NC GOP lashes out at voting sites near Obama rally

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — North Carolina's Republican leaders lashed out at a county elections board that expanded the number of early voting sites open Sunday to accommodate people attending a rally for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Terri Robertson, director of Cumberland County's elections, said she was concerned that a crush of people Sunday afternoon would leave her staff working all night to process voters. Elections officials are required to process anyone who is in line by close of polls at 5 p.m.

"We decided that the best thing to do for our staff was to open two more sites so they weren't up all night processing voters," Robertson said. The full elections board, including one Republican member, voted unanimously on Friday to open two additional voting sites Sunday, bringing the total to five.

The county does not plan to open voting sites on Sundays for the rest of the early voting period, but will have polling places open the next two Saturdays as well as week days, according to a schedule on the state elections Web site.



Read more: http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/state/nc-gop-lashes-out-at-voting-sites-near-obama-rally-193845.html

[wishlist]

1. Good for the Board of Elections to encourage easier voting, not make it harder nt

[kid a]

2. Awe...too bad people want to vote.

[livelongandprosper]

3. OMG! OMG! People who support Obama may actually vote for him

[amdezurik]

5. people voting at all is what they oppose

you know you just can't trust people to keep on being fooled and fleeced by the bloated pluto-class...

[mnhtnbb]

4. Can't have no democracy around here! say Republicans

Undoubtedly, a bunch of good 'ole boys who are missing their white sheets. F*ck'em!

[napi21]

6. I don't understand. What exactly does it take to "process a voter"?

The last census indicated there were 341,363 people in Fayetteville after annexation. Of that total, I think it's safe to assume no more than 1/2 could be voting agae adults! There's no way in the world I'm going to believe that every single resident is going to vote on SUNDAY! What in the world would take so long that would make then have to work all night???

As of 2007, the city of Fayetteville has a population of approximately 203,000 including annexation since the 2000 census. It currently ranks as the sixth-largest municipality in North Carolina. Fayetteville is located near the Sandhills in the western part of the Coastal Plain region, on the Cape Fear River. With a population of 341,363, the Fayetteville metropolitan area is the largest in southeastern North Carolina, and the fifth-largest in the state. Suburban areas of metro Fayetteville include Hope Mills, Spring Lake, and Raeford.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Fayetteville

[bertman]

7. I early voted in North Carolina on Friday afternoon. It took me about 10 minutes in all, once

I had my ballot in hand. There was no line at the desk, but a steady stream of voters keeping the five registrars busy.

Voting is not a matter of walking in and making two check marks unless you vote the straight Democratic ticket. Personally, I prefer to read carefully the entire ballot, then vote. In addition, you must first be verified by the registrar and given a ballot.

So, let's say there are 3000 Cumberland county residents (where Fayetteville is located) who decide to vote early while they are at the rally. Let's use five minutes per voter for verification and voting; although, I think that is highly optimistic.

Now, if there are five polling places, three registrars per polling place and three separate voting booths, that means that in six hours of continuous operation with no glitches, THOSE FIVE SITES COULD PROCESS 1080 VOTERS.

I used six hours of operation but I imagine their hours are from noon until 5pm, so I threw in an extra hour per registrar due to late arrivals.

That doesn't sound like they're being overly cautious to me.

And I didn't figure in bathroom breaks or smoke breaks for the registrars.

Double the number of registrars and you are still at a total of 2160 voters for the day.

[Allyoop]

10. Processing

Processing a voter can be a simple and not so time consuming thing to do. On the other hand, if there's something not quite right with their information, it takes time to figure out what the problem is and what exactly to do about it.

At early voting one can also register to vote and vote after registration. That takes a little more time. When 5 p.m. comes, anyone who is in line must be allowed to vote. Early voting is drawing a lot of people, so it could be a long night for just one polling place to handle.

[GainesT1958]

8. Another reason to make sure Bev Perdue is elected Governor...

If McCrory gets in, local elections boards (but not the STATE Board of Elections, for some reason) will be composed of a Repub majority, by state law. The local boards' majorities--and chairs--must be of the governor's party. Hence, electing Bev Perdue governor keeps the local elections boards in democratic hands (even in Repub-leaning counties).

Too bad for the state Repubs they can't keep voter numbers down; high turnout usually hurts them, and this year it almost certainly will. Their suppression and intimidation tactics won't work in this state.

Of course, this year those tactics haven't worked out so well in Ohio, either!:eyes:

B-)

[Kalifornia.Kid]

9. Democracy Done Right

The full elections board, including one Republican member, voted unanimously on Friday to open two additional voting sites Sunday, bringing the total to five.

[scytherius]

11. I don't care if it works against the Dems . . .

it should always be as easy as possible to vote.

[yellowcanine]

12. They sound bitter that their candidate does not get big crowds like that.