UPDATE: MSNBC just reported that the FBI is looking into voter intimidation issues from the Allen campaign. Hot diggity!
_____________________
It's election day. Have you voted?
If you have problems voting, or you witness some sort of voting irregularity, here's some useful information.
Election Protection's 1-866-OUR-VOTE has live operators who can address some problems over the phone and dispatch lawyers on the ground, if necessary.
Common Cause's 1-866-MYVOTE-1 can help people find their polling place.
Keep these numbers handy in case you need them. Let's get out there and save our country. Today we say the accountability IS important. But that cannot happen unless everyone gets up and gets out to vote.
If you've voted already, how were things at the polls where you are? Long lines this morning? Problems with voting machines? Any irregularities? Then phone the 1-866-OUR-VOTE number and let them know about it — pronto.
Your vote won't count unless you cast it first. So please, for all our sakes, get to the polls and cast your ballot for change. Had enough? Vote for Democrats — your nation is depending on you. And so am I.
So, how is everyone this morning? I'm about to get some coffee…what's everyone else up to today? Besides voting, I mean…
Related posts:
- Citizen Whips Report: Baldwin, Woolsey & Clarke To Vote Against Supplemental
- You are mistaken. We are the ladies who lunch, not the ladies who vote
- Will Zoe Loefgrin Vote $108 Billion for European Banks While California Goes Bankrupt?
- Supplemental Vote Could Come Later Today
- Stupak Amendment, Redux: Recorded Vote Live Blog
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
First?
GOP hitmen could be killing Dem voters outside of polling places and the SCLM would ignore it.
GOTV!
FITZ
GOTV! The day has arrived. I feel like it’s Christmas morning and I’m about to unwrap a shiny new Government tucked up under the tree.
EPU’d
CNN – Chimpy just voted – “our gov’t is only as good as
Diebold’s voting machinesthe people’s willingness to participate in it.”This hotel has no room service for breakfast. Arrrrrrrrgh!
Let The Day Begin!
and remember what matters!
Nate @ 5
I feel like election day in 2004 was Christmas morning and Santa didn’t give me what I had asked for. Today Is the first business day after Christmas and I will be standing in line to return the ‘gift’ and purchase something that I want.
I was the first voter in my precinct (in Plainsboro, NJ, near Princeton) at 6:00 am. So I can say definitively that early reports from my precinct show Menendez with a 1-0 lead over Tom Kean.
Yesterday (Monday) I came home to 25 missed calls (mostly from robots, I’m sure) and 4 voice mail messages, from Bill Clinton, Joe Piscopo, Tom Kean Sr and Tom Kean Jr.
Corry
Christy Hardin Smith @ 7
Do they at least have a coffee maker in the room?
I haven’t slept properly for the last 3 days.
THIS IS IT!!!! TAKE BACK THE COUNTRY!!!
Christy—-we’ll hold down the fort while you go get coffee. We need you at the top of your game.
Thanks, FDL, for what sanity passes for these days.
Today, the first step in returning to what the Onion once called “our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity.”
Off to the Polls!
EPU’D from last thread….just so you know what FOX is doing for LIEberman…Guess Miss Piggy Rove made some calls to her fav network for RG Joe
———————————-
Fox News: Lieberman’s Field Staff?
Just heard this story that came from one of our volunteers in Milford… apparently, he was the only person from any campaign pollstanding at a polling place in Milford earlier this morning. All of a sudden, two or three out-of-state Fox News vans pull up and unload a bunch of Lieberman lawn signs, placed right in front of the Lamont signs that had already been planted. And, what do you know, after a few more minutes, who shows up but Joe himself.
Who needs a field organization (or an advance team) when you’ve got Fox?
- by Charles Monaco | 11/07/06 | Permalink | Comment
twolf1 @
9
LOL! Hopefully it won’t be a long line and the computers aren’t ‘down’.
Didja sleep last night?
Is your gut a mess?
Has election run-up
Caused too much stress?
Vote D, my friends, vote D.
Does the sight of George
And his sidekick, Dick,
And “stay the course”
Make you truly sick?
Vote D, my friends, vote D.
Have you reached your limit,
Have you had enough
Of this administration
And their fear-based stuff?
Vote D, my friends, vote D.
Sophomoric poem
From me to you.
We all know
What we need to do.
Vote D, my friends, vote D.
Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.
~ Sidney Harris
CNN – 19 American soldiers killed in Iraq so far in November. :(
Well, I am about to go off to vote.
Then a brief workday and then off to the local Democratic office to give rides to the polls.
Good luck and good day to everyone.
Someone else said to remind all of your tightwad GOP friends to fuel up because gas prices are going up tomorrow.
-GSD
P.S. It’s a perfect voting day in NH, cool, clear and crisp.
GOTV!
Good Morning!
Slept in today [public employees have Election Day as a holiday!], trying to get over my little flu bug. Mr. NJP always sleeps in–the life of a consultant.
Hope everyone gets the coffee they need. Egregious said something in the late night thread about pumpkin muffins. I’d like one of those right now.
Good luck to our Blue Bloggers contingent!
Thank you to everyone here for the efforts and the encouragement to elect representatives that will hold this administration accountable. Thank you to everyone who directs attention of the media to the reprehensible tactics of the Republicans.
Work for peace, every day.
I voted. Paper much better than plastic.
Now I’m going to go get Jay Fawcett elected. I know it’s an uphill fight; if we don’t get them this time, we’ll get them next time – in the heart of Fort Dobson, CO.
Thanks FDL, BlueAmerica, and Howie: Jay took to the nets immediately and knew that he needed that extra help from online activists – the affect was way beyond all our expectations.
This race became national news in what should have been a gimme seat for any R with a pulse and a haircut. We shook them up.
Hi, Christy — we voted absentee blue. Heading to the infusion center for a six-hr fuelup for Mr. Sunshine. So much more hopeful to contemplate a good outcome than the last time we did this to the accompaniment of the boy-prez’s shock’n’awe fireworks.
Here’s to driving the cancer out of Mr. S… and the American body politic.
VOTE. And Get Out Our Vote!
reposted from previous;
posted for my board, I hope there is something here for you guys to use in your last efforts today to get out the vote, use what you like, discard what you don’t like, use it as if it’s you talking, not someone else, it looses effectiveness…I expect a new thread soon and will be re posting this as the day goes on;
crunch time today
there’s actually a method that I think has worked among my republican friends to vote democratic this election;
if the republicans remain in control of both houses every single thing the president wants to do gets rubber stamped, whatever he doesn’t want to do will not get done
if the president would rather give money that’s been earmarked to secure our ports to his rich friends, they get that money not our ports
that’s EXACTLY what happened by the way
no matter how badly any strategy has failed, it is rubber stamped if the president doesn’t want to change that strategy.
for instance, if he wants to abandon Afghanistan long before the generals told him was prudent, his decision was rubber stamped, if he wants to go into war with too few troops, that is rubber stamped, too little equipment, a rubber stamp, overrule the military on strategy, another rubber stamp
it’s not good for our military, it’s obviously not good for Iraq,
when everyone in our government agrees with everyone else no matter how what, it will bring us to ruin, it’s absolute power and it corrupts
there has to be counter point and every decision of weight needs to be counter balanced by the other side of the coin
if there is over site, there will be people making sure the generals agree with the decisions civilians are making
when a general says we need 600,000 troops, whatever party doesn’t want to give them too him is gonna get some noise, he’s gonna get what our men need or we are not going to proceed
this would be true if the other party was in power, if all three branches are controlled by a democrat the same thing would be happening in a different arena
when a general says he needs the proper vehicles, he’s gonna get them, the party that refuses our generals will be villanized, he gets his requirements for a campaign or the campaign does not proceed, no one will allow a plan to go ahead if the strategy is obviously flawed with such grave mistakes as too little men, not enough equipment
the democrats will NOT be able to say no to the professionals, that will be political suicide, and our troops stand a chance
the republicans DO say no to the generals because they think they have to listen to everything the president tells them
I’m telling you, we CANNOT have single party rule if you want America to survive.
AT LEAST one party to challenge the decisions being made, and oversite MUST be in place for our government to survive
once you that understand our democracy requires over site, you realize everyone must vote today, everyone must get everyone they know to vote
if you have time to donate, DONATE YOUR TIME, man the phones where they need you, watch the polls
there are going to be hot lines to report long lines, not enough machines and whatever else might happen
America needs every single person this election
if you’re wondering about success or failure in Iraq, I GUARANTEE the democrats WILL NOT do anything the generals tell them is ill advised
THAT IS MY GUARANTEE
it would be political suicide, and contrary to what your media has told you, the democrats DO NOT ‘want to loose”, they insist WE WILL WIN.
we cannot possibly win until we get some people that will provide the OVER SITE that would have given our troops the resources they needed
unless of course the military told us the aggression would harm America, then the over site would have prevented that course of action
this is very simple
if you want more of the same, if you want Rumsfeld to continue making these decisions overruling our military professionals, if you want a draft dodger like Chaney, with no military clue on the planet overruling our military professionals
if you want to disregard the generals and our military strategists trained in the field, then go right ahead and continue your support for the decisions you know are not only inept, they are irresponsible and counter productive
on the other hand, if you want the decisions made that are provided by the military professionals, by the trained strategists from our armed forces
then you better go to the voting booth, pinch your nose, hold your breath and find a democrat you can support.
not too difficult, there are plenty of military men running this time around, find one who is a democrat and vote for him or her
we have to give our soldiers a chance, we have to give America a chance and we have to give the Iraqi’s a chance to become our allies instead of our enemies
time to act tomorrow
for everyone that agrees with these points, you are called to arms, you are called by the founders of this republic, you are called by the framers of our constitution
you are called by your children and their children, their future is tomorrow and it is in their hands
your hands and your hands alone
protect your nation, your constitution, your country and the lives of the generations to follow, your children’s lives their childrens
this country cannot operate without over site, the republicans have abandoned their role and now it’s up to you to do what you know needs to be done
call your friends, call your family, call your ex girlfriend or boyfriend, talk to your waitress, your mechanic
talk to the person taking your ticket on the train
go out and do what needs to be done to fulfill your role in this government and do your level best to bring over site back into the process of governance in America
good luck
VOTE
The NYTimes crossword had several blue state, red state clues. The answers for red state clues were communism, insolvency and outrage. Blue state answers tended to be more melancholy or referred to royalty. I think that we could even come up with answers for red state.
I live about 2 blocks from Tryst. Would love to meet you guys. Working polls in NoVA until closing.
“Yesterday (Monday) I came home to 25 missed calls (mostly from robots, I’m sure) and 4 voice mail messages, from Bill Clinton, Joe Piscopo, Tom Kean Sr and Tom Kean Jr.”
My parents told me about this – they have a robocall from Joe Piscopo asking Italian Americans to vote for Kean. My parents felt insulted – mostly by being pandered to so directly, but I think partly because the Republicans couldn’t come up with anyone better than Joe Piscopo, who officially became a has-been twenty years ago.
Olbermann: Where are the checks, balances?
Holy crap! I just voted, and I couldn’t BELIEVE how frickin’ HARD it is to find Joe’s name on the ballot! It’s almost IMPOSSIBLE to see, and nearly all the over-60’s in the crowd are going to have an extraordinarily difficult time finding him.
This is gonna be a HUGE factor today; probably worth more than five points (1 in 20 Joe voters will give up looking for it) by the end of the day.
I was a bit worried before, but NOW…fuggedaboudit! We got this baby COLD!!!
corry342 @
10
I’ve always gone to the polls before they open just so I can hear one of the ladies walk outside and yell “Here ye, Hear ye, the polls are now open!” It’s a state law, but pretty neat to hear before you vote.
Connecticut Bob @ 27
Joe is always on bottom because he is used to sucking up.
NickM @
24
Hi, I’m Tony Orlando, vote for Tom Kean Jr. because Joe Piscopo says so.
-GSD
Voted at 7:10 or so, with 6 people in front of me, and 2 driving away having already voted. I’ve always been there alone before… And a new, young (so young he still had spots on his face) poll watcher. Probably a college kid. Made me feel good to see him there. For the rest of the day I’ll nag other folks about voting. (I e-mailed my boss last night, and he’s already voted too. Atta boy!)
CTBob any word on the TV yet about the Fox vans delivering for LIEberman…I got some friends at MSNBC working on it.
Voted early for our Republican lite, Mr Ford, so we could be in Colorado on vacation. Saw him on Larry King last night. Hope he wins, but I really hope Jane, et. al., pour salt on the Lieberslug today. Thanks for a great season!!! Go Dems and GO PROGRESSIVES.
Roots!!!!!!
CT Bob, if you have time, did you see any sign of a Lieberman4Lieberman GOTV provided by Bloomberg?
Today is the day OHIO will go DEMOCRAT! Sherrod Brown will win the Senate, Ted Strickland will win the governor’s seat, John Cranley and Dr. Victoria Wulsin will win OH 01 and OH 02 Representative’s slots.
Mean Jean Schmidt will go back to dusting her furniture. Ding, dong, the witch is dead!
keyote @ 12
I find it amusing that this was the very next line after my comment.
Yeah, that’s me, the poster child of sanity.
Franco @ 31
Franco, I’m leaving in one minute to go to Milford Dem HQ and ask if they can use me as rapid media response to any reports of stuff like this going on.
I got two cameras, a cell phone, and a big ol’ can of whoop-ass that I’m just DYING to open on someone!
See ya later, FDL!
CTBob let me know if you need ANY info to be passed on to my friends.
GSD @
29
I’m Paulie Shore, and I approve this message.
1) Vote
2) Go to work so I can earn money
3) Drive people to polls
4) Avoid the news media
5) Meditate – mantra “President Pelosi”
6) Go to bed early
7) Greet the new day ready to get busy again.
Good luck to all, and thanks for your energy.
gwb:drf
The truth finally crossed Bush’s lips about Iraq. It was all about the oil.
The Chee-knee energy task force diabolically used our American military and treasure to boost the wallets of Lee “Fat Bahstad” Reynolds and the Big Oil cabal.
Instead of working for energy independence and alternative fuels, BushCo bogged us down in Iraq.
VOTE. Get Out Our Vote.
My polling place was one of those Montgomery County, Maryland, sites that had all the trouble in the primary.
This morning, it went smooth as silk. The machines were working, paper ballots were available, translators were available, and ballots for people with special needs (magnification, read-aloud, etc) were available.
There was a line, but I got to the check in table in about 15 minutes.
State employees in Louisiana have today off … I will be waiting for Mrs. Cat to come home from work so we can go vote together. In the Louisiana 2nd CD, we have our choice among 9 Democrats (including incumbent William “Dollar Bill” Jefferson, coming soon to a Federal indictment), 3 Republicans, and 1 Libertarian. The local DP endorsed Karen Carter, who was also endorsed by local GOP moneymen Boysie Bollinger and Joe Canizaro, neither of whom ever give away anything without expecting a whole lot more in return. Sigh.
It’s not even 6:00 here in California. I voted absentee weeks ago so I could take the day off of work and spend the day working GOTV for McNerney. I have a 12 hour shift, starting at 8:00. The race is still too close to call but the energy is amazing here. I can’t even tell you how many people we have talked with while we were walking precincts over the past few months who told us that they were Rebublican [spouses or neighbors of our targeted Dem voters] and always voted for Pombo but this time they were voting for McNerney because WE NEED A CHANGE! Woo Hoo!
GOTV! Vote Blue America!
Go Team Blue!
ok – who needs coffee?
Yo, Republican Party! You are GOING DOWN!
I am the American public, and I approve this message.
I voted here in Florida. Went smooth. We use paper ballots with the bubble-thingy in my district.
OC at 43 — ME! (I’ve located a nearby coffee shop. Will be running out shortly for two large coffees and a muffin, and then right back here…)
9:00 am Eastern Time And Already Problems Being Reported (Plus How To Make Sure Your Vote Counts)
Court, an errand, and poll watching for me. Opera rehearsal tonight, so I won’t get to the the returns until late. At least one of us won’t be clogging up the FDL servers with constant refreshes.
MSNBC just reported that the FBI is looking into voter intimidation issues from the Allen campaign. Hot diggity!
if you haven’t heard it, go listen to Bill Clinton’s speech last night at the Webb rally:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/…..-for-webb/
God, I miss a president with a brain.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 50
WOO HOO!!! GO WEBB, way to stand up to the bad guys.
Lunch?
FBI checking into voter suppression in VA –so sez Mrs. Greenspan.
Good election morning to all!
GO Webb, GO Ned and go DEMS!
egregious at 52 — yes! How does Thai food sound to you? There’s a Thai restaurant just around the block from my hotel that Jeralyn says was wonderful yesterday. I’m thinking close to the hotel will be the best option for me today. If that works for you — or if we can find something else close that works, I’ll e-mail you with info. :)
hold yer cup out here, Redd – it is strong but it is good…
GOTV!
I voted three weeks ago on Illinois’s first day of early voting so I could be sure to work all day today. I am also closing my store so I can devote the day to GOTV. I am a precinct worker in a blue collar suburb to the north of me. Made phone calls last night to all the D’s on my list for the precinct, reminding them to vote today. Everybody who actually answered the phone promised to vote and seemed aware of both our candidate and the ramifications of turning the Congress to Dems.
Somehow, they seemed more aware of how important it is to vote for the Democratic candidate, Dan Seals, than the voters in my more affluent area, who have been voting for Mark Kirk, a self-styled “moderate” Republican, because he’s been a “good” congressman and is “good for Israel”. If I hear any more shit that Kirk is “good for Israel” from ordinarily Democratic voters (Kerry carried our district 53% in 2004 so there were a lot of crossover votes)I will fucking scream! I mean, what Democrat has ever been “bad” for Israel, beginning with Harry Truman???
Anyway, I’m not expecting Seals to win – although I think it will be close – but he’s postioning himself well for a rematch in two years. He’s a fabulous candidate.
So, when your watching race results tonight, watch Illinois 10th. It should be interesting.
Well, I’m off to shower and then poll watch til 6p.
Just voted outside of Boston — nice lines, and everything went as smooth as silk. Deval Patrick will CRUSH Healey today and I am so happy.
Also got to vote on a non-binding resolution instructing my rep to vote for a resolution directing the president and Congress to get out of Iraq!
I love the liberal Northeast.
phoebes @ 56
Oops, “you’re”, not “your” in second to last paragraph.
Andrea Mitchell is doing a robocall piece dissing Tammy Duckworth.
btw, gang — we’re going to try and keep threads short so that the site doesn’t get slowed down too much. Just a heads up that things will probably move along a little more quickly than usual today to keep things speedy for everyone.
Christy have a cuppa coffee for me while you are at it. Have a GREAT day
every day I expect fdl to get blocked by my school – hopefully today won’t be the day…!
I’ll be nuts!
Christy Hardin Smith @ 50
MSNBC coming up re. voter intimidation……VA not yet ID’d.
The ReTHUGS are starting early. THIS TIME they WON’T get away with this crap!
raven @ 59
That’s a good sign
Go Tammy!
Me , I get to vote for Rahm or an imported Republican.
:(
Connecticut Bob @ 36
May the Force be with you, CT Bob! The whole US of A — not just CT — will be better off with Ned Lamont in the Senate.
Voted @ 6am. Today is our day. All the way Live. Its going to be a hell of a ride.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 60
Speed Kills? (Republicans)
Coffee up, everyone, and jump on Republican voter suppression efforts with both feet!
to the showers! everyone have a good day and good luck!
I did the MAd scene from Lucia at my polling place this morning. At 7 am there was a long line already which is good. For the primary where hardly anyone voted there were 6 machines…today ONLY 3….I have already called Snipes the Bushie 3 times already and have gotten no satisfactory answer. Of course this is a heavily Dem area in Broward County!
Ok folks… It’s dawn here so time for me to pack it in for a 3-hour catnap before shuttling people to and from the polls and a final push day!
Remember… Do More Than Vote! has a terrific front page. Just click your region and it will put you in touch with the candidate in your district who needs your help. Easy as pie and a great way to spend the day today!
Christy Hardin Smith @ 54
Sure, that’s great.
Oh hooray! The hotel had coffee service and a small breakfast buffet downstairs…and I am now back in my cozy room with much coffee and a take-away box of fruit and yogurt. Yay!
Also. I voted on a Sequoia machine and it wasn’t working properly. It was spitting ballot out of the back of the machine and reading “paper jammed” on the print out that comes out of the top of the machine. The poll workers admitted that it was not working properly but said it counted my vote. I already made my call.
While awaiting moderation: CHS, Thai near where you are sounds great. Awaiting details, and off to get the pumpkin muffins.
Good morning! I’m off to take my still slightly cranky seven-year old to the polls, which conveniently are right next to her school bus stop. She was interested enough to crawl out of bed at 6am…
I get the pleasure of voting against Arnold, but with Barbara Lee as my rep, I’m pretty lucky. Pizza and beer tonight! (And champagne…?)
I took advantage of early voting here in San Antonio.
I arrived at the polling place at mid-afternoon, and just in time! I had to wait about 30 minutes to vote, but the line was starting to pile up behind me. Why? Voting machines a lot of elderly people in the line ahead of me. It took ten minutes for the people who were at the machines when I entered the room to clear out. I stood there…and stood there…and stood there. To be fair to the elderly, one woman in her thirties was slower than the mid 70s woman with a cane and the on-death’s-door-guy in the wheelchair! People seemed to understand how the process worked on the machines, but they were slow as frickin’ molasses getting through each and every page. There were about 15 pages of candidates, and 5 review screens.
I didn’t have nor witness any irregularities with either the poll process or my machine that I could tell. I voted Straight Dem. Only Dem candidates were logged on the system. If the machine logs it as something else, not much I can do about that.
One of the jokes around San Antonio is that you can usually tell who the R poll workers are: The elderly white women with a sickly sweet drawl, helmet hair and grim smiles wearing ugly polyester pantsuits. Anybody else, it’s a guess.
Just got done voting 15 min ago (Tampa). Not expecting a huge blue tidal wave to swamp over the state, but will be all too happy to watch eyeshadow junkie Kat Harris get kicked to the curb! Polling station was steadily busy as it usu is.
Take 5 voters to vote
Have them do the same!
Franco at 70 — could you do me a favor and phone the DNC’s voter protection line about that: 1-888-DEM-VOTE They are going to want to know and might be able to get something done quickly about that. Thanks!
I voted two weeks ago, permanent absentee, here in Sonoma County.
This has been a really weird campaign season experience for me: I’ve been working with Jerry McNerney’s campaign as web designer & code monkey, but I’m actually several hours away from the district… and up to this point I’ve been chained to my desk, which means that I’ve been working closely – but virtually – with many folks I’ve never met. As a result, I’ve also been physically removed from the energy and chaos of a very vibrant campaign… at the same time that I’ve spent hundred of hours working on its behalf.
Many of the other folks running the campaign are old DFA buddies of mine, and in a few years we’ve gone from being newbie activists to being campaign staffers, which is surreal… but we’ve also been kicking butt.
Today I’m going down to McNerney’s Dublin headquarters to lend a hand and be there for the finale of this heroic netroots/grassroots effort to unseat Richard Pombo and elect Jerry.
What was once considered a longshot is now within reach, but it’s a real nail-biter. Whatever the outcome, this campaign has been a Frank Capra movie… and one of the most meaningful experiences of my life… but I think it deserves a Frank Capra ending: Mr. McNerney Goes to Washington
Malacandra at 80 — please do tell the McNerney folks that we are pulling for them!
Just voted in NC-11 (Shuler v. Taylor) in a rural state agricultural research center. Moderately heavy voter traffic for a mid-term election.
I voted on a iVotronic (ES&S) machine with a verifiable running ‘paper trail’ for voter validation. No problems!
The look on the faces of the preznut and his lady can not mean good news here on the cnn homepage. The pic looks like they were being heckled or something coming out of the polling station!!
http://www.cnn.com/
I’m on line to vote now. The line is outside the building but it’s not insane. Turnout in my precinct should be a good thing for Webb.
Precinct: Warren City 5L
Polling Place: First Babtist Church, 3217 Surrey SE, Warren, OH
I purposely used my bank statement as a form of identification. The workers had no problem with it and I was given an ‘access card’ to cast my votes. I experienced no glitches and I observed no abnormalities that might alarm me. The machine accepted each vote and correction, displayed the correct votes in the ‘review’, and the printed copy was correct. What I do not know is if who and what I voted for actually is what will be recorded and counted. That is something that the Secretary of State and the State Legislature will have to work on. I have always hated blind voting, and I always will, mostly because I have absolutely no trust in human beings of any kind, make, or model. I have no problem at all with standing tall and casting My yea or nay out loud. That is more “American” than secret ballots. Secret ballots are for cowards such as judeo-christians and republicans and that sort of ilk.
Good morning everyone. Please give my love to TRex. I had to deal with the lads late into the night, after which I promptly fell asleep, thus missing his Late Night bit.
I must check on the latest FL governor numbers. There have been lots of rumors about one of the candidates; I don’t know how they will affect the outcome, though.
As heavy rain and wind has awoken me at this early hour I am extremely grateful that Oregon has mail in ballots and thus nobody will have to be standing out in this storm to cast their ballot. I am hopeful that this storm is localized over the southern Oregon coast and will pass soon as storms in the northwest tend to do. My coffee is brewing and my eyes are still unfocused, but my commitment to the democratic process is not. I am so excited it is almost like Fitzmas. Thank you firepups for all that you on a daily basis to educate, inspire, mobilize, and enlighten.
Everything quiet in Wyandotte County, KS. Of course, we’re pretty much the only Democratic stronghold in the state, probably because we still vote with paper ballots.
No lines to speak of, at least not at 7:30 in the morning. Easy in, easy out.
As usual, the only problem was finding someone worth voting for. Voting against the GOP is a no-brainer, but just for once, I’d like to cast a vote FOR someone instead of AGAINST someone else.
Christy@80…I am on it now.
Real quick and then really off for a catnap. Check out Glenn Greenwald’s post on the front page of C&L about Tony Snow on Limbaugh this morning. Apparently they have resorted to essentially playing the “whites-only race card”
Christy Hardin Smith @
83
We’re pulling for you guys too: both for your CNN gig, and (of course) the Lamont effort is very important to us all.
Because, to paraphrase Kid Oakland, “We all live in Joe Lieberman’s state.”
There’s a bunch of Lieber-type youth yelling “Democrats suck” at District 16 Florida when I voted this morning. This was the first year I was not allowed inside the poll with my camera. Usually I get a couple of shots of my completed ballot and a pic after I feed it into the machine. I call it my receipt. This year, I was told that I had to turn my cell phone off and my camera had to stay outside. Anyway, except for the rain, voting was great today as usual!
Go Ned Lamont!
Franco @
14
Jeepers freepin cripes! Who watches the Watchmen? What, what, what do you do about Rupert’s media whores? I carry a nice little Caseo camera with half a gig of memory and it takes rather clear movie files. If everyone had one of these handy little devices and captured crap like that for presentation to the masses, propaganda outlets like Fox would be only just so much more flotsam on the tide.
Lojack their media jones and give the truth to the people!
Thanks for the update Franco!
Voted today at 7:01 in Barrington, IL, 8th precinct. I was 34th to register on my side of the aisle. Very smooth going. Ballots were fairly simple, although why you had to connect the earplugs for judicial retention as opposed to putting a line through the candidates name for the offices is beyond me. At least there’s a paper trail. The polling place was as packed as I exited as it was when I entered. Democracy is coming … to the U.S.A. haven’t been this excited about voting since … well, Nov, 2004 .. but prior to that When I voted for Jane Byrne for mayor of Chicago in 1979 … it was a very good year.
I spoke to the Dem legal team Christy they are getting on it…Thanks for the number!
Thanks, Franco — you are so great for calling! :)
Good Morning All
A Great Day To Be A Firedog !!!!
Is there a Designated Slapper in the house ?!?! Woke up with this playing in my head and can’t make it stop:
I could say life is just a bowl of Jello
And appear more intelligent and smart,
But I’m stuck like a dope
With a thing called hope,
And I can’t get it out of my heart!
Not this heart…
http://www.amazon.com/gp/music…..19-4522556
oh god, somebody help . . .
Ahhhh…first cuppa coffee ingested, and some tasty fresh fruit. Suddenly, my morning is much better.
egregious — e-mail should be in your in-box about lunch. :)
I just got back from voting. It’s a rainy morning, but all of the Dem supporters outside of the polling place were chipper, and there were no Repub supporters there. I guess Santorum can’t muster anyone to stand in the drizzle to support him.
New thread, gang.
The video is not great, but the content is! Last nite’s rally for Webb with Bill, Kerrey, Warner and Kaine.
I especially love part 2 of Bill’s speech wherein he calls stem cell research a “Gift from God”. Webb’s speech is phenom, like him.
lucky blue underwear? check.
lucky blue jeans? check.
lucky blue blood pressure pill? check…
awright – ready for the day!
oops! Linky here
http://www.raisingkaine.com/sh…..aryId=5864
REPORT FROM ONE POLLING PLACE IN DANBURY, CT
Just observations:
1. We were the first to arrive – at 5:50 AM.
2. Instead of pressing cards into people’s unwilling hands, we just smiled broadly and said, “Thank you for voting”…with our Ned Lamont signs clearly visible. Almost always got a smile or pleasant comment back.
3. Local Dem machine had a popular local lawyer present wearing his Joe sandwich board. So strange: first of all it only said Joe on it…and I was standing next to our popular Joe Taborsak who is a local boy running for state senate…people seemed to associate the big JOE sign with him and were much happier to talk to our Joe (he was telling everyone to vote Straight Line B…which includes Ned.) When he left, he tore his sandwich board in two and handed it over to two teen-agers who looked like they had no idea why they were there!
4. The sandwich posters were big, but very busy and, as everyone was traveling on foot about 25 miles an hour into the polls, nobody really stopped to read it.
5. And the sandwich posters looked really stupid.
6. I got a lot of thumbs up – some going in and a lot coming out. You know…the “secret smile” and the thumb up.
7. Why are Lieberman voters so – well, hostile? The ones I could ID were growly looking, head down, and unfriendly. Very easy to spot!
8. Very busy from 6 AM to 8 AM.
9. Joe’s ballot position is really bad. I mean, I voted (had to pull all the Dem levers individually) and never noticed him. Just before I opened the curtain, I looked, and had to step back and look down at the bottom of the ballot, right above the lever you pull to cast your vote. My husband noted that because of Lieberman’s party name, his name is seen twice…if you can find it!!!
More later – I’ll go back tonight and call in results!
GO NED!
cbl @ 99
Could be worse, I woke up with this one in my head:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..33326.html
DO NOT CLICK THAT LINK with children present or if you have any sort of couth watsoever; or, if you don’t want the most heinous mental images played out in your theatre of the mind! Not to mention the fact that it holds on like terlet paper on a shoe, ouch!
Thanks, Sha! Great info and much appreciated!
Mornin’ all
Voted in bright red Atlantasuburbia.
Diebolds all round, must’ve been 15 machines in there. No lines, no wait, 10% had voted by 9 EST.
Straight blue ticket except when I had to write myself or my Dad in when there was no Dem challenger.
Cheers!
Morning everyone!
Christy. I wish I could run downstairs and get your coffee for ya. It’d be an honor!
Never thot I’d be looking forward to gluing myself to CNN for a whole evening, but I surely will tonight. Hope you feel the power through the toobes.
CT Bob 27
What a wonderful word-picture – all us bifocal-ites squinting at the infernal machine.
BTW, you’ll get old one a these days…
In the meantime, did I thank you for all your determination and hard work?! Bravo!
No squinting needed to find Ned! I believe he’s THE Democratic candidate, right up there at the top, eh? heh heh. GO NED!!! GO BLUE!!!
Hapy ElectionDay all.
Opened my polling place-all smooth as can be. Got acellphone call from a crying littleprop b/c I left w/o her and she “wants to vote”.
So, I dashed home and picked up littleprop and went back to my polling place and let her come in the booth with me.
After years of hearing her complain about why I waste my time on all this politics stuff and why do you get up so early and go to bed so late just to worry about the voting, this year
SHE ASKED IF SHE COULD GO POLL WATCHING WITH ME
I am so proud.
So, I have to run a circuit of boiler rooms our Attorney group has set up all over Long Isalnd and then back to my home town to close the poll I opened.
We have put a saturation amount of lawyers in the feild for our Congrssional condidate and even put muliple lawyers in some close state leg races.
We can do this people.
Remember if you see anything hinky at the polls. Don’t just call it in, be sure to leave your name and contact info in case you are needed as a fact witness later. Also try to call in the names and contact info of other fact witnesses if they will share that info with you.
Get out there and vote, encourage others to vote, and protect all those votes.
Voted in Milford at 8amEST, Hubbie is poll standing here on the Devon side of town, but he just got a call from Milford DTC HQ to head over to Foran High as Ned is going to be there and they want a crowd. He’s supposed to call me from the high school. Why couldn’t they let me have today off!! I’m stuck at work today, darn it.
More later if he calls back….
Yes, vote but vote smart. Don’t fall for fear and smear campaigns on either side. That said, here’s my preference for the outcome of mid-term elections in 2006:
Fire GOP In 2006
Ah Barrington, my ex is from there and I spent many holidays and such in the little village!
Mark Ganzer @ 95
I got back from voting about a half an hour ago. Quite a bit busier polling place than usual.
People were going over and over their ballots, re-reviewing their screens.
Then I got in the voting booth and did the same thing.
One of the poll workers was snippy to me, maybe because last week I’d told her I wanted a paper trail.
“Well we don’t have any problems with the votes,” she said.
“But I want a receipt, just like I get at the grocery store. My vote’s important to me.” She waved me off.
Lovely day for voting here in CT. Steady at the polls but lines manageable. We still have or trusty, prehistoric (and accurate) lever voting machines here.
Go Ned!!
Waited about 35 minutes here in Indiana – Repub stronghold, but we have a very strong candidate.
I had an interesting experience, so I just sent this to the local branch of the DNC:
Good morning -
I voted this morning, at about 6:30 a.m., at the Knight’s of Columbus Hall on Reed Road. I believe my precinct is 150.
After showing ID and signing the official registry, I was asked to sign a legal pad. There was no heading, no information on this pad – just a list of signatures. I was told it would “make it easier for them to know who to call” when “they” would call people later in the day who HADN’T voted yet. I declined to sign, stating I never sign any blank paper.
My question to you is – is this legal, ethical or necessary?
I forgot to say that my 19 year old son voted for the first time today. I am also proud of him and he was a little embarassed that I snapped his pic coming out.
I’m going to post a funny sign I read about Foley on Flickr in a little while. Priceless.
Margot @ 114
I can’t believe it has been 2 years since the last election. The kids and I were living in Germany, and my husband was not quite halfway through his deployment to Iraq. I had a German friend whose husband was also deployed come over with her kids and spend the night so that we wouldn’t have to face election night alone.
I just looked back at my old blog from that time period and was reminded of a funny story. The night before election day, my son and I caught the tail-end of Fahrenheit 9/11 on a German TV channel. As I wrote back then:
Afterwards he turned to me and asked: “So does Utah like Bush?” I wasn’t sure why he would ask about that particular state, but I said: “Well, I don’t really know offhand. They’re pretty conservative, so I would have to guess that yes, they do.” He looked at me, utterly aghast, and demanded: “Don’t you think that might make things a little AWKWARD tomorrow night?!” That’s when it hit me–he meant Jutta, not Utah.
I feel optimistic today, having cast my vote against Katherine Harris via absentee ballot weeks ago. But then again, I felt optimistic 2 years ago, and look how THAT turned out.
I can’t believe Nov. 7th is finally here! I love the smell of democracy in the morning.
Voted in Arlington this morning and lines were wrapping around the building. But better than in 2004- only took a little over an hour to vote today. In ‘04 I was there for 3 and a half. It’s silly-we have 7 machines, but only a couple are in use at a time because there are only 2 people checking voters in. Lots of poll workers milling about, though.
My husband and I noticed that on the example screens showing how to use the electonic voting machines only Republicans were checked.
Don’t think that’ll do any good for Allen in this district, though. The 2 Allen volunteers this morning looked almost embarassed when they asked people to vote for him.
ccmask 86
I tried yer cnn linkie, and closest I could find to pic you describe was:
“flood traps man on car roof”
that it???
From a newsgroup I follow:
OK, I voted
On a brand spanking new touch screen machine. Could someone tell me why we need 8 of them in a town of 2,500? Oh, right. By 8AM, 2 of
them had already stopped working properly.
Wow. Could you tell if they had any paper ballots around as backup in
case they all failed, or all failed but two, or something?
No, I couldn’t tell. But it would be a nice back up plan. We’ve always used the “connect the dots” ballots before, which I always hought was laughably low tech, but I’ve reconsidered.
As I was walking in I saw one of my neighboes who said, “Leave it to me to get a machine that doesn’t work.” Hmmm. Great.
I was signing in next to one of the machines which had a group of poll workers huddled around it. I could hear such things as, “I just don’t know how it got to this screen” and “Why can’t we exit this screen?” I asked the nice lady at the table if they were having problems and said yes, with two of them. I saw a similar group huddled around another machine across the room.
Perhaps it was just temporary “technical difficulties”, perhaps not.
Sorry for the repeat post…I’m falling asleep here.
Voting Report from Southern Maryland
At 7:30 AM there was a line of about 30 folks ahead of me, which moved fairly quickly. I didn’t count the number of Diebold machines at our location, but I’d say it was 8 – 10. There are 4 questions on the ballot which are probably slowing things down a bit, but still no sign of trouble from the machines or notebooks. I asked one of the judges who was having trouble with the notebooks during the primary and he said all was working like a charm.
So there’s one Marylander’s experience.
(PS – If Steele wins I’m afraid I’m going to tear out my hair, or worse.)
Headed out to vote now. I’ve had some Depeche Mode in my head all morning…
The grabbing hands
Grab all they can
All for themselves, after all
It’s a competitive world
Everything counts in large amounts
Going to slap a few grabbing hands myself. Good luck all!
Since everyone’s giving their local updates :
My polling place in Hartford, CT had a small line (5-6 people) at 8:30 this AM. The poll worker at the table said that things had been pretty slow, but steady. A half-dozen Lamont and vote-the-line Democrat folks handing out literature out front; no Lieberman people, no Republicans … no surprise, since the Republicans don’t even really bother showing up in our neighborhood.
greynct00 @
116
Hey Greynctoo…how was Lieberman’s position on the ballot in your area? He was literally at the bottom, almost hidden by machine itself in Danbury.
Christy, where are you? Email me if you need anything. I’m about a 40-minute drive north of central DC, but it’s a slow day at work, and I’ve got lots of vacation time.
poopymantuxathotmaildotcom
Also : my Connecticut district is so oldschool that we still have the big cast-iron mechanical voting machines … the same ones I remember from going with my parents to vote when I was a little kid. There’s something satisfying about the solid mechanical “clunk” you get when you pull that big ol’ lever to register your vote.*
Needless to say, no reports of machine malfunctions here.
* Actually, these machines were slated to be replaced this year. However, after much widely-publicized testing of the available replacement electronic machines, the Sec’y of state determined that none of them met CT voting standards (in CT, voters must be able to see the entire ballot at once, and there must be a voter-verifiable paper record of the vote). So, still with the lever machines.
hey Doc,
Up until 2004, we had the same machines here in Indianapolis. I’m with you on the feeling you get from those big ole things. Last time just didn’t feel quite like voting without the giant Lever of Democracy.