Off topic - voting

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Dr. O

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denny
Went to vote this morning and discovered I am waaay too dumb to be allowed to vote...


Walked in a few minutes after 7 AM (#2 voter for the day), filled out the request for a ballot and handed it to the lady..
"ID, please." she said with a smile...
So I hand her an Airman's Certificate... The smile slips, but she is still sounding pleasant...
"If there is no photo I will need two other pieces of identification."
I shrug and dig out two more... A CCW permit and a Federal Controlled Substances license...
"Guns are not allowed in the precinct." The tone is frosty...
"Umm, that is a piece of paper, not a gun, maam." My tone is meek and humble...
By now the supervisor has drifted over... "I will NEED to see a Michigan drivers license or an approved Michigan State ID with a photo." she says sternly... Apparently 3 pieces of federal licensure is not enough...
I shrug again and dig out my driver's license, which is inside of a state issued jacket that blocks RFID machines from reading it and hand it to her.. She drops it out of her fingers like it is hot...
"Y O U must remove it from the jacket and swipe it through the reader." she snaps, pointing to a tiny gadget on the cluttered desk I had not noticed...
"But, I thought you wanted to see it." She just glares... I'm having a wonderful time...
I swipe... The three of them bend over the laptop intently staring at the screen...
After a solid ten seconds I say, "Gee is your laptop crashed.. I know a bit about computers if you need help." and I start around the desk...
"Stay there." she snaps, pointing one imperious finger while not even looking up... Finally she mutters,"I guess he qualifies." and she stomps away...
So I get a ballot and drift over to the booth.. Then I go to the checkout table where they take the page 2 of the triplicate form I signed out of the little plastic pocket on the cover of the folder... Then the next person tears the numbered strip off the top of the protruding ballot.. "Slide this end of it into the machine and it will pull it out of the jacket".
I do, the machine beeps loudly and spits the ballot back at me...
There is dead silence in the precinct and all eyes are on me...
"Spoiled ballot" he rumbles. "You can only vote for one party candidates.".. "Take it back to the first table and get a new one."

So, I do the walk of shame back to the first table and hand the folder back to the lady, whereupon she whips out my ballot and they all start examining it... This brings the supervisor on the run... "No, no, no" she screeches grabbing the ballot out of their hands.".. She folds the ballot up and sticks it onto an OFFICIAL spoiled ballot pouch with SPOILED in large red letters across the front... "Getting their heads together they all stare at the laptop again... "See here" she days... "38 is his precinct registered voter number and that goes HERE and 2 is his voter number for the day and that goes THERE or the computer will reject the ballot"..
"Ohhh." go all the heads in unison...
Then she looks at me and says, "Michigan has a closed party primary. You MUST vote only for candidates of one party."
"Gee, some of the offices don't have any candidates on the left side so I did those on the right side."
"You can't do that." she says in the tone you use for lecturing a bad child...
I get a new ballot...
After I come out of the booth a second time I wave the ballot at them, "Are my votes OK with everyone?" They all look the other way...
I say to the guy who tears the strips off, "Don't I even get a hanging chad for all my effort here?" He just shakes his head and looks glum...

So there it is - I am officially a spoiled ballot... And I am not trustworthy enough to vote in a state election using federal ID documents... And I violated the closed primary law...
But, hey - my dog still was happy to see me :D
 
Sounds like you had fun messing with the poll people, though.
 
Sounds like a bizzare election system if they're tearing pieces off the ballot. At my precinct (I'm an election officer) you either vote with a WinVote touchscreen or you can fill in a paper ballot for OS reading, but there's NO identifying info on the ballot associated with you, only with the election/race.

States get to set their own ID requirements within certain federal guidelines so I can't speak to what Michigan does. Virginia requires a photo id from a wide range of acceptable sources, or if you fail to provide that you can sign an affirmation of identity, and I think that lets you cast a provisional ballot on paper.
 
So I hand her an Airman's Certificate... The smile slips, but she is still sounding pleasant...
"If there is no photo I will need two other pieces of identification."
I shrug and dig out two more... A CCW permit and a Federal Controlled Substances license...
Click to expand...
Are any of those valid forms of identification in Michigan? I have several government issued ID cards that aren't valid forms of identification for anything other than the specific purpose that they were issued for.

I applaud you for being a pilot and I completely support your right to bear arms, but it just seems like you are asking for animosity when you know the easiest thing to do is show them the one card that everyone on this part of the planet will accept without hesitation as a valid form of government ID.
 
Rigged4Flight said:
I applaud you for being a pilot and I completely support your right to bear arms, but it just seems like you are asking for animosity when you know the easiest thing to do is show them the one card that everyone on this part of the planet will accept without hesitation as a valid form of government ID.
Click to expand...

I kind of agree. Seems like you went in with the intent to instigate a little.

If you just handed your drivers license to them in the first place, nothing would have come of it, and I think you know that :)
 
TMetzinger said:
Virginia requires a photo id from a wide range of acceptable sources, or if you fail to provide that you can sign an affirmation of identity, and I think that lets you cast a provisional ballot on paper.
Click to expand...

I might be remembering things incorrectly, but I don't think I have ever shown a photo ID to vote in Virginia. I always use my voter registration card and have never been forced to cast a provisional ballot. Is this something new in Virginia?

Ryan
 
Pollworkers are either volunteers or low-paid temps. They get a couple of hours of training and only know how to follow the script. You can get great ones that have been doing it for years or you can get the brownshirts.

Be thankful you live in a state where they check ID.

Your discussion reminds me of the trip I made to the gun store to pick up two items after the 10 day waiting period.

Clerk: I need to see two forms of ID
Me: Hands them cal drivers license and pp cert.
Clerk: The pilot's license doesn't have an expiration date
Me: It's good until they take it away. I fish around and hand them med cert.
Clerk: It doesn't have an expiration date
Me: It has a date, it expires 2 years after that.
Clerk: I don't know...
Alfa Female comes up
AF: Let me see what you have.
Me: Hand her CDL, pp cert, med cert
AF: Ok, mind if I copy these?
Me: Nope
AF: Runs off, tells clerk to give me my guns.
 
Ah you see here in Florida all you need is a pulse and 98.6 temp. No one asks for ANY ID. I have tried to show my DL but they always say "you don't need an ID to vote". As long as you're on their list....you vote.

And now the DOJ is sueing the State because they are removing non-citizens from the polls. America........what a country. In Dade County alone they found over 33,000 non citizens who have been voting for years.
 
Speedy said:
Ah you see here in Florida all you need is a pulse and 98.6 temp. No one asks for ANY ID. I have tried to show my DL but they always say "you don't need an ID to vote". As long as you're on their list....you vote.

And now the DOJ is sueing the State because they are removing non-citizens from the polls. America........what a country. In Dade County alone they found over 33,000 non citizens who have been voting for years.
Click to expand...

Where I vote (Seminole County, Florida) they require the drivers license. (Edit: They will take other picture ID as well, but I use my drivers license so it never came up...)

Voting rules implementation in Florida is county by county. The county Supervisor of Elections is an elected official (Non-partisian I believe.) and is responsible for complying with the state & national rules. Seminole County uses a bubble in ballot with a machine reader. Ballots are unique to party and precinct so you can't vote in any election you are not supposed to. The machine will kick back the ballot if you vote for two or more in the same category. (Or probably for other things as well.)

I've probably started boring you so I'll close. Move along...

John
 
In my Florida county, you hand them your DL and your voter ID card and they scan the DL and give you back both, with a ballot.
The DOJ is suing Florida for daring to remove DEAD people from the voter ID role. The DOJ wants Florida to be more like Chicago, I guess.
 
OK, I gotta say this, and I apologize in advance if I offend anyone.

I'm bothered by stories of people giving a hard time to election workers, and generally not taking the franchise as what it ought to be: A serious civic duty. Some of us on here don't have a right to vote, and won't for some time to come. For people to treat their right to vote frivolously, well, it offends me at a very deep level...
 
JeffDG said:
OK, I gotta say this, and I apologize in advance if I offend anyone.

I'm bothered by stories of people giving a hard time to election workers, and generally not taking the franchise as what it ought to be: A serious civic duty. Some of us on here don't have a right to vote, and won't for some time to come. For people to treat their right to vote frivolously, well, it offends me at a very deep level...
Click to expand...

What if the election workers are in a sour mood and asking for a good ribbing. They are volunteers, neighbors. I understand it is a public duty, but that does not mean I meditate beforehand, dress in a suit and tie and walk in there with my serious face on.

NC passed a voter ID law but our wonderful governor, bev perdue vetoed it. She has set a record in NC for # of vetos and # of veto's overridden.
 
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Google the breitbart video where a guy shows up to Eric Holder's precinct and asks if Eric Holder is on the list. He never said he was Holder nor attempted to vote illegally. Both entertaining and sad. Don't know how to post a link on tapatalk.

Note: the poll worker was a nice gentleman doing his job. I don't fault him, I fault the system and that because I do take elections and fraud seriously.
 
Sportsman said:
Google the breitbart video where a guy shows up to Eric Holder's precinct and asks if Eric Holder is on the list. He never said he was Holder nor attempted to vote illegally. Both entertaining and sad. Don't know how to post a link on tapatalk.

Note: the poll worker was a nice gentleman doing his job. I don't fault him, I fault the system and that because I do take elections and fraud seriously.
Click to expand...

If I recall correctly, the man was HANDED Eric Holder's ballot, with zero attempt to even know if he was intending to vote. Fraud is the 2nd best way to get elected, after actually deserving election.
 
n12365 said:
I might be remembering things incorrectly, but I don't think I have ever shown a photo ID to vote in Virginia. I always use my voter registration card and have never been forced to cast a provisional ballot. Is this something new in Virginia?

Ryan
Click to expand...

Voter card is good too. A photo id is required in some specific cases (if you registered to vote by mail for instance).

They just changed the laws again so I'm waiting to learn what will be required for the presidential election.
 
JeffDG said:
OK, I gotta say this, and I apologize in advance if I offend anyone.

I'm bothered by stories of people giving a hard time to election workers, and generally not taking the franchise as what it ought to be: A serious civic duty. Some of us on here don't have a right to vote, and won't for some time to come. For people to treat their right to vote frivolously, well, it offends me at a very deep level...
Click to expand...
Agreed. Unless they are intentionally being buttheads, there is no reason to play mind games with the volunteers.
 
Other than reminding me of where my polling place was, in 30+ years of voting in four different states, I've never needed it at the polls. It would have helped in NJ because they have about four different precincts voting in different rooms in the township hall and it took me a few minutes to figure out which one I was enrolled in.
 
JeffDG said:
OK, I gotta say this, and I apologize in advance if I offend anyone.

I'm bothered by stories of people giving a hard time to election workers, and generally not taking the franchise as what it ought to be: A serious civic duty. Some of us on here don't have a right to vote, and won't for some time to come. For people to treat their right to vote frivolously, well, it offends me at a very deep level...
Click to expand...

Voting is over rated when there's no one on the ballot that doesn't disgust you.
 
Florida Cracker said:
If I recall correctly, the man was HANDED Eric Holder's ballot, with zero attempt to even know if he was intending to vote. Fraud is the 2nd best way to get elected, after actually deserving election.
Click to expand...

Wow, you mean there's been someone on a ballot who actually deserved being elected? Where and when did that happen? Someone ought to call Guiness up, or the Society for Fecal Standards....
 
I have been a poll worker a couple of times and let me tell you, natural selection is not working in the voter gene pool.:rolleyes2:

Cheers
 
JeffDG said:
OK, I gotta say this, and I apologize in advance if I offend anyone.

I'm bothered by stories of people giving a hard time to election workers, and generally not taking the franchise as what it ought to be: A serious civic duty. Some of us on here don't have a right to vote, and won't for some time to come. For people to treat their right to vote frivolously, well, it offends me at a very deep level...
Click to expand...
Thanks for your comment. Somehow, lately, it has become OK to be so partisan that patriotism and love of country is lost. Common civility is losing as well. There really is a generous spirit in this country that appreciates what is good in our society. Currently it is fashionable to deride, degrade, and disdain such. Fashions come and go.

Welcome to my country. I wish you good fortune in becoming a citizen.
 
Georgia has implemented voter ID and it's not a big deal, either DL or pretty much any picture ID. Also, you are issued an electronic card to take to the voting machine and it's either Republican or Democrat for the primaries. If we have a runoff, GA is a 50%+1 state, you can only vote in the same party's primary. Pretty simple stuff, I usually do advanced voting and vote a week or two before election day, no lines, no hassles, no problems. :D
 
N747JB said:
Georgia has implemented voter ID and it's not a big deal, either DL or pretty much any picture ID. Also, you are issued an electronic card to take to the voting machine and it's either Republican or Democrat for the primaries. If we have a runoff, GA is a 50%+1 state, you can only vote in the same party's primary. Pretty simple stuff, I usually do advanced voting and vote a week or two before election day, no lines, no hassles, no problems. :D
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I'd never heard of advanced voting prior to this year. I've only lived in GA for 3 years, though. If there was early voting in MO or IL where I'd lived since 2001, though, I didn't know about it. I know that the first time I voted here in GA was the first time I was ever asked for ID, and when they asked me, I thanked them.
 
Dr. O said:
Went to vote this morning and discovered I am waaay too dumb to be allowed to vote...
Click to expand...

Congratulations on hassling a bunch of volunteer poll workers.

Did you stop at Walgreen's on the way home and pay for a pack of Doublemint with a $100 bill, too?
 
hopmedic said:
I'd never heard of advanced voting prior to this year. I've only lived in GA for 3 years, though. If there was early voting in MO or IL where I'd lived since 2001, though, I didn't know about it. I know that the first time I voted here in GA was the first time I was ever asked for ID, and when they asked me, I thanked them.
Click to expand...
I think most states have some form of absentee ballot that allows you to send in your votes prior to election day. Although during the Florida hanging chad debacle a few years back, it was pointed out that for most elections they never even opened the absentee ballots to count them. Can you imagine how many military voters were instantly angered? Neither can I. Not sure if that has changed since then, and it probably varies by state.

edit: http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/absentee-and-early-voting.aspx
 
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In Ohio, you could vote absentee only if you had a valid reason like, Deployed, out of town, illness, etc. That changed the last go around and you can now vote absentee for any reason if you are registered.

Cheers
 
Rigged4Flight said:
I think most states have some form of absentee ballot that allows you to send in your votes prior to election day. Although during the Florida hanging chad debacle a few years back, it was pointed out that for most elections they never even opened the absentee ballots to count them. Can you imagine how many military voters were instantly angered? Neither can I. Not sure if that has changed since then, and it probably varies by state.

edit: http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/absentee-and-early-voting.aspx
Click to expand...
I've known about absentee voting (did it while in the Navy), but not the early voting I'm hearing of now, where the polls are open in advance and you can just decide to go early.
 
In Colorado you can be a permanent mail-in voter. I am.
 
KS has both absentee voting (vote by mail), and early voting (show up at the election office, in person, a couple weeks in advance). My daughter in college used the early voting the last presidential election, since she was back in school on election day, but home for a weekend prior to election day - she also drove her grandmother over so she could vote early instead of standing in line on election day at the normal polling place.
 
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