Election results...

[IrishEyes]

I wanted to post a message about the recent election in the US. Now this is not about who won or lost. That isn't nearly as important as something else that I noticed.

 

PEOPLE SHOWED UP TO VOTE.

 

I don't mean just a few people. I mean - there were LOTS of people. I live in a small county, and I have never had to wait to vote before. On Tuesday, I waited in a line for over 30 minutes. That's nothing compared to the many places around my country that had 3,4, 8 or more hour waits.

 

As I stood there in that school gym, looking at the line that snaked around the room, all of the people standing there, quietly chatting with a neighbor or friend that they hadn't seen in a while, it just amazed me almost to the point of tears. My 7 year old son was with me, and he was asking who the people were voting for, and when I explained to him that it didn't matter, as long as they voted, it opened the door for an interesting and animated conversation with the strangers around us. Some were voting for the same person 'we' were, some were not. But at that moment, we were not separated by party lines. We were not standing on opposite sides of any issue. We were just people, standing there in line in a middle school gymnasium, waiting to cast our votes and make our voices heard, happy to be able to be a small part in the process. It was a truly unique and humbling experience.

 

As for the results... while anxiously awaiting the final tallies from many states, I heard one of the newsies talking about the Wisconsin results. Most of the precincts had been counted already, but the ones that hadn't were mostly from a major city. This major city had a small but vey dedicated group of Kerry supporters that had reached MANY people, and could very well be the reason that Kerry might take that state. Now I have to tell you, when I heard that newsie, I just got a huge grin on my face. It didn't matter which person won overall at that point. What was truly awesome was that a small group of people could make that much of a difference. WAY TO GO!!!

[Freethinker]

Originally posted by: IrishEyes

As for the results... while anxiously awaiting the final tallies from many states, I heard one of the newsies talking about the Wisconsin results. Most of the precincts had been counted already, but the ones that hadn't were mostly from a major city. This major city had a small but vey dedicated group of Kerry supporters that had reached MANY people, and could very well be the reason that Kerry might take that state. Now I have to tell you, when I heard that newsie, I just got a huge grin on my face. It didn't matter which person won overall at that point. What was truly awesome was that a small group of people could make that much of a difference. WAY TO GO!!!

Why thanks Irish. I will take that as a personal congradulations.

 

However (as usual) let me make a few corrections. :-)

 

1) I understand the delay in reporting results was due to a computer malfunction. But yes it was from Milwaukee area which is a largest voting block and mainly Democratic.

 

2) It is NOT a SMALL group. It was literally thousands of volunteers from not just the one major city, but across the whole state. We had a "Convention" two weeks before the election that had the largest number of "delegates" to ever attend a political convention in WI ever. And it was just the Milwaukee location with almost 50 other such "conventions" happening at the same time around the state. People came from across the country to help win this swing state.

 

I was one of the primary "vey dedicated group of (anybody but Bush) supporters that had reached MANY people, and (was) the reason that Kerry (DID) take that state.". Many hours of knocking on doors, telephone bank call center time, providing dozens of yard signs, working Kerry events and spending the entire day at one poll location as the official Democratic Party "Poll Watcher" with 3 voting wards.

 

But I do agree that the size of the turnout was very satisfying to see. Especially the number of NEW voters! We were swamped with new registrations at my poll location. Wisconsin is one of the few states that allow same day on the spot registration and voting.

[IrishEyes]

Why thanks Irish. I will take that as a personal congradulations.

 

You should. That's exactly how it was intended.

 

Regardless of how anyone feels about the final results, it was just an amazing display of what is possible. It is one of the few times I can remember that I have actually felt proud to live in this country, and to be an American.

[Freethinker]

Originally posted by: IrishEyes

My 7 year old son was with me, and he was asking who the people were voting for, and when I explained to him that it didn't matter, as long as they voted, it opened the door for an interesting and animated conversation with the strangers around us. Some were voting for the same person 'we' were, some were not. But at that moment, we were not separated by party lines. We were not standing on opposite sides of any issue. We were just people, standing there in line in a middle school gymnasium, waiting to cast our votes and make our voices heard, happy to be able to be a small part in the process. It was a truly unique and humbling experience.

I share your pleasure at watching (and for me actively helping) people of all ideologies make their voices heard. This however brings up a very interesting observation of the process which I and others in my group (Democratic Party Poll Watchers) had.

 

There were 3 of us at this particular location that were aligned with the Democratic Campaign. Myself, who's designated job was merely to report voting levels at specific intervals and 2 lawyers whose specific job was to make sure the Election Poll Workers did not stop a single legitimate voter from casting their vote.

 

As seems typical, the official Poll Workers were elderly, mainly female. They typically just sat there and let things happen without any effort to make it easier or more effficient. We even had to step in to "officially" demand that a handicapped voter be taken care of as specified by law.

 

The 3 of us, perhaps just because of our personal desire to do what ever we could to help every person vote as easily as possible, jumped right in to direct voters to lines and processes. Help with line flow. Get chairs for older voters not able to stand for the wait.... Things well outside of the specific tasks we had. And we were proud of being able to do so.

 

Then there were the 5-8 (changed during the day) people there from the Republican side. Not a single one of them lifted a hand at any time to help the process. Not a single one of them came to the aid of a person who's ability to vote was hindered in any way.

 

In fact it was obvious that their specific goal was to HINDER voters. They stationed themselves in places that intimidated voters. Local news media even got calls from voters complaining about the people with Palm Pilots watching menacingly and checking off names as people checked in to vote. They took up spaces at the New Voter Registration tables, slowing down the process by reducing the number of spots available for filling out the forms. They looked for opportunities to challenge the right of people to register or vote.

 

e.g. a 18 yr old wanted to register to vote for the 1st time in their life. And they were proud of making the effort. They had the required State Pict ID (Drivers License). But the Repub worker challenged the guy saying he just looked to young and possibly had a fake ID! The guy's parents had to come in the sign an affidavit attesting to his age.

 

e.g. (2) One of the other Poll Watchers decided she had seen a voter come in earlier in the day and this voter was trying to vote twice. They called the cops and they almost arrested this person. Turned out that it was her sister, similar name, similar age/ looks. The husband had to sign an affidavit stating her ID and we had to fight for her right to vote. Funny thing was, the voter turned out to be a Republican! :-)

 

My friend at another location related about a volunteer at his location. She was a Democrat that just, like us, wanted to help. Joined an org she had read about on the net. HAVA. She thought it was bi-partisan group. Till she went to the traing meeting just before going to the poll location. Then she discovered their hidden agenda and Republican alignment, which I provided examples of above.

[Freethinker]

Originally posted by: IrishEyes

It is one of the few times I can remember that I have actually felt proud to live in this country, and to be an American.

And after watching the mindset and intentional efforts of people from the two political groups, I was more proud than ever of NOT being a Republican.

[lindagarrette]

Who voted for Bush? 40% of the people in this country still believe in biblical creation, a majority is scared to death about their families' safety from ranpant terrorism, some think there must be WMDs somewhere in Iraq, and others absolutely love the guy, no matter what. Kerry, on the other hand, is under the impression that everyone reads the NYTimes. Linda

[Freethinker]

Originally posted by: lindagarrette

Who voted for Bush? 40% of the people in this country still believe in biblical creation, a majority is scared to death about their families' safety from ranpant terrorism, some think there must be WMDs somewhere in Iraq,

To show just how ignorant of facts the average Bush voter was, here are some interesting statistics as to what they believe.

 

And it is SCARY!

 

Even after the final report of Charles Duelfer to Congress saying that Iraq did not have a significant WMD program, 72% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq had actual WMD

 

Similarly, 75% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda, and 63% believe that clear evidence of this support has been found. Sixty percent of Bush supporters assume that this is also the conclusion of most experts, and 55% assume, incorrectly, that this was the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission.

 

only 31% of Bush supporters recognize that the majority of people in the world oppose the US having gone to war with Iraq.

 

57% of Bush supporters assume that the majority of people in the world would favor Bush's reelection;

 

Majorities incorrectly assume that Bush supports multilateral approaches to various international issues--the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (69%), the treaty banning land mines (72%)--and for addressing the problem of global warming: 51% incorrectly assume he favors US participation in the Kyoto treaty.

 

While Kerry supports were found to consistantly (almost inversely) have far more accurate knowledge of National and World News and Candidates stances

 

IOW the reason the majority of Bush voters voted for him was out of their own pure IGNORANCE!

 

The Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supporters

 

http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Pres_Election_04/Report10_21_04.pdf

[Tormod]

Weeeellll....statistics are like a miniskirt - it shows a lot but hides the important stuff.

 

No wait, did I write that? I must still be in post-election shock.

[Freethinker]

You? You don't have to live here under the Bush Theocracy.

 

And as to the stats, it supports earlier such surveys based on which news sources each's supporters use and their knowledge of such facts.

 

Every survey I have found supports the same statement. Bush supporters are far less aware of the facts behind the news.

 

This also follows my personal empiracle research.

 

As to the mini skirt, I'm willing to dig deeper into the figures!

[Tormod]

No, I live HERE under the Bush theocracy. His world cop thing works, you know. Just not in a very positive way for all of us.

[Aki]

I find it interesting how 90% of all African Americans voted for Kerry.

[lindagarrette]

That may because Bush represents the "extreme white." He is a no-tolerance kinda' guy.

 

There's a news article going around from some libertarian who claims the election was decided by the Massachussetts Supreme court when it ruled same sex marriage was OK. To many people that, more than any other, even abortion, was the "family values" issue that clinched his victory, especially in the "battleground" states, like Florida and Ohio.

[Freethinker]

Black Box Voting is what got Bush Fla and Ohio.

 

Imagine a fund raising letter that states: "I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.". Seems innocent enough. Until you discover who wrote it. This letter, which promises to deliver the Ohio vote to Bush on '04, came from a major Bush contributor... and PRESIDENT of Diebold, one of the companies that makes the new touch screen voting machings that have absolutely no tracking system. No paper trail. And has built into the software, programming that lets them predetermine voting results. It can actually change individual votes to achieve any predetermined percentage outcome. And with no paper trail to follow, there is no way to prove anything after the fact.

 

Other than analyzing trends.

 

Exit polls were highly accurate in Mich, Wis and every state around Ohio and Fla. Those that did not use these machines. Just as they were accurate in Ohio areas that did not have these machines. But surpise suprise, in what is considered Democratic strongholds in Ohio, that had strong Kerry exit poll numbers, reflected a completely different outcome from the machines.

 

These same machines had been pulled out of use in some states because they messed earlier elections up so much. In the 2000 election proof that the Diebold-made system in a Florida County was malfunctioning came early on election night, when the central ballot-counting computer showed a Socialist Party candidate receiving more than 9,000 votes and Vice President Al Gore getting minus 19,000.

 

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~acisney4/id14.html

 

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0828-08.htm

[Freethinker]

Now we hear the Republican spin. The "Mandate" Bush is claiming he will use to his extreme advantage.

 

Kerry received more votes than ANY candidate in US history, except for Bush.

 

Bush had worst re-election % since 1917!

 

The worst re-election % of a sitting War time pres EVER in the entire history of the US!

 

Mandate? My ***!

 

http://www.mydd.com/story/2004/11/3/18299/5488

[Tim_Lou]

well, at least bush won the election.....

 

in my school, kerry got around 1000 votes (from teachers, staffs, students...etc)

bush got only 500 or so. nadar, i forgot...

 

its probably because of the fact that the school is in NJ...hehe

[Freethinker]

Originally posted by: Tim_Lou

well, at least bush won the election.....

He was DECLARED the election winner.

 

That is very diferent from actually WINNING the election.

[Freethinker]

Just a few of the Ohio voting issues:

 

Ohio Secretary of State (responsible for overseeing the Election) is Ken Blackwell, is also co-chair of the Bush campaign.

 

Some of the polls used (Fla nightmare) butterfly ballots. On which Kerry appeared on Line 3, but you had to punch out Line 4! Those that punched Line 3 (next to Kerry's name) were counted as Bush votes!

 

Inner City locations with higher voter numbers than the Burbs, had fewer voting machines. Causing up to 15 hour waits to vote. Discouraging voting in Democratic areas.

 

In Lake County, Ohio, some people received a memo on bogus Board of Elections letterhead informing voters who registered through Democratic and NACCP drives that they could not vote.