Godless Mom in the Bible Belt

Friday, July 22, 2005

My take on the 2004 election. Part one.

I was going to try and do this in one post, but there is too much information to confine to one day so I'm going to break it up a bit. Please forgive me if I ramble, this is a subject I feel very strongly about so I am likely to give more information than is neccessary to make my point.

Texas has early voting, it traditionally starts 17 days before the actual election day. It is really cool, and one of the things I really like about Texas. Voting is one of those things that is difficult to do with a child in tow, especially on the traditional election day when the lines can be very long. Because of this, I decided to take advantage of the early voting offered by the state of Texas in hopes the lines would be shorter and Liz wouldn't get quite as restless.

After a two hour wait in line, it was finally my turn. I had spent the better part of the time while we waited in line impressing on Liz how important it was for Mommy to take part in the Democratic process, she was being very patient and calm. (Not easy for a 3 year old.) I approached the desk where they checked my voter registration card and they looked up my name in the book. I signed on the dotted line and was directed to a bank of machines to the left of the table. Now, this was the first time in my life I have ever experienced a voting process where those who were registered Democrats were directed to different booths than those who were registered as Republicans. I didn't think much of it. Although I have voted in Texas numerous times, this was the first Presidential election I had participated in in the state and I thought it was something particular to Texas.

The booth I was directed to contained an Eslate voting machine. I was first directed to cast my vote for President. I chose John Kerry. I was then asked to vote for the other positions up for election at the time. For the first time in my entire life I cast my vote for a straight Democratic ticket.

I was then asked to verify the votes I had cast. I reviewed the selections I had made and although all the Democratic candidates for the lesser positions had been checked, the machine registered my vote for president as going to George W. Bush! I was a little taken aback, but I laughed it off and again cast my vote for John Kerry. Again I was asked to verify my vote and AGAIN it marked my vote for president as going to George W. Bush!

At this point (after more that two hours) Liz was getting restless. She started to pull on the curtains of the booth and was trying to untie my shoe laces. I once again corrected the machine and marked my vote for John Kerry. This time when I was asked to verify the vote John Kerry came up as my choice for president. I cast my vote, and bundled up Liz and left the premisis before she decided to dismantle the entire bank of voting booths.

Now, I'm not the brightest bulb in the pack and I'm notoriously slow on the draw so it shouldn't suprise anyone that I didn't raise a stink when this happened to me. It was only later that day, after I began to think about the potential ramifications of such machine "malfunctions" that I began to get pissed off.

I started doing some research into the issue and was shocked by what I found. On election day I hopped on the internet and began logging on to the myriad of sites, both Democratic and Republican, which had been set up to monitor election irregularities. It was then that I first realized that my experience was not unique. In fact, it was being played out across the country.

Tomorrow I'll blog about what I found when I looked into electronic voting.
posted by GodlessMom, 7:43 PM

18 Comments:

Blogger S said:

Shocking and then again not so shocking! I had an interesting experience when I went to vote when Bush was running the first time. Suddenly I'm not a registered voter!! Now, I've voted every election since I was old enough to vote, have updated my registration along with my drivers licence and every time I've moved (as did my husband who was able to vote that day) and suddenly on election day they have no record of me being a registered voter. I had a brand new card in my hand with everything valid on it, but they said I had not voted for the past 2 elections and so I was ineligible to vote. The signature that they had in the books for me was an ancient signature from my highschool year. Do you think this has anything to do with the fact that I am a black democratic voter?? I do! So my vote against Bush was not registered that day... something is seriously wrong with the way we vote here.....
Posted at 7:53 AM  

Blogger S said:

oh and I forgot to mention that when I looked into this post election, turns out there was nothing wrong? I'm back as a listed voter!
Posted at 7:53 AM  

Blogger Fred said:

Godless - for a bit of humor about your post, go to this site. Then, click on "The Classic: Florida Voting Machine."

We had early voting this year in Florida; I loved it.

Thanks for the insights. I'm looking forward to the next post.
Posted at 8:30 AM  

Blogger Meegan said:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????????!!!!!!!!! This is outrageous! I am always hesistant to get caught up in "conspiracy theories" but this seems too weird. This is incredibly disturbing. For all I know, I accidentally voted to for Bush!
Posted at 8:46 AM  

Blogger Meegan said:

Okay, now I just read totallycrunchy's comments. This is really starting to bother me.
Posted at 8:47 AM  

Blogger Valerie said:

How did you know that you were sent to a booth based on being Republican or Democrat? I voted in the Democratic primary (I think that registers you as a Democrat?) but I don't remember noticing that trend when I early voted. But, I also tend to be a bit oblivious after I've been standing in line for more than an hour.

Early voting rocks, but for the last two elections, even those lines have been outrageous in my precinct.
Posted at 9:39 AM  

Blogger RHIANNON said:

This is ridiculous...yet as totallycrunchy says...not unbelieveable. My precinct used paper ballots which i am very grateful for because i can not trust anything electronic...there is so much room for error...intentional or not...in the programming of these computers. Your experience highlights this...and I was/am so saddened by the state of elections in our country....corrupt, complacent, apathetic........disgusting. However, count me in for every one...just in case it actually does matter.
Posted at 9:50 AM  

Blogger GodlessMom said:

Hey Valerie,

I voted at Bear Creek Park community center in the Katy Freeway/ Highway 6 area. After I signed my name I started to go to a machine on the right where a man had just vacated a space. The worker told me that I needed to go to the machines on the left (even though I had to wait a few seconds for one to be vacant.)
Posted at 10:06 AM  

Blogger Aerodynamicist said:

That's scary...especially as I, an undergrad student, can write a program that wouldn't allow that sort of error to happen. (I even tried it, just to prove it to myself. Plus, it's summer, so it was good practice.) Thus, it seems extremely unlikely to me that a professional (or more likely, a group of them) would have a problem fixing such a bug. Kind of scary, but unsurprising, really.
Posted at 10:46 AM  

Blogger pack of 2 said:

I live in Oregon & we have vote by mail ONLY.
It seems to work very well. No chance of computers being used against your wishes. We have republicans & democrats that watch the tallies.
I think if all states did that, there would be more blue states out there. I do believe those machines you are forced to use are rigged.


Shelly
Posted at 11:35 AM  

Blogger The Lazy Iguana said:

I have no idea what happened to my vote. Really. In theory it was counted, but who knows. Kerry DID win in Dade County.

In the 2000 election, I saw stuff. I had a delivery job at the time, and drove around a lot. The black voting places had VERY HEAVY police turnout. Cops everywhere. They had streets blocked off, and people had to park a considerable distance from the voting place.

The white places had no cops at all. Not even a security guy with a radio. Nothing.

But, I digress. What is done is done. Chruches, and most of all the evangelical movement pushed for Bush, so he won the south. Guns and Jesus! Cant let no fags get married! You know the deal, you live in Texas.

Now, when all the white people on Welfare who voted for Bush loose their monthly checks, justice will be done.

In the south, white people get "public assistance" or "disability". Only those lazy blacks who do not want to work get welfare!

I wonder how many will continue to vote GOP when they have to sell all their guns because their "disability" checks stop arriving.
Posted at 11:35 AM  

Blogger Watson Woodworth said:

THEY SEGREGATED THE VOTORS ON PARTY LINES!?!?!?!?!?!?
That's even more fucked up than I could have given them credit. The solemn secrecy of a citizen's vote is suposed to be a FUNDAMENTAL value in this country.
I'm picturing a talking voting machine next time: "Are you sure you want to vote for the Democratic candidate? You godless homo. We know where you live you know."
Posted at 3:45 PM  

Blogger Valerie said:

I remember being told to go to a certain color row of machines, but I didn't realize it was on party lines. Are you sure that's how it was? (I'm not doubting you personally, just wanting to know for sure.) My friend and I went together, but I can't remember if we went to the same color booths or different ones.
Posted at 5:04 PM  

Blogger GodlessMom said:

Valerie, Nobody ever said to me, "The Democrats vote over there on those machines" or anything like that. I know three other registered Democrats who voted in the same location on the same day and they were all told to go to the same bank of machines.

It is possible that it was the individual poll worker or the arrangements made at this particular location and not some sort of statewide policy. Honestly, at the time I didn't think anything of it. It was only later when I started thinking about my experience that day that it struck me as weird.

You said that you were with a friend the day you voted? Could you ask your friend if they remember if you voted on the same or different color? It's not the kind of thing that is easily remembered, the only reason my experience sticks in my mind is because of the associated weirdness.
Posted at 6:19 PM  

Blogger Valerie said:

We talked about your blog post and she doesn't remember either. I wouldn't be surprised if your hunch is correct.

I was trying to figure out any legitimate reason for it, but I can't. Do you remember if we voted for party chairpeople or anything like that? That's the only reason I could figure for the separate lines, but even then, you'd think each voting machine would be able to handle putting up one of two ballots based on the code you put in. (does that make sense?)
Posted at 6:53 PM  

Blogger Saur♥Kraut said:

I knew of this, and it's exactly what I thought would happen. It's why I think we should still have manual votes and tallies. It's too easy to manipulate or change electronic data.
Posted at 7:38 PM  

Blogger Zeppellina said:

In the UK the US Election was being followed pretty closely by the media.
totallycrunchy, there were various reports of people going missing from the electoral roles, and it was commented upon that they were black democratic voters.
Also .. a bizarre report about prisoners in one area being told they would be allowed a vote as long as they voted republican? ...was that one true?!!
Posted at 8:49 PM  

Blogger GodlessMom said:

Hey Zeppillina, I haven't heard or read anything about prisoners being allowed to vote if they vote Republican. If I had to guess I would say that the rumor may have started because of felony voter list purges. Basically, in some states if you have been convicted of a felony you cannot legally vote, even if you have served your time and made reparations. The state basically compares it's voter registration lists with a list of convicted felons and crosses off names accordingly. Unfortunately this has been abused in the past. Say a felon has the name of John Q. Doe. Well the state will go down the list and remove John Q. Doe, John Doe, Jonathan Doe, JQ Doe...You get the picture. Registered voters with no criminal background are purged from the lists because their name is similar to a convicted felon's. This method of voter suppression was widely used by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris prior to the 2000 election.
Posted at 12:15 PM  

Add a comment