Is Voting Absentee "Safer" In Areas That Use Electronic Voting?

[K8-EEE]

I've never voted absentee but...would it be a good thing if the Dems had a drive to do this where there are those damned rigged machines?

I guess they can STILL rig it == but at least there would presumably be a "paper trail" of our votes.

[NMDemDist2]

1. yup that's what they are saying

ask for a paper ballot or vote absentee. Gives you more time on election day to work for your local party as an "observer"

Phoenix's last municipal election was a paper ballot and i was given a pen to "blacken" the broken arrow to point to the candidate for my choice. was archaic but charming and hard not to know my "intention"

:hi:

[K8-EEE]

8. Yes I Had The EyeLiner Pen Here In L.A. Too!

Much better than the hole punching....hard not to be paranoid about that after FL. I voted against Der Groperator on a punch deal and man I was holding that sucker up to the light terrifed of any "chads" hanging around!

[Laszlo_Hollyfeld]

2. Absentee ballots have a long history and tradition

of being most likely to be mishandled, miscounted or fraudulently processed.

We have a rather inglorious tradition in this country of whimsically deciding that a ballot is past the postmark when it isn't or is incompletely filled in when it isn't, or just plain old didn't get somewhere in time.

It's really a crap shoot either way.

[K8-EEE]

9. Whoa!!

That's discouraging!

[troublemaker]

3. Absolutely!

Plus, because Repubs do better among absentees I'm concerned about scenarios where something bad happens and the WH bravely allows elections to go on as scheduled, but with a curfew or machine-gun toting guards at polling places. Any suppressed turnout makes the Bush absentee advantage decisive.

[K8-EEE]

11. Yeah Those "Old Coot" Repub Types

Who don't wanna get out of the LaZ boy and are totally paranoid and intolerant of having to like, stand in line by somebody they don't know or whatever...that's what I picture the absentee voters!

Hey this guy from Switzerland called Randi today and said he has lived there for 20 years and never seen the ExPat voters so mobilized...from a dozen or so at meetings to 100's.

Dems Abroad I think he said!! Man he better FedEx that puppy from Switzerland...

[seabeyond]

4. i hear they arent counted

unless it is a close race. i have heard it a couple times. i also heard on randi rhodes a caller saying absentee ballots, adn if they arent counted unless a close race sure would hate for there to not be a close race, cause all dems voted absentee, so i want that answer first. if they are counted

[cosmicdot]

5. news from San Diego during the primary vote

Some Votes Miscounted in Primary, Officials Say.
By Luis Monteagudo Jr. and Helen Gao
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
April 8, 2004


County officials said yesterday they discovered a new problem with the flawed March election – 2,821 absentee ballots that were miscounted in the Democratic presidential and Senate Republican primaries.

The miscounted paper ballots did not affect the outcome of the races, and county officials have corrected the results.

The software glitch that caused the miscounts has raised new doubts among county officials about the $31 million electronic voting system used in the March primaries.

County Chief Administrative Officer Walt Ekard said his confidence in the system has been "dampened." Meanwhile, a state official raised the possibility for the first time that the system could be dropped for the November election.

"All options are on the table, including decertification," said Doug Stone, a spokesman for the Secretary of State's Office.


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20040408-9999-1m8vote.html

Well, if they say so, it must be true, right?:

"The miscounted paper ballots did not affect the outcome of the races, and county officials have corrected the results."

[ParanoidPat]

6. It depends on the election laws for your state.....

.....each state's laws differ as to the treatment of OS (Optical Scan) ballots in the event of a recount in an election. Some require that the ballots simply be run through the machine again and the same possibly flawed results be accepted. The best thing to do is vote absentee anyway but it's also a good idea to check out your local Secretary of State website for a link to your local election code. :)

Read it! Know your election law! :evilgrin:

Contact your representatives in the House and Senate and ask that they back HR.2239 and the Senate version S.1980

Also contact your State Elections Director and demand a Voter Verified Paper Ballot for the safety of our elections.

[K8-EEE]

10. Thanks For The Good Advice I Will Def Research This!

Thanks all you smart people at DU!! Lots of good info to consider as usual.

[Th1onein]

Yes.

[Th1onein]

7. Yes.