BS: Have you voted?

Subject: BS: Have you voted?
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 03:22 PM

I know some folks won't want to share their voting choices, but with so many states offering mail-in ballots, early voting, and even, in instance I know of, phoning in your vote, I think it would be fun to see how we all vote, i.e. early, by mail, and, if you want to include it, who we choose.

Colorado Mail-in ballot - Obama/Biden (big surprise, eh?**BG**)

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 03:26 PM

Also, one more question: does your state limit your time in the voting booth? Colorado upped their time limit from ten minutes to fifteen. we have the longest ballot since 1916...lots of convoluted issues to vote on. I cannot believe there is a time limit and I don't think fifteen minutes will be long enough, esp. for the elderly.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Amos
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 03:30 PM

I cast my vote for Obama and Biden, as expected, by mail last week, and am glad to have done so.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: jimmyt
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 03:35 PM

I voted for Boxers over Briefs, but it was a close call. I finally voted my conscience.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 03:41 PM

I voted as soon as they allowed early voting in Illinois on Oct. 14. Voted for Obama, etc. Then I could in good conscience avoid the debates, and turn off political ads. Here we can go to selected places in the county and vote by machine rather than mailing in a ballot.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Rapparee
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 03:42 PM

I'll be voting late next week. Got to -- this place will be a polling place for two precincts on Nov. 4 and I'll be busy breaking up fights, etc.

As for whom I will vote -- that is between me and my conscience. But between you and me, I don't think I've ever voted for the winning candidates.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 03:44 PM

jimmyt...does that mean you go skyclad, as in no boxer or briefs?**bg** (Just teasin'...no need to answer.)

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: jimmyt
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 03:56 PM

katlaughing, I am tempted to because Jayne just got a new car with... get this...air conditioned seats...that's right, millions of tiny holes in the seat blowing refreshing cool air on your ass. Seems a shame to wear clothes in such a situation, but I had a helluva time explaining that to the police...

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: maire-aine
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 04:15 PM

I mailed in my absentee ballot last Friday. And I'm proud to say I voted for Obama & Biden.

M

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 04:15 PM

I voted today. I had to go to two polling places because the folks at the first one at a neighborhood rec center couldn't quite get the equipment to work. Several of us were told "they'll have it running in a minute" but it sounds like few stuck around to find out. I didn't want to risk these folks losing my vote so I drove to the sub-courthouse a couple of miles away. I had to wait in line about 15 minutes.

There are people out there at the boundary to the polling places with their signs and cards and t-shirts. There was a man at the sub-courthouse who shouted to the line to vote for McCain. The line told him to get lost.

There was a county judge out there with a sign waving and speaking to people. She is a Republican who has read the writing on the wall. Two years ago in the congressional races so many people were angry at Bush and his ilk that they voted straight Democratic tickets. The results released that night showed that the majority of various district judges in the courthouse in Dallas were thrown out of office because most of them are Republicans. They got hit in the blow-back from the congressional race anger. Most of them didn't go into work on Wednesday and there was a lot of confusion at the courthouse that morning. This woman probably fears the same thing happening to her this year.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Rapparee
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 04:23 PM

I am not, technically and legally, a city employee. Nonetheless, I do not campaign. There are no signs in my yards, no stickers on my car. The Library is trusted AND expected to be neutral in politics and I feel very strongly about it.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Don Firth
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 04:33 PM

I received my mail-in ballot a couple of days ago. I haven't mailed it in yet, but I will be voting for Obama/Biden for Pres and Veep, and Jim McDermott for my Congressional Representative. I will also be voting for Christine Gregoire for Governor.

There are also several state, county, and city offices and issues on the ballot that will take a bit more study and boning up.   I will be mailing off my ballot in the next few days, well before November 4th.

Both nationally and locally, this is about the nastiest campaign I can recall. Some candidates and their supporters are managing to maintain a certain measure of dignity, but I'm amazed at the extent of what, unfortunately, has become the National Slime Wallow. . . .

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 05:30 PM

We poor folks in Maryland do not have, so far, the luxury of EITHER voting early at a polling place OR by mail. I do hope they'll change that soon.

   I expect you all can guess which way I plan to vote....and it will be nice to have voted for a winner again.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Rapparee
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 06:25 PM

You're voting Constitution Party, right? Socialist Labor? Bull Moose?

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: heric
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 06:35 PM

Thanks Amos! That vote by mail application and process was so simple I couldn't believe it. I just did it.

o-BAM-a !

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 07:43 PM

me? naaawwww... I'm a Know-Nothing!....when I'm not a Whig.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Cluin
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 08:04 PM

But aren't you taking an awful chance by voting early? What if you find out the night before the election that Obama eats his hamburgers without ketchup?

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 08:08 PM

Sounds a bit like opening the presents before Christmas Day. Unless you're living overseas or something.

For example, Sister Cecilia Gaudete, a 106 year old nun living in Rome. Here's a clip of her voting for Obama. (Last time she voted it was for Eisenhower.)

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 08:40 PM

I'll wait until election day. I live in a sparsely populated rural precinct where the polling place is relatively nearby and crowds are never a problem. Conversely, there are only two early voting sites in our county and the closest is twenty-five miles away.

There are also six constitutional amendment proposals on the ballot and it'll probably take me until election day to sort out all the double-negative-ridden legal-speak so I'll be reasonably confident I'm not actually voting for something while thinking I'm voting against it.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 08:44 PM

Yes, I have been voting absentee ever since I realized that too often there was a blizzard or flu going around that time of November. Now I travel for work and I'm out of town on election day, so I have one more reason to vote absentee. Did last week.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Amergin
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 09:21 PM

Oregon is strictly a vote by mail state. I just received my ballot...am excited to vote for the first time since I turned 18, back in 92....

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 09:36 PM

I rarely vote absentee or early. Unless I'm traveling, of course. I like the ambiance of Election Day and don't like to miss it, including sporting the I Voted Today sticker. My pleasures are simple.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: CarolC
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 09:44 PM

This is an early voting state. I will be voting tomorrow - first day since it opened that I'm not working the night shift the night before.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Rapparee
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 10:06 PM

I really do have to be at the Library on Nov. 4 because it really IS a polling place for two precincts (one in the North End and one in the South End). And you'd be surprised at the problems which arise -- from cars needing a jump start to who know what?

And I have a feeling that THIS November 4 election is going to be the tat's japanamas! Maybe I'll ask the Chief of Police to lend me a couple of Tasers, just in case....

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 10:28 PM

Ebbie, I love that about Election Day, too, but this year the Dems stressed that it was too important to leave it until the last day, esp. in battleground states like Colorado. Not only are we voting for presidential and congressional candidates, but also 10 amendments (4 additional ones have been removed, but not soon enough, they are still on the ballot, which will confuse some folks) and 4 referendums, along with what seemed like a gazillion judges who want to be re-elected, AND they want folks to take a max of 15 minutes to vote on them all!

Thank goodness the state does send out an information booklet (71 pages!), with a summary of each unit, the actual legalese of each, plus pro and con positions on each, so that is helpful IF folks get them and read them. My daughter and her husband never got one, so I passed ours on.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 10:39 PM

Vote against amendments and referenda, and re-elect all judges, absent a compelling justification otherwise.

Hope this helps. ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: DebC
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 10:39 PM

I am on the road and will be flying back home on Nov. 4. I'll be arriving back in Massachusetts after the polls close, so I voted absentee.

I am proud to say I voted for Obama and Biden.

Debra Cowan

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: IvanB
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 12:30 AM

I got my absentee ballot about two weeks ago and sent it back the next day. I voted a straight Democrat ticket except for our congressional rep. Although the Republican incumbent is too cozy with Shrub for my taste, neither Gaile or I think his Democrat opponent is worth the powder to blow him up. She voted for the incumbent, I voted for the Green Party candidate.

In Michigan, being over age 60 is one of the reasons allowed for voting absentee, so we don't even have to lie about it, although we'll be out of the state for the winter as of next week anyway

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 12:58 AM

oh, yeah, heric, that helps a lot!:-) I actually voted a mix of yea or nay on the amendments. One of them was written to make it harder to actually get an amendment on the ballot. Something I approve of as I don't think we should mess with the state constitution for every willy-nilly idea.

jimmyt...that sounds very, ah....refreshing!:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: kendall
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 08:57 AM

I live a mile from the polling place, so I will be there in person. That way I know there will be poll watchers. I live in a republican town and I have no reason to trust them to count my vote.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Nancy King
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 10:27 AM

I'll wait till election day. Not only is there the ambiance of the polling place, and the little "I voted" sticker (which I think can be a significant reminder to others), AND the fact that Maryland doesn't do early voting, but mostly I just feel that's the right way to do it. I think everybody should be operating from the same basis of facts, and if people vote at different times, that might not be the case. I certainly don't expect anything to happen that would change my vote at this stage (I've been backing the same candidate for well over a year now...), but it's the principle of the thing. I once voted absentee when I was going to be out of town on primary day, but other than that, I'll go the polls on The Day.

As for who I'll vote for, well, take a guess. I will tell you that when my 17-month-old grandson was asked if he was for John McCain or Barack Obama, he replied enthusiastically, "Bock-Mama!" I'm so proud....

Nancy

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Alice
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 11:50 AM

One reason I prefer voting absentee is that I can take all the time I need to get information on the issues and candidates on the ballot that I'm not familiar with. Every election, I've found that there has been someone or something on the ballot that I have not heard much about and being at home, I can research those topics for information before voting.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 12:06 PM

What about those of you who live in states that sometimes have horrid weather on election day? The comraderie is nice, but I'd want to be sure the weather man I listen to for the long-range forecast has a really good record, if you choose to wait. Just a thought.

There are also six constitutional amendment proposals on the ballot and it'll probably take me until election day to sort out all the double-negative-ridden legal-speak so I'll be reasonably confident I'm not actually voting for something while thinking I'm voting against it.

BWL, you said it! When I lived in Washington state I always appreciated the voters handbook that the League of Women voters compiled with pro and con statements from all concerned parties and candidates. They don't do anything like that down here in Texas, making voting much more of a crapshoot on some of these tricky proposals.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Alice
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 12:09 PM

We get the voter information in the mail from the League of Women voters in Montana. It's a great service they do.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Nancy King
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 12:18 PM

The only thing that would keep me from getting out to vote on election day is more than 18" of snow, and that just doesn't happen in early November in Maryland. I suppose it COULD, but it doesn't. And I suppose there are states where it it a reasonable possibility, and in such cases I guess voting early makes some sense. But I still prefer to wait.

Yes, by all means study the League of Women Voters guide! There are lots of media sources for information on the presidential and congressional races, but for local contests -- judges, school board, county council, state senate, etc. -- not to mention those pesky ballot referendum things -- the LWV is the way to go. Hard to believe the Texas LWV doesn't publish guides. Here in Maryland they're in every public library, and lots of other places besides.

Nancy

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Alice
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 12:35 PM

next thing you know, women will want the vote, too

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Nancy King
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 02:40 PM

Stilly, try this. From there you should be able to get to your local voters guide and download it or request a print copy from the local chapter office.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 03:38 PM

That looks good. The difference is that the state of Washington automatically mailed out the guides, as I recall. Maybe they don't any more--no one from home has piped up so far. I knew who I was voting for before I went to the booth-our voting was pretty straightforward in this village, no referendums to consider.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 04:19 PM

well, NEXT election, we will be in line with the rest of the country!


"Early Voting; Polling Places; Absentee Ballots
Authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation to
allow qualified voters to vote at polling places inside or
outside of their election districts or wards and to vote up
to two weeks before an election. This amendment also
authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation to
allow absentee voting by qualified voters who choose to
vote by absentee ballot, in addition to voters who are
absent at the time of the election or who are unable to
vote personally.
(Amends Article I, §§1 and 3 of the Maryland
Constitution)"

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: GUEST,Justin U
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 05:38 PM

I don't approve of political jokes.

I've seen too many of them get elected.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 05:40 PM

...and that is relevant to what? No one was telling jokes.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: CarolC
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 06:10 PM

One of the benefits of having early voting is that it decreases the chances that people will be unable to vote because of long lines at the voting places.   I think that's very important.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 06:25 PM

Well, well, well...in our mailbox, today: a letter from the Republican clerk & recorder challenging my Rog's signature on his mail-in ballot, giving him until Nov. 12 to respond with a copy of his driver's license and another example of his signature. He's been voting here for over six years and never a problem. I wonder if he would have been challenged if we'd waited until Election Day. I called, just to make sure it was not a "provisional" ballot and WOULD be counted on Nov. 4th. She told me it would provided we get it to them before that.

I called my daughter about this. She said she's always gotten a mail-in ballot, but has received nothing but a "signature card" this time which said to bring it with her when she votes. She's never gotten a signature card before. Wonder if this is something to dissuade her from voting. My son received one, too, but tossed it because he'd already received his mail-in ballot and has sent it in.

Anyone else run into anything like this?

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 06:31 PM

Yes,though I'm not proud of the voter turnout for the last Canadian election.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: GUEST,Justin U
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 07:05 PM

Kat, you can't be too careful. The guy was only doing his job. I would hate to think cheating or fraud could take place.

Well you heard Obama on Friday "Vote early and vote often".

What do you call a waste paper bin in North Carolina ? a ballot box.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: CarolC
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 07:18 PM

The cheating and fraud is being committed by the Republicans when they deny legitimate voters the right to vote based on bogus things like what was described above.

I think the voters in this country need to start a class action lawsuit against the Republican party for this kind of criminal activity.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: GUEST,Justin U
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 07:22 PM

Please Carol, please don't say things like that, not all the wrongs in the world are down to republicans.

Dems have their faults too, some are even going to vote for him.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: CarolC
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 08:06 PM

Yes, the Democrats definitely have their faults. I'm not a Democrat myself, so I have no vested interest in trying to hide those faults. It's just that that particular fault happens to be one that is practiced almost exclusively by the Republicans. There's a reason for that. Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans are hurt by large voter turnouts. Republican presidents can't get elected if the majority of people turn out to vote (because their programs generally tend to hurt the majority of people), so the only way they can get elected is to suppress votes.

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: Don Firth
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 09:40 PM

Yup! The Washington State voters' pamphlet (League of Women Voters) came about a week before my absentee ballot did.

"Pamphlet" indeed! It's printed on newsprint paper, saddle stapled, and it's about the size and thickness of a copy of Time Magazine. It contains a great deal of voter information, including how to register if you aren't already. It contains photos of all the candidates (all political parties), national, state, and local, complete with short bio and a statement by each (who I am, what I stand for, and why you should vote for me). Then, state and local initiatives and referenda. There is a brief statement of each as it will appear on the ballot, a section that says "The law as it stands now:" with explanation, and another that says "What this law [if enacted] will do:" with explanation. The explanations are flat, unbiased statements. Then, there are arguments "For" and "Against" prepared by advocates of each side.

In the back of the booklet one can find the complete texts of the laws, initiatives, and referenda that are to be voted on. Heavy going, but if you can manage the legalese, it's all there.

A very handy publication indeed! A sterling effort on the part of the League of Women Voters to see that the electorate is informed. Then, it's up to the electorate!

I use this voters' pamphlet in combination with google.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Have you voted?
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Oct 08 - 11:14 PM

I'm looking forward to voting and I start tomorrow. I'll be driving over to Wheeling to cast absentee ballots in West Virginia for myself along with Cletus, Paw, and Buford. Then its up to Washington, Pennsylvania where I will vote early in seven different precincts with the addition of the three Reg Boys.

On Monday of next week we all go vote in Kentucky and Indiana then on to Illinois where we are all registered 9 times each in Chicago. Back through Michigan and triple vote in ten counties and then home in Ohio where between now and election day, all seven can vote 3 different ways in 17 different counties!

I am selling all these votes to any candidate who will give me a new Jaguar and a $10,000. gas card.

Spaw