quote from below...
Sheneka McDonald spent 10 minutes trying to convince poll workers at the same precinct that she should have a Democratic ballot. She questioned poll workers when she was handed a Republican ballot but was told, "this is the only ballot we have."
"I said, 'How can this be the only ballot,'" McDonald recalled. "That's when the guy chimed in from the back and said the Democratic primary was in March."
The poll captain eventually apologized to McDonald and told her they had forgotten to unpack all the ballots. "It was a little unnerving this morning," she said. "I don't see how you forget to unpack ballots. This is what gives Florida its reputation."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc ... 5381.story (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-polls012908,0,4785381.story)
Area voters in Florida Primary are reporting problems at polls
One voter was told by poll workers there was no Democratic primary today
By Robert Perez | Sentinel Staff Writer
2:58 PM EST, January 29, 2008
On Florida Primary day, voters are reporting problems across Central Florida from Daytona Beach to Hunter's Creek. Among the precincts experiencing glitches was one in Orange County where voters were told by poll workers early on there was no Democratic primary today.
Phil Marjason said poll workers at precinct 145 in Hunter's Creek would not give him a Democratic ballot.
"I thought it was plain wrong," he said. "We need to get Florida straightened out."
Orange County Election Supervisor Bill Cowles confirmed that the clerk at the precinct made a mistake.
"I have learned that we did have a situation right at 7 a.m. this morning," Cowles wrote via e-mail to the Sentinel. "The clerk admits she made a mistake."
But Orange County officials said their records show Marjason was given a Democratic ballot and it was cast. Marjason disagreed.
"You sign a piece of paper then you walk over to the next table and they hand you a ballot," he said. "It probably shows that I signed for it, but they didn't give me a Democratic ballot."
Sheneka McDonald spent 10 minutes trying to convince poll workers at the same precinct that she should have a Democratic ballot. She questioned poll workers when she was handed a Republican ballot but was told, "this is the only ballot we have."
"I said, 'How can this be the only ballot,'" McDonald recalled. "That's when the guy chimed in from the back and said the Democratic primary was in March."
The poll captain eventually apologized to McDonald and told her they had forgotten to unpack all the ballots. "It was a little unnerving this morning," she said. "I don't see how you forget to unpack ballots. This is what gives Florida its reputation."
Sharon McDonald said she was given an independent ballot at the Astatula Community Center in Lake County, even though she told the poll workers she was a registered Democrat.
She said she was told that the Democratic primary votes didn't count, so she did not question the ballot. "Shame on me," said McDonald, a homemaker.
A call to the Lake County supervisor of elections office was not immediately returned.
Julie Shepherd, another Orange County voter, ran into a problem at precinct 138 at the Metrowest Golf Club and spent 35 minutes trying to convince poll workers that she's a registered Democrat.
Shepherd, who moved from Pasco County two years ago, said she's a life-long Democrat and blamed the elections supervisor's office for the mistake.
"It's not my error," she said. "Whoever entered my information must have gotten it wrong."
Cowles said that has been the most common complaint from voters during early voting in the primary. But in most cases, the voter is not registered as a Democrat or Republican, he said.
Seminole Election Supervisor Michael Ertel agreed.
"About 95 percent of the calls we're getting involve people who want to vote in the primary," he said.
At least a dozen voters in Orange, Lake, Seminole and Osceola counties claimed they had problems receiving the correct ballots.
Marta Daly of west Orange County had a mix up, too, but it turns out she was mistaken with her party affiliation. She thought she was a Republican, but had registered as an independent in 2000. She was given a nonpartisan ballot, but promises to change her affiliation to Republican before the next election.
In Volusia County, a voting discrepancy at one early voting location has been corrected, said Election Supervisor Ann McFall.
Election officials noticed a four-vote discrepancy between the number of ballots signed for and the number of ballots cast at the Daytona Beach City Island early voting site. The vote count came up one vote shy on Jan. 23 and three votes shy on Jan. 26, McFall said.
The county's elections canvassing board decided Tuesday to re-feed the ballots from the City Island location. The process turned up the four lost ballots.
"Apparently the machine failed to count the four votes the first time," McFall said.
The glitch shouldn't be cause for concern, she said.
"We had the paper ballots to do the repeat," she said. "Three other voting precincts got it perfectly and 10 out of 12 days got it perfectly in Daytona. Our internal system caught it."
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Copyright © 2008, Orlando Sentinel
Hey LW, I was just reading about that. There apparently were some 'irregularities' in Michigan and New Hampshire too. As much as all of this is presented as national politics, it seems to come down to what a person encounters at his or her own polling booth. I've voted in four states over time--Connecticut, Massachusetts, Washington, and Oregon this fall--and never had a problem. But I'd be ripshit if I had to wait for hours in line or was told sorry no ballots. Of course I'm not a registered party member, but not all primaries are like Florida's which are party-only.
Election reform is needed, both standardizing voting methods and financing campaigns. Will it ever come? Maybe not til there is a break of the two-party stranglehold. I'm hopeful but not holding my breath.
Yeah well.... :roll: .... Residing in Florida, as I am, I'm sure I'm not the only person that has an uneasy feeling that any vote I cast, may or may not be counted; let alone, magically flipped toward a candidate not of my choosing.... Update: sal repented and at the last minute, on this, the last day of early primary voting, I trotted my happy carcass down to the county courthouse and voted.... Here's a couple things I noted. (1) There were a sizable number of people voting. More than any other time I have seen!!!.... (2) They reqiired that a picture ID be shown before they would hand you a ballot. (3) Yes, in Fl only registered party affiliates are allowed to cast in the primary. (4) They handed me a ballot: "correct Democratic one" (5) I noted that they had a ballot, then a blank manila envelope, then a sealable white envelope with a bunch of legal hogwash about 'I attest I am legal to vote/this is my correct name etc/I can go to jail be fined etc.................. I cast my vote and split. They even cordially thnked me for my participation and handed me a nifty little sticker that says "I VOTED" in bright patriotic colors...... My question is this....... Since the ballot I cast is not signed nor numbered anywhere, then I placed it into a plain brown envelope, then, sealed it inside another envelope that I had to sign attesting to the fact I was not commiting vote fraud,,,,, uh, how secure is my vote??? How is it fucking private if someone is gonna have to remove it from the signed envelope??? Since the actual ballot was not numbered, how the hell would anyone verify a right or a wrong tabulation???? Yeah, I know these questions are sorta rhetorical coming from Fl :wink: ---- Anyway, I just could not sit by and refuse to vote.... Oh yeah,,,, I voted for Obama.... Feel free to vilify me or heap accolades :wink: ---- sal
Crooked politics is as american as apple pie. If not for that, how do you expect people like GW Bush to be elected? Do you really expect them to clean it up when keeping it crooked is what brought them into power in the first place?
I don't think there has every been an honest election in history or ever will be.
Yo Stony::: You vote right???... Granted, politics and corruption go hand in hand, like peas -n- carrots, as Gump would say... That admitted... How is your vote any more of a less feeeble attemp than any others...?? I mean sure, 'ya can vote 3rd party till the cows come home, or just pull the lever for whatever major party affiliation you desire; but what do you see as your vote being any more or less futile, or, correct and sagely chosen than the next persons???? Not to rag on 'ya or anything, (I know you have a fine time dueling with Cen), but really, what do you see short of armed insurrection ((HHmMM Now :wink: ) as a viable alternative?????
Well Sal, I never said my vote counted any more than anyone else's. So I don't know what you are talking about there. If you mean does anyone's vote count, then I would say yes. If you want to just throw your hands up in the air and say "I give up" then the crooks don't even have to work hard to steal the election. If you take the time to study the issues and make an informed choice, then the crooks have to work overtime to change your vote to the one they wanted. Make the crooks sweat!
The good thing about voting third party is that then the two major crooks have some competition and a reason to clean up their act. If there were only 2 oil companies, how much do you think gas would cost a gallon? $5, $10, more? Give the crooks some competition. A new broom sweeps clean.
Good points / I feel the same.... Hmmm, seems as if I voted the polar oppiste of the prevailing winds in Fl... I went 'fer Barack-They went for Hillary.. I voted no on a ballot initiative to raise the property tax exemption and allow it to be carried forward to a second house if you choose to buy another.... See, in Fl, they allow a $50K property assessment valuation to be written off for the first time home buyer.. The ballot was to raise the write of to $78K and allow it to be carried over to another house purchased later..... While I think the first write off is great for a 1st time buyer, I can't see how letting people carry that write off when they decide to 'upgrade' is any good... Why should community services like police/fire/etc. take an economic hit just to allow peeps to 'move on up'????