2012 US General Election Discussions: Start to Finish

[Gentle Tiger]

Ok I may be a tad excited to vote today. I am already in line; mind you the polls do not open until 7. I may be a but early. The time is now 6:12. Needless to say, I am 1st in line.

[Sun]

Please send good thoughts to AZ today. Voters are really up against it here in this small conservative state. The locals have worked diligently to educate the public yet much is still up in the air.

In Maricopa county voters hope to get rid of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the most violent, hateful, anti immigrant, anti gay, racist, vile person to ever collect a paycheck from taxpayers. Arpaio is best known for his "Tent City" where inmates get to suffer in tents with temps topping 120 degrees in the summertime. They are served poisoned food and many are left to die in those conditions. Women in particular suffer his tents, left with no meds or basic health care supplies if they are ill. The Feds have been investigating him but he is still in his position. The locals want him gone. I hope to see him in jail soon. But for now, lets all hope that AZ voters do the right thing today.

Happy Voting everyone!!

[Medusa]

My job gives us 2 hours for voting so Jack and I are about to leave the house to go vote!

[lusciouskiwi]

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[Gentle Tiger]

Oh for heaven's sake! I just witnessed the Poll Volunteers taking their oath. I was moved and proud of them. I applauded when they were done.

Saints preserve us.

In other news, I have voted & wearing my sticker proudly.

[Scuba]

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[SelfMadeMan]

I just got home from voting! Cast my ballot for OBAMA and said NO to two proposed MN constitutional amendments - to define marriage as one man and one woman, and a voter ID restriction. Now the whole day of anxiety ahead....:|:|:|:|:|

[SelfMadeMan]

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I'm in Minnesota, and one of Stacy's cousins was telling me that she was sad she wasn't registered to vote - I said "who would you vote for?" and she said "Obama of course, plus I don't want them to amend the constitution to define marriage as a man and a woman only..." So I said, "I'm happy to tell you that we have same day registration here, and I'll be right there!" So I took her to vote :)

(Yes - I fully admit had she said she was voting for Romney, I wouldn't have been so helpful, lol)

[GraffitiBoi]

I'm in Minnesota, and one of Stacy's cousins was telling me that she was sad she wasn't registered to vote - I said "who would you vote for?" and she said "Obama of course, plus I don't want them to amend the constitution to define marriage as a man and a woman only..." So I said, "I'm happy to tell you that we have same day registration here, and I'll be right there!" So I took her to vote :)

(Yes - I fully admit had she said she was voting for Romney, I wouldn't have been so helpful, lol)

Thankfully I'm in MN too. I forgot to register after I moved and made a small change to my legal name. They are pretty good about registering there. Had to make sure I didn't have any Vote No propoganda on me or my car though. They are refusing to let anyone vote if they are wearing any political propoganda or if they are parked within 100 feet from the polls and have stuff on their car.

[Kobi]

Ok is 11am. Waiting on the Bulldog update.

Have tried watching the coverage but it was messing up my peace.

Anything I want to know about?

[LipstickLola]

Ok is 11am. Waiting on the Bulldog update.

Have tried watching the coverage but it was messing up my peace.

Anything I want to know about?


No peace here! I've bitten my last nail and now I'm baking, *newsflash* I don't bake!! :blink:
I keep returning to the different cable channels and switching back and forth, this has become my routine the past several weeks as I"ve recovered from joint replacement, I really really need to get a life!!! sigh....cannot wait til 7 pm (east coast time)

[LipstickLola]

Does anyone else believe the election will take longer than today to decide??:blink:

[GraffitiBoi]

Does anyone else believe the election will take longer than today to decide??:blink:

Yes. And I wouldn't be surprised if there are 'errors' or 'problems' with some of the polls and recounts are demanded... blah blah blah

[SelfMadeMan]

Thankfully I'm in MN too. I forgot to register after I moved and made a small change to my legal name. They are pretty good about registering there. Had to make sure I didn't have any Vote No propoganda on me or my car though. They are refusing to let anyone vote if they are wearing any political propoganda or if they are parked within 100 feet from the polls and have stuff on their car.

Oh wow! I got LUCKY then! I was parked right out front with a Vote No sticker and another big stop sign sticker that says "STOP the Republican War on Women" :blink:

[LipstickLola]

Yes. And I wouldn't be surprised if there are 'errors' or 'problems' with some of the polls and recounts are demanded... blah blah blah

I'm gearing my mind up for this as well, most especially the precincts where Obama wins. Thing is, I'm outta valium, OMG

[GraffitiBoi]

Oh wow! I got LUCKY then! I was parked right out front with a Vote No sticker and another big stop sign sticker that says "STOP the Republican War on Women" :blink:

You did get lucky! One of my friends who has the Vote No wrap on her car was told to park somewhere else. She went the required 100 feet away from the doors and parked right at the entrance to the parking lot - first thing people saw pulling in was her car with Vote No HUGE all over it!

A church that is a polling site here in Minneapolis has signs promoting vote yes. Voters called the hotline to complain and the church was forced to take the signs down.

If the amendment passes I'm moving out of MN as soon as work can transfer me. They know to expect my transfer request depending on the results. LOL

[BullDog]

Happy Election Day everyone!

Belle woke me up way too early, so I have been sitting in front of the tv in a daze drinking coffee.

I am feeling a bit nervous but confident.

I don't have anything new really. I think Obama will win Ohio but don't want to totally rely on it, so I am looking forward to seeing results from Virginia. People in lines in Florida look fired up!

[DMW]

My past experience,2000,2004,08 looking into the voting tallies....bbc is pretty damn accurate. And the sec. state. office posts results for each state.



http://www.blackboxvoting.org/(CO) 11/2012 - COLORADO SETS THE STAGE FOR A BOGUS ELECTION - Colorado election integrity and transparency is now officially out the window, with a series of corruption protection rules and new laws.

1. Let's begin with the unflappable Donetta Davidson, who collaborated with convicted embezzler Jeffrey Dean(1) to remove voter privacy, through a contract specification that required him to redo his absentee mail software in order to embed a method to tie voted ballots to the voters. This shifty business, which now includes all absentee ballots cast on Hart eSlate machines, has led to a blockade on ALL Colorado election accounting records (see #4, below).

2. Next, in a move that has most of us scratching our heads, Colorado Sec. State Gessler proposed new rules in December 2011 to remove requirements for continuous video surveillance.(2) Though billed as "cost saving," note that most video surveillance nowadays is simply piped into digital files stored on a Web site. Since cameras are already installed, there is no significant cost savings in allowing non-continuous surveillance.

3. Sec. State Gessler also decided to reduce the number of seals on voting machines,(2) to the chagrin of election integrity groups like Voter Action, whose investigations and litigation demonstrated vulnerabilities requiring the seals in the first place. The "cost savings" in this measure can be counted in pennies.

4. A number of protective accounting measures crucial for evaluating election tampering have been taken off the table though a new law to block election-related public records examination.

Donetta Davidson led the lobbying for this law. Davidson had become a commissioner of the U.S. Election Assistence Commission, then took a step down to take over the Colorado Clerks Association. In this capacity she led a fight to block the media and citizens from examining the ballots. And no wonder: She knew that due to changes made under her administration, private companies had marks embedded on the ballots enabling them to harvest data tying votes to voters.

Thanks to a lawsuit by Colorado citizen Marilyn Marks, of The Citizen Center, sponsored and assisted by Black Box Voting, the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed right to examine ballots. Marks was shocked when she discovered that identifying marks on the ballots allowed her to immediately associate every voted ballot with the voter who cast it. Marks, The Citizen Center, (and Black Box Voting) are now involved in litigation to permanently prohibit this harvesting of personal political information. In the interim, Sec. State Gessler has required that the identifiers be removed for November 2012 only.

With ballot examination affirmed to be in the public domain, Davidson's next move was to block ballot examination until after all remedies had expired. Using her clout, she lobbied successfully for the removal of ballots -- AND OTHER CRUCIAL ELECTION RECORDS, SUCH AS POLL LISTS -- from any access by election watchdogs until 45 days after the election.(3)

One telltale sign of election tampering is when thousands more votes than voters show up. But in Colorado, neither the media nor the public will be allowed to examine the poll lists or the list of names for voters said to have voted absentee, until too late to do anything about discrepancies.

5. And then there is the matter of alleged Romney ties to the second-biggest voting machine manufacturer in America. These connections are being minimized by Internet outlets like Snopes, but the straight truth is that Hart Intercivic, the firm that supplies two-thirds of Colorado counties with their voting machines, is now owned by a spin-off of Bain & Company (H.I.G. Capital).(4)

A majority of Hart's directors are now H.I.G. guys, and the directors of H.I.G. are Romney bundlers and donors who don't hedge their bets by donating to any other presidential candidate.

This isn't the first time Romney has had his buddies in charge of crucial election processes this year. Some weeks after the misreported figures in the Iowa caucus, which incorrectly cited Romney as the winner, Black Box Voting uncovered that Romney staffers had been brought in to run the Iowa Caucus, and the Nevada Caucus too. Besides heading Romney campaign functions, these guys were associated with an odious Colorado political firm which narrowly escaped prosecution for maliciously misleading political ads.(5)

And the Romney affiliation with Hart Intercivic doesn't rule out his buddies -- or Obama's buddies -- or George Soros -- or the Chinese, for that matter -- owning the other companies. Election Systems & Software (ES&S) does not reveal who its owners are, and we don't know who owns Dominion either. ES&S directly handles voting machines in three Colorado counties; it co-produces elections on the old Diebold equipment with Dominion, with ES&S supplying technicians in some U.S. locations and Dominion in others. Dominion owns Sequoia Voting Systems (or does it? No one seems to be quite sure...), used in large... More

[BullDog]

_H1nGEadNtI

republican acquaintances on fb are bashing obama for having jay-z at his rally and maybe it wasn't the best political move but...this is today's jam.

Ha ha they are just jealous. The Democrats have Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen. The Republicans have Meatloaf and Kid Rock, lol.

[Martina]

I voted. No line. :)

FIRE IT UP! READY TO GO!!!

[deb0670]

I didn't see this thread before posting in the CIJS one.. Ethan and i took my son's gf with us to vote today. It was her first time since she just turned 21. It was a pretty cool experience being able to be there with her. I am proud of her. We had no lines when we voted, and everything was very calm.

[DMW]

Looks like north carolina (i hope goes blue), virginia, colorado and florida
are going to be tight and possibly significant for the electoral count ( if we get steals from the the blue states from the villains who can only when if they cheat.) even more significant.
Damn. Hoping that there are not big steals from
OHIO, PA, IOWA, Nevada or New Mexico
Come on Latino vote and women.

[Words]

Thankfully I'm in MN too. I forgot to register after I moved and made a small change to my legal name. They are pretty good about registering there. Had to make sure I didn't have any Vote No propoganda on me or my car though. They are refusing to let anyone vote if they are wearing any political propoganda or if they are parked within 100 feet from the polls and have stuff on their car.

Is that legal?

I know things are different here in the UK, but surely, that can't be legal.

Words

[Novelafemme]

Is that legal?

I know things are different here in the UK, but surely, that can't be legal.

Words

It is legal. The same goes here in Arizona.

[Words]

It is legal. The same goes here in Arizona.

Wow. I never knew. Thanks!

Words

[chefhmboyrd]

i voted early, little over a week ago.
i am just so ready to start forgetting about mittens and his whole pack of rabid right wing racist homophobes.
Obama will be victorious.

[Rockinonahigh]

I just got back from voteing,while I was in line wating to have them check my ID I was ask by the person in line behind me if I knew what I was voteing for cause I didnt look like in was in the right place.I didnt even give them anser just handed the official at the desk my licence then went on a voted.

[Martina]

One of my students said the school by his house had a pretty long line. This is in the South Bay region of Northern California. More people in CA vote by mail than in person. I imagine in my neighborhood it's way more than half. Also a lot of people in my neighborhood are here on VISA's or have green cards, but are not citizens. Anyway, I just breezed in and out. They seemed a little disorganized. It will be a long day for them.

One of my students is volunteering. I was so pleased that he wanted to. It was all his idea. He learned so much in the training.

I read that there will be a 70% turnout in CA. Mail-in voting for all and online voter registration works.

I like voting in person. During my college years and for some years after, I went home to Ohio every year to vote. My dad and I would go and be one of the first in line. Then we'd go out and get breakfast. I would hate to give up in person voting. But maybe someday I will.

By now, my dad and mom will have tottered off to their local library to do in person voting. And then they will go out for breakfast. :)

My dad is a Republican, but voted for Gore and Kerry. He said of W. -- "I can't vote for that drunken frat boy." Mom says he has not said who he is voting for this year. Silence usually means it's a Democrat. Dad is not happy about crossing over to what is for him the dark side. But he does it on occasion because he is a thinking Republican. They exist.

I think he likes that Obama got us out of Iraq. My dad is a veteran of Korea. He hates all wars. He goes to the VFW seven days a week for happy hour, and he's a proud Republican. But if you want to go to war, my dad will not vote for you or support you. I imagine there are a lot of vets like that.

[Martina]

What did he mean?

Was he harrassing you in some way?

I just got back from voteing,while I was in line wating to have them check my ID I was ask by the person in line behind me if I knew what I was voteing for cause I didnt look like in was in the right place.I didnt even give them anser just handed the official at the desk my licence then went on a voted.

[Corkey]

We voted #'s 571 and 572 in our precinct.
Ami is now off to work and I'm in front of the boobtube watching MSNBC. I can talk and yell if necessary and she doesn't have to hear me LOL

[Daywalker]

I'm going to share something that sadly represents an
experience similar to what Rockinonahigh described.

I'm sharing a Community Members' Status, because it's important for folks to hear. She was treated unfairly, there's no two ways about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(To be mailed out today)

Dear Ms. Elizabeth Warren and Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz:

Hello. My name is Stephanie Bonvissuto. I am a resident of a small neighborhood just outside of metropolitan Boston. Today is Tuesday, November 6th, Election Day. The time is 7:45 a.m. and I have just left my designated polling place. As a firm believer in the sanctity of the voting booth I will not reveal who I voted for. All I will say is, You’re Welcome.

One little detail I left out is that I am a woman in gender transition. In case you were wondering what this means, I regularly take hormones (just as many women who are not transitioning do), I live and express who I am as a woman every minute of every hour of every day of the year (and have done so for many years).
Importantly for the sake of this letter, I have also had my name legally changed to reflect this. I have gone through the courts, have had to have this change publicly announced in local newspapers, and have changed all that government and personal documents that I am allowed to by law. This includes, but is not limited to, my Social Security card, academic records, medical records, bank accounts, and my driver’s license.

I would like to reiterate this for sake of clarity: my driver’s license, which includes my photo and address and name, and which as a government issued document identifies me as female. (Of course, I do not need the government to validate who I am. Please do not take that personally.)

So imagine my surprise – along with my mortification, my humiliation, my fear and my hurt – when an election official at my designated polling place by the name of Oscar said that I needed to provide proof of identification. Just outside of Boston, in the state of Massachusetts, on Election Day morning, on a voting line five feet from the voting booth.

Speaking of that line - no one else on my queue was asked to provide identification. Other voters were dutifully logged in and given ballots as Oscar hung onto my license. He did not explain to me why I had been called out. He did not say what he intended to do with my license. After a few busy minutes he took it to another election official to discuss what he should do next – and in the course of that conversation proceeded to repeatedly misgender me, all the while holding onto my license which clearly stated my correct gender. He finally returned to the check-in table and, still not speaking to me, continued to check in other voters. Concerned neighbors and curious strangers moved around us. I had to finally ask Oscar for my license back. Only then was I given my ballots, allowing me to vote.

Ms. Warren and Senator Chang-Diaz, you should know that one of the reasons I moved from New York to The Bay State was because of what I saw were a passion for progressive politics and courageous stances taken in the name of civil rights issues in the present day. The passage of the Massachusetts Trans Equality Bill earlier this year, and the passage of the far-reaching Marriage Equality Bill in 2004 clearly indicate I made the right decision.

Whether you are victorious at the end of this day or not, I hope that you in your capacities as state leaders with a national voice continue this trend towards basic human rights for all – including having all election officials in Massachusetts trained to sensitivity so that no other voter will ever have to undergo what I did this morning just to be able to exercise her constitutional right as a proud citizen of this great state.

Thank you.

Stephanie Bonvissuto, Student Coordinator
Queer Student Center
University of Massachusetts Boston
QSC@umb.edu
617 287-7983

Although appalling, it's not gonna get better if folks keep silent.
I'm glad she will not remain invisible on this matter.

Some of you know Stephanie.
She's ok with us sharing her story.

:rose:

:daywalker:

[Rockinonahigh]

What did he mean?

Was he harrassing you in some way?

I was in line minding my own buisness,not discusing a thing with anyone while theire was a general discusion about some of the things to vote on.I definatly don't look like the average man or woman wich gets me comments and looks I just dont pay any atintion to anymore so they get the silent treatment from me.

It was a woman that said that to my surprise,I live in a neighbor hood that is sort of anti gay by 50/50.Obviously this person has no idea how many of our family do live in this place,also she is ultra right wing religious nut case that thinks if anyone isnt with her on her views they arent human.One of the older women who works the polls gave her a look that would have and did shut her up.Most times I get this crap from men so I just ignore them like I did this person and went about my own buisness,the less crediblity you give then the smaller they look.

[Rockinonahigh]

I am one of the fue people I know who go about this life not careing what others think about my outside aperence,many times I get the sir yes sir thing more times than I can count,in reality I could care less if i'm calle sir or m'am.I have a visable moustash,enough hair on my face even tho its fair and fine to have to shave ,my voice is deep,i'm always going to walk like John Wayne.This is who I am and will always be,if it makes someone uncomfortable it's not my issue unless they make it so.When I dont reply to crap from some people it's not that I don't care to,I just will not give them validation by takeing the bait of an argument.I dont stop what i'm doing,I don't go away,I don't stop being myself,I also will not disapeer.But,the first time one of them puts a hand on me or harms my family all bets are off.

[Allison W]

Just voted. I was #41.

Also, a little somethin' somethin' for you folks. Nate Silver, as of 10:10 a.m. ET today, projected Obama's chances of victory at 90.9%. http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/author/nate-silver/

[Martina]

Just voted. I was #41.

Also, a little somethin' somethin' for you folks. Nate Silver, as of 10:10 a.m. ET today, projected Obama's chances of victory at 90.9%. http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/author/nate-silver/

I think that's down a little from yesterday. :(

[Allison W]

Yeah, and it's still 91%. Chill out.

[Gentle Tiger]

Ok, how many think tonight's outcome will be final vs. being declared after a recount?

[MissItalianDiva]

I don't know if there is a class they take for those fake plastic smiles and gross chuckles but Ed Gillespie who is on CNN right now speaking about Romney has the same gross smirk and laugh....ugh can't stand the Republican plastics

[Martina]

Yeah, and it's still 91%. Chill out.

~~~~ Huh?

[WolfyOne]

I worked long and hard today, came home, dropped my rent check to the manager just so I could ask her where the exact location was I needed to vote at...with that said, I found it, voted and am happy it's a done deal for me.

[Kobi]

It is weird and a bit disturbing to see how different it is to vote in various parts of the country.

Here, there is no id requirement - they check your name off on the way in and on the way out. No need to prove who you are.

There are no restrictions r.e. bumper stickers or clothing or political buttons for people just there to vote.

Those who are out to stomp for candidates tho have to be several hundreds of feet from the entrance to the building.

Much more relaxed and welcoming to vote here.

[ruffryder]

Here you go folks - Election Map (http://www.politico.com/2012-election/map/#/President/2012/)


Folks are voting in FL! Traffic backed up for miles to turn in ballots and people waiting in line for blocks to vote! Romney has the edge 49/48. Polls close in less than 2 hours here ! I'm glad I'm home today and not dealing with traffic getting anywhere and drunks tonight at work.

Currently Republicans have casted more votes in CO.

A small village in NH, population of 10, all voted together and results were 50/50.

Victims of Sandy are still getting out to vote and some using flashlights. Horrible but at least they are getting it done!

In PA, a voting machine was taken out of service for flipping votes of Obama to Romney.

Obama, "We have come to far to turn back now; finish what we started."
Romney, "Tomorrow we begin a new tomorrow."

Current toss ups include: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Election freebies in your area? Here they are giving away free pizzas, organic tea and a Indivisible bracelet from Starbucks.

[aishah]

thank you for the link ruff! it's super helpful. i haven't had a chance to look for results yet.

had a patient today who was two hours late for her appointment because she had to vote. i can't imagine what people are going through to vote right now. i was reading an article about a man in a nursing home who literally died and got cpr while voting and woke up and the first thing he asked before the ambulance took him away was if he finished voting (he did). i heard on the radio while on the bus about folks in staten island who are going through all kinds of crazy shit to be able to vote even with the horrific storms.

i am so so grateful that i was able to mail in my ballot a couple of weeks ago and so so grateful for every person who is going through so much to be able to vote today. i don't get all teary and patriotic much - i'm pretty conflicted about being teary and patriotic in general - but this definitely makes me feel a sense of connection and gratitude with other people in this country.

[ruffryder]

The first polls are getting ready to close people!

7:00 pm: Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Florida

7:30 pm: North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia

[firegal]

Damn nervous.....

God help us if NIT WIT MITT wins.

Fingers crossed trying to have faith in our voters.

[ruffryder]

It seems the economy has been the top issue among those who voted today.

so far we are 58/40 Romney with 3 states reporting.