Jeb Bush declares election emergency

[lil-petunia]

Three counties are given permission to miss deadlines, combine voting areas, and take other steps. I don't know florida well enough to see if this matches the damaged areas.

NPR 1pm CST.

[tom_paine]

1. WHAT? Got a link?

This is BAD people. Under the cover of cutting some slack for the Charley recovery, another avenue for Bushevik Malfeasance is snuck in...

[lil-petunia]

5. Nope, NPR radio 1pm WBEZ chicago.

[Dirty Hippie]

2. This is for the Aug 31 primary. nt

[Jacobin]

3. And so it begins

Start taking notes, folks. The Theft of Election 2004 has just begun, on its long twisted road.

[jus_the_facts]

14. oh but it began in 2000....and continues to this day....

.....every election since has been stolen....the highway to HELL just continues it's evil course. :(

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hobarticus]

6. Classy, Jeb...using a tragedy to hijack the elction, now?

What next?

Crappy e-voting machines wasn't an emergency?

[tlcandie]

7. Trial run baby!!! Line em up!!

Heading to tbo.. homepage to see if it is there... brb

[louis-t]

15. My thought exactly!!

When I first heard, I thought "trial run". You are so right.

[Nambe]

8. LINK........free reg

Elections officials can delay start of early voting

Gov. Jeb Bush on Thursday declared an elections emergency in the counties struck by Hurricane Charley, giving local officials the power to delay early voting and more time to hire and train poll workers for the Aug. 31 primary.

Bush and Secretary of State Glenda Hood insisted the election would go on as planned in all counties, even if people have to vote in tents and use generators for power. ..

[tlcandie]

13. Thanks Nambe!

Checked tbo.com as they are usually quick on these things, but nada! Well, it seems harmless enough, but I don't put anything past jebbie.

[Birthmark]

9. Don't get paranoid.

This just allows county elections supervisors to take reality into account. If a polling place has been damaged, destroyed, or is inaccessible, then that polling place has to be changed. In order to conform to FL law, the notice of a change in polling place has to be given to voters ten days before the election. This is clearly impossible under present circumstances.

Besides, this is just for the primaries.

[lil-petunia]

12. you don't anticipate Jeb ordering up a storm 11/2?

Remember, his brother has an "in" with the weather maker.

There is logic to it. But I wonder how they will deal with it.

[Birthmark]

16. One thing at a time.

I'm *still* picking up pieces of someone's roof from my yard.

[bluedog]

10. Hurricane damage sends voters to new locations

Voters in Sanibel, Captiva, Fort Myers Beach, and parts of Pine Island and Cape Coral will not be able to vote in their usual places for the Aug. 31 primary because of storm damage, Lee County Elections Supervisor Sharon Harrington said Thursday.

EARLY VOTING
New polling places for election day will be posted on the Lee County Election Supervisor’s Web site — www.leeelections.com — as they are settled. Voters should have a photo ID or be prepared to have their signature checked against those on file. Early voting can be done between 8:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday at the following locations:
snip.


Island voters will almost certainly have to vote on the mainland.

Absentee voting could work, but so many mailboxes are gone or damaged on the islands that people may not get their ballots on time to return them by the deadline of 7 p.m. Aug. 31. Hurricane Charley damaged nearly 20 precincts so badly that they are not usable, Harrington said, and elections officials are seeking alternate polling places as close to the damaged locations as possible.

All precincts on Sanibel, Captiva and Fort Myers Beach are unusable, as well as two in St. James City and two in Bokeelia, she said.

About a dozen in Cape Coral are unlikely to be repaired on time, and one in Matlacha also is questionable, she said.

http://www.news-press.com/news/weather/hurricane/stories/040820elections.html

[tlcandie]

11. Also, seems to be a link with Miami Herald.. registration required..

I'm not registered... that is all I found atm.

[hadrons]

17. Jeb Bush declares election emergency ... brother behind in polls

[seafan]

18. A few items of note from the Miami Herald....

In keeping with the 4-paragraph rule, it's a shame here, because there are several things to note. This is a heavily distilled version:



..... Gov. Jeb Bush declared an election emergency Thursday in 10 counties.....so the Aug. 31 primary can be conducted.....
.....The governor's order allows Secretary of State Glenda Hood ''to modify, amend or suspend'' any election-related deadlines and rules until Sept. 15 for Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Lee, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia counties.

In Charlotte County, where the devastation was greatest, early voting will begin today with paper and pencils, rather than touch-screen voting machines, for 12 hours a day until the day before the election. ......And, throughout the region, thousands of National Guard troops will be able to to receive ballots from their home counties by fax or e-mail and will be allowed to fax them back to vote.

On election day, officials will create seven ''super precincts'' in the most ravaged parts of the county -- Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte -- and truck in generators to supply electricity.......Charlotte County is expected to have electricity by Aug. 29, Young said. But to be safe, the county is having generators shipped for 30 touch-screen machines at each of the super precincts.



and a couple more items....(The Hardee County supervisor of elections died in his sleep after removing debris from his home.)

(Charlotte and Lee counties use iVotronic touch screens, manufactured by ES&S.)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/9446833.htm


Why can't EVERYONE vote with pen and paper ballots???? Takes away the need for *power generators* for touch screen machines, extra ES&S personnel for *training* poll workers, *testing* the voting machines....etc, etc.

Instead, send the generators to the people who are fighting the heat, bugs, looters, health problems, where their next supply of clean water and edible food is coming from.

What if the *whole state* goes under a blackout in the runup to Nov. 2, Jeb?? Or is that all part of your devious plans?



IMHO, this is what we should be fighting like hell for right now:

Pen and paper ballots in all 50 states from now on. Votes counted by hand at each polling place, vote totals signed off on and immediately reported to the Sec. of State before poll workers leave for the night.

I have been hammering Senator Graham relentlessly about this option, as to how to obtain a nationwide emergency order for paper and pen voting.

There isn't much time left.

This is something Kerry and Edwards should start pounding on. It's got to get into the public consciousness that we have to restore the faith of the people in the sanctity of their votes.. and the disaster poised to happen with the electronic touch screens will finish us off as a democracy.

It's up to us. The media aren't helping us; the e-voting machine manufacturers aren't helping us; people such as Sen. Hagel, with a vested interest in these machines aren't helping us; Jeb and Glenda Hood, our Sec. of State, aren't helping us; the RNC is trying to crush us with this fraudulent voting scam.


We must use paper and pens to vote.

It's up to us to demand it, and LOUDLY.



</end rant>

[tlcandie]

22. GREAT rant btw!!!

I'm with you on that! It isn't hard till we can get it all figured out to where faith in voting IS restored to the satisfaction of VOTERS not elected officials!

EDIT! EEEEeeegads!!! PENCILS!?!?!? Why the hell pencils?!?!

[seafan]

23. Pencils make it easier to have our votes "corrected" by GOP operatives.

Sort of like the overseas absentee ballots in Seminole County, FL in Election 2000, that were adulterated in the county election offices by GOP operatives to "correct" for incomplete information...

A side note... Jeb doesn't think we are smart enough to vote "the right way", so we are going to have the bullet train amendment and the class size amendment on our November ballot AGAIN. Floridians already approved both of these in 2000 and 2002 respectively, but Jeb pulled out his devious plans bag again to force another vote on both issues. The arrogance is stunning.

[Selwynn]

19. Shit.

[Green Lantern]

20. They had

2000 to try the script, 2002 to take it national and now using storms and terra to take it to the house in 2004. Can we call in Haitian poll watchers here?

[Hailtothechimp]

21. This is a dry run for November n/t