry]

Sorry.

My opinion about voter ID laws?

Nobody tries to alter an election by showing up multiple times, in person, at a government building, in front of multiple witnesses, and often law enforcement personnel, and claiming "I'm <fake name>". Frankly, it's impossible to swing an election that way.

No one will ever swing an election by voting, in person, using a fake name. In fact, it's so blindingly impossible that no one will ever attempt it. Even though the penalties for doing so are less than a parking ticket, the rewards are even smaller than the risks.

If some hypothetical evil mastermind wants to cheat an election, he's going to do it absentee. (Or, even more likely, he's going to infiltrate the people who actually count the votes.)

But, . . . . absentee voting favors Republicans. Passing complicated identification rules that create hoops that absentee voters have to jump through, will have the effect of causing Republican voters to just say "Eff it. Too complicated. I just won't bother."