Official Scoffs At Voting Problems In Pennsylvania?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Pennsylvania, Video, VotingI found the following story disturbing, not just because the folks in Philly seem to be so ill equipped to handle a high turnout on election day, but also because the guy heading up the preparations for Election Day seems completely uninterested in fixing them.
“Thank God.”
Folks, that’s a chilling ending to that video. A guy who is charged with making sure people get to vote is saying he’s glad that the media isn’t focusing on the problems with potential voter disenfranchisement?
So the question is simple: are we headed for a nightmare on election day because of the potential for a massive upswing in turnout?
And we’re not just talking about Philadelphia here…this could be a problem across the nation.
(h/t: ANP)
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October 20th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
On the one hand,
What century are we living it that we can never have “easy elections”?
On the other hand,
He’s totally and candidly right about everything. Its just people trying to make do with the resources they have and whatever voting problems they have are not going to affect the final outcome. While sorting out voting problems is a priority, pragmatism would indicate that when the outcome is not in question its at the very least a lower one. And who could blame him for not wanting the national media to get involved in a pragmatism vs. idealism debate centered on his limited resources?
October 20th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Its sad that this country can’t even have efficient elections, I mean its supposed to be the most powerful nation on eath, but with regards to elections its like a banana republic.
Lets just go back to paper ballots, you use a pen and check the boxes, done and done
October 20th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
We had a choice last year of optical scan, or computer. I chose the optical scan, because at least there was a back-up. the optical scans in MI when I was there told you how it read your ticket. It doesn’t mean much in a tamper electronically with election kind of way, but it was still reassuring.
October 20th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Look, in all honesty, the technology for elections to be computerized in a safe, secure, simple, forgery-proof, auditable, and user friendly manner is already here.
You can do your banking online, you can apply for and redeem prizes online, you can wire money and buy stocks with easy to use and secure interfaces. Voting as a problem is one of the easiest ones that can be solved.
Its a generational problem though, the people who run elections don’t trust it/aren’t going to bother to learn how to set it up and there simply isn’t enough money in electioneering for the private sector to force them to.
October 20th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
My biggest concern is not the length of the wait per se, but rather what happens an hour before the polls close and you have a 3 hour line
(cue theme from “Jaws”) Of course it is only at that time that they will call in the lawyers instead of working it ahead of time. This will cause a random set rulings depending on what part of the country you are in.
I know that in Alexandria there are 26 polling places and a population who is very engaged in this election. To make it worse there is no early voting and you can only vote absentee if there is a documented reason (and 1st time voters are even more restricted in voting absentee). Heck I moved here from WV and the county had 72 places for a much smaller population. You can say, so what if the line is 2-3 hours, but what if you are on crutches while it is raining? At some point I think the amount of time you have to spend in line gets to the point of voter fraud. I don’t see the difference between a false vote and driving a vote away. Either way you are driving the outcome of the election.
Sure the outcome in Philly in the presidential election is fairly certain, but what if 1000 people there don’t vote because they can’t wait two hours because they have to go to work. The overall vote in the state is more uncertain and who knows what 1000 votes means.
Personally I plan on taking the day off, but it is not something everyone can do.