It's only gonna get worse. Ye olde cliche "by hook or by crook" takes center stage here: Republicons have no hook, and they're quick to turn to crook. Crashing Vor over at Daily Kos has some excellent advice for those who prefer not to have their votes stolen out from under them:
Check your voter registration, now and again before closing deadline. If you are a Democrat or Independent, darker than a glass of milk or live in a neighborhood with a significant proportion of non-whites, check again. Tell your friends, family and co-workers to do the same.
If your state allows convicted felons to regain the franchise after serving sentence and you know such a person, have them double-check their registration, as felons who may legitimately vote are often targeted in purges.
Keep close tabs on any election-related mailers or phone calls, particularly any that question your registration, urge you to vote on the wrong day, appear to be from a party source but support the opposing party's candidate, etc.
Check with the registrar of voters before the election to make sure your polling place has not moved. (This is especially important in places recovering from disaster--flooded Midwest Dems: heads up!)
If you can, volunteer as a poll-watcher for your local Democratic party or your candidate of choice.
The GOP is desperate this year, and will try every last damn dirty trick, legal or not, to stop people from voting, to stop votes from counting, to stop the wave of pissed off voters they hear rushing at them. Vigilance is the watchword.
Vigilance indeed. Spread the word.
As an outsider I'm sometimes honestly amazed that the US can conduct an election at all, the different ways you can vote from state to state, the need to register as a particular party or affiliation, and the way each states vote is counted sometimes makes my head spin. no wonder it is so easy to hijack or cheat. In Australia voting is compulsory and all elections are held on a Saturday so as to inconvenience the least amount of people. there is a single regulatory body that overlooks the entire process from nominations to declaring the winner of the various seats. counting is conducted under the watchful gaze of volunteers from all parties (something I have done myself in the past and it has always been a quiet civilised and often enjoyable occasion)
ReplyDeletethe Electoral College also mystifies me, I was gobsmacked to find out during the 2004 US elections that the various state members of that organisation can actually give their votes to a particular candidate contrary to what the actual people want!! how is that fair??
I have recently been mulling over how GWB could wrest power for himself over on my blog, its all pure speculation of course and I fervently hope it would never happen, the trouble is I don't know exactly how your Laws work, but then from what I can see of the Repugnantcons, neither do they.
Indeed, IIRC that same regulatory body atheist chaplain refers to (the AEC) also has responsibility for other stuff relating to elections as well (periodically balancing up electorate numbers between elections, for example). They're a one-stop shop for everything electoral. (Some unions even use them to conduct their own elections.)
ReplyDeleteThey make elections work consistently across the entire jurisdiction of the election. If I'm voting in a federal election, it's being run exactly the same way in every polling place in the country.
I actually worked for them in one election (long ago now).
In a federal election I've never waited more than 10 minutes to vote, and usually less than two; I've never spent longer waiting to vote than I have spent voting. In city areas, polling places are *everywhere*. I've never lived more than a brief walk from a polling place (under 10 minutes, though presently it's about 3).
I'm rarely asked for ID at all - just get my name crossed off after double checking my address against my name to make sure they're crossing off the right guy. When you register, there is no such thing as party affiliation - everyone just registers to vote; as long as you keep your details up to date with them, you should never have a problem voting.
Election shenannigans of that sort are just unheard of (there are semi-shenannigans on occasion, such as the previous govt changing the laws in such a way as to make it harder for new voters to register in time - new voters being almost all young, and therefore more likely to vote for the less right-wing opposition) -- but registered voters being prevented from voting in a legitimate polling place? I've never heard anything like it here.
[If being able to exercise your right to vote isn't actually guaranteed, it's a bit dodgy calling it a democracy.]
I think there's a fairly good chance of vote fraud this election. Just a hunch.
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