Ostracized At Poll This Morning...

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

I went to vote in my heavily repub district, one of the most so in the entire country....and requested a paper ballot.

The response from the poll worker. "Do you have to use one?" There was a line, which I had been waiting in for 5-10 minutes, and so he did his best to make the most of the situation. His next statement was..."you should have said something when you signed in"....to which I said, "I did." As I had told the first person at the table, and she just said to tell this guy at the other end who was busy printing out tickets from the computer machine thingie.

I believe I'm the Only one at my precinct to vote paper, because the last couple of times when I've gone in late in the day, they told me so, and didn't even have the stuff out of the shrink wrap. This morning, it was still wrapped up, and he had to reach into a box to pull them out.

So....doing his best, he says to the guy behind me...."I'm sorry, you're going to have to wait. It's going to be a few minutes."

About 30 seconds later, he finds the ballots for my precinct, and he hands me it. WOW! That really took several minutes. SORRY TO FUCKING INCONVENIENCE YOU!!

So, I restrained my displeasure, and just went to vote. I discovered midway through that my ballot did not have any propositions. So I ask him, and he says...."Did you turn it over?" I replied, "Yes, not there." Although I felt like saying...."No, you FUCKING MORON, I NEVER THOUGHT TO TURN IT OVER." He goes through the papers again and finds Page 2. "Oh, I forgot to give you page 2. Sorry."

My only chance for sanity is a big win by the Dems today. It's just amazing how much of a joke this voting process has become. I guess it's where I'm living, but it's scary shit, I tell ya.

[lonestarnot]

1. Hang in there orange county dem!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. LOL! "I forgot to give you page 2?" that is too precious.

sorry about your troubles, but, man that is one funny story.

Glad you got to vote, though.

[Caoimhe]

3. Wow.. what a moran! n/t

[bigtree]

4. wait until THEY lose

they'll be screaming to completely overhaul the system with mandatory eye scans and urine tests, with an armed guard escorting voters to the (new) old paper ballot box


http://journals.democraticunderground.com/bigtree

[mduffy31]

5. Bill Maher said it best

Why can't we get this voting thing right...I mean you can't even do math in your HEAD in a casino!

[EFerrari]

6. Hang in, OCD! And thanks for following through.

:hi:

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

7. I Forgot To Mention....

They did not have any pens or pencils, so I had to borrow his.

The first thing he asked for as I returned from the booth, was "Could I get my pen back, I want to make sure I get that back."

They probably thought I was some FREAK from another galaxy. Imagine, wanting to vote with a paper record. PREPOSTEROUS!!

[Infinite Hope]

8. That sounds more like an individual issue...

It's not uncommon to have complete morons working the polls thinking everyone should do and think as they do and think.

[havocmom]

9. Tomorrow, Remember that poll worker has a boss...

and the boss of them all probably has to run for office. My guess is they will be pretty serious about listening to complaints such as yours once the counting is done and things settle down to a dull roar.

LTTE good too. Get your voice out there and you will inspire others to come forward with their tales of voting woes ;)

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

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

[CountAllVotes]

15. Welcome to the DU Tyler Durdin69

:hi: and Welcome!

CountAllVotes

:dem: :kick:

[Laelth]

18. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

:dem:

-Laelth

[reichstag911]

21. Dirty looks in Chicago?!?

I would think that most would be in agreement here. btw, It's D-u-r-d-e-n.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

28. Yes, hard to believe

[BobRossi]

11. Thanks for suffering the idiot.

I guess I didn't realize that paper was an option. Maybe they should ask each voter: "Paper or silicon".

[babylonsister]

12. As ugly as that sounds, at least you had the option of

requesting a paper ballot. I was told flat out 'no' here. :-(

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

13. I Know...That's Awful.

You're right, at least I can request one. For now.

They're trying to "weed" them out though obviously, as indicated by how resistant they continue to be each time.

There's a Democrat in CA running for SOS named Debra Bowen, who is very aware of voter fraud, and Electronic Fraud in particular. She is running against someone appointed by repub Arnie, who in turn replaced a person who was basically kicked out by the repubs. The current "appointee" has made a concerted effort to put more voting machines here in the last couple of years.

I am hoping to God that Ms. Bowen wins in this race, because she is the only hope going forward for CA, otherwise you can write off this state potentially for fraud in 2008 if this repub guy somehow cheats his way through.

[babylonsister]

14. I expressed my desire to do something more than poll watch

next election; the rethug judge told me it wouldn't be a problem to train on the eSlate machines. I questioned whether they might not be used in future because of the lack of a paper trail, and he just blew me off. I think many of the problems that will be realized today will have to be addressed; this cannot go on this way.

[Clintmax]

16. It's an inconvienence? So sorry mother f'er!

I'm glad you stuck to your guns, OCD! Kudos to you!

[oldtime dfl_er]

17. These stories are fascinating and important

I think we should have a thread just for that -- not for HUGE disenfranchisement stories, but just these kinds of things. Thanks for sharing. Since I live in "Baghdad Jim" McDermott's precinct in Seattle, I had no problems at all. Paper trail, observers, and lots of liberal voters. It was great.

[dipsydoodle]

19. Should've used an english accent

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

20. Thanks For The Recommendations!

I appreciate y'all coming to my post.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

25. nt

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

22. That is so fucking pathetic

words escape me

[Matariki]

23. Did the poll worker say : "SORRY TO FUCKING INCONVENIENCE YOU!!"

Or was that your 'thought balloon'?

You understand that poll workers are volunteers? Which means that they might not immediately know where everything is stored, or they might simply be overwhelmed. Unless the person was cursing or yelling at you or being rude or refusing to help you, it sounds like you're over reacting.

What I'm reading in your post is that the person took a few minutes to find the paper ballot, apologized to the people behind for the delay and didn't realize that the measures were on a 2nd sheet. It might be bad that the ballots were printed that way, but that's hardly the volunteer's fault.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

24. No, That Was What I Was Thinking

He wanted more than anything for me to just take the paper computer slip he had printed, and walk to the electronic machine, so he could be done with me.

He half heartedly got the materials. He had been trained to press computer buttons and print receipts, not give out paper ballots. That's how I felt.

THEY SHOULD HAVE THE PAPER BALLOTS READY TO GO. The fact they don't, indicates they could care less, and want to gear people towards the machines.

[Red Right and BLUE]

38. Poll workers have been instructed not to mention paper ballots,

suggest them, or by any means bring them up first. These poll workers have been conditioned to believe that paper ballots are bad. Hence the poll worker's attitude. It's a serious issue. The OP is definitely not overreacting.

[Matariki]

43. agreed that the policy is the problem. but NOT the volunteer poll workers.

[Laurab]

26. I feel so lucky to live where I do

in a small suburb in Western NY, where they still have the old-fashioned lever machines, and the nice, kindly elderly people there to assist, friendly and smiling. Voting here is actually a PLEASANT experience, as it should be everywhere.

[bleever]

27. How about, "Sorry if my legal rights annoy you."

Sad story, but thanks for persevering and sharing it.

[Nikki Stone1]

29. THAT's the response!

Sorry you had such a hard time this morning, below the Orange Curtain

[buddysmellgood]

30. GRRRR! Possible retort as you turn in your ballot: "I'll be back to hand you

your ass later."

[dollydew]

31. Voting

Hey, I'm in Georgia. But this time I noticed no gay marriage stuff. No hot-button emotional issues, just candidates. Is our Georgians learning? Could be.

[Warren DeMontague]

32. "Paper ballot? What are you, some kinda commie?"

Screw 'em.

[Patiod]

33. Just think about their tears of sadness and frustration tonight

as you watch the results come in

[rinsd]

34. Are DUers unable to deal with real people?

Sorry from your descript it seems you were the asshole to a bunch of volunteers.

[Lars39]

36. He wrote what he said and what he was thinking.

Going by what he said, he was polite enough.

[Red Right and BLUE]

39. Unless you understand that poll workers in some counties

have been told that paper ballots are a big no-no, unless the person who asks for one basically makes a stink.

[rinsd]

35. Are DUers unable to deal with real people?

Sorry from your descript it seems you were the asshole to a bunch of volunteers.

[earth mom]

41. Are you f-ing kidding?!

:wtf:

The guy QUESTIONED OCDs balloting choice! He had NO right to do that! :grr:

[Gormy Cuss]

42. I'm sorry, but you seem to be confusing the report of actual

actions and dialogue with OCD's rant about it.

As for those volunteers, they were supposed to be trained on how to handle the machines and paper ballots.

Edited to add link to thread on OC polling problems.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2606426

[rinsd]

46. Sorry but the report stems from the OP's action

These are volunteers who get very little training. And the OP seemed to be itching for a fight.

Just 1/2 an hour ago, when I went to vote some asshole was berating some poor girl trying to find his voter info. He even said "Jesus weren't you people trained."

Dickhead was in the wrong line (there are two precincts at the polling place)

Cool heads, people. These volunteers for an obviously thankless job.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

47. I Was Extremely Civil....

My whole point was that they were discouraging me from voting by paper. Then, they tried to intimidate me in the only way they could, but causing me embarassment, by telling the guy behind me, and basically all the people in line behind him....that it was going to take a few minutes, and they would have to wait.

NOOOOOO!!!! They were not doing anything wrong, but clearly they did not want to be bothered with something as unimportant as a paper ballot.

I tell you what....imagine you're ordering food at a restaurant, and you are ordering something specific and giving a detailed order.

So, the waitress looks over to the table next to yours and says..."I'm sorry, but it's going to be a few minutes until I take your order, because this table is taking so long with theirs.

Subtle. They may not have insulted me or told me off, but they were treating me like I was a DEVIANT for requesting a paper ballot, and if you think it was otherwise, you're mistaken.

Perhaps I should point out again that my county is like 70+% repub, and this district is probably even higher. I half expected him to say to me that I should just deal with and trust the machines, because they're always right.

[fooj]

37. From what I understand...

California adopted Florida's voting machines. Opti-scan. Great choice, eh? We KNOW that florida never has any voting irregularities...
:sarcasm:

[earth mom]

40. Can you file a complaint against that jerk?

If you can, you should. :grr:

[bigriver]

44. He asked you questions.

I don't see where the problem is. He could be asking just to make sure.

Seems to me more like you were out for a fight when you left the house.

[JackBeck]

49. Seems to me you're looking for a fight here. n/t

[ailsagirl]

45. Sorry to hear of your experience-- let's hope we win BIG today!!

[Catherine Vincent]

48. Must have been a republican.

[Tom Joad]

50. Hang in there. Liberation will come, even to those behind the Orange Curtain!