Problem reports from polling places in PA, including voting machine malfunctions and long lines, began coming in early this morning. That could be an ominous sign, given that on most Election Days, the real extent of problems, at least with voting systems, isn’t fully revealed until later, and often in the days after the election. See our report yesterday detailing concerns about e-voting equipment (though not from officials, who weren’t concerned at all) and whether there would be enough machines to go around (presuming they work at all) across Pennsylvania.
Election Prob Hotlines…Machine probs: 1-866-MY-VOTE-1, Machine & other probs: 1-866-OUR-VOTE, Fraud tips: 1-888-VOTE-TIP
Map of counties, showing which type of machines each uses, available here. (Hat-tip BRAD BLOG commenter “GWN”.)
Newest items posted on top.
4/23, 2:40am ET: “Smooth Sailing” say the media…even if their very own reporting revealed otherwise…
This will likely be the last of our “Problem Report Wire” dispatches added to this item. We’ll pick up the rest of the PA mess, and there is a lot of it, in subsequent blog items.
The long list of reports that you can peruse below, from the past 24 hours, mostly culled directly from the corporate media itself, belie the claims made all day yesterday by many public officials and even the media themselves, that all went well at the polls in the Keystone State.
Countless voters were unable to cast a vote yesterday in PA. The overwhelming majority of those who succeeded in doing so, will never be able to determine whether or not their vote was counted accurately, or even at all, given that some 85% of those votes were cast on machines in which it is literally impossible for anyone, ever, to verify that a single vote was recorded accurately as per the voter’s intent. We explained all of that here Monday night, prior to the election, in our article “The Pennsylvania Primary: Democracy of the Gods”.
As we mentioned then, if any election official in PA (or anywhere else), or any voting machine company employee, or even any citizen, has proof otherwise, The BRAD BLOG would be happy to see it, and share it with everyone. But that proof will never come, because it does not exist, to the eternal shame of those who would allow such voting systems to be used in American democracy.
The headline of the first story in our final posted collection below, may say it all. The headline indicates “Mostly smooth sailing at polls,” yet we suspect the voters referenced, who will never know if their vote was counted at all, and those who can never know if their vote was counted accurately (that would be all of them who voted on an e-voting machine!) may feel otherwise.
NOTE FROM JOHN GIDEON OF VOTERSUNITEORG: Since when is it NOT necessary to count every vote? This tells me that it may not be necessary, in the county’s mind, to count the provisional ballots.
Election officials in Cheltenham’s 4-1 ward reported problems with both electronic voting machines assigned to that polling place shortly after the polls opened at 7 a.m. There were approximately 200 people in line at the time.
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A replacement machine, which had to be programmed, was not delivered until after 11 a.m.
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Poll workers offered emergency ballots to those initial would-be voters who could not wait for a functioning voting machine or could not return to vote. However, those at the polls said the offer of emergency ballots came too late for many who were angry and stormed out, claiming they had to get to work or go out of town. Only some 60 to 70 emergency ballots were filled out.
Griffith said that is a violation of the law.
It is. Read the full story for the reasoning of the election officials, but as time allows, we will try to look into this story a bit deeper for more details.
AS RECORDED BY THE MEDIA DURING TUESDAY’S
DISASTROUS PENNSYLVANIA PRIMARY…
4/23, 1:01am ET: More broken machines, missing registrations, voters turned away without being offered provisionals. Missed this one from earlier in the afternoon. From Philly Inquirer…
Voters at a polling place in the 49th Ward near the Fern Rock station had to wait two hours because of machine malfunctions, said Kathryn Bookvar, an attorney with the Advancement Project, based in Washington, who was in Philadelphia to monitor the election. Machine problems also were reported in West Oak Lane; Upper Darby, Delaware County, and Elkins Park, Montgomery County.
In Elkins Park, the problem was a machine accidentally powered down by a poll worker, said county spokesman John Corcoran.
In addition to the machine issues, “numerous” registration snafus were reported to the Committee of Seventy, said its election coordinator John David.
The bulk of those complaints have come from voters who switched parties and whose names did not appear on the rolls of the new party. The city has been inundated with calls, said David, adding: “It’s swamping the voter-registration office.”
In some instances, voters whose names were missing were not being offered provisional ballots, he said.
Some instances??? Every such voter should be offered a provisional ballot by federal law.
The DoJ claimed they were in PA today monitoring the election. So will any lawsuits be brought? How about for the voting machines which violate federal law? (We’ll not hold our breath on either score.)
11:35pm ET: Machine, registration probs result in ‘Countless eligible voters refused right to vote.’ The description here about the voter registration problems are particularly disturbing, if familiar from other primaries so far this year, particularly in states where voter rolls have been privatized to the same voting machine companies who have screwed those up to. From Committee of 70’s 10:30pm press release [WORD]…
One of the most troubling issues today was a barrage of reports from voters who have been registered as Democrats for years, but were listed as unaffiliated and so had to vote provisionally. … It is unclear at this time how widespread this problem was.
A couple of the incidents which came into their 1-866-OUR-VOTE hotline, as reported in the late update:
- In Delaware County, one voter reported that the voting machines at her precinct were set for Republicans only. She told the poll worker that she was a Democrat and the worker replied, Not today.The voter was not able to cast a vote, but The League of Women Voters provided her with the phone number of the Delaware County Board of Elections to report and resolve the issue.
- One caller reported a polling location with only three voting machines and no printers working. Voters were leaving without being offered emergency ballots.
9:58pm ET: Brad on PBC Show tonight, on voting machine probs today. Here’s the audio (5 minutes) from a quick update I did tonight on the Peter B. Collins Show (where we appear regularly each week on Friday from 5p-6p PT)…
9:24pm ET: Fox “News” confirms e-voting problems.
While MSNBC was said to have reported earlier that PA’s SoS claimed there were no reports of problems today (see the 6:34pm ET update below), it was Fox “News” of all outlets that bothered to confirm and briefly report the problems.
Just after the polls closed tonight, as the Exit Polls were “too close to call,” and too important to share with us mere mortals, the cable news nets were beside themselves with the prospect of having to actually wait for votes to be “counted.” In truth, very few of them can actually be counted because, as we explained yesterday, most of PA uses e-voting machines on which it’s strictly impossible to determine if even a single vote was recorded as any voter actually intended.
It was Fox then, which confirmed some of the problems we’ve been reporting all day here.
“Some of those electronic voting machines did not work,” says the Fox reporter in the clip below, describing the process of “cartridges” being brought in for counting. She mentions that there were some paper ballots brought in as well from where machines broke down (though as we noted in earlier reports below, provisional ballots were only handed out if both machines in voting precincts broke down).
“Those machines weren’t ready, weren’t going, and they did have to resort to the paper,” before adding with a big roll of the eyes, “the old way.”
Apologies for the quality of the quick and dirty video…
6:34pm ET: MSNBC says PA SoS tells them no reports of voting probs. This comes from an emailer, via NYU media professor, election integrity advocate, and author Mark Crispin Miller…
We guess everything must be fine then? No need to read the list of problems below, as reported all day long…
URL for this BRAD BLOG page: https://bradblog.com/?p=5918
MSNBC News Tips page: Click here…
PA Dept. of State, Election Bureau: (717) 787-5280, RA-BCEL@state.pa.us
From MSNBC website as of 12:50pm ET…
“It’s just been minor, normal kinds of stuff,” she said. “Nothing major, nothing widespread.”
Who said anything about “voter” irregularities? The voters are doing fine, it’s the PA State Dept. which is doing a shitty job of running the state’s elections.
5:37pm ET: Machine malfunctions account for 30% of voter hotline calls. A Philly-based non-profit watchdog group, Committee of Seventy, reports the following in a midday press release [WORD] from among 500 problem calls received, so far today, on their 1-866-OUR-VOTE hotline…
- One volunteer called in to report that one of the voting machines does not seem to be recording votes properly: the count is off by three people.
- In one precinct, voting equipment was not working and had not been working for over two hours. This problem had been reported throughout Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania and has the potential to disenfranchise thousands of voters by the time the polls close.
5:23pm ET: Given all the trainwreck stories posted below, perhaps a non-trainwreck story would be a welcome, momentary relief. From Philadelphia Daily News…
VIOLA WALKER says she hasn’t missed voting in a presidential election since Calvin Coolidge ran in 1924.
It is one of the privileges of the “better life” that she and her late husband came to Philadelphia for 81 years ago. Back when she was growing up in Rocky Mount, N.C., even the U.S. Constitution couldn’t guarantee black citizens the right to vote.
When the Constitution finally granted voting rights to women in 1920, she knew that didn’t include her. That’s why Election Days mean so much to her.
But Viola Walker never dreamed she’d live to see an Election Day like today.
4:12pm ET: Wrong machine delivered, machine down, machine inspector blocked. Culled from Election Journal’s running coverage…
Poll workers at Ward 53 Division 12 learned this morning that they had been delivered the machine intended for Ward 55 Division 14; down-ticket candidates inaccurate.
…
29th Ward, 4th Division.
One of the two machines at the polling place has malfunctioned. Election officials scrambling to repair before turnout picks up.
Polling place at 2340 Fulton Way
…
Court Appointed Machine Inspector Denied Entrance to Poll
In the the 3rd Ward State Representative Ron Waters refused to allow a court appointed machine inspector to enter the polling place. Although Rep Waters is an influential Philly pol, he in fact holds no official election position.
Waters insisted that only one machine inspector was allowed into the polling place. After election officials informed Rep Waters that his legal interpretation was incorrect, he stated “well, that’s not the way we do things”
UPDATE: Representative Ward relented, and the inspector was permitted to enter the polling location.
3:54pm ET: Voter-service phone lines jammed across state. From NY Times…
Voting lines were long and voter-service phone lines were jammed across the state, from Philadelphia in the southeastern part of the state to Beaver County in the west. “We’re just overwhelmed,” said Geri Shuits, a polling clerk in Beaver County. “I’ve gotten so many phone calls, I just can’t keep up.”
3:45pm ET: Machines down, get jammed, in Bucks County. From Philly Burbs…
On one of the malfunctioning machines, a voter worried that her vote was not tallied, according to Falls Republican Committeeman Kennan Haley. She was asked to cast a provisional ballot, he said.
…
In another instance, a voter casting a write-in vote failed to close the write-in door and caused the other machine to jam up, he said.
3:09pm ET: More machine breakdowns in Philly, voters only allowed provisions if both machines malfunction. From Philly’s CBS 3 [emphasis ours]…
Both machines were reportedly down as a long line of voters waited to cast their ballot. Some voters said they were told the power went down and a technician was needed to get the machines to function.
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Many voters reportedly left the location in order to get to work on time
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If both machines in a polling location break down, officials said voters will get provisional ballots.
NOTE FROM VOTERSUNITE.ORG’S JOHN GIDEON: I find it amazing that only two machines are in each Philadelphia precinct and voters can only get a paper ballot, no matter how long the lines get, if both machines are broken. Then, the paper ballots are provisional ballots and won’t be counted until after the initial count is made this evening and tomorrow.
3:01pm ET: Obama camp, media report voting probs, Philly official says “all is well.” From RAW STORY’s election prob coverage…
Video of Voight’s interview is available here.
He called reports of machines breaking down “flat out untrue” and said “everything is working throughout the city as we speak.”
…
The Post Gazette also reported some minor problems but said they weren’t causing major delays:
Because of the expected large turnout, election judges’ difficulty getting machines started at a polling place in North Braddock and another in the city’s Banksville section prompted some concern.
At these two sites, election judges, clerks and inspectors, all nominally paid volunteers, initially were unable to print out verification that the voting machines had been set at zero.
…
More than 30 people in Banksville and several more in North Braddock used emergency paper ballots to cast their votes.Post-Gazette readers also reported problems at one or two polling stations this morning, including Graham Field and Beacon Hill in Wilkinsburg.
12:28am ET: Machines down in African American area of Philly, voters leave without voting, registration probs. Via Email from computer security, e-voting expert, Dr. Rebecca Mercuri…
(See report below for more registration probs reported.)
11:00am ET: Registration roll probs in Philly, provisionals only handed out if both machines malfunction. From Philly Inquirer/Daily News PA Primary Blog…
Voters whose names are not in the poll book; and voters who are registered as members of one party in the poll book, but who are, in fact, registered as a member of another party.
We’ve seen problems with registration rolls all season long, as many states have turned to privatizing them with some of the same voting machine companies that have failed so miserably to even get the voting machine part right.
Most polling places in Philly are equipped with two machines. According to Inquirer/Daily News’ blog, even if one breaks down, causing long lines, paper ballots are not given out. In the event of machine failure, they say, “provisional ballots” are only to be handed out if…
10:50am ET: Both machines break down, 100’s leave without voting, Obama’s name not on provisional ballot! From Philly Inquirer/Daily News PA Primary Blog…
“I just came from voting. Finally got my vote in at 49 ward, 07 division….after waiting for (the only) 2 voting machines to be repaired.
“I was able to cast my vote for Obama after waiting 1 and 1/2 hours. During that time at least 100 voters left without voting…..possibly not to return.
“I immediately called every News channel I could get through to. Persons who answered at the stations informed me that my ward was not the only one with broken machines and ‘Paper ballots (as an alternative) without Obama’s name on it. These provisional ballots did have Hiliary’s [sic] name on them.”
10:45am ET: Electrical probs lead to ES&S iVotronic machine malfunctions, use of paper ballots in Green Tree. From CBS affiliate KDKA 2…
According to Debbie Moskala, some voters had to use paper ballots to cast their vote because of a glitch with one of the machines at the Marian Manor senior living facility.
“When we first started voting this morning, one machine wouldn’t work,” Moskala told KDKA, “”¦. so we did paper ballots. We had about 20 people go through with paper ballots and vote that way.”
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Moskala says they’ve used the voting machines several times in the past and haven’t had any previous problems.
She believes the electricity to the facility may have triggered the outage.
“We did have a problem with the electricity for a minute. It must have gone off and on ““ and maybe that triggered what the problem ended up being.”
10:44am ET: Machine breakdowns in Delaware County and South Philly. From Philly Inquirer/Daily News PA Primary Blog…
One of two machines was down at a busy Delaware County polling site. About 50 people already had voted by 9:15 a.m. at the Temple Israel on Spruce and Bywood Avenue in Upper Darby, which is heavily populated by immigrant and first time voters. Many of those freshly-minted voters had difficulties using the one machine that still functioned. “Hell of a day for one of the machines to be down,” said one poll worker.
In South Philadelphia, both voting machines were broken at 4th and Ritner
…
One reader wrote: I got to my polling place before 7 a.m.; 2nd ward, 27th division: as the polls were opening, one of two machines for my division was malfunctioning: electrical problem.
…
In the city’s Spring Garden section, home to State Sen. Vincent Fumo, both machines were down at St. Andrews Lithuananian Church at 19th and Wallace. Voters grumbled when they learned their provisional ballots would not be counted tonight.
9:45am ET: Ballot design probs in Palmer Township (Northhampton County). Delegates not listed under candidates. From Lehigh Valley Live…
That’s not the case, she reports after voting at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church.
“Fortunately, I put my rather thick reading glasses on,” Tosto said. “In the lightest italic, smallest print under the delegates …. It states who they are committed to. And it is the tiniest print in the whole space, and they’re mixed.”
She admits she has trouble with her eyes, but believes the setup is “incredibly misleading.”
“Had I not read the sample ballot, I wouldn’t have known. I would’ve voted for all the wrong people,” Tosto said.
When she returned home she called the Northampton County election office to inquire about the reason for the setup, but got no answer.
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She said no one else who was voting while she was there seemed confused, so they either understood or made the same assumption she did at first, and voted for the wrong delegates.
(Graphic of the ballot in question here.)
9:43am ET: Fewer machines in Northhampton County this year. From Lehigh Valley Live…
6:15am PT: Machines “on fritz” as Philly polls opened, voters given provisionals. From Philly Inquirer/Daily News PA Primary Blog…
The polls, five blocks from outgoing state senator Vince Fumo home, are in the 16th division, 15th ward.
Early voters were asked to fill out provisional ballots. More than 20 people did so and left grumbling when they learned their ballots wouldn’t be counted tonight.
By 7:30 a.m. election workers got the two machines up and running on batteries.
9:14am ET: Voting machines malfunctioned, votes lost in Bethlehem. From Morning Call…
Moments later he realized how long it could be when one of his three voting machines malfunctioned. After four people had voted, he realized that it had only registered one voter. He had to reset machine.
“We lost three voters and there’s no getting them back,” explained Hynes, “and at this point we don’t even know who they were.”
From the CBS affiliate in Philly (Minor Issues?)
——
Minor Issues Reported In Phila. Polling Places
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) “• Few problems were reported throughout the city during the Pennsylvania Primary Tuesday.
Voters reported problems with a polling place near 12th and Grange Streets in the Olney section of Philadelphia in the early morning hours.
Both machines were reportedly down as a long line of voters waited to cast their ballot. Some voters said they were told the power went down and a technician was needed to get the machines to function.
“I come here to vote, that’s what I expect to do and I am going to do it before the day is over,” said voter Homer Coney.
Many voters reportedly left the location in order to get to work on time, but not Dolores Nicholson.
“I made sure the machine was working. I was going to stay here until I got my vote in,” said Dolores Nicholson.
The Committee of Seventy said there have been various breakdowns throughout the city, but added there is one mechanic for each of the 66 wards. If both machines in a polling location break down, officials said voters will get provisional ballots.
Polling locations are open until 8 p.m. If you have any problems, contact the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931 or the Committee of 70 at 215-557-3600.
Brad,
I’m sure you’re looking into this but all your readers should check this out –
Philly Blog
More voting machine malfunction
PA Primary Team reports:
We continue to hear reports of broken machines. This tale was reported to the Daily News by a very patient voter:
“I just came from voting. Finally got my vote in at 49 ward, 07 division….after waiting for (the only) 2 voting machines to be repaired.
“I was able to cast my vote for Obama after waiting 1 and 1/2 hours. During that time at least 100 voters left without voting…..possibly not to return.
“I immediately called every News channel I could get through to. Persons who answered at the stations informed me that my ward was not the only one with broken machines and ‘Paper ballots (as an alternative) without Obama’s name on it. These provisional ballots did have Hiliary’s name on them.”
Comments
10:50 AM, 04/22/2008
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Confirm your registration to report abuse this is terrible and the obama camp need to send lawyers there in a hurry they need to file law suits for fraud this is bad, in 2008 we still can’t get voting right every election we got mess going on in the african american communities enough is enough
Posted by GRADDF7993
10:53 AM, 04/22/2008
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Confirm your registration to report abuse Provisional ballots with only HC’s name? Isn’t that convenient…machines not working when there has been months to prepare! Speak up Pa! This isn’t a dynasty…we fought for our freedom not to have coronations! No more Bu$h/Clinton/Bu$h/Clinton
Posted by expat4barack
10:55 AM, 04/22/2008
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Confirm your registration to report abuse Just voted in the Dublin Fire Dept. Not a very long line (About 8 people) but they said it was steady all morning and that they would triple the turnout of last election with heavy turnout. There were lots of young voters, and when I was on line with about 7 others, 5 were wearing eith Obama Buttons, or T-Shirts. Looks like Bucks County is going to going to be big for Obama.
Posted by Gamblndan
How is Brad’s story, this Raw Story, and this china spy story inked to Tom Feeney?
Because Feeney asked Clint Curtis to write fraudy election machine software with a chinese spy looking on!!!
And he got his pal spy off for a $100 fine but the above spy got TEN YEARS!!!
Feeney has some suspicious “abilities”, and some operatives that do his bidding at IRS.
I was thinking exactly the same thing Dredd when I read that piece.
#1 “Polling locations are open until 8 p.m. If you have any problems, contact the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division“…LMAO, what a joke.
Power Problems?, What, bad BPL electrons or what?
Yeah, I thought that DOJ reference was really strange. I guess they have officials in Philly to ‘safeguard’ the vote. The wolf guarding the fox who’s guarding the…
Black Box Voting is preparing public records requests for each report. Pennsylvania, which we have identified as “the worst place to vote in America” based on weighing many different factors, is obstructive to Freedom of Information — we cannot obtain the records without Pennsylvania citizens co-requesting.
Please e-mail crew@blackboxvoting.org if you live in Pennsylvania and are willing to be a co-signator on records requests. Some counties in Pennsylvania are so obstructive they want requestors to be from their own county! The more Pennsylvania citizens we can get to agree to have names listed on records requests, the better.
We will request the voting machine troubleshooting and service logs, along with many other records. Everything we post goes online for all of America to chew on.
Thanks, Brad, for this.
JPR (#2)~
Great advice/ over at the PHILLY BLOG now and I can’t believe what I’m reading. I’m watching CNN/ MSNBC while simultaneously reading between the creepy lines of so many REAL-TIME, MASSIVE, VOTER DISENFRANCHISMENT testimonials in PA. Makes for very clear hearing, how the AP press-perps plant their seeds of propaganda just in time for the evening news cycle–and some damn surreal viewing…
MSNBC: Washington Times Reporter interviewed/sez “Hillary may lose the popular vote, but win by at least 10 delegates…” Hm. WILL she now?
They are also pointing to NUTTER’s endorsement in Philly as the reason she’s going to pull out a victory from the working class in the urban areas, how she’s got a stronghold with very folks Obama “insulted”. MEANWHILE: FOX is covering the INDIANA PRIMARY already (?)/ and CNN is reporting on “How many aluminum cans does one person open in a lifetime”–some hard hitting stuff! (A round of vodka shots and Peabodys on the house!)
CNN HEADLINE NEWS actually has the closest thing to real coverage of anything: Prez says we’re not in a recession, but an economic “slow down”.
Five’ll get ya ten that it’ll be NECK AND NECK all day long in PA/ late results from densely populated districts/ provisionals NOT COUNTED(?!! Well, hello again, ol’ familiar FRAUD VECTORS!)/ and VOILA! Hillary wins by the hair of her overly whiskey-ed, chinny-chin-chin…
SEE, sez press? “She’s just one of the guys after all” and “never underestimate a Clinton blah blahblippityblah”…
I’LL say.
I’m hoping we at least get a NEW old excuse outside of their thin n’ hacknied “human error”/ “stupid poll worker”/ “weepy candidate”/”racist voter”/ “confusing ballot” parrot-mantra.
Ho hum. Another day, another demon.
Thanks again for the link JPR!
Fascinatin’ Fascism!
Someone was asking for a map of what type of machine was used in PA and where.
Here is one
map
GWN,
It might be interesting to compare that map with the outcome.
Any exit polls?
Let me tell you exactly how this will go.
There will be lots of “problems” in the precints and polling area where there are predominantly poor and African-American voters. Not enough equipment. Provisional Ballots without Obama’s name on them. Etc.
There will be plenty of voters who won’t have 2 hours (much less 20 minutes) to hang around and vote.
But, oh, in the rural and middle class areas full of white, more affluent people and older people with all day to spend, there will be fewer problems and shorter lines and more equipment.
Net result?
Hillary 58%
Obama 42%
A massive victory that clearly shows she is more able to win a major state and should be the candidate, no matter who has the deligates. All superdelegates should switch to her and it should be declared a rout.
Thanks for taking part in our mock democracy.
Demockeryacy indeed!
I don’t really know what this means but Tinoire has a good pic and says “A present from Gov Rendell to PA voters”
Ballot
Please don’t let “I’ll obliterate Iran Hillary” win the nomination.
Instead of whining about disenfranchisement why don’t you all get off your far duffs and volunteer to work as a poll worker. That way you can see first-hand how overblown you are making these one-off problems.
Or do you just want to sit around and whine about it.
Democracy requires work – and nothing less.
if this is true about the provisional ballots not even having obama listed
and the delegates under wrong candidate
we have open fraud in pa
great coverage brad
Voted earlier in the day, turnout was steady, no problems with any aspects. We need experience at this time more than ever because of all the problems that the next pres will face. Here’s hoping that the democratic nominee will be Hillary and may God Bless her, she will have a lot of sleepless nights! party’s
“Back when she was growing up in Rocky Mount, N.C., even the U.S. Constitution couldn’t guarantee black citizens the right to vote.
When the Constitution finally granted voting rights to women in 1920, she knew that didn’t include her. That’s why Election Days mean so much to her.”
This is why I believe that George Bush was absolutely right about one thing: the Constitution really IS just a “goddam piece of paper”. Without an honest, caring, truly functional government backing up that piece of paper, the stuff written on it mean NOTHING. It is the acts of our elected leaders that matter, not words written down 200 years ago and locked in a fancy vault.
RuralRob,
But it’s exactly those words written down 200 years ago and locked in a fancy vault that they are sworn to defend and honor.
They are NOT doing so!
And anyone who thinks Hillary will put an end to the lying and deceit in the government, and put an end to these senseless wars – Guess Again!
Bonus points to first one who can name who makes that “fancy vault” protecting the original U.S. Constitution!
(Nobody here will like the answer)
Brad:
It makes perfect sense, but PLEASE, don’t tell me that the retractable-into-the-floor display vault that houses the U.S. Constitution was made by DieBold.
Please don’t tell me that. It would be the cruelest irony of all.
Who made the case for the Declaration of Independence? ES&S?
Is the Magna Carta protected by equipment constructed by Sequoia?
Can we go home now? Is this game over?
First hand account by me…I know this guy, I spoke with him on the phone just now:
http://bigdanblogger.blogspot.c...ovisional.html
OK, I’ll tell you, CharlieL. It is Diebold, the rat-bastards.
Brad, all I can see is NIST and NASA are taking credit for building the enclosures, didn’t see who they actually subbed the work out to.
Black woman not given provisional ballot in PA.
Cable News says race “Too Close to Call”
CharlieL asked:
Sorry, Charlie. Diebold “protecting” your Declaration of Independence also.
I live in Colorado. I drove into Colorado Springs today (Tues. 4-22-08) and listened in my auto to Rush Limbaugh on a local radio station. He bragged about how many Republicans have switched their party — and registered as Democrats! — in the last few days just to be able to VOTE FOR HILLARY TODAY in PA. People called into Rush’s program (on local am station, 740 on the dial here in Colorado Springs.) The callers to the program were saying that they’re part of Rush’s group or movement called “Chaos.” One of the callers said that he was able to switch to the Democratic Party but his wife wasn’t (he laughed about wanting to switch back to Republican by tomorrow.) Rush L. spoke on the radio about how he (and they) know what they’re doing! The PA caller even joked about seeing more of his Republican neighbors there at the Democratic voting place as they waited to vote for Hillary. They laughed about wanting to keep Obama and Hillary fighting. They want to get Hillary elected because they know they can beat her. Not so sure they can beat Obama. This MUST be election fraud! They’re inflating the vote fraudulently! I’m sure you can get a recording of Rush’s program today in Colorado Springs. It was on about noon. PLEASE REPORT ON THIS! It’s disgusting. These voter registration changes need to be investigated!
Diebold Protects Constitution
TheDogKnows #28
I’ve seen something stating that it is in fact illegal. I see if I can find it.
Once all of the electrons settle down, Charlie # 11 might be right
Rush Limbaugh: Urging Republicans To Commit a Felony?
Much More!
MSNBC projecting victory for CLINTON right on time at 8:35 pm EST–with odd provision from OLBERMANN and MATHEWS: “Still too early” to call, but “no longer too close” to call?!
CNN also now giving Clinton the lead…
Help me out here…am I missing something? CNN hasn’t called it for Clinton at all/ in fact they are now showing me a map with the number of PA precincts that have NOT YET REPORTED, and it seems like quite a few. I could SWEAR I’m seeing the number 6% where they usually display the number of precincts reporting…
What the–
WHY is MSNBC already calling it for Clinton?!
CBS just called it for Hillary 52 – 48!
Only 7% of votes counted!
WTF?
pahleeze..cry me a river…if Obama would have won we wouldn’t hear a peep of this but alas, if Hillary wins there HAS to be a fix!!
MSNBC had Clinton winning by about 7%…CSpan had the percentage at 4%. Big win for the corporations today.
Here’s what I don’t get about this “operation chaos” in which Limbaugh tells his minions of idiotic Republican registered voters to register Democrat and then vote for Hillary. We had a very heated Republican primary in the 10th district between Hackett & Meuser. Doesn’t that mean any of those “operation chaos” voters didn’t get to vote in the Repulican primary between Hackett & Meuser??? Their most important election???
So, either this operation chaos is “made up”/”fabricated” by Limbaugh…OR…these dittiots got to the polls and voted for Hillary, then said, “Hey, where’s Hackett & Meuser on my ballot???”
And that goes for all the OTHER dittiot “operation chaos” switchers! They didn’t get to vote in the Republican primary…the thing they REALLY should care about! Isn’t that the case?
Good points, BD. I wondered about that, too…
Re #11: “A massive victory that clearly shows she is more able to win a major state and should be the candidate, no matter who has the deligates. All superdelegates should switch to her and it should be declared a rout.”
Rush Limbaugh has made a massive effort for months now to get Repubs in the state to switch parties for this primary to vote for Clinton, telling them that McCain can more easily beat Clinton than Obama.
All superdelegates should be checking in with democratic voters to get a feel for how big an impact this massive Limbaugh effort was, and how it affected the Clinton/Obama vote spread.
It’s perfectly legal, although highly unethical, for Repubs to do this, but it’s inarguably stupid for democratic superdelegates to not be aware of this and to do whatever they have to do to compensate for the state’s Repub’s moral lapses that undoubtedly thwarted voter will to some indeterminate extent.
“A massive victory that clearly shows she is more able to win a major state and should be the candidate, no matter who has the deligates. All superdelegates should switch to her and it should be declared a rout.”
That is false. There’s a lot of false “talking points” in the corporate media, and that’s one of them. If Hillary wins a big state, it doesn’t logically follow that ONLY SHE can defeat McCain in a big state. It’s discarding that BOTH Obama & Hillary can beat McCain in a big state. It’s called a “straw man argument”.
Another one: “Why can’t Obama seal the deal?” is what Hillary is saying!
How about, “Hillary, why are you losing to begin with???” How come no one questions this? “Seal the deal” implies Hillary is losing! But she’s twisting it to be an Obama liability somehow, that it’s somehow WORSE to be ahead??? What???
Another false statement: “If Hillary wins Pennsylvania, she’s ‘still in it’.” She’s NOT ‘in it’. She can only win if the superdelegates screw over the voters, and if that happens, that’s the end of the Democratic Party.
One of Brad’s titles should be “The Pennsylvania Polka”…you blew it, Brad! You should’ve asked me!
Bluebear2 #10
The exit polls have now been taken over by the right wing. Even so, the info they have dabbled out said 73% voted for “change”. Somehow Hillary “Bom Bom Bom, Bom Bom Iran”, the McCain wannabe, doesn’t seem to represent change.
Brad #20
The ancient Diebold (descendant of Nimrud) purteks Amurka like bush purteks New Orleans and Iraq.
With 98% of the precincts reporting, it is Clinton 55%, Obama 45% … suspicous because that is what she needed ‘ta continya ta continya’ …
Yahoo
Hppppp ppp pp p, Road Apples ! Hillary can have the steam off mine…
99% reporting; Clinton 54.7% and Obama 45.3%; the county with the most votes still outstanding is going for Obama by 10%; strictly speaking, she’s got it by 9.4%… even though I don’t believe the numbers in some of the counties.
http://politics.nytimes.com/ele...states/PA.html
Agent 99 #47
Agreed. A single digit percentage in “her realm” … senior citizen land. Florida is the only state with more of the more fearful among us.
But lets look at where the rubber meets the road. Delegates.
One AP story had it that she got 66 delegates, Obama 57, with thirty some more to follow that pattern.
Bottom line, she picks up a net of 9 delegates. That will go the other way in Carolina May 6 where Obama will pick up a net larger than 9. Thus, her gain of 9 net delegates will be short lived.
Notice:
(Yahoo). And so the focus becomes Indiana now. There, the winner will pick up single digit delegate gains, and thus, the beat goes on. Obama will likely have a 130-140 delegate lead after Indiana.
Arianna has a reasonable take on it, however, I don’t think that the protracted neoCon rantings of the neoCon infected blue dog wing (Hillary hard core) of the democratic party is going to overcome the flood of protest “change” independents and republicans who are switching over.
If Obama wins and seats are also picked up in the House and Senate, the demise of America into Amurka can be slowed, but I have a real concern that it cannot be stopped.
And I can’t honestly say we have any proof of how the election results really look.
Dredd & 99, I’ve also heard that as many as 29% of the people that voted Dem in this primary will NOT vote for Clinton in the fall if she gets the nod.
Obamas’s number was somewhat lower than that.
There was so much spin on MSNBC last night even Olbermann called it Spinsylvania at one point.
Trash journalism IMO, especially the dribbling one Matthews
In the electron election, the people lose.
One thing everyone seems to be forgetting. Independents could not vote in the PA primary.
What does everyone thing the Independent split will be?
I think 50%+ Obama, 30%+/- Clinton and the remainder for McCann.
Onyx, do we know the numbers of how many Indys got spun around at the election ward door? or how many stayed home because they already knew they couldn’t vote?
There are two things about registering indy that doesn’t make sense to me, first, it would imply that I am going to vote for a Republican at some time, second, it makes it easier to steal your vote for them through the database because it makes the registered Dem and Rep voters look closer together numbers wise than they really are.
…basically what it does is that it takes the 20-30% the republicans actually do have and
makes the illusion thatputs them in the upper 40% range IMOJust enough.
There is a possibility that all this dragging out of the democratic nomination process to continue making news and selling ad time may be moot if Bush declares martial law and suspends elections to retain power. WHAT A NIGHTMARE OF A THOUGHT!!!!
It sure looks peculiar from my vantage point in the heart of Europe, in a former Warsaw Pact country, no less! I mean, we have plenty of corruption in the Czech Republic, but it’s nickle-dime stuff compared with the selling of the (former) leading democracy in the world to the highest bidders, morality be damned. “…the old way” indeed! Paper ballots work fine, and are much harder to game. In fact, optical scan machines are useless compared with hand counting, which is also much harder to game. Americans appear to be so lazy that they’d settle for a brain scan that would determine their intent. Then they wouldn’t even have to push any buttons or touch any screens – yeah, that’s the ticket!
I find it very interesting that early on with 50 or 60 % of the votes counted, that Hillary’s lead STAYED at 55-45% through the end. Does this seem suspicious to anyone here? This was when we were waiting for the last few districts that were supposedly strong Obama voters… hmmmm?
Yes, Jaycee. It most certainly does.
…and RON PAUL’s percentages hovered at a steady 8-9% in NEW HAMPSHIRE from every “late”, densely populated ward reporting after 8:30, too.
I was incredibly outraged when the race was over after only ONE PERCENT of the vote was in.
Nothing will turn your stomach faster than hearing the words “well, it’s over, let’s return to our usual programming – we don’t have the final results yet, but Hillary is confident that she is the winner”
So, let’s recap — the polls have been closed for only an hour, and Hillary already knows she’s the winner – so of course, she should be allowed to call herself the winner with only ONE percent of the vote counted.
npr and the ap still show 27 dem precincts left to report,7 in delaware county and 20 in phillie
i dont ussually pay such close attention to ap results as they r not official but because there is practically no paper in pa and pa has super secretive laws about general info such as ballots cast i decided the ap might be the only info i get so i might as well check it out
here is my odd stuff from npr/ap report
@12:17 am april 23 bradford shows 59/61 precincts reporting and obama has 1934 votes
@3:03am april 23 bradford shows 61/61 precincts reporting and obama has 1895 votes
yes he loses 39 votes after 2 precincts r added
@4-23-08 12:17 am allegheny shows 1320/1321 precincts reporting with total votes of 299,939 dems
299,939 divided by 1320 precincts is 227 voter per precinct average
@3:03 am allegheny shows 1321/1321 (so 1 more precinct,the last reports)
now the total dem votes r 310,669 so after an average of 227 voters per precinct we have 1 super precinct of 10,730 reporting
@3:03 am philadelphia has 1641/1681 reporting with a total of 429,833 dem voters
429,833 divided by 1641=261 voter per precinct average
@1:10 pm (today) 1643/1681 philadelphia
2 more precincts and 309 new votes so thats a 155 ave
then @ 2;30 pm (today) phillie reports 1661/1681
(18 more precincts) with total dem vote of 430,779
430,779-430,142=637 new votes
637 divided by 18 precincts= 35 voters per precinct
i wonder how low the voter average per precinct will go by the time the last 20 r reported
@2:30 pm today delaware shows 418/425
41,944 for clinton
52,380 for obama
@3:49 pm today delaware shows 425/425
7 more precincts but NO additional voters
lol
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/fi...CTION=POLITICS
u still have time to watch the last 20 precincts report
Hillary is staying in the race because she obviously has a plan on how to win this thing, even if the math isn’t doing it for those of us who can add and subtract.
Her plan? Stealing delegates from Obama.
The question we need to ask Hillary: HOW you plan on screwing over the voters, democracy, the nation, without anyone noticing?
I’m guessing her answer will be: Easy! I will get a huge free pass by the corporate-owned, pro-war biased media, of course! Didn’t any of you watch the hatchet job ABC did on my behalf last week?
Folks might enjoy Clinton’s Blind Eye to Voters: Even Hillary’s endorser, Bobby Kennedy, Jr., knows there’s something funny about the pattern of her wins.
I noticed last night , after 10 pm ET, that Chester and Potter still weren’t showing a count. What happened there?
Karen (#59)
Wow!~NEW HAMPSHIRE all over again! State after state, same patterns where Hillary wins (read: loses.) Crazy. Thanks for math on the late-breaking, NEXT DAY precinct reports…
Barbara #62
Wow, thanks for writing that. It was really good. I love Bobby, too, and I’ve been wondering how he’s feeling about that endorsement nowadays. When he first did it I thought she must have promised him Secretary of the Interior or something, but it’s really gotta be grating on him about now.
Jon Stewart just SKEWERED Hillary! Can’t wait for the video!
My brother and his family live in Cheltenham. I asked him if he had any problems voting, here is his response:
“Yeah, actually one of the two machines for our precinct would periodically overheat and they’d have to shut it down! Just made for longer line in the school gym… but I was glad to use the other machine.”
Why has very little mention been made of how EVERY ONE of Shillary’s “victories” have come tainted with more irregularity than a nursing home on D day?We’re supposed to believe no one in Harlem voted for Obama and no one in eighty California counties voted for him, and we’re supposed to overlook the fact Shillary only won NH counties that had the questionable diebold ballot machines.
Liberals love to show her as an example to their daughters but the only example Shillary sets is women don’t have to accept defeat gracefully but they must win at all costs even if they have to resort to cheating, lying, ignoring reality, putting yourself above others, and appealing to the lowest common denominator.