no wonder the secret service cleared the deck

[alan white]

Agreed. There's one.

[charmc]

Originally Posted by alan white

I would be happy with paper ballots and two weeks to cast votes, checks, double checks, exit polls well in line with votes or ask why, take the time to do it right, address grievences, etc.. It's not as if this is some small thing.

Totally agree, Alan. We've had first hand experience with that here. You may have heard of the 13th Congressional District election here in Sarasota last fall. The district covers one county and parts of 3 others. Christine Jennings, a good friend, led in each county except Sarasota, and lost by a few hundred votes. But in Sarasota, the largest county, the Congressional election was crammed onto the top of a page with 3 local elections listed below in larger type. More than 15% of the ballots (18,000+) in Sarasota had no choice for the Congressional election. In the other 3 counties, the "no choice" votes were less than 3%.

Incompetence? Conspiracy? Can't prove the latter, but the former is obvious. Whatever the reason, it's clear that the candidate who led in the polls lost the race and there is no way to verify the results.

Having elections on workdays makes it hard for lower income people to vote. I want weekend election days, paper trail ballots, strict checking of ID's, and a total ban on TV coverage until all polls are closed.

[alan white]

Originally Posted by charmc

Totally agree, Alan. We've had first hand experience with that here. You may have heard of the 13th Congressional District election here in Sarasota last fall. The district covers one county and parts of 3 others. Christine Jennings, a good friend, led in each county except Sarasota, and lost by a few hundred votes. But in Sarasota, the largest county, the Congressional election was crammed onto the top of a page with 3 local elections listed below in larger type. More than 15% of the ballots (18,000+) in Sarasota had no choice for the Congressional election. In the other 3 counties, the "no choice" votes were less than 3%.

Incompetence? Conspiracy? Can't prove the latter, but the former is obvious. Whatever the reason, it's clear that the candidate who led in the polls lost the race and there is no way to verify the results.

Having elections on workdays makes it hard for lower income people to vote. I want weekend election days, paper trail ballots, strict checking of ID's, and a total ban on TV coverage until all polls are closed.

Agreed to all of the above. You know, Charlie, I have asked people point blank if the idea of electronic ballot machines bothered them. Nine times out of ten, they say no. That's the disconnect. They trust the system and have spent the last how many years selectively perceiving only what they want to see. Until that changes, the system will be run by the bums.