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IS CALIFORNIA TRYING TO DISENFRANCHISE REPUBLICAN VOTERS?
GOPportal.com ^ | 3/5/02 | GOPportal.com

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


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To: Phantom Lord
While we're at it, let's vote for a dead man!
21 posted on 03/05/2002 9:55:58 AM PST by Jadge
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To: rllngrk33
Excersising your constitutional rights is more important than getting to work on time. This idiot probably spends more time waiting in line to buy lottery tickets without a peep. Get Him a WAAAAAAAHmbulance

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.

22 posted on 03/05/2002 9:56:58 AM PST by JoeMomma
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To: jcsmonogram
What kind of oddball system does Los Angeles have? In San Diego they hand you a ballot and you go to whatever booth is open. Why is it necessary to have separate booths in LA? Does this mean they have separate booths for all of the parties like AIP, Libertarian, Green, etc.? That must make for some congested polling places.
23 posted on 03/05/2002 9:58:19 AM PST by John Jorsett
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To: monkeyshine
Where I just voted they handed out the "punch card machines" when they gave you your ballot. They had lots of democrap and the other party machines but only 2 Republican ones in a district that is a high registration Republican district.

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.

24 posted on 03/05/2002 9:58:30 AM PST by dalereed
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To: Inspectorette
We're going after work tonight - I will definitely ask why separate booths if that is the case in my precinct. You should be able to use whichever booth you want - as long as your ballot goes into the proper box, which should be separated according to party.

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.

25 posted on 03/05/2002 9:59:44 AM PST by JoeMomma
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To: jcsmonogram
I don't understand.

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?

26 posted on 03/05/2002 10:01:09 AM PST by shadowman99
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To: Metal4Ever
I was forced to do a write in ballot this year. I hate write in ballots. Ok, who out there made sure they had no hanging, dangling, or pregnant chads?

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)

27 posted on 03/05/2002 10:02:20 AM PST by Argus
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To: monkeyshine
HEY! Can't you READ? Look at the back of your sample ballot which was mailed to you WEEKS ago. If you're too damn lazy to look at your assigned polling place, don't blame the Dems.

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.

28 posted on 03/05/2002 10:04:41 AM PST by newzjunkey
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To: shadowman99
I'm not quite sure either. Each time I've voted it's been with a punch-card system and a separate, unattached, ballot book. L.A. may do things differently than San Diego. Also, preferring to vote at my own pace, I haven't been to an actual polling place in years.
29 posted on 03/05/2002 10:07:38 AM PST by newzjunkey
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To: rllngrk33
Excersising your constitutional rights is more important than getting to work on time. This idiot probably spends more time waiting in line to buy lottery tickets without a peep. Get Him a WAAAAAAAHmbulance

You are the idiot! He did NOT say he left without voting. For you to be so callous of another republican is the lowest.

30 posted on 03/05/2002 10:07:54 AM PST by cinFLA
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To: jcsmonogram
You need to report this to the U.S. Dept of Justice - asap, please.
31 posted on 03/05/2002 10:09:58 AM PST by Freedom'sWorthIt
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To: monkeyshine
"It made no sense."

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.

32 posted on 03/05/2002 10:10:03 AM PST by IVote2
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To: Metal4Ever
Ok, who out there made sure they had no hanging, dangling, or pregnant chads?

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.

33 posted on 03/05/2002 10:10:41 AM PST by slimer
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Comment #34 Removed by Moderator

To: TheDon
It sounds like some counties in CA still have a different method of casting votes. In Orange County, each voter gets a series of punch cards on which are listed the candidates of his party. Those cards are inserted in the punch machine in the booth one-by-one, the candidates selected are punched out, and the ballots are returned to the precinct worker and inserted in a sealed ballot box to be tabulated at the central data processing center. So, no need to have separate party voting booths.

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.

35 posted on 03/05/2002 10:13:15 AM PST by CdMGuy
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To: TheDon
It sounds like some counties in CA still have a different method of casting votes. In Orange County, each voter gets a series of punch cards on which are listed the candidates of his party. Those cards are inserted in the punch machine in the booth one-by-one, the candidates selected are punched out, and the ballots are returned to the precinct worker and inserted in a sealed ballot box to be tabulated at the central data processing center. So, no need to have separate party voting booths.

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.

36 posted on 03/05/2002 10:15:19 AM PST by CdMGuy
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Comment #37 Removed by Moderator

To: jcsmonogram
It would seem that this would effect only the precints or counties that are Democratic leaning, as I doubt that a Republican election official would do this. However, it seems to me that this strategy would hurt Riordan more than Simon.
38 posted on 03/05/2002 10:16:11 AM PST by Andrew Wiggin
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To: CdMGuy
Sorry for the double post.
39 posted on 03/05/2002 10:16:40 AM PST by CdMGuy
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To: jcsmonogram
Of course, in Calif. to vote, first you must be a Queer,second you must be a democrap. How do you thing a communist like Davis won the Gov. seat?
40 posted on 03/05/2002 10:20:27 AM PST by Texbob
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