Something is Wrong with Voting in Ohio

[TLSnell1981]

It is being reported you can vote in Ohio with the following requirements.

1) Give the last four digits of your SS
2) Give your name

The Board of Election has no way to check the new voter registrations against government data bases. No observers are allowed to moniter what's going on.

There are reports of students voting multiple times and people being bused in from out of state (by ACORN) to vote in Ohio.

The Secretary of State took two unrelated sections of the law and created this six day "voting period". Evidently, the dems are thrilled. It's "legal" but, ...is it right?

 

[Mermaid02]

I think you should have to have proof of citizenship to vote and also not be able to register and vote in the same day. Too much possibility for fraud (by either party!!)

 

[TLSnell1981]

I think you should have to have proof of citizenship to vote and also not be able to register and vote in the same day. Too much possibility for fraud (by either party!!)

I agree.

 

[yeartolate]

I am curious. Are you saying that with your name and SSN they cannot check to see if a registration already exists for the person? I would think with computer databases, this woud be instantaneous.

I think the voter fraud issues pale in comparison to election fraud issues in general. And by a large margin. I will say that I do believe voter fraud does happen.

There should not be two hour long lines to vote in poor areas - where the working poor have to decide whether to vote or put food on the family- when the more affluent areas are line free. Caging and other voter surpression techniques are widespread. People have already been convicted and jailed in the phone jamming scheme a few years back. We can never know how many votes were lost. Don"t get me started on the lack of paper trail and computerized machines coming up with numbers that don't match reality. But we trust them because only the ones that are way off are questioned. But if some glitiches are happening, how do we know how much it really is happening.

But I will bite that occasionally a duplicate vote will happen. But now where near the effect that election fraud has on elections.

 

[Mermaid02]

My dh just got a letter from the state saying he has to surrender his CDL (commercial drivers license) unless he submits to being fingerprinted and can prove he is a United States Citizen, oh and he has to submit to a background check. We have no problem with this except that anyone can walk into a polling place on election day (in many parts of the country) and vote without proof of ANYTHING.

 

[LaraK]

I am curious. Are you saying that with your name and SSN they cannot check to see if a registration already exists for the person? I would think with computer databases, this woud be instantaneous.

I think the voter fraud issues pale in comparison to election fraud issues in general. And by a large margin. I will say that I do believe voter fraud does happen.

There should not be two hour long lines to vote in poor areas - where the working poor have to decide whether to vote or put food on the family- when the more affluent areas are line free. Caging and other voter surpression techniques are widespread. People have already been convicted and jailed in the phone jamming scheme a few years back. We can never know how many votes were lost. Don"t get me started on the lack of paper trail and computerized machines coming up with numbers that don't match reality. But we trust them because only the ones that are way off are questioned. But if some glitiches are happening, how do we know how much it really is happening.

But I will bite that occasionally a duplicate vote will happen. But now where near the effect that election fraud has on elections.

But in many of those areas, one of the big hold up is getting election judges who will show up and work the polls. I know in Baltimore, it's a challenge finding enough Republicans to work the polling places. Judges don't show up, polls don't open. I don't know about other states, but in Maryland, the polling places are run by the local politicians...in the "poor" areas, those politicians are almost universally Democrats. Why then is it a Republican issue? How are the Republicans surpressing votes? Doesn't make sense to me.

 

[mickeymedic]

I am curious. Are you saying that with your name and SSN they cannot check to see if a registration already exists for the person? I would think with computer databases, this woud be instantaneous.

I think the OP is saying that they are only asking for the last 4 digits of the social security number and it sounds like there are no computer checks going on either.

 

[yeartolate]

But in many of those areas, one of the big hold up is getting election judges who will show up and work the polls. I know in Baltimore, it's a challenge finding enough Republicans to work the polling places. Judges don't show up, polls don't open. I don't know about other states, but in Maryland, the polling places are run by the local politicians...in the "poor" areas, those politicians are almost universally Democrats. Why then is it a Republican issue? How are the Republicans surpressing votes? Doesn't make sense to me.

Voter supression should be an AMERICAN issue. Not a Democrat or Republican one.

 

[LaraK]

Voter supression should be an AMERICAN issue. Not a Democrat or Republican one.

I agree, and voter fraud should also be a non-partisan issue. The current Ohio practices destroys the integrity of all elections.

 

[yeartolate]

I agree, and voter fraud should also be a non-partisan issue. The current Ohio practices destroys the integrity of all elections.

I say that the integrity of the elevtions in many states has been lost for a long time.

The hundreds or thousands that will skirt the law pales in comparson to the various forms of election fraud that have been perpetrated in the past decade.

Both need to be addressed.

 

[LaraK]

I say that the integrity of the elevtions in many states has been lost for a long time.

The hundreds or thousands that will skirt the law pales in comparson to the various forms of election fraud that have been perpetrated in the past decade.

Both need to be addressed.

Again, I agree...I believe mandatory proof of identity is a first step. What would you recommend?

 

[yeartolate]

Again, I agree...I believe mandatory proof of identity is a first step. What would you recommend?

I actually have no problem with this.

But there should be a way for people to easily obtain the records they need to obtain the proof. It took me 6 weeks and a chunk of cash to obtain my birth certificate. I have no desire to have people who are unqualified to vote to cast a ballot. But obtaining the ID necessary should be easy and either free or very cheap.

But again, I think the fraudulent voter issue pales in comparison to the election fraud - caging techniques, lists of voters on a "do not vote list" and thousands turned away because their names are somewhat similar. Changing polling places and not informing the voters. Voting machines without paper trails. Voting machine companies with a financial interest in the outcome of the election, phone jamming scams. Machines in poorer areas broken down and long lines while affluent areas have machines up and running with no lines. Machines stored in poorly secured areas. Folks showing up to polling places with proper ID and are given provisonal ballots because legal ID wasn't enough.

 

[LaraK]

I actually have no problem with this.
Glad we agree again
But there should be a way for people to easily obtain the records they need to obtain the proof. It took me 6 weeks and a chunk of cash to obtain my birth certificate. I have no desire to have people who are unqualified to vote to cast a ballot. But obtaining the ID necessary should be easy and either free or very cheap.
I would also support free/low cost personal identification. Obtaining a birth certificate is a state issue, but I know that there's an error on my son's and I'm going to have to pay a bunch of fees and go to court to have it fixed. I'd support my state lowering/negating these fees if it provided more efficient access to needed documents
But again, I think the fraudulent voter issue pales in comparison to the election fraud - caging techniques, lists of voters on a "do not vote list" I've never heard of either of these, could you give me a link so that I can learn more?and thousands turned away because their names are somewhat similar. The voter ID issue should negate this problem as well...each would/could have a unique identifier similar to a driver's licenseChanging polling places and not informing the voters. Wrong-and a local election board issue...I'd take it up with any local election board that did this.Voting machines without paper trails. I completely agree on this one...there has to be some sort of a back up for voting machines. I just saw a case in (I believe) Washington where a machine added a ton of "phantom votes"Voting machine companies with a financial interest in the outcome of the election, Should be illegalphone jamming scamsHaven't heard of that one either. Machines in poorer areas broken down and long lines while affluent areas have machines up and running with no lines. again, an election board issueMachines stored in poorly secured areas. Local election board issueFolks showing up to polling places with proper ID and are given provisonal ballots because legal ID wasn't enough.I haven't heard of this being validated either, I'd ask for a link again

I answered above

 

[rie'smom]

In order to register here,we have to have a certified copy of our birth certificates and a picture ID. The ID has to be state issued with the holograph.
When we vote, we have to present the state issued picture ID.

 

[yeartolate]

I answered above

Start with this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caging_list

 

[yeartolate]

This might be helpful as well, Lara.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Central_Voter_File


This one was pretty nasty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tobin_(political_operative)

His conviction was overturned - essentially the they need to find a better crime to charge the guy with....When criminals are this creative, we need to adapt our laws better to get them behand bars.

 

[rie'smom]

Caging is wrong no matter which party does it.

 

[LaraK]

Start with this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caging_list

Caging is a term of art in the direct mail industry, as well as a term applied to a technique of voter suppression. A caging list is a list or database of addresses, updated after a mailing program is completed, with notations on responses received from recipients, with corrections for addresses that mail has been returned undelivered from, or forwarded onward from.

How is this voter supression? Is the implication that people bring in returned mail and indicate the voter is not valid because they don't live where they said they did? If they don't live in a district, it doesn't seem like they should vote there. I would say they'd have to provide information on their current residence. My husband's name is still on the roles in PA even though he's lived in Maryland for 13 years...doesn't mean he should vote there (although it's been tempting for him in the past...his vote would count more there)

 

[LaraK]

This might be helpful as well, Lara.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Central_Voter_File


This one was pretty nasty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tobin_(political_operative)

His conviction was overturned - essentially the they need to find a better crime to charge the guy with....When criminals are this creative, we need to adapt our laws better to get them behand bars.

The first one is talking about Florida...which clearly has a really messed up voting system. I would be all for overhauling the whole darned thing to get rid of both chads and felons...the second link didn't work for me.

 

[c4a]

It seems that something very important is being overlooked-are we talking about Cinci, Columbus, or Cleveland or smaller towns where people STILL know each other by name?