Full Article Text
M O N D A Y , O C T O B E R 1 1 , 2 0 0 4This Election Is Gonna Get Messyby Michael in New York on
10/11/2004 05:09:00 PMBarring a landslide by one of the candidates (I mean Kerry, ofcourse), this election is gonna get very, very messy. The latest pieceof evidence? A USA Today story about those provisional ballots andwhat election day is going to be like.""Provisional ballots could be the hanging chads of 2004," says TonySirvello, director of an association of local election administrators. "Ifthere's a state as close as Florida was in 2000, this could have amajor effect.""Hundreds of thousands of voters could be affected. After the 2000election, the Census Bureau found that nearly 3 million people didn'tvote because of registration issues. Problems with registrationsystems cost between 1.5 millon and 3 million votes, according toestimates by the CalTech-MIT Voting Technology Project. Causesincluded erroneous purges, recent moves by voters, clerical mistakesand database problems."Complicating the picture this year: a flood of newly registeredvoters, driven by high interest in the presidential race and intensiveget-out-the-vote efforts."Provisional ballots were one change meant to help the electoralprocess. After the disaster of 2000, Congress passed the HelpAmerica Vote Act, which said every state must provide a stand-byballot for someone who isn't on the registered rolls or otherwiseseems disqualified but insists they have the right to vote. They cast aprovisional ballot and those are held separately until their eligibility(or lack thereof) can be verified. That's so people don't get turnedaway at the polls without the opportunity to cast a ballot. It doesn'tmean the ballot will be counted if they can't make their case. Theseballots are sure to be at the heart of post-election legal challenges.It's unclear how people can follow up on their case or check andmake sure their vote -- if valid -- was counted. This, along with thevarying procedures for counting them, overseas ballots, etc. will onlyadd to the confusion on Election Day and a delay in getting a propertally.I've said it before: this election will not be decided on Election Day.
Add New Comment
Daily KosObama and Holder, Release the Torture Memos -We've two competing stories for why AG EricHolder has requested another delay in the court-imposed deadline for releasing three key Bush OLCtorture mem...7 minutes agoFiredoglakeConyers Explains Failure to Impeach - The HouseCommittee on the Judiciary Majority Staff haswritten a Final Report to Chairman John Conyers,Jr. last month (March 2009), REINING IN THEIMPERI...44 minutes agoHuffPost PoliticsAllison Kilkenny: Obama, Nukes, and the World -While Obama's pursuit of nuclear disarmamentwould be noble, double standards, favoritism, andfear-mongering are cancerous elements that robthe U.S. of res...49 minutes agoEschatonBig Shitpile - Still growing...1 hour agoCrooks and LiarsNCAA Basketball Open Thread - Satire from TheOnion. Yeah, yer brackets are in the toilet. Openthread for the NCAA Championship game, a regularopen thread appears at 8:30 Pacific Ti...1 hour agoJ O H N ' S P H OT O S
Show AllA M E R I C A B L O G T V
Meet Triathlon SinglesView Photo Profiles. Local Singles intoTriathlons. Join Free Today!www.Fitness-Singles.comMacy's® Bridal RegistryCreate or Find a Registry at Macy'sRewards Program Save 5-10%!MacysWeddingChannel.comPolitical Email CampaignsEmail is How Campaigning is Done. AndLyrisHQ is the Tool for the JobLyris.com/Software
www.thegodmovie.comAds by Google
Next 6AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: This El...http://www.americablog.com/2004/10/this-election-is-gonna-ge...
1 of 64/6/09 11:03 PM
10/11/2004 05:09:00 PMBarring a landslide by one of the candidates (I mean Kerry, ofcourse), this election is gonna get very, very messy. The latest pieceof evidence? A USA Today story about those provisional ballots andwhat election day is going to be like.""Provisional ballots could be the hanging chads of 2004," says TonySirvello, director of an association of local election administrators. "Ifthere's a state as close as Florida was in 2000, this could have amajor effect.""Hundreds of thousands of voters could be affected. After the 2000election, the Census Bureau found that nearly 3 million people didn'tvote because of registration issues. Problems with registrationsystems cost between 1.5 millon and 3 million votes, according toestimates by the CalTech-MIT Voting Technology Project. Causesincluded erroneous purges, recent moves by voters, clerical mistakesand database problems."Complicating the picture this year: a flood of newly registeredvoters, driven by high interest in the presidential race and intensiveget-out-the-vote efforts."Provisional ballots were one change meant to help the electoralprocess. After the disaster of 2000, Congress passed the HelpAmerica Vote Act, which said every state must provide a stand-byballot for someone who isn't on the registered rolls or otherwiseseems disqualified but insists they have the right to vote. They cast aprovisional ballot and those are held separately until their eligibility(or lack thereof) can be verified. That's so people don't get turnedaway at the polls without the opportunity to cast a ballot. It doesn'tmean the ballot will be counted if they can't make their case. Theseballots are sure to be at the heart of post-election legal challenges.It's unclear how people can follow up on their case or check andmake sure their vote -- if valid -- was counted. This, along with thevarying procedures for counting them, overseas ballots, etc. will onlyadd to the confusion on Election Day and a delay in getting a propertally.I've said it before: this election will not be decided on Election Day.
Add New Comment
Daily KosObama and Holder, Release the Torture Memos -We've two competing stories for why AG EricHolder has requested another delay in the court-imposed deadline for releasing three key Bush OLCtorture mem...7 minutes agoFiredoglakeConyers Explains Failure to Impeach - The HouseCommittee on the Judiciary Majority Staff haswritten a Final Report to Chairman John Conyers,Jr. last month (March 2009), REINING IN THEIMPERI...44 minutes agoHuffPost PoliticsAllison Kilkenny: Obama, Nukes, and the World -While Obama's pursuit of nuclear disarmamentwould be noble, double standards, favoritism, andfear-mongering are cancerous elements that robthe U.S. of res...49 minutes agoEschatonBig Shitpile - Still growing...1 hour agoCrooks and LiarsNCAA Basketball Open Thread - Satire from TheOnion. Yeah, yer brackets are in the toilet. Openthread for the NCAA Championship game, a regularopen thread appears at 8:30 Pacific Ti...1 hour agoJ O H N ' S P H OT O S
Show AllA M E R I C A B L O G T V
Meet Triathlon SinglesView Photo Profiles. Local Singles intoTriathlons. Join Free Today!www.Fitness-Singles.comMacy's® Bridal RegistryCreate or Find a Registry at Macy'sRewards Program Save 5-10%!MacysWeddingChannel.comPolitical Email CampaignsEmail is How Campaigning is Done. AndLyrisHQ is the Tool for the JobLyris.com/Software
www.thegodmovie.comAds by Google
Next 6AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: This El...http://www.americablog.com/2004/10/this-election-is-gonna-ge...
1 of 64/6/09 11:03 PM