Community Chat

[Pearlee]

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@DoneTryin wrote:

@Pearlee yes, I know it made national news.  Many of us don't understand how it works, so why do it that way I don't know.  All registered voters get a mail-in ballot & if anyone wants to vote at a polling place they can.  They have to surrender the ballot they received in the mail when they go in to vote.  

I've never heard of that tv show.  What channel is it on?

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@DoneTryin  It's a really great show. It's on the Investigation Discovery Network (known as the ID) Network which is pretty much all about true crime.  I have a thread about this TV show in the TV and Movies forum.  Take a look at Wiki - this guy is just great!  Love Joe Kenda!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Kenda

[Melania]

We have both. If we did the computerized version we were given a number. 

What I didn't think was right was that they gave people a card with a D or R to walk around the room with. The Scarlett Letter...per se. It was shady.

This is the where at last pres election they wanted ID's which were illegal in our state and they knew it. So something is up with that.

[Mominohio]

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@Stray wrote:

We have electronic here in my town in NJ.   I love it....this election cycle has really opened my eyes about the voting process in this Country.  It seems our votes mean very little.  I never knew much about delegates and how different the process is state to state.  I think the voting process should be consistent throughout the Country.  I surely hope kids are paying attention in schools and that teachers are using this process as teaching moments.   I really was quite clueless and it is quite fascinating. 

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@Stray

I certainly won't chastise you, but it has been apparent to me since the Gore/Bush run for president in 2000, that people in this nation have no idea of how the general election system works in this country, let alone the relative nightmare the primary elections are.

In my frustration, I say the primary system, first should be revamped and made the same in all states, but then as a strong defender of states rights, I know that would be one more 'local' thing that people would no longer have control over. I fail to see why the people of some states don't choose to change their system themselves (which is really the way it should be handled), to make it easier and more fair (I just don't get the caucus thing, seems to disenfranchise so many).

But at any rate, most people are really clueless about the whole delegate selection process, then those delegates have an entire set of rules and procedures, some of which include not having to vote for the candidate they were elected to vote for. Both parties conventions have different rules and procedures from each other, and as is apparent in this election cycle, there is all kinds of deal making and loopholes so that the actual voice of the people can be subverted. 

IT is what it is, and has been in place (but kind of fluid) for a long time. What people need to do is really learn the process, then advocate change locally to begin with, if they don't think the system is fair. 

I do find it funny that one candidate in particular, who has used the system and it's loopholes his entire life, is now whining about the fact that he has to battle those same kind of things to get the nomination. Not used to being outsmarted, and it doesn't sit too well. Tells me that even some of the candidates campaigns don't know the most intricate nuts and bolts of the processes, or never thought it would all come down to them being invoked.

[deepwaterdotter]

Been voting for 42 years, always used a paper ballot.

[bri20]

I've been using the eletronic ballot for as long as they have been offered.

Before electronic voting, we had a punch ballot. 

[Pearlee]

@Mominohio  The thing is, political parties are private entities.  They are not governmental entities.  Political parties formulate their own rules. People think parties are parts of the government but they are not.

[Mominohio]

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@Pearlee wrote:

@Mominohio  The thing is, political parties are private entities.  They are not governmental entities.  Political parties formulate their own rules. People think parties are parts of the government but they are not.

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Yes. you are very right, and I know that but wasn't getting it said in my long post very well, so thanks for putting that together better than I did. When I was referring to the states all having their own procedures, I was only skirting that fact, I guess! 

You are also very right that people assume the parties are part of the government and the indeed aren't. That is why they can run their conventions and primaries as they see fit, state by state. 

Thanks for that critical point clarified!

[ChynnaBlue]

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@sunshine45 wrote:

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

Does anyone know if you can vote by mail for the primaries ... or do you have to go in person?

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we have absentee voting AND we have early in-person voting in certain polling places. today was our official primary election day.

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You need to check with your local officials. Primaries and caucuses vary WILDLY from state to state and there's no way I would hazard a guess about your own elections and give you the wrong information.

[ChynnaBlue]

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@sunshine45 wrote:

we had voting in our state today.....i am sure some of you are watching the primary coverage.

interestingly,we used PAPER ballots (fill in a oval  with a black penfor your choices) today and then fed them into a machine to record our votes. are other states going back to using paper ballots?  it seems we had been using voting machines for quite some time now.

they were also out of the I VOTED stickers!

i guess that is a GOOD thing though.

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Some states are going back to paper ballots because they've found that voting machines bought over a decade ago are getting old and causing problems and upgrading is expensive. It started a few years ago. You can read about it here: http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/222470-states-ditch-electronic-voting-machines

Texas still uses voting machines with no receipt or print out and they don't allow cell phones to be turned on in the voting area. But every election I ask them for a receipt to make a point of it and then take a picture of each page of my completed ballot. So far I haven't had anyone hassle me about the phone and the pictures.

My city and county have different election dates most of the time and it's ridiculous. There have been times when I've voted 4 times in 5 months because we've had county/state and then city elections and each one had a runoff election. But it means I ask them about printed receipts as often as 6 times a year and nothing ever comes of it.

[DJs mom]

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@151949 wrote:

Here in Florida we use the paper ballots that are then run through the machine that reads what we marked. When we lived in Pa they had used voting machines until about 2004 when they changed over to voting via computers. I liked the computers and there were people there to assist those who needed help with using them.

Something I always dislike here in Sarasota Co. is after you sit at a desk and get registered and sign in they give you the paper ballot. Then you stand up and get in line, however they don't take the people in line in order, they call your name and the name they call goes next, even if he is the 5th person back in the line, so in a tight  cramped space there are all these people struggling to get to the front once their name is called.Last time DH & I were standing together in line - I was called and went to vote while he waited, When I was all done he was still waiting in line, and continued to wait at least another 10 min. I had to go and wait for him outside in the rain as there was no where for me to stand inside. They really need to either find a better way to do this or a larger space where there is enough room.

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I live in PA (Philly to be exact) and we voted yesterday. We use voting machines here. @151949 I wonder if certain cities in PA use machines and others use computers. I have never used a computer, been using machines ever since I started voting 24 years ago.