Posted on 10/24/2004 11:25:59 AM PDT by Cableguy
More trouble brewing in Ohio: Reader Evan Rogers sent us this absentee ballot from Cuyahoga County (Cleveland).
Looking at the ballot, one would assume that to vote for President Bush, you'd punch out the green square opposite the arrow. Nope. The right square for Bush is the red one, number four, near the top of the column. That corresponds, I guess, to the number 4 next to the arrow, and I assume that voters are instructed in what those numbers mean. What makes it unreasonable is that to vote for John Kerry, you punch square six, the blue one, which is just opposite Kerry's arrow. So Bush voters are likely to be confused; Kerry voters won't be.
There are probably dozens, if not hundreds, of such sources of confusion in various districts around the country. Depending on the election's outcome, any of them could be grounds for post-election lawsuits.
good one!
Looks like an attempt to confuse voters, possibly.
But as always, the responsibility for voting correctly falls on the voter. But if this is a deliberate attempt to spoil the voting process, it stinks.
Who issued these what seem to be confusing absentee ballots?
Thanks for your service...and stay safe!
I suggest that any voter, especially new ones, go to their board of elections web sites. See if they have sample ballots, many do. Get acquainted with the ballot before you vote. Or talk to someone you can trust who has voted before. Don't let any so-called action group help in any way!
I much prefer the optically scanned ballots my county uses. There are two halves of an arrow next to each item. The way the ballot is marked is by drawing a solid black mark connecting the front and back halves.
This county seems to be a hornet's nest.
Something similar to Palm Beach County in 2000.
THIS ELECTION HAS TO BE A BLOWOUT FOR BUSH - THERE IS NO OTHER WAY WE CAN STOP THESE PEOPLE FROM STEALING THIS ELECTION.
It looks to me like they removed Bush from the top of the ballot - and moved him to the bottom of the list - resulting in the misnumbering alighment.
The dims would do such a thing - just to put Kerry as the first choice. The names are supposed to be listed alphabetically - so people can find them easier.
This is disgusting AND CRIMINAL!! Tampering with a ballot is a crime.
That was my first question. Why is Bush/Cheney at the bottom of the ballot?
Good catch. You're exactly right. They moved Bush to the bottom and overlooked moving the "4" along with him.
Exactly!
Typical liberal move - stacking the deck so their IDIOT SHEEP will vote for Kerry - heaven forbid they should vote for Bush.
If 4 is assigned to a candidate, the software will register a vote for that candidate. If 4 is not assigned, the software will not count it at all since 4 is undefined. The software used may differ from what we had though. The stuff we had would not count anything for an undefined punch. It only recognized punches that corresponded to a defined, assigned position.
That makes sense. I never voted absentee myself although I did process the absentee votes when I worked for the Elections Office. Our process was to run the absentees through as soon as the polls closed while we were waiting for the ballots to arrive from the polling places.
It was a cool job because I ran the counting process along with programming the software for each election. Even the Elections Administrator was not allowed into the room where the punch card readers and counting computers were. Only my crew and I were in the room. Once a precinct was completed, I printed out the final results report and handed it over to the Elections Administrator who recorded the official count and then posted the report on the public board. Since I saw the totals first, I was always the first person to know who won.
Quoting Elaine Benis: "Fake, fake, fake, fake, fake."
Check this out, Lou.
We have e-slate here in Texas. Straight ticket voting took me, oh, about 2 minutes, tops PLUS I got a "confirmation screen" showing all my selections prior to actually submitting the electronic "ballot".
I have created a link to a sample ballot PDF on the Corpus Christi League of Women Voters site from the first precinct in Nueces County, Texas. It is not my precinct, but it is in the same county where I live. It is very simple to read and understand.
Not sure where this picture comes from. BUT I helped my mom with her Ohio absentee ballot last week and the instructions specifically tell the voter not to attempt to line the numbers on the sheet listing the candidates with the numbers on the punch card. It is really wuite simple to look for the number of the candidate or issue you wish to choose and punch the corresponding number on the card.
This being said, I have heard locally, that the Board of Elections in Cuyahoga County has received a number of complaints about this "misalignment" problem already. I suspect it's just another round in the chamber that the Bolshviks will fire after they lose Ohio.
Alphabetical, by party. Kinda insures the 'Rats will always be first, right?
Read my post #77. In Texas, the order in which candidates are listed on ballots is determined by the rank order of the results of the previous governors race. As a result the major parties are listed at the top of each race.
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