A strange thing happened when I went to vote......

[Missy M]

I signed in and there was one man ahead of me. There was a person in the voting booth and she was in there 10 minutes while I was waiting so I started mumbling and the man ahead of me turned and said she was already in the booth for 15 minutes before I got there. It was a total of 25 minutes and there were only two simple propositions to read that she could have read before she entered the booth. The poll worker finally told her through the curtain her time was just about up. She waited another 3 minutes after to open the curtain and say "the man ahead of me took just as long" and left in a huff. We still have the lever voting booths so it is very simple to operate. In all my years of voting I have never encountered someone in the booth that long. It was suggested to me those two people could have been stalling to discourage people in line. Has anyone ever heard of this tactic?

[shadowknows69]

1. I put nothing past these criminals

n/t

[marylanddem]

2. Never heard of that but nothing would surprise me.

I thought you were going to say she was tinkering with the voting equipment but
I think the delay tactic was probably more likely...

[benddem]

3. that's really being an

undecided voter...either that or she is one of the illiterate Americans. It sounds like a stalling tactic to me.

[SpiralHawk]

4. sounds like a republicon

they have demonstrated over and over a lack of honor

[kestrel91316]

5. I think that's EXACTLY what they were doing.

"............those two people could have been stalling to discourage people in line............"

More of KKKarl's plan, I'm sure.

Call the hotline and report it to the Dems, then call and complain to your local elections people, too. Then call the media.

[Deja Q]

8. I doubt Karl told them to do it...

But some people are just uncivilized toilet film in general.

[Warpy]

6. Sure sounds like it.

There should be a 10 minute limit, after which a person must be evaluated for some sort of handicap and steered to an alternate voting method.

If the person is not handicapped, the person should be shown the exit right after his/her name is recorded for a future investigation.

My guess is that this is just more GOP racketeering and will be the norm across the country.

[Missy M]

9. She was definitely not handicapped in a physical way .

[gratuitous]

7. If there were only two simple propositions

What would be the point of discouraging people from voting? :shrug:

[Missy M]

13. Two simple propositions but also voting for candidates....

such as Elliot Spitzer, Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton and Louise Slaughter. I mentioned the propositions to say it couldn't have taken that long to read them.

[gratuitous]

26. Okay, I was confused

Happens to me from time to time.

Let's hope they were dyed-in-the-wool Republicans who had to steel themselves to pull the levers for Democrats. And let's further hope that now that they've done it once, they'll find it easier to do in subsequent elections.

[karlrschneider]

14. I think she meant in addition to the candidates.

No way they were the only things on the ballot.

[babylonsister]

10. Pls. post your account here for awareness; maybe someone

can compare their experience to yours.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2600685&mesg_id=2600685

[Nikki Stone1]

12. Good idea

kick

[pissedoffprogressive]

11. They are soooo scared. I can't wait for the exit polls!

:7

[newsdude]

16. What time are these usually available

I still remember the 2004 Zogby Poll at like 5 p.m. or something which declared Kerry the winner according to exit polls.

What a let down that turned out to be.

[newsdude]

15. My guess is that it's someone taking their time

Lots of people don't have the foggiest clue about who they're voting for. They don't read papers. They don't listen to the news. They don't know who's on the ballot.
Then they get there and boom! There are like 35 selections on local ballots where I work. including six or seven state proposals/local referendums.
It takes a long-time to read and digest those things if you don't know what they are going in ...

Then again, I could be wrong./

[spooky3]

17. I hope the poll worker said "two wrongs don't make a right" just to

annoy her. Sounds like a stall tactic to me too.

[HuffleClaw]

18. most folks can't program the clock on their VCR

so it could simply be someone hopelessly technically illiterate?

[Missy M]

20. Our voting machines are still the simple lever type.....

so it wouldn't apply in this situation.

[BlueEyedSon]

19. i wonder how much she got paid

[covadcalifornia]

24. i wouldn't put it past them to try this

Can you imagine how many people have to get back to work - this tactic will keep the working clss out of the booth if done in big numbers

[kerry-is-my-prez]

21. We had tons of confusing ballot measures on ours.

Next time - I'm going to have it all written down how to vote on them all so I don't have to try to recall them at the booth. And since our newspaper is stinky - I'll be calling the Dem Headquarters to see what they have to say about them all too.

[tech3149]

22. Last vote I got to make on the lever machines I forgot my glasses

It took me a few minutes to get my eyes to focus well enough to see who was who and what was where. Fortunately, I didn't have a line of people waiting for me to finish. There's a big difference between a few minutes and almost half an hour. I smell BS and planned tactics.

[lonestarnot]

23. hmmmmf.

Sounds like something they would do. Who is protecting them when they get outside after taking that long?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

25. Gotta be careful here

I know in Rhode Island we had a TON of stuff on the ballot both state and local. Even someone such as me checked three times to make sure I got it all. I can only imagine older people getting confused.

But it DOES sound like a KKKarl idea.

[Missy M]

28. This person was not older.....

I would say she was in her late 30's. I didn't see the man who did the same thing before her so I don't know his age.

[StraightDope]

27. I have...

You live in a heavily Democratic district I'd assume?

Delaying in this style is perhaps the most readily available legal tactic to suppress the vote.

[Missy M]

29. Yes, I do.