Attention Florida voters

[Dan Murphy]

Please watch your chads.

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[bsnyder]

Dan, haven't you heard the news?

They banned Chad from Florida. Maybe they sent him to Illinois?




DON'T FORGOT TO VOTE!!!

 

[nativetxn]

LOL!

 

[Deb in IA]

Isn't Chad a country in Africa??


Actually, I think they have computer touch-screens in FL now for the voting machines . . .

 

[Geoff_M]

Deb,

Yes they do.... and it looks like things haven't changed much. People are already crying "Foul!" and claiming things are rigged.

 

[bsnyder]

Correct, Deb. And we now have early voting, so I actually voted one day last week.

 

[Deb in IA]

Really, Geoff?

Hadn't heard that. Driving in this morning, on the radio ABC was reporting that everything was proceding "smoothly".


By the way, did you know that Florida has official "election watchers" -- these are the people who usually go to places like BOTSWANA to be sure there are no election improprieties!!

 

[Geoff_M]

From Drudge:

FLORIDA VOTERS CLAIM MACHINES 'BROKEN', VOTED FOR MCBRIDE, MARKED IT AS BUSH

"I voted for McBride, but the machine counted it as Bush. It did this three times. The polling worker finally said, 'We have to reprogram this machine. Another person was having the same trouble while I was there.'"

So claimed a caller to Southern Florida's WQAM-AM and the highly-rated radio talkmatch, NEIL ROGERS SHOW.

"I pushed the screen for McBride and it marked Bush. They called over a technician, he reset it," claimed a second caller.

"I'll tell you right now, this election is fixed!" roared Rogers, who has been in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale market for more than 25 years. "Based on a few early calls, it is going to be a wild, wild time."

"You have not seen anything yet," warned Rogers. "It's not even 10:30 in the morning. This is going to be one of the great disasters of all-time."

Comments made on the ROGERS SHOW early on Election Day 2000 foreshadowed the voting chaos that fully engulfed the state.

(snip)

Mid-state, problems have been reported in at least three polling locations.

Local 6 News reported that the scanners were not working at the Central Florida Gotha Precinct #101 in Orange County.

Voters were putting their ballots in a box to be hand-counted, according to the report.

The scanners also are not working at the Port St. John precinct #159 in Brevard County or at precinct #116 in Seminole County at the St. Albins Church on State Road 426, according to reports.

Developing....

Sounds like they're already rallying the troops!

Yep, I heard about the election observers. To make it even more ironic, many of them are INTERNATIONAL observers. Sounds like the Botswanians are now here watching us!

It's probably only a matter of time before it's "Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the lawyers of political war!"

 

[Talking Hands]

I voted last week because my polling place is difficult for me to park and get in the building on my own and my husband wasn't going to be available. It went smoothly.
I would take anything said on the Neil Rogers show with a grain of salt. We all know his politics down here and he is far from unbiased. Demos are rallying the troops to make things look bad again.
Btw my oldest voted prior to leaving fro Japan. Only baby needs to vote today and she will do it after her theory class.

 

[Deb in IA]

I dunno . . . call me skeptical, but do you think this radio guy is doing a publicity stunt?

And is this going to be a running (no pun intended) joke in Florida?

 

[SideshowBob]

Er, um...

 

[Geoff_M]

I'm highly skeptical of the reports too. The guy's just stirring the pot. But that's what got the ball rolling in 2000. I'm sure the guy will be on the air soliciting anyone that feels there was a problem, or they were disenfranchised, or intimidated because there was a cop car 1/4 mile from the polling place, etc. etc. to call in and vent.

 

[bsnyder]

No election is perfect.

However, the early reliable reports from Miami-Dade and Broward are that things are going relatively smoothly. There are some scattered precincts around the state that are having some problems, but it doesn't appear to be widespread and systematic.

And some genius this morning came up with the idea to distribute sample ballots to the people standing in the lines. If people would just study the ballot before they get to the actual machine, it would definitely speed the process up!

 

[DocRafiki]

Didn't they mail out sample ballots to all registered voters? The newscasters kept telling everyone last night to study them before they got there. Er, duh. It seems like not doing so would be like going to a final exam for a class you never attended.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Actually, I think they have computer touch-screens in FL now for the voting machines . . . [/B]

Yup, they gave us a little plastic card about the size of a credit card to insert in the machine. However, overhearing the lady next to me, there may be a problem. She was telling the poll worker that she had called to see if we would be voting for certain representatives. She was told we would. However, this person's name wasn't coming up on the screen any where. The polling person thought that was strange and said she knows it was on the mail-in ballot! Another FL mess-up or was she misinformed when she called? She said she was voting for _________________ because she didn't want the other guy to get the vote. And I thought to myself...lady, I would cancel out your vote any way because there was no way I would vote for the guy she was looking for. LOL!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Oh, yeah! And then I heard the lady on the other side of me tell a poll worker that a bunch of things were checked off on her screen, but she didn't mark any of them!

 

[KozmicLee]

I like the new touch screens. I liked that you could see a breakdown of your choices at the end and go back and fix anything that you didn't think was right.

 

[Galahad]

Voting this morning in Tampa went so smoothly it was fun. I think I'll go over to Lauderdale this afternoon and do it again.

 

[Deb in IA]

Galahad!

It's in CHICAGO that you are supposed to "VOTE EARLY, AND VOTE OFTEN"