Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org
Early voting is taking place in Shelby Co, Tennessee but the Memphis mayor wants the voting to stop and he seems to have convinced the city attorney that he is correct. The issue is that the county’s Diebold TSx voting machines seem to be flipping votes and numerous calls from voters to the mayor (a candidate) have convinced him that there is a problem. The city attorney actually went to one of the early voting sites and verified that touching just inside the lines separating the candidates would cast a vote to the name just above or below the voter’s selection of choice. Amazingly the Shelby County Election Board chair had this to say, “”¦..we’re comfortable with the fact that we tested those machines and there is nothing wrong with the way the machines are recording the votes. Apparently it’s an issue of public education. If people press in the wrong area they’re going to get the wrong result.” She also said that voters have a chance to correct their vote on the screen before they submit it. That’s the screen with the small writing that you didn’t do any voter education about? Is it any wonder that today’s “Enemy of Democracy” award goes to Myra Stiles for blaming the voter instead of the machines for the machines failures.
Coverage of that story “Meltdown ’07” story, and today’s many other voting news articles, all linked below…
- NAtional: Restore Integrity to Federal Elections
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071001/norden - NAtional: HR 811, Unfunded Mandates, and the Protection of Civil Rights
http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2586&Itemid=26 - NAtional: A Voting Test for the High Court
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/18/AR2007091801572.html - NAtional: Paper trail voting report hammers straw men, its own credibility
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070919-paper-trail-voting-report-hammers-straw-men-its-own-credibility.html - CA: Riverside County – Supervisors demand certified voting equipment for February primary
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_votes19.3d1c4f0.html - CA: Riverside County – County wants state approval of voting machines
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/09/19/news/californian/4_03_219_18_07.txt - CA: Riverside County – Riverside Co. Pulls Plug on Electronic Voting
http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=7099281&nav=9qrx - CA: San Francisco – SF election outcomes won’t be known for weeks
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/19/BA2MS9DIE.DTL - CA: San Francisco – Report: E-voting woes could stall S.F. election tally
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9781576-7.html - CO: Montrose County – In-house ballots allow for savings
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2007/09/18/news/doc46f09033102a3781588925.txt - CT: Voting Officials Report Smooth Introduction of New Machines
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18829191&BRD=1380&PAG=461&dept_id=157533&rfi=6 - GA: Georgia voter ID faces election test
http://www.miamiherald.com/campaign08/story/242181.html - KY: Kentucky Attorney General Stumbo Issues Investigative Report on Kentucky’s Electronic Voting Systems
http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/48732534_kentucky_kentucky_attorney_general_stumbo_issues_investigative_report_kentucky_s_electronic - KY: Voting machines could be at risk, Stumbo says
http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/180488.html - KY: Grayson, Stumbo differ on voting machines
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070919/NEWS01/709190814/1008/NEWS01 - MS: Quitman County election panel claims voting fraud
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18833218&BRD=2038&PAG=461&dept_id=230617&rfi=6 - NC: Swain voter fraud investigation sent to feds
http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/09_07/09_19_07/fr_swain_voter.html - NM: Opinion – Voting by mail gets my full support
http://www.cnjonline.com/news/voting_23127___article.html/mail_vote.html - NY: Watchdogs Want to Block Touch-Screen Voting
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/touch-screen-voting-a-touchy-issue/ - NY: Groups find fault with state’s plan to comply with federal voting law
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070919/NEWS01/709190379 - NY: Nassau County – Critics slam plan for disabled voting equipment
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/state/ny-stvote195381122sep19,0,1652276.story - OH: Cuyahoga County ““ Editorial – Cuyahoga County bought touch-screen machines; it has to make them work – an editorial
http://www.cleveland.com/politics/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/opinion/119019307212800.xml&coll=2 - OH: Liking County – More changes, decisions for election board
Secretary of state visits local officials, discusses voting machines
http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070919/NEWS01/709190315/1002 - PA: Wayne County – Ballot hand-count to make for long night
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18830820&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416046&rfi=6 - TN: Shelby County – Mayor wants early voting stopped
Calls for audit of machines he says may be faulty
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/sep/18/mayor-wants-early-voting-stopped/ - TN: Shelby County – Mayor Herenton Wants Early Voting Stopped
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=a805cf27-d244-4ba3-9955-8101b55ea298 - TN: Shelby County – Mayor wants vote halted
Herenton calls machines faulty; opponents say he’s desperate
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/sep/19/mayor-wants-vote-halted/ - TN: Shelby County – Herenton, City Attorney Call to Halt Early Voting
http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=4401312&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 - TN: Shelby County – Mayor calls for suspension of early voting, wants federal monitors
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/sep/19/mayor-calls-suspension-early-voting-wants-federal-/ - TN: Mayor’s Request to Stop Early Voting: Special Meeting Called
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=6af66459-4b29-49e3-96e8-a2e33a263481 - WV: Taylor County – Taylor County Rejects Electronic Voting
http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=29061
**”Daily Voting News” is meant as a comprehensive listing of reports each day concerning issues related to election and voting news around the country regardless of quality or political slant. Therefore, items listed in “Daily Voting News” may not reflect the opinions of VotersUnite.Org or BradBlog.Com**
An example of a real movement is being displayed in Jena:
(Yahoo!, emphasis added). It would really be nice if the EI movement was for real like that movement, instead of simply being a gadfly in the ointment.
This is a lesson also learned from the mass concerts of the late 90’s and continuing through the 07’s.
I’m speaking of the band phish and the resultant bonnaroo festivals in tn. If you’ve never waited in a traffic jam for 14 hours then you haven’t lived.
Truly all we need is a time and place and a reason to travel to said place and gridlock is a mothaF$%#$@ result of 100,000 and their vehicles.
Maybe some of the hippie bands who have gotten rich over the years from all of us poor folk who like good music and like to dance could help out. Maybe even, shock, do some civil disobedience with their instruments. You know get a flat bed and play in the streets in order for a free concert to used as a clogging mechanism. YOU KNOW SUPPORT OUR TROOPS.
The fucking activists need the masses now more then ever. Be lazy and drive your car for activism. Just pack some sandwiches and bring some beer cause that 14+ hours can get hard without provisions.
And yes the antiwar rallies brought 100,000 people to the streets. But was it civil disobedience or show of support. How many years do we show our support of the cause and not do direct massive scale civil disobedience.
Enough is a fucking nough, your anger is fortitude, strip off the emotional content and it becomes resolve. We know how to stop the machine. It has been in front of us the whole time. It is the obvious.
Be angry and not afraid. Be angry yet not emotional. Be angry yet peaceful.
-The harder you hit us the louder we become, just like the skin of a drum.