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What's your party, and who are you voting for? Everyone can vote twice.

It's Election Day, everyone!!! Do the right thing. Vote.

8K views 30 replies 11 participants last post by  Jeff 
#1 ·
Update: Alright everyone, everyone probably knows that I'm a die-hard Democrat. However. Everyone needs to get out there today, and vote. It doesn't matter who you vote for, just do the deed. Without people getting out there and voicing their opinion, democracy dies. I'm tired of people saying that their vote doesn't matter, because it absolutely does. Vote because you want the troops to come, vote cause you want them to stay. Vote for the environment, vote for offshore drilling. Vote, because it's going to affect your taxes, your troops, your friends, and your family. The future of your country is not something to be apathetic about. This coming from someone who sleeps an average of 14 hours a day. In conclusion, I'm a nineteen year old caucasian female, raised Roman Catholic in a military family. And I'm proud to have voted for Barack Obama. Now you get out there, vote for your candidate, and be proud. Proud that you took the time out of your life to stand in long lines, merely for the hope that your vote made a difference in the future of our country.

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Someone at some point said that we shouldn't get political, but I really want to. And this is in off topic. So, pretty much, what are your thoughts on the election? I'm rather obsessed with politics, and most my friends just want it to be over, so I'll stop muttering about Republicans. (I have come out of the barn. I'm a donkey. Ooo, joke! "Democrats are sexy. Who ever heard of a nice piece of elephant?)
 
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#2 ·
I voted on October 15th. We have early voting here in Maine and I took advantage of it. I knew who I wanted elected and I made up my mind on the three referendum issues on the ballot. I like voting early. I don't have to worry about lines or getting a flat tire or something else on Tuesday.

Even though I'm done with my civic duty, I still watched the debates and have paid attention to all the goings-on. It's quite the three-ring circus this year!

L
 
#3 ·
We sent in absentee ballots since we didn't know for sure if we'd be in town this week. I registered Independent and vote for whoever I think will do the best job no matter what the party affiliation.

Leslie, early voting this year didn't mean no lines here in NM as over half the registered voters in the state have already voted.
 
#4 ·
oddsoxx said:
Leslie, early voting this year didn't mean no lines here in NM as over half the registered voters in the state have already voted.
That's what I've heard -- lines even with the early voting. I thought this editorial from the New York Times was interesting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/opinion/30thu1.html

Editorial
The Success of Early Voting
Published: October 29, 2008


A lot is going wrong in this election, from malfunctioning electronic voting machines to voters being purged mistakenly from the rolls. But one thing is going very right: early voting. In the more than 30 states that allow early or no-excuse absentee voting, voters have been casting ballots in record numbers. Early voting has many advantages. The main one is that it makes it likely that more eligible voters will participate in democracy.

Election Day has traditionally been held on a single day - a Tuesday. Congress scheduled federal elections on Tuesdays because they worked well for farmers and Sabbath observers. But in the 21st century, having one day to vote is an antiquated relic. Voters have to fit in a visit to the polls with their work, family and other responsibilities. Many cannot find the time, particularly when lines are as long as they have been in recent times.

The answer, as many states have discovered, is to move away from a single day of voting and allow voters to cast ballots over a period of days or weeks. Voters across the country have responded enthusiastically. In Florida, more than one million people have already cast ballots at early voting centers, some waiting on lines for hours to do so. In Georgia, too, more than one million people already have voted, a big jump from the less than 500,000 people who voted early four years ago.

Some people are wary of early voting. As Susan Saulny reported in The Times on Wednesday, there are rumors in the African-American community in Jacksonville, Fla., that early voting is a scam and that the votes cast early would be discarded. Given Florida's history with electoral mischief, some skepticism about election procedures is not only understandable, but necessary.

But the truth is that early voting actually makes it harder for the forces of disenfranchisement to stop eligible voters from casting ballots. If election officials try to require voters to present ID when it is not required by law, early voting gives voters a chance to simply return the next day. Dirty tricks are also harder to pull off. If political operatives want to jam get-out-the-vote telephone lines, as they did on Election Day in New Hampshire in 2002, it would be harder to do if people voted over two weeks.

Early voting also reduces the burden on election systems that are often stretched near to the breaking point. In 2004, voters waited in lines as long as 10 hours. And there is every indication that lines on Tuesday, in some places and at some times, will again be extraordinarily long. The more people who vote early, the fewer who will be lined up at the polls on Election Day.

Now that it is clear how successful the early-voting process has been, the states that have not adopted it - including New York - should do so. Congress should also mandate early voting for federal elections - ideally as part of a larger federal bill that would fix the wide array of problems with the electoral system. Today, the idea that all voting must occur in a 15-hour window, or less, on a single day is as outdated as a punch-card voting machine.
 
#5 ·
I wasn't aware that not all states have an early voting system in place. The idea of everyone voting on one day is absolutely ridiculous isn't it? That editorial is dead on!

Here in New Mexico we have early voting and absentee voting but we also have another option that I find puzzling to say the least. We have the choice of "In Person Absentee" voting. I'm unclear on that concept. LOL

But why am I surprised...New Mexico is also the state that has the law that says we settle election ties with a game of chance to be decided on by the candidates. A few years ago a mayoral race in a small eastern New Mexico town ended in a tie and was decided by a hand of poker.
 
#7 ·
Ours is a state in which it is not permitted.  I have watched all of the debates, read the papers, done the research.  I vote for the man I feel best suited to meet the needs of this country.  I do not vote by party but by the person.  It saddens me that too many vote a certain candidate just because their friend did or their parents did.  I once heard (a ding-bat relative on my father's side) someone voted for a certain candidate because they thought that his wife was pretty...hellllo?
 
#8 ·
sjc said:
Ours is a state in which it is not permitted. I have watched all of the debates, read the papers, done the research. I vote for the man I feel best suited to meet the needs of this country. I do not vote by party but by the person. It saddens me that too many vote a certain candidate just because their friend did or their parents did. I once heard (a ding-bat relative on my father's side) someone voted for a certain candidate because they thought that his wife was pretty...hellllo?
Well, I think there is a certain group of people who expect many of us to vote for a certain white haired gentleman because his running mate is pretty...that was the plan, at least.

L
 
#9 ·
oddsoxx said:


Here in New Mexico we have early voting and absentee voting but we also have another option that I find puzzling to say the least. We have the choice of "In Person Absentee" voting. I'm unclear on that concept. LOL

The concept is that you might not be able to get to your polling place on election day, for whatever reason, so you're eligible to vote absentee. You could get an absentee ballot and mail it in, or, in some places, you can elect to vote in person at some designated time before election day. That's "in person absentee."

FWIW. . . .here in VA the lines have been long for the last week. But in person absentee ended on Saturday. I expect Tuesday there will be long lines, but I have 7 or 8 books I can take with me . . . via Kindle, of course. ;D

Ann
 
#10 ·
A couple of years ago when I went to vote, there was a really long line. One person got quite annoyed and was saying they weren't going to vote if they had to wait. ???

It was electronic voting that year, and people were asking if they could do a paper (provisional) ballot just so they didn't have to stand in line. As I remember, it only took about half an hour in the line.
 
#11 ·
I lived in Chicago for two years way back when they still had the mechanical voting machines. Anyone remember those? Anyway, you could tick each individual candidate or just flip the tick at the beginning of the list to vote totally for one party (Democratic, Republican, other...). You could listen to the voting: clunk (close the curtain), tick (vote for party), clunk (open the curtain and record vote). My husband went in and started tick, tick, ticking away (there were 78 candidates to vote for!). The polling lady looked at the booth and then looked at me and said, "You know, there is a 90 second limit on being in the voting booth." Interesting experience...



 
#13 ·
RovingSoul said:
That map is wrong. Cause I've lived in Washington and Oregon, and have voted early in both states. I'm living in WA right now, and I sent my ballot in Oct. 16th or something.
You're right...I have a friend who voted early in Washington. Duh! Well, use the map to give you an idea, not a final authoritative answer. LOL.

L
 
#14 ·
With early voting, will the voters of Dixville Notch, NH stillt get thier quadrennial 15 minutes of fame? For the past gawd-knows how many years, the 40-odd voters in this tiny unincorporated village (mostly employees of The Balsams resort) would open the polls at the stroke of midnight on 11/2, collect the paper ballots from the registered voters, count them immediatly and publish the result to the waiting press (on a quaint schoolhouse chalkboard). Of course, the Dixville Notch voters will still be the first to have the results tabulated (early voting states don't count ballots until Election Day), so perhaps some measure of fame may be retained.
 
#15 ·
RovingSoul said:
Someone at some point said that we shouldn't get political, but I really want to. And this is in off topic. So, pretty much, what are your thoughts on the election? I'm rather obsessed with politics, and most my friends just want it to be over, so I'll stop muttering about Republicans. (I have come out of the barn. I'm a donkey. Ooo, joke! "Democrats are sexy. Who ever heard of a nice piece of elephant?)
I'm out of the barn right next to you! But to address people giving up because the lines are too long; my grandparents didn't leave totalitarian states to come to the US so I could sit on my *ss and not vote....

I'll be in line Tuesday, Kindle at my side (I found a purse that it fits in, right in my house, LOL!)

Betsy
 
#19 ·
Ann Von Hagel said:
The concept is that you might not be able to get to your polling place on election day, for whatever reason, so you're eligible to vote absentee. You could get an absentee ballot and mail it in, or, in some places, you can elect to vote in person at some designated time before election day. That's "in person absentee."
Well...electing to vote in person at some designated time before election day sounds like "early voting" to me. NM has both early voting and absentee voting and as a third option, we also have in person absentee voting. I guess the oximoron "in person absentee voting" just amused me for some dumb reason.

Linda
 
#20 ·
I agree it's semantics.  I think the technical distinction is that, in places that allow 'early voting', you don't need to give a reason why you want to vote early.  Just go do it.  Where they have 'in person absentee', there are a number of acceptable reasons which might cause you difficulty in getting to the polls.  In VA, you just need to say which one is you, and they'll let you vote absentee.  You can do that by mail, or go into the county voter office on designated days ahead of the election.  Of course, one of the reasons allowed is 'personal business will take me out of the county on election day'.  And you don't need to disclose what that personal business is, which makes it essentially the same as early voting..  . . .

I figure I'll head to the school to vote around 9. . . .Kindle in hand  :)

Ann
 
#22 ·
oddsoxx said:
Well...electing to vote in person at some designated time before election day sounds like "early voting" to me. NM has both early voting and absentee voting and as a third option, we also have in person absentee voting. I guess the oximoron "in person absentee voting" just amused me for some dumb reason.

Linda
When I was young and active in politics, northern New Mexico also had dead-person voting and overlooked ballot boxes that mysteriously appeared after the votes were tallied. :)

Jeff
 
#25 ·
Ann: Fortunately, here in NM we don't have to give a reason for wanting to vote early or to vote by absentee ballot. To vote by absentee ballot, you merely have to apply and they send you a ballot which you just drop in the mail when you've marked all the relevent boxes.

Jeff: Uh...well, I suspect there is still a lot of the mysterious missing ballot box syndrome in Northern NM. I remember several years ago, after the votes were tallied, several boxes were found in a jail cell in some little town up there.


Teninx said "In Person Absentee Voting"? Is that conducted at a special polling place for those who declare themselves an "Undecided Committed Voter"? And all I can say to that is "ROFL"
 
#26 ·
Linda,

I think it was Tierra Amarilla in Rio Arriba County.

During the last general election, George Bush was ahead in NM for several days but Tony Snow said on Fox news that it couldn’t last because in NM someone invariably found an uncounted ballot box at the last minute. Days later they found the ballot boxes you mentioned and the NM went for Al Gore.

I really miss New Mexico sometimes – but not during general elections.


Jeff
 
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