Posted on 08/03/2004 8:37:27 AM PDT by rface
"It functions more like a frequent flyer program for habitual voters,"
.
St. Louis filed a lawsuit Monday seeking early statewide voting for the Nov. 2 election.
If successful, the lawsuit would create a two-week window before Election Day in which any Missouri voter could cast a ballot. This would differ from absentee balloting, which requires a voter to provide a reason for casting an early ballot.
The lawsuit was filed against Secretary of State Matt Blunt - the chief election official in Missouri. It involves the interpretation of a law signed in 2002 by Gov. Bob Holden, which Blunt says provides only a "plan" for early voting. ... [ snip ]
On Monday, Jackson accused the St. Louis Mator, Francis Slay, of "trying to invent a new kind of election chaos to replace the 2000 disaster in the city."
The city's Election Board came under federal oversight after the 2000 election, in which voters were turned away from the polls because election workers could not verify their eligibility.
[snip ]
If a judge sides with the city, early voting would work this way:
St. Louis and all counties in Missouri would set up at least one polling center where votes could be cast starting Oct. 19, fourteen days before Election Day.
That location, and up to four others, would be open on business days for those two weeks ....
[snip ]
Election workers have to ensure early voters do not vote again later.
. [snip ]
"It functions more like a frequent flyer program for habitual voters," he said. "It rewards people who are already active in the process."
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
This is the part that we should be worried about.
Excuse me...but doesn't the US Constitution state somewhere in it that the Presidential election SHALL TAKE PLACE ON THE FIRST TUESDAY IN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER????
Illegal and unconstitutional. Congress alone has the power to determine dates of presidential elections. They long ago said it would be the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Any other popular voting, barring absentees, is illegal.
St. Louis Motto: Vote Early and Vote Often!
and why can't the good folks in MO vote "absentee ballot?"...
Sounds like Chicago-style voting..."Vote early and often!" LOL
Bring out your dead !
We have an in-person early voting system here in Texas that I've used for years (I always vote early. Less fuss trying to get to the polls on election day.)
Links here and here describe an in-person early voting system that looks to be pretty close to what's being proposed in Missouri.
The timing is questionable (under 100 days 'till the election, may not be enough time to properly test safeguards against multiple voting), but the process itself is fine by me, especially since Republicans tend to vote early more often than Dems do, at least in these parts.
You do realize that many states, including Texas, have had this for years?
We use this in Kansas and it is actually a boost for the working class, it gives them better alternatives and avoids lines. If done properly can actually be a boost for Republicans who generally have a harder time getting away to vote.
If people were turned away, it was probably because they had no proof of registration or they were in the wrong location (possibly to vote twice). I went to the wrong voting location one time after a move, and I had to go to the correct location in order to vote.
I wasn't disenfranchised, but happy that they didn't accomodate me -- if they did, I could have voted and then moved on to the new location to vote twice.
Is it possible that the people were turned away after being used to that type of corrupt system? Not only that, but they kept the polling places open (by judicial fiat) past their legal time, with Al Gore getting air time on KMOX to encourage people to take advantage of the situation.
The Left only cares about the Constitution when it's able to be twisted to serve their purposes. If it says something specific, they simply ignore it. Like children.
I'm reasonably certain that Kansas has early voting. I know I voted early recently and don't remember whether it was 2000 or 2002.
Arizona's been doing this for a while, I think we consider it part of the absentee voting system but they'll be places open to cast an early vote around mid-october.
It was long ago decided that as long as you don't tally votes and declare a winner until election day then early voting (via absentee or other forms) is perfectly fine.
Early voting and absentee balloting as a matter of convenience should be outlawed. These are 2 of the biggest gaping holes in electoral security we have. All it takes it a corrupt democRAT with access to the ballots and/or voting machines after hours, and all kinds of votes can be manufactured, and we already know that they have no moral constraint that would prevent them.
No big deal. Locally, you have to show proof of ID before you vote and sign your name beside the voter rolls whether you vote early or on election day. However, this means that early voting is at very few places and you have to know where to vote, a challenge to many 'Rats.
I love absentee voting, especially when there's lots of initiatives, it allows me to research the issues and record my vote all together, without it I have to crib ballot notes to remember how I'm gonna vote. There's a lot more that goes into tallying absentee votes than a ballot and voting machine, it's gets the same level of double watching all the other voting methods get, often times more.
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