Lines Lines Lines, Yeah!

A wait approaching 2 hours awaited me at our early voting site. One of only 3 in the county mandated by the legislature, our county has the fewest number of early voting sites in the state. Could it be that in a Republican-controlled county, a method of voting that is thought to favor Democrats is being actively discouraged by our elections chief? Nah!

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paddington62 says:

It amazes me that the voting system there in the US is still able to be manipulated at the local level - like the old "rotten boroughs" of England in the 1700s !
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )

HexBlock says:

Well, it's manipulated by the parties, since the elections officials are partisan. I always believed the elections were non-partisan until we got the electronic voting machines in response to the fiasco in 2000 of Bush v. Gore. Those machines were provided by Diebold, a major contributor to the Republican party, and were able to be manipulated by operatives who had the software and were allowed access on off-hours. Some of the machines were tested after the election and found to have recorded Dem votes as Repub, enough that the election could have gone the other way. We have a lot to learn from the world on elections. Maybe we should have impartial UN observers come in...
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )

paddington62 says:

Hmm, maybe you need an electoral commission like we have - a statutory body totally independent of government which runs the elections - to work for it you have to swear on a stack of bibles that you've NEVER been a member of a political party. The parties can watch the vote being counted by the electoral commission officials (technically called "the scrutiny") but they can't interfere with the process.

However, the political parties here can still try to manipulate the way elections are run by amending the legislation that regulates elections - but at least everyone can see what they're doing. And the High Court of Australia has ruled that there are limits to the manner in which the elections can be held - basically decided that elections have to be free and fair and people given a genuine ability to vote.

And voting should be compulsory ! Just like it was in ancient Athens !! And like it is here in Oz !
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )

stovak says:

you gotta go before 9AM. If you go early, there' slike NOBODY there.
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )

HexBlock says:

Padd - sounds like a great idea, though I'd doubt you'd find many people here who don't belong to a political party unless they're homeless or otherwise disenfranchised. I don't know about voting being compulsory - there are sooo many here who are uninformed (blissfully) who can be swayed by demagoguery. Oz probably has a better educated and better read and informed population!

Tom - Yeah, I'm thinking. I decided to request an absentee ballot. That's what all the Repubs are doing so they don't have to stand in line with the common folk...
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )

stovak says:

i kinda like the common folk. Makes me feel part of something bigger.
Posted 14 months ago. ( permalink )

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Lines Lines Lines, Yeah!

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paddington62 says:

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