MizIndependent
Drama Llama
Quit your bullpoop.
Posts: 5,836
Jun 25, 2014 19:43:16 GMT
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Post by MizIndependent on Mar 24, 2016 17:01:56 GMT
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AnotherPea
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,968
Jan 4, 2015 1:47:52 GMT
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Post by AnotherPea on Mar 24, 2016 17:11:30 GMT
I stood in line for four hours when Clinton was running the first time. My station had longer wait times than others around the area. Yes, my station had a higher number of minorities than some other stations. But I don't think it was some master plan to prevent certain demographics from voting. It was more likely based on past elections. Fewer people from my station vote compared to other areas. When they decided to finally vote, they ended up waiting in line.
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Post by kellybelly77 on Mar 24, 2016 17:13:05 GMT
I saw on a Facebook page I belong to that there is a White House petition already circulating calling for an investigation into this. It only needs about 2,000 more signatures before the White House will be required to reply. I think they require a reply at 100k signatures and it was around 98k this morning.
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valleyview
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,816
Jun 27, 2014 18:41:26 GMT
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Post by valleyview on Mar 24, 2016 17:18:14 GMT
I think that I read the other day that Maricopa County had reduced their number of polling spots in order to save money. Making it harder to vote, way to go...
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MizIndependent
Drama Llama
Quit your bullpoop.
Posts: 5,836
Jun 25, 2014 19:43:16 GMT
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Post by MizIndependent on Mar 24, 2016 17:18:50 GMT
I saw on a Facebook page I belong to that there is a White House petition already circulating calling for an investigation into this. It only needs about 2,000 more signatures before the White House will be required to reply. I think they require a reply at 100k signatures and it was around 98k this morning. Found it: "INVESTIGATE THE VOTER FRAUD AND VOTER SUPPRESSION IN ARIZONA 3/22/2016 DEMOCRATIC PARTY."Currently at 97,250. I think that I read the other day that Maricopa County had reduced their number of polling spots in order to save money. Making it harder to vote, way to go... Yep, read that two. This article states that they went from 200 polling stations in 2012 to just 60.
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azredhead
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,755
Jun 25, 2014 22:49:18 GMT
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Post by azredhead on Mar 24, 2016 17:46:21 GMT
Yes there was another thread about earlier... earlier thread ABC15 and the local fox reporting about the Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell. One guy wants her job. It's not pretty.
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Post by cmpeter on Mar 24, 2016 18:49:56 GMT
Wow, that's insane. Kudos to anyone who actually waits that long. WA is all mail in ballots. But, even before we made the switch I have never waited more than 10 minutes (if that) to vote.
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AnotherPea
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,968
Jan 4, 2015 1:47:52 GMT
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Post by AnotherPea on Mar 24, 2016 19:28:19 GMT
I've been thinking about this thread still. I'm not one to look for conspiracies in a lot of places. The last few times I've voted, at my new station, I've never had to wait more then ten minutes. Waiting ten minutes that one time was for the last presidential election. Every other time I walk straight in.
The last time I voted I walked straight in. I was greeted by three different people. There were six people sitting at the table to check voters in. Three others directed me to the voting booth. This was all in one big room. There were six booths set up and two machines ready to take the ballots. I don't know if any of the people there were volunteers - I'm not even sure if volunteering is allowed. But I suspect that most of them were like my grandmother - senior citizens that get paid by the hour to work. I went at a "popular" time - 5:30pm. There was one other person voting other than my family members.
My station is at a public school. School was closed for the day, for voting. The A/C was running in the building, at least in the hallways and gym. As we drove from the voting station to dinner, we passed four other voting stations within five miles of the one we're assigned.
That was a lot of money spent to make it convenient for voters. I'm not so sure that voting needs to be that convenient.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 19, 2024 1:14:44 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2016 20:29:27 GMT
I've been thinking about this thread still. I'm not one to look for conspiracies in a lot of places. The last few times I've voted, at my new station, I've never had to wait more then ten minutes. Waiting ten minutes that one time was for the last presidential election. Every other time I walk straight in. The last time I voted I walked straight in. I was greeted by three different people. There were six people sitting at the table to check voters in. Three others directed me to the voting booth. This was all in one big room. There were six booths set up and two machines ready to take the ballots. I don't know if any of the people there were volunteers - I'm not even sure if volunteering is allowed. But I suspect that most of them were like my grandmother - senior citizens that get paid by the hour to work. I went at a "popular" time - 5:30pm. There was one other person voting other than my family members. My station is at a public school. School was closed for the day, for voting. The A/C was running in the building, at least in the hallways and gym. As we drove from the voting station to dinner, we passed four other voting stations within five miles of the one we're assigned. That was a lot of money spent to make it convenient for voters. I'm not so sure that voting needs to be that convenient. So would you consider waiting in line for 5 hours acceptable? Or more importantly would you wait in line for 5 hours to vote?
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scrappinspidey2
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,511
Location: In the Parlor with the Fly
Mar 18, 2015 19:19:37 GMT
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Post by scrappinspidey2 on Mar 24, 2016 20:42:11 GMT
I lived on the west side of town for over 10 years. I never had an issue voting. I either did absentee or I went to the school across the street and voted. No lines, no waiting. When we lived in Central Phoenix it was similar. I waited maybe five minutes to vote at the elementary school. I know there were lines after work when the majority of people would stop by, but never the lines they are reporting now.
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AnotherPea
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,968
Jan 4, 2015 1:47:52 GMT
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Post by AnotherPea on Mar 24, 2016 20:43:20 GMT
I've been thinking about this thread still. I'm not one to look for conspiracies in a lot of places. The last few times I've voted, at my new station, I've never had to wait more then ten minutes. Waiting ten minutes that one time was for the last presidential election. Every other time I walk straight in. The last time I voted I walked straight in. I was greeted by three different people. There were six people sitting at the table to check voters in. Three others directed me to the voting booth. This was all in one big room. There were six booths set up and two machines ready to take the ballots. I don't know if any of the people there were volunteers - I'm not even sure if volunteering is allowed. But I suspect that most of them were like my grandmother - senior citizens that get paid by the hour to work. I went at a "popular" time - 5:30pm. There was one other person voting other than my family members. My station is at a public school. School was closed for the day, for voting. The A/C was running in the building, at least in the hallways and gym. As we drove from the voting station to dinner, we passed four other voting stations within five miles of the one we're assigned. That was a lot of money spent to make it convenient for voters. I'm not so sure that voting needs to be that convenient. So would you consider waiting in line for 5 hours acceptable? Or more importantly would you wait in line for 5 hours to vote? Well, as I stated up thread, I have waited several hours to vote. I think for a large turn out, waiting multiple hours is acceptable. We've come a long way from traveling for days to vote, so I'm okay with a few hours. If it is consistently multiple hours, for every election, then I would hope changes are made. But here, at least, voting is incredibly convenient, so if you don't choose to vote the multiple days that early voting is allowed, you really have no one to blame but yourself if you have to wait a long time. It is your right to vote. If you want to be heard it might take some work on your part though.
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Post by birukitty on Mar 24, 2016 20:48:30 GMT
I don't think waiting in line for 5 hours to vote is acceptable at all. But I would do it if I had to. I signed that petition yesterday that is going to the White House and I read this afternoon on Facebook that it's gotten the 100,000 signatures it needs. The governor of Arizona is calling for this to be investigated. It's unconstitutional what happened. People were denied their constitutional rights to vote.
People who were registered Democrats got to their polling places and found that their registration had been changed to Independent so they couldn't vote. Many people were still standing in line when the polls closed and never got to vote, even after waiting several hours. And from what I read it was called that Hillary was the winner a few hours before the polls were set to close when people were still standing in line. Can you imagine the feeling that a winner is called when you're standing in line, you've still got say 2 hours (I don't know the exact time but I know it was more than 1 hour) till the polls close and a winner is called. I know I'd be thinking, "WTF? What are they trying to pull? That's me.
But I think most people who aren't as informed as me or you, would be thinking, "so what's the use, they've called a winner. Why bother standing in this line anymore. Might as well go home." which I think, was the exact response Hillary was hoping for. Now I am not into conspiracies. I don't believe in UFO's or Roswell or that the government knows something and is hiding it. I don't believe in any of the popular conspiracies. I do think Hillary will do anything to win this election. Even go so far as changing those registered Democrats to independents and having a hand in this mess. Bernie was favored to win Arizona. That's my thinking. We'll see. I hope justice is done. The people in Arizona deserve a chance to vote. I don't care who comes out the winner. As long as they get a chance for their voices to be heard. Our country is built on democracy. When things like what happened in Arizona start happening it's a slippery slope away from that to something far worse.
Debbie in MD.
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MizIndependent
Drama Llama
Quit your bullpoop.
Posts: 5,836
Jun 25, 2014 19:43:16 GMT
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Post by MizIndependent on Mar 24, 2016 20:50:20 GMT
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azredhead
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,755
Jun 25, 2014 22:49:18 GMT
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Post by azredhead on Mar 24, 2016 20:53:15 GMT
I actually liked the mail in option. We did get ours. I know there were a few issues here even with those. Some people had mispellings on their ballots etc... so I think it was a timing issue etc.. but It was nice just to be able to put down your vote and mail it in.
I do hope this lady looses her job over it. I don't say that very often but there was no excuse this year.
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Post by blondiec47 on Mar 24, 2016 21:56:32 GMT
Who pays for the polling places? If it is the state then closing places because of money, what are you gonna do, states have to balance their budgets. Yes waiting hours to vote sucks, but having polling places can't be cheap. I am not making a judgement one way or the other just curious
btw I hate mailing option, how are they checked, could my house get 5 ballots (5 registered voters) and I fill them all out and send them back?
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Post by refugeepea on Mar 24, 2016 22:01:56 GMT
I know in Utah, they left it up to the parties, not the counties. Because the Democrat party is so small and has less money, they had people waiting in lines for hours. The Republican party had issues as well, but they also had online voting.
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Post by tidegirl on Mar 24, 2016 22:41:32 GMT
I know that I was able to get an early ballot and had a choice to mail it in or drop it off at my polling place or the county office. It was really simple. I waited until the last week so that I could be fairly certain that the person I cast a ballot for was still in the race. I knew/took the time to be informed that they were consolidating polling places and I didn't want to deal with it.
There were certainly issues but it appears that it was isolated to Maricopa County. In my area people were just walking in and voting with little to no wait. I do believe they have a lot of explaining to do. The local news casts covering this really made it sound like it was a money (cost) issue. The number of polling places was voted on prior to the election by a board. I do believe that it needs to be fixed prior to the next election. I am not sure that a costly investigation is going to uncover malicious intent.
The news shows were calling the election for Clinton and Trump before everyone in line had a chance to vote.
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Post by jenis40 on Mar 24, 2016 23:41:15 GMT
Who pays for the polling places? If it is the state then closing places because of money, what are you gonna do, states have to balance their budgets. Yes waiting hours to vote sucks, but having polling places can't be cheap. I am not making a judgement one way or the other just curious btw I hate mailing option, how are they checked, could my house get 5 ballots (5 registered voters) and I fill them all out and send them back? Not saying this couldn't happen but a signature is required. When I mail my ballot in it goes in a unmarked envelope so it's anonymous.The unmarked envelope is then placed in another envelope that requires a signature. The signed envelope then goes into a third envelope to be mailed or dropped off at a drop box. This is in Washington state. I'm not 100% sure of the vetting process but I think if you make a complaint that you haven't received your ballot they would check the signature against your voter registration card. Otherwise the signatures are checked against the eligible voter lists. I Love this way of voting!
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zella
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,884
Jul 7, 2014 19:36:30 GMT
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Post by zella on Mar 24, 2016 23:49:33 GMT
A clarification. Yes, Washington state does use all mail-in ballots now. But this was a PRIMARY election, and in Washington the crazy caucus system is still in effect. You can vote absentee for the caucus, but mostly it is a case of going to the location in person. As someone with social anxiety, standing around for a couple of hours while people try to convince each other which candidate to support sounds dreadful. BTW, the deadline for absentee voting passed about a week ago, I believe.
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Post by jenis40 on Mar 25, 2016 0:02:49 GMT
A clarification. Yes, Washington state does use all mail-in ballots now. But this was a PRIMARY election, and in Washington the crazy caucus system is still in effect. You can vote absentee for the caucus, but mostly it is a case of going to the location in person. As someone with social anxiety, standing around for a couple of hours while people try to convince each other which candidate to support sounds dreadful. BTW, the deadline for absentee voting passed about a week ago, I believe. True. I was speaking more to mail in ballots in general.
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raindancer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,095
Jun 26, 2014 20:10:29 GMT
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Post by raindancer on Mar 25, 2016 0:05:59 GMT
I know that I was able to get an early ballot and had a choice to mail it in or drop it off at my polling place or the county office. It was really simple. I waited until the last week so that I could be fairly certain that the person I cast a ballot for was still in the race. I knew/took the time to be informed that they were consolidating polling places and I didn't want to deal with it. There were certainly issues but it appears that it was isolated to Maricopa County. In my area people were just walking in and voting with little to no wait. I do believe they have a lot of explaining to do. The local news casts covering this really made it sound like it was a money (cost) issue. The number of polling places was voted on prior to the election by a board. I do believe that it needs to be fixed prior to the next election. I am not sure that a costly investigation is going to uncover malicious intent. The news shows were calling the election for Clinton and Trump before everyone in line had a chance to vote. Well this is what I thought was going on, that people were just bitching about waiting in a line. Whatever. But people had their party affiliation changed and were notified, people didn't get mail in ballots at all, provisional ballots were taking hours to get, etc. Shady stuff, and those were just people from Pima county (not Maricopa). My bil is a republican, didn't get a mail in ballot (his wife did) and when he went to the polling place they had him listed as a democrat, then took over 2 hours to get a provisional ballot to vote.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 19, 2024 1:14:44 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2016 0:28:10 GMT
Who pays for the polling places? If it is the state then closing places because of money, what are you gonna do, states have to balance their budgets. Yes waiting hours to vote sucks, but having polling places can't be cheap. I am not making a judgement one way or the other just curious btw I hate mailing option, how are they checked, could my house get 5 ballots (5 registered voters) and I fill them all out and send them back? Not saying this couldn't happen but a signature is required. When I mail my ballot in it goes in a unmarked envelope so it's anonymous.The unmarked envelope is then placed in another envelope that requires a signature. The signed envelope then goes into a third envelope to be mailed or dropped off at a drop box. This is in Washington state. I'm not 100% sure of the vetting process but I think if you make a complaint that you haven't received your ballot they would check the signature against your voter registration card. Otherwise the signatures are checked against the eligible voter lists. I Love this way of voting! You've been getting three envelopes in WA? I only get two!
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Post by epeanymous on Mar 25, 2016 0:32:55 GMT
Yeah, there has been a lot of energy put into figuring out how to reduce mostly nonexistent voter fraud, but not into reducing voter suppression.
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Post by meridon on Mar 25, 2016 0:35:28 GMT
The cluster in AZ is a direct consequence of the Supreme Court's decision in 2013 to gut the Voting Rights Act. Without the federal oversight required by the law, many states now no longer have to get federal permission to make changes to how they run their elections, including the decision to close or move polling places. As a result, AZ (or some counties in the state, at any rate, maybe not statewide) had 70% fewer polling places than in 2012, based on what I've read. I've already signed a petition from moveon.org to bring back Section 5 of the VRA. Pre-clearance existed for good reason!
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jayfab
Drama Llama
procastinating
Posts: 5,521
Jun 26, 2014 21:55:15 GMT
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Post by jayfab on Mar 25, 2016 0:42:57 GMT
This makes me very angry. 5 flipping hours is not acceptable!!! We should NOT be making it harder to vote. This is un-American to me.
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jayfab
Drama Llama
procastinating
Posts: 5,521
Jun 26, 2014 21:55:15 GMT
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Post by jayfab on Mar 25, 2016 0:43:29 GMT
Yeah, there has been a lot of energy put into figuring out how to reduce mostly nonexistent voter fraud, but not into reducing voter suppression. No kidding.
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katybee
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,378
Jun 25, 2014 23:25:39 GMT
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Post by katybee on Mar 25, 2016 2:18:00 GMT
I cannot believe some of you think it is acceptable to wait HOURS to vote. If we spend our money on anything, it should be this! Everyone has the right to vote within a reasonable amount of time. And in the whole scheme of things, it does not cost that much. It just doesn't. There is no way that I could stand in line for hours to vote. I work full-time. If all the teachers at my school had to take a day off to vote, there wouldn't be enough subs to cover. I am just flabbergasted that some of you believe this is OK!
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Mar 25, 2016 2:47:49 GMT
I don't think waiting in line for 5 hours to vote is acceptable at all. But I would do it if I had to. I signed that petition yesterday that is going to the White House and I read this afternoon on Facebook that it's gotten the 100,000 signatures it needs. The governor of Arizona is calling for this to be investigated. It's unconstitutional what happened. People were denied their constitutional rights to vote. People who were registered Democrats got to their polling places and found that their registration had been changed to Independent so they couldn't vote. Many people were still standing in line when the polls closed and never got to vote, even after waiting several hours. And from what I read it was called that Hillary was the winner a few hours before the polls were set to close when people were still standing in line. Can you imagine the feeling that a winner is called when you're standing in line, you've still got say 2 hours (I don't know the exact time but I know it was more than 1 hour) till the polls close and a winner is called. I know I'd be thinking, "WTF? What are they trying to pull? That's me. But I think most people who aren't as informed as me or you, would be thinking, "so what's the use, they've called a winner. Why bother standing in this line anymore. Might as well go home." which I think, was the exact response Hillary was hoping for. Now I am not into conspiracies. I don't believe in UFO's or Roswell or that the government knows something and is hiding it. I don't believe in any of the popular conspiracies. I do think Hillary will do anything to win this election. Even go so far as changing those registered Democrats to independents and having a hand in this mess. Bernie was favored to win Arizona. That's my thinking. We'll see. I hope justice is done. The people in Arizona deserve a chance to vote. I don't care who comes out the winner. As long as they get a chance for their voices to be heard. Our country is built on democracy. When things like what happened in Arizona start happening it's a slippery slope away from that to something far worse. Debbie in MD. How would Hilary's people know which voters to change and which to keep?
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 19, 2024 1:14:44 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2016 3:24:04 GMT
I don't think waiting in line for 5 hours to vote is acceptable at all. But I would do it if I had to. I signed that petition yesterday that is going to the White House and I read this afternoon on Facebook that it's gotten the 100,000 signatures it needs. The governor of Arizona is calling for this to be investigated. It's unconstitutional what happened. People were denied their constitutional rights to vote. People who were registered Democrats got to their polling places and found that their registration had been changed to Independent so they couldn't vote. Many people were still standing in line when the polls closed and never got to vote, even after waiting several hours. And from what I read it was called that Hillary was the winner a few hours before the polls were set to close when people were still standing in line. Can you imagine the feeling that a winner is called when you're standing in line, you've still got say 2 hours (I don't know the exact time but I know it was more than 1 hour) till the polls close and a winner is called. I know I'd be thinking, "WTF? What are they trying to pull? That's me. But I think most people who aren't as informed as me or you, would be thinking, "so what's the use, they've called a winner. Why bother standing in this line anymore. Might as well go home." which I think, was the exact response Hillary was hoping for. Now I am not into conspiracies. I don't believe in UFO's or Roswell or that the government knows something and is hiding it. I don't believe in any of the popular conspiracies. I do think Hillary will do anything to win this election. Even go so far as changing those registered Democrats to independents and having a hand in this mess. Bernie was favored to win Arizona. That's my thinking. We'll see. I hope justice is done. The people in Arizona deserve a chance to vote. I don't care who comes out the winner. As long as they get a chance for their voices to be heard. Our country is built on democracy. When things like what happened in Arizona start happening it's a slippery slope away from that to something far worse. Debbie in MD. For heaven sakes. There is no great conspiracy by the Clinton campaign to deny Bernie his votes. In this case it boils down to money. Because, thanks to the Supreme Court, when the Department of Elections decides how the elections are to be run they no longer have to get the Feds ok. If you read the news story and one particular post on this thread it appears the Department of Elections decided to run this election on the cheap. And it blew up in their face just like the Flint. MI waters scandal is blowing up in the face of the Michigan officials because they also tried to do something on the cheap.
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Post by tidegirl on Mar 25, 2016 3:35:20 GMT
I absolutely think that individuals having to wait in line for 5 hours is unacceptable. I am surprised that more people did not request early ballots. Many of our local elections are only mail in so I have done this for years.
The only news items I watched on this were from the Phoenix area. I do not live in one of the major metro areas of the state. I still think that many of the problems are due to inexperience, poor planning and incompetence (over real fraud.) That is my opinion. Although this state has some "winners" in leadership from both parties. I could be wrong (and wouldn't be shocked of anything anymore.)
I would rather see this happen during a primary election. Hopefully these problems will put people/officials on the alert and the general election will proceed without similar glitches.
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