Author Archives: Lisa

The Deal With Provisional Ballots

The Republican spin doctors have done a bang up job clouding the issues surrounding Provisional Ballots.
Provisional Ballots are a good thing, not a bad one. They are the last fail safe to protect rightfully-registered voters from not having their votes counted.
The point is, if you show up for the wrong precinct, you can still be given a provisional ballot if you ask for one, that should be counted when voting administrators confirm your registration after closing time. (Yeah, the jury’s still out on how well these will be counted. Browne addresses this issue in the video clip.
There are some things you need to know about Provisional Ballots, Here’s a really great piece from Bill Moyers which explains all about Provisional Ballots. (I’ve also included the whole interview with Judith Browne, Senior Attorney for the Advancement Project. She explains the other forms of voter intimidation that her organization has filed lawsuits over.)

Judith Browne Explains Provisional Ballots
This is from the October 17, 2004 program of Bill Moyers NOW!
(I know the directory says Oct 29, but I just realized it now, and I don’t want to break the other links. So I’ll have to fix it later.)

First Reports Of Early Voting And Massive Turnout


Lines of Voters Try to Cast Ballots Early
By Roger Petterson for the Associated Press.

Voters trying to beat the rush turned out early to cast ballots in many precincts as Election Day opened, forming long lines that snaked out the doors, waiting in rain and even taking along chairs for expected long waits.
Umbrellas and raincoats were needed Tuesday from Texas to the lower Great Lakes, and snow-covered roads were a problem in the Texas Panhandle. In some places, voters were standing in line before the polling place doors opened.
Besides the presidency, voters were filling 34 Senate seats, 11 governorships and all 435 House seats.
Both parties had pushed to increase turnout among their supporters, and even with early voting in many states, tens of millions were to head to the polls before the long Election Day wound to a close.

Continue reading →

Cell Phone Picture Of An E-voting Machine’s Fatal Error

This isn’t the first email I’ve received since I asked you to send me your accounts of voting experiences. This is the email I received last night that gave me the idea in the first place.
From Brian Nicks:

Want to know what this image is? It’s a picture I took with my cellphone-camera of an electronic voting machine screen. I took it today when I went down to vote for the next President of the Unites States in Santa Clara California. The screen says “Vote Save Error #9. Use the Backup Voting Procedure.” A news crew was on hand to film Californians using the voting machines. I pointed to this particular screen and said “There’s your story – right there. I just took a picture of the screen and plan to share it with 6.4 billion of my closest friends on the Internet tonight. I suggest you do the same.” To my astonishment, the cameraman did shoot some footage of the screen, though I don’t know what was shown later on television.
Now that I’ve told you the story behind the picture, I need not mention the maelstrom of thoughts that go through my head whenever I look at it – the picture is testament enough. The next revolution will not be televised. The next revolution will be blogged.

Daily Show Comedy Clips From November 1, 2004 – Including An Interview With Fox News’ Chris Wallace

These clips are from the November 1, 2004 program.

Daily Show Comedy Clips and Interviews For November 1, 2004
Included in these (6) clips:
Jon Stewart Telling Us To Get out there and VOTE!
A two part interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace
(where he explains that Fox has a four person panel now that has to decide unanimously before a winner can be declared.)
Kerry and Bush respond to Bin Laden’s new tape
Cheney, Chelsea, Bruce and Arnold On The Campaign Trail
A voting report from Ed Helms and Stephen Colbert

The Daily Show (The best news on television.)

Send Me Your Voting Experiences

I’ll try to keep up with these as best I can. I’d like to keep a record of as many personal experiences as possible. It will help others reading about this day in the future understand the emotionally-charged nature of the whole thing.
Or, hell, what do I know. Maybe tomorrow (today) will just be like any other day…

Use mypollingplace.com To Find Your Local Precinct

If you’re a new voter or have just moved into your neighboorhood (or just can’t remember where you voted last time), or would just like to know more about what methods will be used by your precinct this year, My Polling Place.com
can help.
Just enter your street address and zip code, and you can find your polling place, learn on what type of machine you will use to cast your vote, and get instructions on how to use that machine.
Thanks Josh!

Democrats vs. The Repubs On Raising The Minimum Wage

This is from the October 29, 2004 program of Bill Moyers NOW!
This clip goes with this one.
This is part of a larger piece about single women and the low wages they’re paid and how that affects their voting patterns, ultimately.
The Democrats are all for a raise in the minimum wage. John Kerry has stated more than once during countless speeches and, I believe, during all three debates, that raising the minimum wage would be one of the first things he does in office.
The Republicans, as usual, choose to blame the victim — and have been fighting a minimum wage increase for quite some time now.

Democrats vs. Repubs On Raising The Minimum Wage (6 MB)

Daily Show Comedy Clips From October 28, 2004 – Including An Interview With John Zogby, Uber Pollster

These clips are from the October 28, 2004 program.

Daily Show Clips and Interviews from October 28, 2004

Mirror of these clips
(Thanks to Internet Veterans For Truth)
Included in these (6) clips:
-Arafat’s fall
-A Red Sox Moment For Rob
-An Interview with poll taker John Zogby (with some good news 🙂
-AN EXCELLENT PIECE where Stewart skillfully uses the Shrub’s own words against him (shrubisms.mov)
-A film documenting attitudes toward the election in a small town
-Stephen Colbert’s “This Week In God”

The Daily Show (The best news on television.)

Daily Show Comedy Clips From October 27, 2004 – Including An Interview With Jesse Jackson

These clips are from the October 27, 2004 program.

Daily Show Clips and Interviews from October 27, 2004

Mirror of these clips
(Thanks to Internet Veterans For Truth)
Included in these (3) clips:
-Lewis Black on “the undecideds” (a.k.a. “the idiots”)
-Another voting fiasco preview highlighting the Repubs strategy on voter fraud
(The Mary Poppins’ etc. I mentioned in an earlier post.)
-An interview with Jesse Jackson

The Daily Show (The best news on television.)