Rock the Vote!

[annissamazing]

My "I Voted Today" sticker doesn't stick to my shirt very well, so I stuck it on my monitor. But it's peeling off that too! Stupid, cheap sticker. >:(

I was a voting machine today! Punch here! Punch there! I was in and out lickety split! Well, not really lickety split. I had to wait in line! I've voted in damn near every election since I registered to vote six years ago. I have *never* had to wait in line. Last presidential election, there were maybe 5 people in front of me. In the primaries, someone came in as I left the voting booth but there was no one else there. Then there were all the times I've voted in a non-presidential election and I was the only one there. This morning there was a line halfway down the hallway. I'm really proud that so many people are turning out this year. I was shocked, though, to see older people asking for assistance in the voting booth because they didn't know how to cast their vote. That means that they have never voted before. We're talking people in their 50's and 60's. I guess voter apathy isn't just for young people anymore.

We did have the republican voter eligibility challenger at our polling place. He was a distinguished looking gentleman in a suit sitting in the corner with a clip board. He only spoke up once while I was there. The man in front of me hadn't ever voted before and hadn't registered to vote in this precinct even though he's lived in our apartment complex for four years. They gave him a provisional ballot. Not too bad. It didn't get down and dirty like I thought it might. But where was the democrat challenger?

Comments

[staucher.livejournal.com]

Isnt it kind of odd that they have these challengers? did they do that last time in OH? Just strikes me as kinda odd and elaborate seeing as the colledge will make there decisions reguardless /shrug

[annissamazing]

The law that the parties are allowed to have challengers at all precincts has been on the books since the late 1800s. It hasn't actually been used until this election. Last night, the courts decided that they would not be allowed. A higher court burned the midnight oil last night and overturned that decision. Thus, there was a challenger at my polling place. However, this morning, after I had voted, the supreme court overturned the second court's decision and the challengers were pulled.

Why are they doing this? Well, Ohio is supposed to be the battleground state that will decide this election. Normally, I discount things like that as Ohio arrogance, but since I heard it on CNN, I'm not totally discounting it.

[insatia.livejournal.com]

Even by your own writings you have attested to the dispair that some communities in Ohio are facing because of the outsourcing of jobs. Granted, I don't think that it's a problem George Bush originally created. But I don't think that he did anything to protect those jobs or to create new jobs that are just as sustainable.

And even in Seattle we are hearing just how important Ohio is. Ohio and Pennsylvania are two of the most visited states by the Presidential candidates so far.

[annissamazing]

After seeing the after-effects of outsourcing on communities such as Lorain, Ohio I became pretty vocal about not outsourcing jobs. After reading an article about how Wal-Mart forces American manufacturers to outsource, I became rabid. Here's the article: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html.

Last year President Bush visited the Timken Company in Canton, OH (if you remember, Canton is the city just south of Akron). Timken manufactures ball bearings and is a major source of jobs for the Akron/Canton area. Presidents have visited Timken for decades. They usually speak and get a photo just outside the company. President Bush said that Timken was doing what was best for Ohio and that he was doing what was best for America. Timken recently shut down 3 of their manufacturing plants and laid off 1,300 workers. They're currently building plants in China. And guess what! Timken gets a tax break for outsourcing those jobs. President Bush has declined requests to return to Timken to speak.

President Bush is not the only person to blame for the growing outsourcing problem. Clinton also bears some of the blame for granting most favored trading nation status to China. I would not have voted for Bush. But Kerry's promise to remove the tax breaks for companies who outsource U.S. jobs gave me another reason to like him.

[nixxignatius.livejournal.com]

This time I don't think either side will step back and "do the honorable thing for the country."

It could be down to a couple of votes. Gore won the popular vote last time, but didn't get the electorical college.

This time both parties are out for blood. Every vote challenged will be examined and double checked. The only state I am actually worried about is Florida.