Comments on: Color of Change: Why Would Anyone Want To Stop You From Voting?

By: DWS2

DWS2 — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:52:06 +0000

Keep your eyes open. Voter suppression can be subtle.

In 2004 when I arrived at the polls, I gave them my name and they suggested I was at the wrong precinct even after I pointed out my name on the rolls. I had voted there the last two years without issue and had recently received information in the mail confirming this as my voting location.

Once we cleared that up, I was given a ticket of sorts but before I could even get in line someone walked up to me (I was looking down at the ticket), said "I'll take that" and walked away rapidly. As I looked up to try and figure out what happened I only caught a glimpse of the poll worker walking away. I stood in line anyway.

When it was my turn to vote, I was asked for that ticket that I no longer had. When I looked at the poll worker and said "you took my ticket" she looked at me like she had no idea what I was talking about. I stood there and demanded that I be allowed to vote anyway. They let me in the booth and then I reported my experience to a watchdog group and the State Attorney General's office. The watchdog group was very helpful. I never heard back from the State.

I have had no problems voting since but I will be prepared.

By: spirit_55z

spirit_55z — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:22:11 +0000

Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me ‘roun’
Turn me ‘roun’
Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me ‘roun’
I’m gonna wait until my change comes
Don’t let nobody turn you ‘roun’
Turn you ‘roun’
Don’t let nobody turn you ‘roun’
Wait until your change comes

I say I’m gonna hold out
Hold out, hold out
I say that I’m gonna hold out
Until my change comes

I promised the lord that I would hold out
Hold out
I promised the Lord that I would hold out
Wait until my change comes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdVrAyhpUjo

By: spirit_55z

spirit_55z — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:16:39 +0000

RonnieB, congratulations and thanks for the brilliant imagery. It's so powerful!

Don't let the long lines and disorganization be a discouragement, y'all. Just assume that long lines are the new German Sheperds and water hoses. Assume that disorganization and under-staffed polling locations are the new police billy clubs.

No way, No how, GOBAMA/BIDEN!

By: DWS

DWS — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:52:06 +0000

By: spirit_55z

spirit_55z — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:22:11 +0000

By: spirit_55z

spirit_55z — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:16:39 +0000

By: GreenLadyHere

GreenLadyHere — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:32:06 +0000

Jill: I'm proposing a 6th Way: Don't let your MIND "play you!":

VOTER OVER-CONFIDENCE!

Mr. Obama is NOT letting up!!

“Here I am, signed, sealed, delivered.”

That’s what the giddy crowds at Barack Obama’s campaign rallies hear when he walks off the stage, the booming sound of Stevie Wonder singing about the promise of a sure thing.

The curious part is that Obama keeps saying just the opposite: Not one thing is sealed.

“We can’t afford to slow down, or sit back, or let up, for one day, for one minute, for one second in this last week,” the Democratic presidential nominee told supporters Thursday.

“Not now. Not now,” Obama said in the Florida sunshine. “We’ve got to work hard.”

For a range of reasons — the slippery nature of polls, the Democrats’ history of heartbreak, the still-to-be-determined effect of race, the desire not to jinx himself — Obama is, in fact, working the vote hard.

SKIP

“Complacency kills campaigns,” said Mark Mellman, a Democratic strategist and John Kerry’s pollster during the 2004 presidential race. “Winners always run like they are behind.”

That helps explain why Obama barreled on with an outdoor rally in Pennsylvania this week despite the foul weather. The thousands of people who showed up endured sideways rain, cold chills and mud. McCain canceled a similar rally 50 miles away.

Obama told them: “If we see this kind of dedication on Election Day, there is no way that we’re not going to bring change to America.”

SKIP

“We’ve been ahead and we’ve been behind,” he said. “Sometimes we’ve assumed that when we’re ahead — New Hampshire is a big example — that that guarantees anything. It doesn’t.”

Ben Feller, AP

By: GreenLadyHere

GreenLadyHere — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:16:41 +0000

RonnieB: Co-sign! VERY GOOD “visual comparisons!!” So true!!

Obama-Biden '08!!! TRUST

By: Micheline

Micheline — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:08:25 +0000

I am sorry that this is OT but I found this to be interesting from a commentator at Daily Kos:

…“Previous elections may not be an accurate reflection of this election. The “undecideds” are substantial, and many people called by pollsters have for various reasons refused to answer or have lied about their actual choice—which could make any conclusion about how many Democrats will vote for McCain in[a]ccurate. And it could be that the number of previous Hillary Clinton supporters who will vote for McCain has been seriously underestimated by the Democrats. We really have no idea how many votes this will cost Obama until Nov. 5th.”

By: claudia_m

claudia_m — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:55:17 +0000

Yay, RonnieB! BARACK the Vote!

By: enviro

enviro — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:45:05 +0000

Fantastic post. Really echoed the training I got on poll-watching from the campaign the other night. I would just add to look out for poll-watchers, especially if you are in a battleground state, and ask questions if you have any to them as well as the election folks and — this is important — NOTIFY A POLL-WATCHER IF ANYTHING UNTOWARD IS HAPPENING. If you feel people are being challenged unreasonably. If you feel any pressure or intimidation. If you are told you have to vote by provisional ballot without good cause. If you are asked for excessive identification. LET SOMEONE KNOW. In Virginia, where I will be, 4000 lawyers will be poll-watching for Obama with a hotline that goes straight from the VA folks to Chicago. We want to be aware of any improprieties IMMEDIATELY. They kept saying at our training, what if someone had been aware of the confusing ballot in Palm Beach (or whereever it was) in FL eight years ago? So please, if anything bugs you, say something.

I would also note, please bring ID. Requirements vary by state, but it cannot hurt to have one, ESPECIALLY if you are a new voter. Unfortunately the Help America Vote Act actually made it in some ways MORE difficult to vote, including ID requirements. So just bring some, just in case.

Sorry for all the caps but I'm fired up! :)

By: RonnieB

RonnieB — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:39:50 +0000

I voted early yesterday/last night in Suwanee, Georgia. From the time I arrived, until the time I received my Peach "I Voted" sticker, it took nearly 4 hours. But you know what? It was nothing but calm and tranquility. You could see it in our eyes. We weren't going to be discouraged by long lines.

Don't let the long lines and disorganization be a discouragement, y'all. Just assume that long lines are the new German Sheperds and water hoses. Assume that disorganization and under-staffed polling locations are the new police billy clubs.

But know this; this thang ain't over. "They" are also out there voting "their" interests. And they depend on us to be discouraged. Be encouraged; vote for Barack Obama as our next president, and discourage the enemy for a Change.