November 7, 2006
 by Washington Monthly Election Day Blog
Washington Monthly Election Day Blog

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, 9:15 a.m.

With the tightest senate race in the country, a contentious stem cell amendment, and brand-new Diebold electronic voting machines, the perfect storm is brewing in Missouri. Less than an hour after the polls opened in St. Louis city, the Diebold machines have already created problems. As the doors opened at a St. Louis city poll on Jefferson, two voting machines malfunctioned. The poll workers turned to the back-up optical scan ballots, which also failed to work. Having run out of options, poll workers told voters to vote manually and stuff the ballot box. This will slow down voting at this poll and require the vote to be hand counted—which, as we saw in Florida in 2000, isn't always the most reliable method. It's important to note that St. Louis City is the more diverse Democratic stronghold here. St. Louis County, which isn't using Diebold, leans more to the Republicans.

--Kate Burson
Freelance writer

Washington Monthly Election Day Blog 9:24 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (7)
 
Comments

Be sure to vote Republican today (Democrats vote tomorrow, Nov. 8); especially if you live in PA, vote for Santorum -- the non-partisan Center for Security Policy has identified some of the companies linked to terrorists that his opponent, Casey as Treasurer, supports through the Pennsylvania State Pension fund -- here are three specific companies and investment amounts (although Casey refuses to disclose all current investments):

Alcatel SA $6,938,383.65
Hyundai Merchant Marine $488,311.24
Statoil ASA $382,278.02

Posted by: Chuck on November 7, 2006 at 10:34 AM | PERMALINK

It's important to note that St. Louis City is the more diverse Democratic stronghold here. St. Louis County, which isn't using Diebold, leans more to the Republicans.

Well, that explains it. Diebold doesn't need to be in St. Louis County -- it already leans Republican.

Posted by: Vincent on November 7, 2006 at 10:47 AM | PERMALINK

Here in rural Missouri the polls were heavy through 9 am. We were discouraged from using the electronic machine, in favor of optical scan, due to the time it would take, (they only had one machine) and that they were saving it for handicapped voters.

Posted by: Dave on November 7, 2006 at 11:25 AM | PERMALINK

I hope you insisted on the paper ballot anyway.

First thing we do, in that hundred hours, is get paper ballots back in polling places. That is just common sense, and in this contentious political climate, recounts are a fact of life.

Posted by: Global Citizen on November 7, 2006 at 12:22 PM | PERMALINK

Today it’s important that people go out and vote. This year however, there is something on the ballot more important than a particular candidate or issue. Our biggest concern should be how our government functions. When our founding fathers wrote the Constitution they designed a unique system of government; A government that was meant to prevent any one person, or group of people from wielding too much power. They divided the federal government into 3 separate branches: the Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Then they further divided the Legislative branch into 2 separate houses. Power was split among these 4 parts. This is what we call the System of Checks and Balances, by giving each branch power they would have the ability to monitor each other and prevent mistakes or abuses of power. Currently this system is not in affect. We have no checks or balance.

Since the 2000 election, the Republican Party has controlled the executive branch as well as both parts of the legislative branch. That means one group of people controls 3/4th of our government. In the past six years the president has vetoed only one single piece of legislature from congress, also during this time the congress has rarely ever questioned presidential policy and has never denied his requests. The purpose of having separate branches of government is that they should question each other. Currently, this does not happen. A small group of Republican leaders are in complete control of all federal decision making, this form of government is called an oligarchy – not a democracy. Therefore, in order to restore our government to a true democracy it is necessary to vote for Democratic candidates in today’s congressional elections.

By simply removing the Republican majority from one house of congress we can reestablish the checks and balance that our Constitution intended the federal government to have. We must look beyond individual candidates or issues. Often it seems as if there is no difference between candidates, but we must look at the larger picture. This election is not about taxes, war or marriage – it’s about our democracy functioning properly. Until we return balance to our government, debating individual issues becomes a moot point. Our current government is broken. We must fix it. That is the beauty of the Constitution; it allows us to make corrections, to make changes when things don’t work. That’s why every citizen is given the right to cast his or her vote every two years – to affect change, to fix what is broken.

To find your local polling place visit:
www.canivote.org
www.vote411.org
www.vote-usa.org

Or call your local board of elections located in the blue pages of your phone book.

This letter was not prepared by any political group. It was written by one concerned citizen.

Posted by: scott_wik on November 7, 2006 at 12:56 PM | PERMALINK

haha, Chuck, nice one:

"the non-partisan Center for Security Policy"

this would be the non-partisan Center for Security Policy whose most prominent members are Richard Perle, Douglas Feith and Frank Gaffney, would it?

Posted by: keqrops on November 7, 2006 at 2:27 PM | PERMALINK

Chuck. That sort of disgusting partisan BS is why you guys have got to go.

Posted by: kev on November 7, 2006 at 6:44 PM | PERMALINK
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