Just Voted Here In Ohio, And It Got Me To Thinking...........

[ChoppinBroccoli]

Here in Ohio, we have early voting. Got my absentee ballot in the mail yesterday, and I filled it out this morning. It was also very helpful because I got the standard "here are the Democrats you should vote for" flyer in the mail at the exact same time (it's helpful because in races like Supreme Court Justice and Court of Appeals Judges, etc., the candidates' Party is not listed). I voted straight-ticket Democrat EXCEPT for a couple of judges I happen to know personally and know to be good people and good judges.

After I loaded my ballot up into the envelopes (there were two--and they were very distinctively marked, making it obvious to anyone that they're mail-in ballots), an idea occurred to me. I bet a lot of people are going to participate in early voting by mail here in Ohio. And here in Ohio, we've got a pretty tight race going on between Ted Strickland and Captain Toolbox John Kasich for Governor. I thought, if I were a mailman, what would stop me from taking the ballots I pick up from houses with Kasich signs in the yard and just tossing them all in a big dumpster somewhere (yes, I know that most people drop their mail in the public mailboxes, but you have to expect that at least a FEW people are going to take it down to the end of the driveway and raise the little red flag on their home mailbox)? I mean, besides the possibility of being convicted of a felony and being sent up the river. If I were a hardcore partisan, and I had a job that allowed me access to people's mail, what would stop that me from "losing" a whole bunch of votes for the person I wanted to see lose? Especially in an election that's expected to be as tight as this one (a few votes here or there--or a few hundred--could sway things one way or the other).

Then THAT thought got me to thinking about something else. Who's to say that this sort of thing isn't ALREADY happening? Would any of us on this board put it past the Republican Party to have a scheme in place whereby their Party lackeys all go out and get civil service jobs just for this specific purpose? This is the kind of sneaky, devious thinking right-wingers are KNOWN for (and the kind that seems to never occur to left-wingers until it's too late). If I heard there was a plan in place for this sort of thing to happen on a nationwide basis, I know I would not be shocked even a little bit. In fact, now that I've thought of it, I'm starting to wonder if it isn't already going on. Because if Average Joe Citizen like me can think of it, you KNOW some Republican Party "strategist" has ALREADY thought of it.

[BeFree]

1. Penny-anny stuff

The pubbies have moved beyond that.

They now steal votes electronically.

As an example: Just recently, Shelby county Tenn. had 6,000 more votes than they had voters.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

3. I Understand Your Point, But.............

.........let's not forget that we're talking about the Party that authorized their lap-dogs to go out and slash the tires of the vans that were going to pick up people from their homes and drive them to the polling places in 2004. I think if they could figure out a scheme to stop just ONE Democratic-minded person from voting, they'd do it and not think twice.

[BeFree]

6. yeah

Welcome to our nightmare. We can never rest, never ever give them the benefit of a doubt. They hate America and prove it every day.

[Howler]

2. WOOT!

My Husband and I just our ballots too!!!

I'm really hoping that the rest of Ohio remembers the corruption of the Taft administration and also stay away from Portman and Husted! (spelling)

[ChoppinBroccoli]

7. I Know Husted Personally

That is to say, he has brushed past me without speaking several times in the past. His daughter used to go to the same daycare as my sons, and we would often cross paths in the parking lot or in the hallway. The guy's a first-class toolbox and his wife is even worse. I wish anybody who's even considering voting for that A-hole would come talk to me, because I've got some stories that would definitely change their minds.

And I agree that what we should be doing is reminding people over and over, ad nauseum, just how bad things were under Taft, and that the Republicans want to take us back there. It's nice that we can tie to Portman to Bush (he was Bush's Budget Director, for God's sake), but it doesn't seem to be working (he's still leading in the polls--although I don't trust those polls one bit).

If I were running Strickland's campaign, I'd do nothing more than take Kasich's ads and just cut them up. For example, I'd take this latest one where he talks about "educating our children," I'd take that quote of him saying that, and then throw in a voice-over saying something like, "and he plans to do that by slashing the funding for our public schools." And what really kills me is when Kasich and Portman show up in their ads and say, ".........and that's why I have a plan to bring jobs back to Ohio." Funny thing is, they won't tell you what the plan is. Even when reporters ask them what the plan is, they won't tell them. I wish Strickland would start pushing Kasich to reveal this mysterious "plan" he says he has, because he also said he had a plan to balance the budget, yet his own running mate (supposedly the top accountant in the State of Ohio) can't even explain how he fills the $4 billion hole in the budget (and that's BEFORE he makes good on his promise to completely do away with State Income Tax).

[Howler]

13. ((((SHIVER))))))

Just reading about Husted in the "Dayton Daily" these last years is enough to know he needs to GO!!!!

I love Strickland and FINALLY I have been seeing pro Strickland commercials there for the longest time it was all anti Strickland 24/7
Sure wish Jennifer Brunner was going to stay secretary of state though. :(

I have a friend that went to school with Kenneth Blackwell who beat him up in grade school!!!! LOL! I just love her.

GO MISTY!!!!

[ejpoeta]

4. i could see how that could be a concern. but unless the person took the time

to actually open and look through the ballots to see who was being voted for which is possible, they wouldn't know whether it was for dem or republican.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

9. It Stands To Reason.............

...........that if you're on your mail route, you stop at a house with a mailbox with the red flag raised, you open it and find a mail-in ballot, and then you look in the yard and see a Kasich sign, it's pretty easy to do the math and figure out who they voted for.

[butterfly77]

5. I 'll bet someone..

will post something about a tinfoil hat but,I have thought the same thing during the bush years especially...

[JustAnotherGen]

8. That's brilliant!

And you're right - what's to stop them. Then again - they could also be doing it in reverse.

[Ninga]

10. We mail our ballots at the post office......inside.

I am Ohio voter who is fed up with our State Dem leadership.

I can't help but think that if Jennifer Brunner were the candidate instead of Fisher, Portman would not have a double digit lead.

[peace13]

11. I live in Ohio too and I always vote on paper and walk the ballot into the BOE.

For many of the reasons you discuss. Why chance your vote not making it?

[Winterblues]

12. They have had vote by mail for well over a Decade in Oregon

And everyone likes it. Conservatives, Liberals, everyone, and Oregon is a blue state...stats are kept of how many ballots are sent out and how many are recieved. Many areas are known for their politacal leanings, so it would get attention if a large number of ballots from say a Conservative area did not get returned or from a Liberal area.. I do not think it is a worry at all..Sort of like terrorism..Not really much of a worry..By the way how many Democratic Ads have you seen? I suspect many people will have already cast their ballots before the first Democratic Ads air..

[femrap]

14. After the election, aren't

you able to see that your vote was counted?

I like voting on paper. I hate those damn machines. They cost too much. They cost too much to maintain. They're inaccurate. They are easily manipulated.

Paper (from recycled paper) and pen....it's so simple. And I'm not in any hurry to have the 'winner' announced on Election Day. Take a few days and count the damn votes like they do in Germany.

I sure hope most of the Postal Carriers are Dem...I would imagine they are.