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Source: (consider it) Thread: Purgatory: The political junkie POTUS prediction thread
Erin
Meaner than Godzilla
# 2

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quote:
Originally posted by trouty:
I have just read that Obama's grandmother has died. A personal sadness for Obama but wil it have any significance for the election?

The freepers -- bottom-feeding subhuman scum that they are -- are all suggesting that he had her done in because she knew where he really was born. When the revolution comes they will be first against the wall.

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Commandment number one: shut the hell up.

Posts: 17140 | From: 330 miles north of paradise | Registered: Mar 2001  |  IP: Logged
Orb

Eye eye Cap'n!
# 3256

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The states I'll be looking out for are Colorado (it's where my mum was born and where my grandma, aunt and uncle still live - plus it's a big swinger, and where the Convention was), Missouri (it's desperately close there - this will be where the drama lies, particularly with its bellwether status) and Pennsylvania (this will pretty much decide the election).

I would have voted in Colorado, but I didn't get my finger out in time. As it happens, I voted Democrat in 2004, but even though I have been so much more enthused this time, I would feel a lot more guilty for voting. I don't live in America and I don't pay taxes there. So why should I vote?

Last time, I saw it is as essential to vote. This time, I don't.

If it's close in 2012, I'll reconsider. I have no idea how it could be though. Who would the Republicans put up?!

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“You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.” Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed

Posts: 5032 | From: Easton, Bristol | Registered: Aug 2002  |  IP: Logged
Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815

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Some serious and technical questions from a country seriously affected by the outcome, but of course with no say in it.

Let’s assume that electors committed to McCain get the majority in the College; McCain dies before the College votes. Are those electors required to vote for Palin? What if McCain dies after the College vote but before swearing in. Does Palin automatically succeed? Any answers much appreciated.

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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican

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Mamacita

Lakefront liberal
# 3659

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quote:
Originally posted by Erin:
quote:
Originally posted by trouty:
I have just read that Obama's grandmother has died. A personal sadness for Obama but wil it have any significance for the election?

The freepers -- bottom-feeding subhuman scum that they are -- are all suggesting that he had her done in because she knew where he really was born. When the revolution comes they will be first against the wall.
I knew those people were fucked up, but that's so far beyond the pale it just boggles the mind. Up against the wall, indeed.

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Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.

Posts: 20761 | From: where the purple line ends | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
Crśsos
Shipmate
# 238

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quote:
Originally posted by Gee D:
Some serious and technical questions from a country seriously affected by the outcome, but of course with no say in it.

Let’s assume that electors committed to McCain get the majority in the College; McCain dies before the College votes. Are those electors required to vote for Palin? What if McCain dies after the College vote but before swearing in. Does Palin automatically succeed? Any answers much appreciated.

I read a legal analysis of just such a situation, and as with most analyses the answer is "it depends".

What it depends on is when McCain's theoretical death occurs. Electors are not Constitutionally bound to vote for anyone in particular and could vote for Palin (or anyone else they wanted to). So if a candidate were to die after the general election and before the electors meet on December 15 the electors would probably vote for his running mate.

If the candidate dies after Congress has certified the electoral ballots early in the new year then by the terms of the 25th Amendment the Vice President Elect (Palin, in this scenario) would become the President on Inauguration Day.

Where this analysis gets complicated is what happens if a candidate dies between when the electoral votes are cast in mid-December and when they are certified by Congress in early January. According to the Twelfth Amendment:

quote:
The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President.
The question them becomes whether a dead candidate is a "person" in the meaning of the Twelfth Amendment. If he is not, then the House of Representatives would choose the next President, but only from among the top three electoral vote getters. In the context of the current race this would not include Sarah Palin, but would include Barack Obama and any third party candidates that managed to get at least one electoral votes.

Of course, it's possible the Supreme Court might get involved and rule that a dead candidate is a "person" for the limited purposes of the Twelfth Amendment. Their interference in the electoral process on specious grounds is not exactly unprecedented.

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Humani nil a me alienum puto

Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Crśsos
Shipmate
# 238

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Correction: If the candidate dies after Congress has certified the electoral ballots the Vice President Elect will become the President under the terms of the Twentieth Amendment, not the Twenty-Fifth. Sorry for any confusion this might have caused.

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Humani nil a me alienum puto

Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Foaming Draught
The Low in Low Church
# 9134

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Live Free or Die!

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Australians all let us ring Joyce
For she is young and free


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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468

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quote:
Originally posted by kentishmaid:
I'm a bit worried that these people could be right. Are his assertions at all credible?

I'm afraid so. Fits with the links I posted above, and with the mess during/after the last two presidential elections.

Expect a huge fuss about the accuracy of the vote, no matter who wins. Hopefully, it won't peter out this time.

[Votive]

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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")

Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged
kentishmaid
Shipmate
# 4767

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That is a shame. Well, then, I share your hope that it is rectified whatever the results.

Thinking of you all - I shall be glued to whatever BBC coverage we have. I presume your TV and radio stations will have state by state coverage including charts showing the changing 'colours' of the country? (Is there anywhere online I can see such a thing - the BBC site appears to be fairly static in that regard atm.)

(/Slight tangent: There was some fascinating analysis last night on 'Start the Week' on Radio Four. They had Susan Jacoby, author of 'The Age of American Unreason' on talking about the way in which many voters had become disengaged from the process because they did not know who had been involved in the writing of the Declaration of Independence or when etc etc I think I'm going to have to read up, because I only had a vague idea about such things - a few names and the century, pretty much./End of Slight Tangent)

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"Who'll be the lady, who'll be the lord, when we are ruled by the love of one another?"

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Barnabas62
Shipmate
# 9110

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Fox Noise latest

We've recently got satellite TV and, thanks to Shipmates, I'd had some warnings about this station. I've watched some to tone up my critical muscles and been, by turns, initially amused but now pretty shocked. Strange stuff to see for a man who has grown up with the BBC.

Even following the release of this poll, Fox News last night was still beating the drum about tightening margins in the battleground state. And scratching around for "Hail Mary" events in the emetic "O'Reilly Factor".

The reality is that McCain can still win, but the odds are now very long indeed. Looking at the stats in the Fox poll, McCain has lost all the major arguments. So the only real "hope" for a McCain win is a massive Bradley effect. Not to mince my words, racial prejudice by a significant proportion of voters, concealed from pollsters and manifested in the privacy of the election booth.

I hope Fox are not playing for this "hope". But after watching last night's broadcasts, I formed the impression that at least some of their broadcasters were doing just that. Nasty.

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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815

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Thank you Croesus. My understanding was that the Palin succession was only certain after the swearing in. I had overlooked the certification of the Electoral College vote.

Of course, nothing I said was a hope that McCain (or anyone else for that matter) would die. It was a purely theoretical and rather lawyerlike question.

[ 04. November 2008, 08:55: Message edited by: Gee D ]

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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican

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Pigwidgeon

Ship's Owl
# 10192

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quote:
Originally posted by kentishmaid:
Is there anywhere online I can see such a thing - the BBC site appears to be fairly static in that regard atm.

CNN.com is supposed to have live coverage this evening.

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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf

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LeRoc

Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216

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Just chipping in to wish you a Happy Voting.

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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)

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Lietuvos Sv. Kazimieras
Shipmate
# 11274

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Just got back from my polling station in Wilmington, Delaware. The polls here opened at 7.00. I got there about 6.40 and had to park on a sidestreet down from the school, as all the parking on the street directly in front had been taken. There were probably 35 people in line already. I got done voting at 7.15, at which point the queue was growing down the street but still not outlandish. I would suspect it would get really big by 8.00, an hour after the polls opened. Voting was going very breezily, but I wonder what the situation will be tonight with after-work voters. BTW, this state doesn't have early voting, so it's all on election day.
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713

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Good Morning America!

Is LSK the first voter then (discounting early fvoters and postals)? Did anyone get in before (I think) 7:15 EST?

[ 04. November 2008, 11:41: Message edited by: Sioni Sais ]

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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"

(Paul Sinha, BBC)

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trouty
Shipmate
# 13497

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I keep asking the same question, but what are the predictions for the outcome of the election? Is Obama certain to win?
Posts: 205 | From: Somewhere out there | Registered: Mar 2008  |  IP: Logged
Lietuvos Sv. Kazimieras
Shipmate
# 11274

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I wish Obama were certain to win, but I don't see how one can make such predictions with absolute certainty. The rationale evidence is that Obama will win, but there's at least the fear that some unaccounted factors - more robust racism in the electorate than has been understood - will lead to an upset in favour of McCain.
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tclune
Shipmate
# 7959

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quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
Good Morning America!

Is LSK the first voter then (discounting early voters and postals)? Did anyone get in before (I think) 7:15 EST?

Yup. I was in and out before 7:05. As they say in Chicago, Vote early and often!

--Tom Clune

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Posts: 8013 | From: Western MA | Registered: Jul 2004  |  IP: Logged
moron
Shipmate
# 206

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quote:
Originally posted by Lietuvos Sv. Kazimieras:
I wish Obama were certain to win, but I don't see how one can make such predictions with absolute certainty. The rationale evidence is that Obama will win, but there's at least the fear that some unaccounted factors - more robust racism in the electorate than has been understood - will lead to an upset in favour of McCain.

It would only be an upset if you believe the media polls. [Devil]

But I think now, given the abysmal* campaign McCain ran, we can reasonably expect President Obama.

And FWIW, you have to give him credit for motivating people to participate: when I voted last week the clerk told me the number of early voters was more than double (then, with several days left) any previous election.

(*In fairness, there's only so much an alleged conservative can do.)

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Izzybee
Shipmate
# 10931

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I'll be voting at about 3pm (lines permitting) it's when Mr. Iz gets home from work - we plan to go vote as a family, taking the Izlet with us - I like the idea of her seeing us actually vote and at least knowing what goes on, it was something my parents never did.

Then it's home to watch coverage! Actually, it's home to watch the SNL election special we recorded last night, the Daily Show we recorded last night, and then watch some live coverage.

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Hate filled bitch musings...

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Photo Geek
Shipmate
# 9757

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At my tiny precinct I waited about 10 min to vote at 7:35.

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"Liberal Christian" is not an oxymoron.

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New Yorker
Shipmate
# 9898

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45 minute wait in Manhattan; could have been worse. I think I waited several hours in 2000.
Posts: 3193 | From: New York City | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
mousethief

Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953

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quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
Good Morning America!

Is LSK the first voter then (discounting early fvoters and postals)? Did anyone get in before (I think) 7:15 EST?

From the ship or in the nation? Follow Foaming Draft's link for the answer to the second.

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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...

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FreeJack
Shipmate
# 10612

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Can't they just set up more polling stations or hire more vote clerks to speed things up? It's not like the election date is a surprise.

I have never had more than 3 people ahead of me here in England, including elections with a 80% turnout announced at 3 weeks notice.

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mousethief

Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953

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quote:
Originally posted by FreeJack:
Can't they just set up more polling stations or hire more vote clerks to speed things up?

Yes and no. To obtain a ballot you must present picture ID and sign your name in the roll of registered voters in your precinct. The list is split up into a couple or three books, so you have one clerk (actually a volunteer from the neighbourhood) manning each book. It would be possible in theory to print the book in even more pieces, if they could find the volunteers, and if there were room at the polling station. But once the books are printed up, adding more volunteers won't speed it up.

(This is how it is done here, and how it was done in Chicago -- maybe other places in the country do it differently?)

I wonder how many people are in each polling district thingee (we call them precincts) in your country? Maybe part of the problem is our precincts are too large. But then again it would require finding more polling places and more volunteers to man the sign-in. As it is I believe it is not uncommon for two or three precincts to share a polling place, usually in my experience a large room (sometimes the gym) in a church or school. Although I did once vote in the common room of a very large condo building.

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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...

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Crśsos
Shipmate
# 238

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More voting booths would have greatly speeded up the process at my polling place. I arrived around 6:30am (EST), but didn't cast my ballot until around 8:00am (EST). Part of that is the "vote before work" phenomenon, as the line was about half the length when I left as it was when I arrived. This phenomenon is not helped by the fact that the polls close relatively early (7:00pm) in my state, which is now considered to swing.

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Humani nil a me alienum puto

Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
New Yorker
Shipmate
# 9898

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quote:
Originally posted by Erin:
When the revolution comes they will be first against the wall.

Can we postpone the execution for just a few minutes? I cannot get into Free Republic. It must be swamped. Would you try and see if you could get in? Or, could it be that the censorship has already started?
Posts: 3193 | From: New York City | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
tclune
Shipmate
# 7959

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quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
To obtain a ballot you must present picture ID and sign your name in the roll of registered voters in your precinct.

As a point of information, the law only requires ID from new voters. In my little town, I haven't presented an ID ever (it wasn't required when I first started voting here). Of course, I know the people manning the polls. But the law does not require people to show ID even in the big cities unless they are new on the rolls of that precinct. FWIW

--Tom Clune

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Posts: 8013 | From: Western MA | Registered: Jul 2004  |  IP: Logged
Hiro's Leap

Shipmate
# 12470

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Today I mentioned the US election to the woman who runs my local newspaper shop. She looked blank for a moment then said "I think the Jamaican man will win! But then he'll die."
[Paranoid]

Posts: 3418 | From: UK, OK | Registered: Mar 2007  |  IP: Logged
Mere Nick
Shipmate
# 11827

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quote:
Originally posted by Erin:
quote:
Originally posted by trouty:
I have just read that Obama's grandmother has died. A personal sadness for Obama but wil it have any significance for the election?

The freepers -- bottom-feeding subhuman scum that they are -- are all suggesting that he had her done in because she knew where he really was born. When the revolution comes they will be first against the wall.
Do many of them also believe that the 9/11 attacks were an inside job?

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"Well that's it, boys. I've been redeemed. The preacher's done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlasting's my reward."
Delmar O'Donnell

Posts: 2797 | From: West Carolina | Registered: Sep 2006  |  IP: Logged
tclune
Shipmate
# 7959

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quote:
Originally posted by New Yorker:
quote:
Originally posted by Erin:
When the revolution comes they will be first against the wall.

Can we postpone the execution for just a few minutes? I cannot get into Free Republic. It must be swamped. Would you try and see if you could get in? Or, could it be that the censorship has already started?
I have been tempted! I wanted to misuse my hostly powers to censor your post. [Devil] But the Lord has lifted me out of my depravity, and vouchesafed me safe on the shores of hostly virtue. Halleluiah! Can I get an "Amen!"

--Tom Clune

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Posts: 8013 | From: Western MA | Registered: Jul 2004  |  IP: Logged
mousethief

Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953

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quote:
Originally posted by tclune:
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
To obtain a ballot you must present picture ID and sign your name in the roll of registered voters in your precinct.

As a point of information, the law only requires ID from new voters.
In which state? This is a state-by-state thing.

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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...

Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Clint Boggis
Shipmate
# 633

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Careful Tom - power can corrupt people. I wonder if it will affect Obama?
Posts: 1505 | From: south coast | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
Soror Magna
Shipmate
# 9881

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quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
... (This is how it is done here, and how it was done in Chicago -- maybe other places in the country do it differently?)...

Or outside? [Biased] In Canada, each riding is subdivided into polls - in my riding, there are about 160 polls. Everyone on the voters' list gets a card in the mail telling them their poll number. When I go to vote, there are usually about eight polls in the school gym, and I go and sign in at my preassigned poll, where they have a sign-in book with just the voters in that poll. One volunteer has the book, another has the ballots.

If you don't have your card or know your poll number, then you go to another station first to look up your poll number. And of course, if you need to register, you do that first.

Of course, we usually have far fewer options on our federal and provincial ballots, and they're always paper. IIRC, only my municipal election has machine-read ballots (fill in the bubble), because we are voting for multiple candidates and resolutions.

Call me a Luddite, but I'm a firm believer in paper trails. If Diebold can make ATMs that issue receipts, why don't Americans insist the voting machines do as well? [Paranoid] OliviaG

Posts: 5430 | From: Caprica City | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
Tractor Girl
Shipmate
# 8863

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Um, can anybody give me, (in UK time if poss), the approximate window - like probable couple of hours - within which it is likely we will have a result announced?

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Patience, Firmness and Perseverance were my only weapons; and those I resolved to use to the utmost - Anne Bronte

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moron
Shipmate
# 206

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quote:
Originally posted by OliviaG:
If Diebold can make ATMs that issue receipts, why don't Americans insist the voting machines do as well? [Paranoid] OliviaG

I don't know who made my recent voting machine but it was entertaining watching the print paper mechanism scroll back and forth when I 'inadvertently' poked the incorrect touch screen menu dealie and then corrected my mistake.

I am concerned about germs, though: there were a lot of people touching that screen before me. [Paranoid]

Posts: 4236 | From: Bentonville | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
mousethief

Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953

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quote:
Originally posted by Tractor Girl:
Um, can anybody give me, (in UK time if poss), the approximate window - like probable couple of hours - within which it is likely we will have a result announced?

If it's like 2000, sometime between tonight and December.

But barring that, I wouldn't be too sure until polls close in California, which I would think 7:00 or 8:00 PST. One of our Californian shipmates can maybe help us out there.

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Tractor Girl
Shipmate
# 8863

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Thanks Mousethief, assuming I am working 8 hours ahead, that means I can get a good few hours sleep in, which will be cool [Smile]

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Patience, Firmness and Perseverance were my only weapons; and those I resolved to use to the utmost - Anne Bronte

Posts: 1114 | From: The field of life | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Mere Nick
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# 11827

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quote:
Originally posted by mjg:
quote:
Originally posted by OliviaG:
If Diebold can make ATMs that issue receipts, why don't Americans insist the voting machines do as well? [Paranoid] OliviaG

I don't know who made my recent voting machine but it was entertaining watching the print paper mechanism scroll back and forth when I 'inadvertently' poked the incorrect touch screen menu dealie and then corrected my mistake.

I am concerned about germs, though: there were a lot of people touching that screen before me. [Paranoid]

So what if a voting machine gives you a receipt, though? All it would have on it, if programmed properly, is what you would want to see. That doesn't have to be the same thing recorded in the machine.

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"Well that's it, boys. I've been redeemed. The preacher's done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlasting's my reward."
Delmar O'Donnell

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Hiro's Leap

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# 12470

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quote:
Originally posted by mjg:
I don't know who made my recent voting machine but it was entertaining watching the print paper mechanism scroll back and forth when I 'inadvertently' poked the incorrect touch screen menu dealie and then corrected my mistake

So come on then mjg, fess up - after all this debating, which way did you eventually swing? [Big Grin]
Posts: 3418 | From: UK, OK | Registered: Mar 2007  |  IP: Logged
ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460

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quote:
Originally posted by Tractor Girl:
Um, can anybody give me, (in UK time if poss), the approximate window - like probable couple of hours - within which it is likely we will have a result announced?

In tedious detail in my very long post near the bottom of the previous page!

Executive summary: If there is a big swing to Obama in some of the early states we'll have a good clue from exit polls at about midnight here.

If not the chances are we wait for the midwestern states to close polls at about 0200 GMT. Those exit polls will almost certainly tell us who wins unless the race is very close. Actual count data will be coming in from maybe 0100 our time, and most of it will be with us by perhaps 0500.

Things could be delayed if any large states such as Ohio have very very close results or recounts or keep the polls open for logner than planned.

The very final votes - from the remoter parts of Alaska, some pacific islands, and absentee ballots mailed before the deadline but not yet delivered - won't be counted till the end of the week but there is no real chance they could affect anything. But that's what we said in 2000...

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Ken

L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.

Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
mousethief

Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953

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quote:
Originally posted by Tractor Girl:
Thanks Mousethief, assuming I am working 8 hours ahead, that means I can get a good few hours sleep in, which will be cool [Smile]

I somewhat misspoke -- the ballots take time to be counted after the polls close. They have to be transported to the official tallying place, then all the machines debriefed / ballots in boxes counted, and the ballots safely stored in case there needs to be a recount. Could be well into the night (here; we're on CA time), or even into the wee hours of the morning before there's anything definitive, at least in a very close race. The coverage will say things like "Ohio is XX% for Obama with YY% of precincts reporting," and then as the night wears on, more and more precincts from each state will have been counted, and the numbers will change. If you're at all an election junkie, it's a very exciting night of TV.

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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...

Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Rat
Ship's Rat
# 3373

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I take all the sleep I can get these days, but in the not unlikely event that one of the Children With Colds decides to play up tonight, at least the cold watches of the night will be enlivened by election results.

Ooh, I do love an election.

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It's a matter of food and available blood. If motherhood is sacred, put your money where your mouth is. Only then can you expect the coming down to the wrecked & shimmering earth of that miracle you sing about. [Margaret Atwood]

Posts: 5285 | From: A dour region for dour folk | Registered: Oct 2002  |  IP: Logged
tclune
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# 7959

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quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
quote:
Originally posted by tclune:
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
To obtain a ballot you must present picture ID and sign your name in the roll of registered voters in your precinct.

As a point of information, the law only requires ID from new voters.
In which state? This is a state-by-state thing.
Not quite. There is a federal minimum standard that was passed in the "Help America Vote" act. It requires ID for first time voters at the polls if they did not show ID at the time of registration (e.g., if they registered by mail).

States can pass more restrictive laws, but it is subject to such things as civil rights laws. If the requirements are deemed to be targeted to disenfranchising certain groups, they are suject to legal challenge. It would not surprise me if the feds go after some of the voter-roll purging practices of some states, for example, if Obama wins. This has been a favorite Republican practice for skewing the electorate their way for a number of years.

--Tom Clune

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This space left blank intentionally.

Posts: 8013 | From: Western MA | Registered: Jul 2004  |  IP: Logged
mousethief

Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953

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Ooh, and exit polls, good point ken. Exit polls give a pretty good indication of voting results. Historically they've been very accurate but as ken notes in a close race they may not be accurate enough. These too will be reported in the election-night coverage.

(For those who need a definition: "Exit polls" means people standing outside the precinct voting places and asking people as they come out who they voted for.)

[ 04. November 2008, 14:38: Message edited by: mousethief ]

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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...

Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Living in Gin

Liturgical Pyromaniac
# 2572

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I voted for Obama today in Manhattan's 80th Precinct in Washington Heights. My wait time was about 20 minutes, and my experience was uneventful.

The one unique thing about voting in NY is the use of these huge, refrigerator-sized voting machines that were built of cast iron sometime during the Millard Filmore administration. There's something gratifying about pulling that huge metal lever to cast your vote. [Big Grin]

MT gives a good overview of what to expect this evening... Also, ballots in urban areas typically take longer to count simply because there's more people, so expect the cities to lag behind the rest of the states in reporting the results. Given that much Obama's support comes from urban areas, these late results could potentially make or break the statewide vote.

Here's a handy Electoral Vote Map to play around with while waiting for returns.

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It's all fun and games until somebody gets burned at the stake.

Posts: 1893 | From: Cincinnati, USA | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
FreeJack
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# 10612

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quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
I wonder how many people are in each polling district thingee (we call them precincts) in your country? .

I think the electorate in my ward [the smallest electoral division in England] is 7,200. There are two polling centres covering the western and eastern halves of the ward, which have no political significance but you have to vote in the designated centre, usually a school or church hall or similar. On entry to the centre there are then two different voting areas for residents of roads starting A-K and L-Z. There would usually be three clerks for each set of roads, one with the electoral register, one with the voting papers, one by the ballot box. About four or five actual private booths by the side.

So the only slow part is finding the name on the register, which is sorted by roads. No need to present ID (which is possibly where speed is gained but integrity lost here).

But basically each set of clerks has from 15 hours to process about 1,300 electors showing up out of say 1,800. In local elections they have 13 hours to process about 800 voters.

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Rev per Minute
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# 69

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What amazes me is the way networks 'call' each state for a particular candidate before votes are counted. In the UK the usual thing is to wait until the votes are counted (all the votes, Florida!) before a constituency is declared, even by the TV stations - although they will often say things like "There are signs of an upset in Flydale North, where Harriet Jones is facing a strong Dalek challenge" [Razz] This means that we are likely to know the winner of the US election, held in time-zones 5 to 10 hours behind GMT, earlier in the evening than we would our own election if held at the same time. There are projections through the evening, but no-one would call seats on the basis of exit polls or early tallies. I guess the size of states - and even of Congressional districts - is much greater than UK constituencies (average of 50-60,000 voters) and so easier to extrapolate from more local polls, but even so it continues to surprise me.

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"Allons-y!" "Geronimo!" "Oh, for God's sake!" The Day of the Doctor

At the end of the day, we face our Maker alongside Jesus. RIP ken

Posts: 2696 | From: my desk (if I can find the keyboard under this mess) | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Erin
Meaner than Godzilla
# 2

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quote:
Originally posted by New Yorker:
quote:
Originally posted by Erin:
When the revolution comes they will be first against the wall.

Can we postpone the execution for just a few minutes? I cannot get into Free Republic. It must be swamped. Would you try and see if you could get in? Or, could it be that the censorship has already started?
Actually, the moderator was removing the posts as fast as they were being posted last night. Considering what was left, can you imagine how bad they were?

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Commandment number one: shut the hell up.

Posts: 17140 | From: 330 miles north of paradise | Registered: Mar 2001  |  IP: Logged
mousethief

Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953

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Well, Rev, I think they got stung just a little in 2000 and are more careful. One hopes, anyway.

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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...

Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged



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