Posted on 03/05/2002 9:24:15 AM PST by jcsmonogram
(Los Angeles) - On the day of one of the most hotly-contested primaries in history, Republicans are being told to stand in line in order to exercise their right to vote. This is because many precincts have more voting booths set up for Democrats than for Republicans. Sometimes up to four times as many!
"This is outrageous," said one voter outside the precinct. "There were four completely empty Democratic booths and I had to stand in line for over 15 minutes for the single Republican booth. If I'd had to wait any longer, I would have had to leave without voting, or I'd have been Click here for full story
Some people have their priorities all wrong.
I agree. Thank you for setting these idiots at GOPPortal.com straight. (Also read my previous message in this thread.) People like this cook food in the microwave, and then tap impatiently waiting for it to finish.
Exercising your civic duty to vote is far more important than merely getting to the office at a certain time.
If someone's biggest complaint is about standing in line to vote, I'd say we have things pretty good here in the States.
They offered me a piece of cardboard and the wire to punch the ballot in lew of a machine which I accepted and voted.
The precinct is in a retirement community where the average voter could very well become confused but I think it's actually quicker and easier to just punch out the numbers.
If it's a machine lever voting booth, the ballots aren't interchangeable. If it's a punch-card system, the voting guide books aren't interchangeable.
First, I'm from Nebraska, so many people in CA would say I couldn't understand. But that's beside the point.
Every time I have ever voted I'm been given a card, No.2 pencil, and told to "use one of the empty booths". The card is given to me in a plastic sleeve.
In fact, the last time I voted, you didn't even have to use a booth while you filled in the ovals on your card. You could sit at one of the cafateria-style tables. You could even drink a 7-eleven Big Gulp while you voted.
There are no booths marked as republican or democrat. It would have offended me if there had been. It's nobody's business how I vote, and if I can be observed while I go in a D or R booth, my privacy is violated.
Once I enter the booth (and pull the curtain behind me), there is a cheep aluminum shelf. That's all. The aluminum shelf does not appear to have a political bias, but I could be wrong. I never asked the shelf if it was a democrat or republican. If the inanimate shelf had spoken and told me it was a liberal, I might have been worried.
So I remove the voting card from the plastic sleeve, read the card carefully, and vote. I read the card again once I am done voting so I know I didn't vote for Pat Buchanan. I have that much going for me - I'm smarter than a Floridian.
Having finished the task of voting, I slide the card back into the plastic sleeve, and exit the booth. Once again, the booth fails to express a political opinion.
I walk over to a metal strong box, and usually a nice old lady informs me to place the plastic sleeve into a slot of a metal strong box, tilting the sleeve upward, and the paper voting card slides into the box. The box also does not have a D or R.
The only time I remember being prompted for my political affiliation is when I 1)registered to vote and 2)voted in a primary.
So what am I missing here in fly-over country that they understand in Cali?
I did the same, because they change my polling place every year and I got sick of trying to find it. If you're a Republican, the Demons who run LA barely acknowledge your existence. We're like unicorns - legendary and unseen. As to the chads - yeah, my kitchen table was covered with the things. It was a blizzard. I said to my wife, "Hey baby, Gore won after all!" (sarcasm/off)
If you really want to complain about tricks on election day, watch out for bogus signs that attempt to misdirect people. There was a problem like that in 2000 in my heavily Republican area. Of course, I voted early at the Registrar of Voters office during February (something we could do as early as the 5th or 6th) so I can just sit back and enjoy the show.
You are the idiot! He did NOT say he left without voting. For you to be so callous of another republican is the lowest.
It makes perfect sense if you examine it. Democrats cannot win with issues, or by being lawful. They have to lie and steal and sneak around because otherwise they would "lose" and they can't stand it.
They are PATHETIC losers, but very dangerous! This is a harbinger of what is to come. I predicted on Free Republic over two years ago that the last election would be the worst, and I predict next Noveber's elections will be even worse for illegalities.
I inspected my ballot carefully before dropping it in the ballot box. The poll worker tried to take it out of my hands and I abruptly backed away from her and inserted my dimple and hanging chad free card into the ballot box.
In other news... my mother, who is 75 years young and has been a registered Democrat for 50+ years, finally saw the light and registered today as a Republican, proving to me that it's never too late.
When I lived in LA County about 20 years ago, the voter received only one punch card. The voting booth had a booklet containing the names of all the candidates. The card was inserted in a holder behind the book. As you turned the pages of the book, you punched out the card. With each page turn, the area punched out on the card moved over one column. The benefit was that all the punch holes were on one card, as opposed to several cards under the Orange County method. The negative was that separate voting booths had to be reserved for each party. In addition, if you are voting by absentee ballot, it is a challenge figuring out which hole to punch out on the LA County one punch card system.
When I lived in LA County about 20 years ago, the voter received only one punch card. The voting booth had a booklet containing the names of all the candidates. The card was inserted in a holder behind the book. As you turned the pages of the book, you punched out the card. With each page turn, the area punched out on the card moved over one column. The benefit was that all the punch holes were on one card, as opposed to several cards under the Orange County method. The negative was that separate voting booths had to be reserved for each party. In addition, if you are voting by absentee ballot, it is a challenge figuring out which hole to punch out on the LA County one punch card system.
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