Saturday, May 26th, 2012

Activists Worry About Long Voting Lines in Virginia

By Art Levine
Monday, November 03, 2008 at 5:54 pm

As the presidential campaign draws to a close, election reformers, best known for battling GOP-led vote suppression efforts, are tuning out any talk of a Sen. Barack Obama landslide. They are focusing instead on Democratic elected officials in Virginia who, they say, are ill-prepared for tomorrow’s vote.

“You have an unprecedented turnout in a historic election,” said Adisa Muse, director of the Virginia ACLU’s rights-restoration project, “and you just don’t have enough resources.”

On Friday, the Advancement Project, a national voter-protection organization, announced it was moving forward, in conjunction with the Virginia NAACP, in its lawsuit against Gov. Tim Kaine and top state election officials for allegedly failing to provide enough voting machines and poll workers to meet the expected turnout in minority precincts in Richmond, Norfolk and Virginia Beach.The lawsuit seeks remedies like extending voting hours to 9 p.m. on Election Day and offering the option of paper ballots if voters have been waiting longer than 45 minutes. A federal judge in Richmond will hear arguments today.

Nancy Rodrigues, Virginia’s secretary of the board of elections, told The Washington Independent that the lawsuit’s findings are out of date — and that state law doesn’t permit paper ballots or extended voting hours. That view is disputed in the lawsuit and by other election experts, citing the board’s authority to ensure that elections are properly administered.

The Kaine administration has found an unusual ally in defending against the lawsuit: the Republican Party. State GOP officials are seeking to intervene on the side of the governor, branding the request a “ploy” to get more Democrats to vote. “The other side is exploiting every single loophole that they have available to them,” Del. Jeffrey Frederick, the state GOP chairman, complained to The Washington Post.

Kaine has irked voting-reform advocates by saying that the state is “extremely well-prepared” to handle a big turnout and that long lines are not a major worry. “Look, we wait in line to buy coffee at Starbucks,” he said. “You wait in line to get on a roller coaster,”

“We shouldn’t treat the right to vote like a latte,” countered Judith Browne-Dias, co-director of the Advancement Project. She charges that there are racial disparities in the ratios of voters to machines that could lead to long lines and voters leaving before they cast ballots. In one largely black precinct in Richmond, Advancement Project researchers found a ratio of 452 registered voters per machine, “while across town [in a predominantly white neighborhood], it was 188 voters for each machine.”

Virginia law only requires that the decentralized election boards meet a minimum standard of 750 voters per machine.

With a half-million newly registered voters and an 85 percent turnout expected in some counties Tuesday, the Advancement Project estimated that such high turnouts would require some under-resourced precincts to take 20 hours to process all voters who show up.

There are other potential snares facing voters in Virginia. Peggy Sanner, Virginia coordinator for the non-partisan Election Protection coalition, worries that some voters will be “inappropriately challenged” over their eligibility, slowing down lines. Last week, for example, voting-rights groups protested that the registrar in Radford, Va., was illegally blocking eligible college students from voting because they listed their campus addresses as their home addresses.

In addition, many newly registered Virginia voters, including college students, don’t know that they’re required to bring some form of ID to the polls if they didn’t provide an ID when they registered. The result? They’ll be forced to use a provisional ballot, which are sometimes not included in final vote tallies. In Ohio in 2004, 22 percent of provisional ballots were not counted.

Even the long lines already evident during early voting haven’t fazed state officials. Asked about the possibility of delays on Election Day due to machine shortages, Rodrigues said, “All localities are following the law.”

Research assistance for this article was provided by the Nation Institute Investigative Fund.

Comments

13 Comments

b4uno
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 3:42 pm

Share this radio show with all the independent and undecided voters as it is aimed towards them. This radio show is about what is truly at stake in this election, and what we are TRULY voting for. It's very surprising.

http://tinyurl.com/5znubc

Edeldoug
Comment posted November 3, 2008 @ 3:49 pm

An open letter to America's African-American Community

First off, let me say that is truly is a great day in America when a person of color can stand at the very threshold of the presidency of the United States! This is testimony indeed of the great strides made by our population as a whole towards a color-blind society. We are moving past the ignorant bigotry and intolerance of previous generations.

With that said, however, we must now question whether the African-American community is themselves falling short of Martin Luther King's dream that one day his children would “be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Barack Obama enjoys almost monolithic support (around 90%) within the black community. Is this based on anything more than ethnic identity? Is it any less repugnant for the black community to embrace a candidate BECAUSE he's black than it would be for the white community to OPPOSE a black candidate for the same reason? Isn't it more appropriate to support one candidate or another based on the criteria of character, experience, policies and past performance?

Now, I am NOT telling you not to support Barack Obama. I'm asking you, WHY do you support Barack Obama? If it's nothing more than ethnic kinship, I would ask that you honestly examine both candidates on the other criteria before deciding soley on the color of a man's skin! You KNOW what it's like to be judged on that basis! It is no less rediculous to assign VIRTUE based on skin color than it is to presume dishonor or unworthiness soley on skin color.

And if you are determined to vote for a “black man” just because he IS a “black man… Have you ever realized that Obama is only 1/16 Black African, and has no “slave blood” at all? He is 50% white. His father was 7/8 North African Arab (think Khadaffi) and 1/8 Black African (think Mandella or Tutu). So you are not even voting on the basis of RACE! You're voting on the basis of high melanin pigmentation! Would you vote for ME if I sat long enough under a sunlamp?

Let me appeal to your intellect. WHY do you support Barack Obama? For that matter, why do you support DEMOCRATS?

The Democrats have talked for 50 years about “the poor” and have been presumed to be the champions of the minority community. What have they done to enable and facilitate the success of the black community? Don't you find it DEMEANING when liberals talk about the black community as though they are incapable and must be “helped” by the “parenting” of government? Don't you resent if people wonder whether you EARNED your degree or your position at work, or whether some Affirmative Action program elevated you above your qualifications? Doesn't it bother you that the “soft bigotry of low expectations” permeates Democratic thought and policy when it comes to the black community? Don't you feel taken for granted when the Democrats PRESUME upon your vote because you are expected to vote nearly unanimously to keep them in power?

Liberals define “compassion” by the number of dependent people they dole out meager government “help” to. Conservatives define “compassion” by the number of people enabled to be no longer dependent and who don't need governmental help!

Do you realize that the most vocal OPPONENTS of the Civil Rights Act were Democrats? Do you realize most Civil Rights Legislation would not have passed if it were not for the strong support of Republicans? Did you know that LINCOLN, who freed the slaves, was a REPUBLICAN? George Wallace, the segregationist, was a Democrat!

What has Obama done? Can you name an accomplishment?

Did you know that John McCain has a long list of legislative credits, with a history of coalition building and working across the aisle? Did you know Obama has never introduced a single piece of legislation in the Senate?

Does “community organizing” qualify one to be president? What is a community organizer? – Think ACORN. Are you concerned about ACORN's activities? Do voter-fraud and racketeering investigations give you pause to consider that maybe there's something fishy going on there?

Does Rev. Wright represent your thinking?

Do you support abortion up to (and beyond) the moment of birth? Would you deny medical care for an infant born alive in a failed abortion?

Why is it ok to pursue the American Dream… but as soon as you achieve it, it's ok for the Government to take it away from you?

Robbing Peter to pay Paul may sound like a great idea, if you're Paul… but isn't the one doing it nothing more than a benevolent THIEF?

Do you know what Socialism or Marxism is? Do you believe it to be a BAD thing for America? Would you recognize a Socialist when you see one? If not, check out: http://starboard.blogtownhall.com/2008/10/31/ob…

Did you know Obama views our Constitution as an OBSTACLE to his policies? I thought the President is sworn to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution. Obama views the RESTRICTIONS on Government placed in the Constitution by our founders to be a TRAGEDY! Don't believe it? Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iivL4c_3pck

If the so-called “Trickle Down” theory of economics isn't valid, then why are you worried about the Wall Street Collapse, the Sub-Prime Mortgage crisis, or failures of insurance companies, banks and brokers? Maybe it's true that when Business does poorly, EVERYONE does poorly and when business does well, EVERYONE does well.

Barack says his tax plans won't raise taxes on 95% of “small businesses”. What he doesn't tell you is that the 5% of small businesses that he WOULD be raising taxes on are the source of nearly EVERY new job created in the last decade!! Sure, there are a large number of smaller businesses that make under $250K a year, but these businesses also do not employ more than a few people. The 5% of “small businesses” (defined as those that are privately held and employ under 500 people) that WOULD experience increased tax burdens are the ones that employ 100, 200, 500 workers. THEY have been hiring over the last decade while the big fortune 500 corporations have been simply maintaining, outsourcing or downsizing. Do you work for an employer who is NOT on the Fortune 500 list? HE will probably get hit in the wallet. What happens when a small businessman sees his cost of doing business go up? He must do one of two things. Either he will raise the prices of his goods and services to cover the increased expenses, or he will cut his costs where he can.

In a down economy, raising prices may be impossible, as the market may not be able to sustain a price increase and his customers will stop buying. If he does raise prices, that is an added cost to everyone who buys his product or service. But if he doesn't raise prices, his options to cut costs are limited, and usually fall to workforce reduction. YOUR JOB maybe!

So, if Barack wants to “soak the rich” by taxing those making over $250K – he may be costing YOU your JOB!

Remember, too, that the government doesn't tax “wealth” it taxes “income”. The wealthy HAVE money. Tax policy doesn't take that away (until you die). The wealthy make still more money by investing. Sometimes they invest in municipal bonds, which fund local government projects like roads (that helps YOU). Those investments are tax free. Sometimes they invest in the Stock Market. Those earnings are Capital Gains, which are taxed differently than ordinary income. And those investments are the engine which enables companies to expand an create jobs. And finally they invest OFFSHORE where the tax man doesn't get his hands on it. Who bears the biggest burden of “Soak the Rich” policies? The small businesses that employ the vast majority of US!

Are you willing to consider that while America may finally be ready to elect a black President, perhaps Barack Hussein Obama shouldn't be that one?

movie fan
Comment posted November 6, 2008 @ 10:16 pm

it's awesome that there has been this “problem” of long lines all over… people taking a greater interest in public issues is always a good thing

Johnny
Comment posted May 22, 2009 @ 2:37 am

You are right with the point that they are focusing instead on Democratic elected officials in Virginia who, they say, are ill-prepared for tomorrow’s vote.
cosmetic surgery

Johnny
Comment posted May 22, 2009 @ 9:37 am

You are right with the point that they are focusing instead on Democratic elected officials in Virginia who, they say, are ill-prepared for tomorrow’s vote.
cosmetic surgery