90 minutes, all told. this in an overwhelmingly safe blue area, at a polling place where historically I’ve gotten in and out of a comparably staffed and logisticked setup for the big presidential elections in ten minutes, and that at a busier time (I didn’t go till 9 am today, thinking the responsible adults pre-work rush would have subsided a bit: nope), the school gym absolutely stiff with people, lengthy scanner queue all cheerfully waiting with their toddlers and babies and dogs in a line trailing out into the increasingly hard rain.
so far, so heartening.
however.
when I finally got to the front of the line for the scanners ALL FOUR machines were down. paper ballots were being collected; workers assured me they are not allowed to leave the building till every single piece of paper is accounted for. however, I can’t say I’m sanguine that my neighbors’ and my own votes will be counted in time for the midterms results news cycle. which, in this safe a district, is practically the whole fucking point.
I am livid that New York state refuses to fix voting. We need vote-by-mail, we need early voting, we need half reasonable registration deadlines so people who move don’t have to change their registrations a year in advance to vote, and we need motherfucking FUNCTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
you guys this has been happening ALL OVER NEW YORK CITY
When you vote a straight democrat party it changes Beto to Cruz on some machines. If you’re in Texas and voting please RECHECK your answers. If your machine does this, notify someone working at the polling site.
The issue is with specific machines that let you push one button to vote straight-ticket, which is a “feature” that is configured by the people running the machines.
Essentially they build a small script that tells the machine which checkboxes to check when somebody selects “straight ticket”. When used correctly it’s a nice time-saving feature.
However.
An unethical person might “incorrectly” program the feature to select whomever they want, thus hijacking votes. Of course, when caught, it’s just “a programming error” and nobody goes to jail for tampering.
The workaround is NEVER use the “straight ticket” feature if offered.
Instead, hand-select each vote then verify the results before you submit. It’s seriously not very tedious and has a much higher chance of not being messed with.
a lot of my friends have been noting that none of the “get out there and vote!” posts actually have any resources attached to them, so they’re great for motivation but if you don’t know how to vote they can really stress you out. so i compiled a list of resources that hopefully can help!
Here’s the most confusing bit! Figuring out who you’re voting for. Don’t know who’s running? Ballotpedia is a godsend. The page in the link looks very confusing, but all you have to do is click your state in each of the right-hand boxes. Those will take you to a page that will explain who from each party is running for the Senate and the House. Ballotpedia will also tell you if your state has same-day voter registration. If you’ve missed the cutoff to register, you might still be able to do it on election day, so check that on your state’s voting page!
Polling places can be crowded and the wait can be long to vote. Don’t freak out! Bring a book or some music/podcasts to listen to while you wait.
If you can’t make it on the day, you still have options! Find your state on this Ballotpedia page and click to learn more. The page it takes you to will have links and information on how to get an absentee ballot in your state. If you plan on absentee voting, hurry! The deadlines to apply and vote are usually sooner than the actual election day.
Most of all, remember: this election could swing the house and the senate, giving Democrats more control over new laws and legislation for years to come. You’re not a bad person if you can’t vote, but it’s a lot easier than you might think!
Don’t vote straight tickets, don’t just select Democrat. Do each choice individually. People voting straight tickets in Texas caught the machines changing Beto votes to Cruz, while leaving the rest of the ticket Democrat.
Do individual votes, CHECK OVER YOUR BALLOT BEFORE YOU SUBMIT. Don’t exit out and try to start over, you aren’t allowed, your vote will be nulled. Get a poll worker to help you and have THEM document any machine errors, don’t take a pic of your ballot. Get a receipt of your vote. Ask poll workers how they are backing up votes. If you vote by mail, it’s critical to get your ballot in the mail asap. Thousands of votes aren’t counted because they’re stamped too late.
If you’re voting in person, go over every choice in the ballot carefully, and double check that the machine hasn’t changed your choice BEFORE you hit submit. Take your time, even if there’s a long line outside. Ask poll people for help if you have any questions. THERE ARE NO DUMB QUESTIONS.
Sometimes I have to ask really basic questions over and over and over before I understand stuff. I never forget, once it’s in my head, but some stuff takes clarifying and reclarifying and re-re-clarifying. I have learned to tell people that I’m not trying to be obtuse or difficult, that I have ADHD and I have to ask and re-ask. I don’t love sharing that with strangers, but it’s the most effective approach (I’ve tried a lot of different coping and learning methods over the years, including “I’d rather people think I’m stupid or sullen or contrary, I’ll be damned if I tell them that I process stuff differently”). But now I repeat back what they said to me, and they say, yup, that’s right, and then usually I say, I have ADHD, so I need to run this by you again to make sure I’m on the same page as you, and I ask some more questions, and 99% of the time they’re cool with it, and help me till I understand. A few people go from thinking I’m contrary to thinking I’m dumb, you can see it in their faces after I explain, but 1. Who cares, I need to understand, so they need to help me, and 2. I don’t think other people are dumb when they don’t notice all the things I see, from subtext to prediction to whatever. There are a lot of ways to be a person. I’m pretty secure with my level of intelligence, and I don’t look down on non-ADHD brains ffs, and 3. This is a small, but important aspect of disability and accessibility. If I told them I had dyslexia, people would be more patient with me re-stating and re-questioning. If I had other disabilities, they would be legally required to assist me or make the process accessible to me.
Everyone gets a seat at the table.
Everyone gets a vote.
Ask for help if you need it, is what I’m saying here.
More info here. TL;DR – voting in Texas is an absolute clusterfuck that suppresses voter turnout in just about every aspect.
I’ve seen a lot of good posts encouraging people to vote this November but I’ve only seen one address a hugely important point which is vote all the way down the ballot. State governments can still change things for the better even if the federal government fails to.
Belgium had the highest voter turnout at 87% while America only had 55% turnout in 2016. So having 40% of voters voting in the mid-terms is pretty pathetic.
If history is any indicator, only around 40 percent of eligible voters will vote in the midterm elections.
But it’s more likely that most Americans do want to vote, and one of the root causes of low turnout is this country’s framework of restrictive voting laws.
To explore the hurdles that voters face this election, we created five voter profiles:
The No-ID Voter: could not vote in 23 states
The Procrastinating Voter: could not vote in 34 states
The Eager Student Voter: could not vote in 7 states
[Text of Tweet: George Takei: If you are turned away at the polls because your name is not on the register, don’t walk away. Say this: I REQUEST A PROVISIONAL BALLOT AS REQUIRED BY LAW.
Don’t let them steal your vote]
Additional info:
“Provisional Ballot Laws are laws that require a provisional ballot upon verficiation of the idenity of the voter if a voter fails to present proper identification at the polls or when registering before voter registration deadlines.”
Poll worker here! Let’s talk about this “I DEMAND A PROVISIONAL BALLOT AS PROVIDED BY LAW” thing.
== TL:DR; Yes, provisional ballots are important! And yes, you should absolutely ask for one if you need to. But there’s a couple of things to try first. A provisional ballot is a last resort. ==
It’s very common for voters to come up to the “check-in” desk, and not be found in the poll book. Some non-nefarious reasons why that might be the case:
1) The poll worker doesn’t understand how to spell your name. 2) You’re not in the right precinct (this happens ALLLL the time) 3) New married name? 4) You’re a college student, and you are registered, but you’re registered at home.
Here’s my recommendation for what to do: * Make sure the poll worker is looking in the right spot (the book will be right in front of you; you can help find your name.) * Mention your home address to the poll worker. THey may very well immediately say something like “Oh! Yes, you should be voting in the cafeteria. Here in the GYM, we are your next precinct over.” * Ask politely to speak to someone to verify your status with the county. They will get on the phone with county folks, who will look you up in their BIG COMPUTER.
The steps above will, eight times out of ten, change you from the scary status of “Huh? you don’t exist!” to “Oh, right! Okay, here you go, voter!”
If that doesn’t work, ask firmly and politely for a provisional ballot. If you say “AS PROVIDED BY LAWWWWW”, you will only get an eye-roll from a tired and hungry poll-worker. But hey, you do you – it really IS the law.
If you don’t get satisfaction, all is not lost. Step outside the precinct and call the ACLU, and they will send someone over to have some FIRM WORDS with the Judge of Elections.
How do I know? I’ve had ACLU lawyers sent to talk to me during an election: “Hey, we heard that you were turning voters away!” they said.
I wasn’t, but I DID NOT MIND having someone smart and informed come to check on what was up. The ACLU counsel was smart, engaged, and knew the rules. Had I been trying some crap, this person would have SHUT. IT. DOWN.
So, the BOTTOM bottom line is: 1) Provisional ballots are a last resort. You can read up on them; they’re definitely riskier than a full, “real” ballot. You want to vote at your proper precinct as your first choice. 2) Don’t panic if you’re not in the book. Are you in the right place? 3) If you decide you do need a provisional, be firm, polite, and persistent. There’s no “secret phrase” that’s going to make us poll workers hiss with dismay: “CURSESSSSSSS! They know about the provisionalssssss!” 4) But do stick up for yourself! And if you don’t get what you want, call it in! There’s LOTS of folks to help!
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
You must be logged in to post a comment.