Florida. Here we go again!!!!

[Sondrith]

I don't really see the problem...

"Election officials try to match the would-be voter's information with state and federal databases. If there is no match, the applicant is asked to provide more information.
This year, the legislature changed the law, requiring county elections officials to scan all voter registration applications. Any that don't match will be quickly reviewed by the Bureau of Voter Registration. If there are no typographical errors or other obvious problems, counties will ask voters for more information."

taken from the original link http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/679629.html

So are you saying that you don't want to have to provide identification? That seems kinda shady.

 

[logcabiner]

I agree. Why have a registration process at all if you're going to allow fraudulent voters slip through?

 

[logcabiner]

That only becomes an issue when one can't prove they are who they say. Correct?

 

[andysayshi]

I am truly starting to question if the US is truly a democracy. The voting system is so fucked up it's beyond belief.

In most Democratic nations, like Australia, your citizenship is all you need to vote. You don't need a convoluted registration system just to prepare to vote. I'm Australian, I can prove it, and thus am eligible to vote. We have an Electoral Roll, a big list of eligible voters names and addresses, but if for some reason you fall off the roll, you can still vote on election day.

I have an American friend working here in Australia who has tried to register to vote in his home state of Washington three times now, and the paperwork has never arrived. He's given up on being eligible to vote this year.

What's with all the machines and mixed up voting processes? Most countries still use the tried and true, recountable pencil and paper. It takes a little longer to count, but who cares? Lower margin of error, re-countable, verifiable.

Voting on a Tuesday?? You're kidding, right? Almost all Western nations hold elections on the weekend, so people can, you know, vote! A minimum wage worker is NOT gonna take a day off work and lose a days pay to vote. The whole Tuesday-vote thing was designed around the schedule of farmers - it's time to change.

Past convicted felons can't vote? See, in my country, when a criminal has served their time, they're no longer a criminal. This is such a denial of democratic rights it's beyond belief.

The US election process is seriously broken.

 

[Sondrith]

Actually the US is a republic not a true democracy. But yes the voting system is extremely fucked up. But then so is the whole election process, and that is the biggest problem.

 

[andysayshi]

My suggestions:

Citizenship = voter registration. If you have a Social Security Number, you can walk into a polling booth and vote.

Abandon any voting technology that cannot be verified or re-counted, and any voting system with a greater than 1% margin of error. (Every electronic/hole punch/optical system used currently in the USA has an error margin above 2%.)

Change election day to a Saturday or Sunday (or both).

Increase voting resources on polling day. In the 2004 election, some voters waited in line for more than 12 hours - obviously, many gave up and didn't vote. No voter should need to wait in line longer than 2 hours.

Eliminate campaign contributions - they are a direct conflict of interest and an assault on Democracy. (They occur in Australia too, and my opinion is the same - get rid of 'em!)

 

[White Eagle]

Drewsuf; I don't care which way they vote, a few people left out means nothing to me compared to what would happen if voter fraud were allowed.
I explained my typing in another thread. My thumbs don't know how to spell (LOL). I'm at home on the computer now. So you won't be burdened with my cell phone shorthand. Until another day, anyway.
Oh, and did you mean "primary" as you typed, or "primarily" as I think you intended?
Marleyisalegend; I work for the BIA, why do you ask?
White Eagle (really? what nation?); my children are healthy and happy. they learn well and i keep them in very good health insurance.

Blackfeet/Lipan Apache

 

[White Eagle]

My suggestions:

Citizenship = voter registration. If you have a Social Security Number, you can walk into a polling booth and vote.

Abandon any voting technology that cannot be verified or re-counted, and any voting system with a greater than 1% margin of error. (Every electronic/hole punch/optical system used currently in the USA has an error margin above 2%.)

Change election day to a Saturday or Sunday (or both).

Increase voting resources on polling day. In the 2004 election, some voters waited in line for more than 12 hours - obviously, many gave up and didn't vote. No voter should need to wait in line longer than 2 hours.

Eliminate campaign contributions - they are a direct conflict of interest and an assault on Democracy. (They occur in Australia too, and my opinion is the same - get rid of 'em!)

McPain would want a commission to study abandoning voting technology etc....

I agree with you, this is so fucked up.

 

[White Eagle]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26767481/

Election day could be a mess

"You change systems and throw in lots of new voters, and you can plan to be up the proverbial creek," said Kimball Brace, president of Election Data Services, a consulting firm that has tracked the voting changes.

This will affect people who want to vote but possibly will not be able to because of new laws or new equipment that election personnel do not know how to use.
My mother worked for 25 or 30 years as an election official and I have heard stories that went on and not the ones since Fla in 2000. This is not difficult to do correctly.