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Several Factors Contributed to 'Lost' Voters in Ohio
washingtonpost.com ^ | Wednesday, December 15, 2004 | Michael Powell and Peter Slevin

Posted on 12/14/2004 8:17:32 PM PST by crushelits

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Tanya Thivener's is a tale of two voting precincts in Franklin County. In her city neighborhood, which is vastly Democratic and majority black, the 38-year-old mortgage broker found a line snaking out of the precinct door.

She stood in line for four hours -- one hour in the rain -- and watched dozens of potential voters mutter in disgust and walk away without casting a ballot. Afterward, Thivener hopped in her car and drove to her mother's house, in the vastly Republican and majority white suburb of Harrisburg. How long, she asked, did it take her to vote?

Fifteen minutes, her mother replied.

"It was . . . poor planning," Thivener said. "County officials knew they had this huge increase in registrations, and yet there weren't enough machines in the city. You really hope this wasn't intentional."

Electoral problems prevented many thousands of Ohioans from voting on Nov. 2. In Columbus, bipartisan estimates say that 5,000 to 15,000 frustrated voters turned away without casting ballots. It is unlikely that such "lost" voters would have changed the election result -- Ohio tipped to President Bush by a 118,000-vote margin and cemented his electoral college majority.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: contributed; electionday; factors; lost; ohio; rats; several; sorelosers; voters
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1 posted on 12/14/2004 8:17:32 PM PST by crushelits
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To: crushelits

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Tanya Thivener's is a tale of two voting precincts in Franklin County. In her city neighborhood, which is vastly Democratic and majority black, the 38-year-old mortgage broker found a line snaking out of the precinct door.

She stood in line for four hours -- one hour in the rain -- and watched dozens of potential voters mutter in disgust and walk away without casting a ballot. Afterward, Thivener hopped in her car and drove to her mother's house, in the vastly Republican and majority white suburb of Harrisburg. How long, she asked, did it take her to vote?


Fifteen minutes, her mother replied.




what a bunch of crap. harrisburg is 1/100th of the size of any of the other burbs in the area.

I live in Canal Winchester and I had to wait for 3 hours. If she couldnt wait, its on her.

frikin whiny babies....


2 posted on 12/14/2004 8:24:55 PM PST by MikefromOhio (27 days until I can leave Iraq for good....)
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To: crushelits

I can only hope the left continues to brood over the last election, thinking that it was stolen. That way, they will continue to marginalize themselves. Moderates don't like anyone who smells like a kook.

The funny part is this - the places that had trouble with long lines tended to be in big cities that are run by Democrats. If there were Democrat votes lost, they have no one to blame but themselves. (For the record, I think such problems has virtually no effect on the election.)


3 posted on 12/14/2004 8:26:30 PM PST by Joe Bonforte
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To: crushelits

Oh, let's take a step back then, why isn't the ComPost and the rest of the MSM calling for the firing, and criminal prosecution, of the various Democrat election officials responsible for this "problem"?


4 posted on 12/14/2004 8:27:47 PM PST by swilhelm73 (Dowd wrote that Kerry was defeated by a "jihad" of Christians...Finally – a jihad liberals oppose!)
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To: crushelits

I waited over 40 minutes to vote where the turnout is usually above 75% and I've never waited before. The lines were long and never broke where I was a poll challenger and turnout is usually closer to national averages. I'm sure that turnout overwhelmed a lot of polling places. Maybe if people wouldn't turnout in large numbers every other decade they would find their polling places better prepared.


5 posted on 12/14/2004 8:28:35 PM PST by Dolphy
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To: crushelits

I waited in the rain for 1 hour 10 minutes in the morning and did not get to vote as I had to leave. I came back and waited 40 minutes to vote. The voters who actually cast a ballot are the ones whose votes counted. Is this really such a complicated thing to understand?


6 posted on 12/14/2004 8:31:48 PM PST by msnimje
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To: crushelits

They just can't let this go, can they? Sick puppies.


7 posted on 12/14/2004 8:33:17 PM PST by speedy
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To: crushelits
That is the icing on the cake.

The absolute "nut buster".

Tanya has proven, without a shadow of a doubt, that we wascally Wepublicans did in fact, frenchfry the black voters in Franklin County, Ohio.

My God, Tanya, I am glad you took upon yourself to let us know what REALLY happened on that rainy night of 2 Nov.

Well, good enough for me. Tanya got dissed, so GWB, give it up.

Let's all welcome our new President - JOHN F'n KERRY

Man, I'm glad I got rid of that guilt trip.

Ohio, shame on you for dissin' Tanya. How could you!

LVM

8 posted on 12/14/2004 8:34:20 PM PST by LasVegasMac ("They need a McDonald's drive-thu in turn 3")
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: crushelits

You know, this is just insane. Wahhhh Wahhhh, cry me a river cause people had to wait in line to vote. This election was so important to me that I would have waited in line in a typhoon if I had a broken leg and a 103 degree fever. Nothing short of my own death was going to prevent me to from being able to fill in the circle next to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. If you get out of line and go home, you don't vote and thus you will not have a ballot that's counted for you. It's that simple.


10 posted on 12/14/2004 8:36:00 PM PST by Nascardude
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To: crushelits

oh, god! i can't take this again!

a democrat, a victim of this evil country.


11 posted on 12/14/2004 8:36:16 PM PST by ken21 (against the democrat plantation)
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To: crushelits

Me and my wife waited hours because it was important to us




61 Million Voters Can't Be Wrong


12 posted on 12/14/2004 8:36:30 PM PST by italianquaker (CATHOLIC AND I VOTE BUSH=MANDATE)
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To: Joe Bonforte

You said what I was going to say. Both parties supposedly registered an awesome number of voters. Wouldn't you think they'd have thought that maybe they'd need more machines?

BTW, after hearing about the voters in the Florida panhandle supposedly not voting after they'd heard from the alphabets that Algore had carried Floida in 2000, so in a way I'm tempted to say "cry me a river, whiners!"


13 posted on 12/14/2004 8:37:26 PM PST by Theresawithanh (Snappy, witty, humerous tagline needed! Will pay in Marlboro Miles...)
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To: Theresawithanh

Note to self - - Floida hasn't been given statehood yet. I think it's near Puerto Rico. I meant Florida.


14 posted on 12/14/2004 8:39:00 PM PST by Theresawithanh (Snappy, witty, humerous tagline needed! Will pay in Marlboro Miles...)
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To: crushelits
"It was . . . poor planning," Thivener said. "County officials knew they had this huge increase in registrations, and yet there weren't enough machines in the city. You really hope this wasn't intentional."...I thought Ohio was one of those places where voters were given up to two weeks prior to the election date to go vote - if they can't get themselves together in that amount to of time, let alone wait in line for awhile on the actual date if necessary, they're not involved enough in what's going on to be voting at all......
15 posted on 12/14/2004 8:40:31 PM PST by Intolerant in NJ
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To: MikeinIraq

"If she couldnt wait, its on her. frikin whiny babies...."
Maybe she should regard the rain on Nov 2 as a sign from on High to all those who were too disgusted to vote and be particularly grateful for the Lord's mercy: only a mild admonition (rain) was applied instead of a tornado or a flood their sins richly deserve [/nasal twang].


16 posted on 12/14/2004 8:41:09 PM PST by GSlob
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To: crushelits
In Columbus, bipartisan estimates say that 5,000 to 15,000 frustrated voters turned away without casting ballots. It is unlikely that such "lost" voters would have changed the election result...

Does anybody recall any similar handwringing by the MSM when the networks prematurely announced Florida before the polls closed in 2000? Anybody?

And estimated 7-10,000 Bush voters who had been standing in line or were on their way to the polls gave up and didn't cast their ballot. And those "lost" voters very nearly did change the election result.

Which, of course, was the object of the exercise in the first place...

17 posted on 12/14/2004 8:42:25 PM PST by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE)
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To: crushelits

It's no wonder there are long lines in Dem voting areas, they vote and then get back in line, vote again, get back in line, vote again, get back in line.........

Republicans just vote and go on home.


18 posted on 12/14/2004 8:43:01 PM PST by F.J. Mitchell (A Merry Christmas to all ,and to whom ever the Panthers hence forth play -a good night Irene!!!!!)
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To: MikeinIraq
I live in Worthington, which I'd say is "vastly Republican and majority white", and I had to wait 2 1/2 hrs. to vote.

I didn't see anyone "muttering and leaving", but then we were voting FOR someone, instead of just AGAINST them.

19 posted on 12/14/2004 8:45:45 PM PST by Slump Tester (John Kerry - When even your best still isn't good enough)
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To: crushelits

So after standing in line for hours they walked away without casting their ballot...

Well, how many Ohioans on that day did not care to vote at all? What are the Democrats going to blame that on?


20 posted on 12/14/2004 8:46:16 PM PST by citizencon
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