A first hand account in the words of a young voter, Sarah Jamieson, in South Carolina:
Being a long-time resident and registered voter in South Carolina, I'm not suprised to hear that McCain won in our state.
I just returned home from 2 hours in line at the polls. I must say that my experience there left me very nervous. The long lines were the least of my worries after arriving. A half hour had passed before I could get an election official to direct me to the correct line to be in. I expected to show up, get in line, vote, and be on my way.
However, there were 4 lines to wait in: the first line was where you had to 'sign in,' the second, where you waited to receive a white square of paper that said something to the effect of 'verified registered voter,' and then the 3rd & 4th line, depending on your precinct where you then waited to vote. Finally, I got to the front of the 'sign in' line where I gave the election official my identification.
He quickly scrolled down a printed list of names to the letter 'J' and said that I wasn't on 'the list.' He handed my identification off to another election official who moved to a chair in the corner and was attempting to call someone I assume who could verify my voter registration. He made 3 frustrated attempts to make this phone call and returned 15 minutes later with a paper ballot. He had filled out section at the top that read, "voter not on the list, tried to call the local election headquarters but there was no answer." He instructed me on how to fill out the ballot properly and stuck me in a corner at a desk.
The majority of the state & local voting categories had one candidate running uncontested whose party affiliation was republican. Of course, there was an alloted space for a write-in candidate. I left those categories blank. The confusion, disorganization, and as disshelved if not more of a mess than this one. I'm optimistically hoping that this will not contribute to the election results but fear that such is unavoidable. I stuck my paper ballot into a plastic black box and left. My skepticism makes me worry that my paper ballot vote will not make it to the right place.
http://www.neurope.eu/articles/90419.php
....reports CNN, of the enormous numbers showing up for early voting. Many states report that their turn out last week had already exceeded voter turn out for 2004.
Voters in all early voting states are reporting excessively long waits, with 4, 5, even 6 hours or more not uncommon.
Not all states keep track of party affiliation, but of those that do, 58% of early voters are Democrats and 42% are Republicans.
AND
CNN's international news edition reports the world is dumbstruck that the most powerful nation on earth is incapable of conducting an election which permits citizens to easily vote.
Using the Federal Emergency Ballot (FWAB)
Still Waiting for Your Ballot?
In 1976, Democrats Abroad member David Froelich waited. His ballot finally turned up after Election Day. Frustrated over being disenfranchised by mail delays, he secured his congressman's support so that when the same thing happened again in 1980, his write-in ballot was validated in court. But Dave did not stop there. He worked with several congressmen on bipartisan legislation ensuring that the right to a write-in ballot would be extended to all registered U.S. voters living abroad, without a court battle.
Dave's hard work finally paid off in 1986, when Ronald Reagan signed legislation making the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB) available to all overseas voters who have properly applied for their ballots.
This write-in ballot, or FWAB, is your ticket to voting despite delays over which you have no control.
Wondering where your ballot is? Think about how good or bad the mails are where you live. If you have any doubt about whether your state-issued ballot would reach your local voting official back in the U.S. if you wait another day, wait no longer. Thank Dave Froelich (former chair of DA-Israel and activist extraordinaire) and use the FWAB!
Using the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot
The FWAB is a back-up ballot that you can vote TODAY. If you subsequently receive your state ballot, vote that, too. The FWAB is only counted if your state ballot is not received by your state by the ballot return deadline. Click here for deadlines.
1. Get the FWAB: Go to www.VoteFromAbroad.org. Simply answer the six screens of questions and download and print the nine page document. You will receive (1) Instructions (where you will find the address to send the FWAB), (2) Electronic Transmission Sheet and Federal Postcard Application (which you do NOT need); (3) The Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot, which includes a Voter's Declaration/Affirmation, the Ballot and Instructions.
2. Sign and Date the Voter's Declaration/Affirmation: When you usewww.VoteFromAbroad.org, the Voter's Declaration/Affirmation will be filled in based upon your voting state's requirements and the information you provided. You just need to review the information, sign and date it. Check the following list to see if you need a witness or additional documentation.
· Alabama: 2 witnesses OR Notary (must be over the age of 18)
· Alaska: 1 witness (dated and signed)
· Arizona: Proof of Citizenship (copy of passport or birth certificate)
· Louisiana: 2 witnesses (sign on voter's declaration form)
· Minnesota: Self Certification by putting passport number or last 4 digits of SSN on ballot return envelope
· North Carolina: 2 witnesses (must be over 18 sign and include address)
· South Carolina: 1 witness (sign on the voter's declaration form)
· Virginia: 1 witness (sign on the voter's declaration form)
· Wisconsin: 1 witness (both voter and witness must sign security envelope; witness must be a U.S. Citizen, over 18)
3. Vote the FWAB: You can either write in the candidate's name or the word Democrat. (It is unlikely that you will need the second page of the ballot). To find out who the Democratic candidates are for House and Senate, please click here. To find your Congressional District, click here, enter your voting zip code, and then click on "current election."
4. Seal the Ballot Envelope: Put your voted FWAB ONLY in a plain white envelope and seal it. Write on the outside of the envelope "Security Envelope."
5. In the Mailing Envelope: Put the sealed "Security Envelope" and the Signed and Dated Voter's Declaration/Affirmation in a mailing envelope.
6. Enter Return Address: Write your name and current mailing address in the upper left hand corner of the mailing envelope.
7. Address the Envelope: Write the address of your Local Election Office on the mailing envelope. The address of your Local Election Office is provided on your customized information sheet.
8. Double Check: Double check that you have completed everything.
9. Ensure evidence of mailing from outside the US:
· Foreign Postmark: Affix the appropriate postage. All states will accept a foreign postmark as evidence of submission from outside the U.S.
· Consular Stamp: All states have been informed by the U.S. State Department that they should accept a consular stamp as evidence of submission from outside the U.S. Using the consular service results in your mailing envelope being placed in the US postal system. Affix a $0.42 U.S. Postage Stamp.
· Commercial Courier: Some states will also accept a commercial courier service waybill as evidence of submission from outside the U.S. Using a courier service should be a last resort.Alabama explicitly refuses to accept materials sent to them by commercial couriers, such as Federal Express and DHL. If using a courier, please staple a copy of the air waybill to the ballot envelope prior to sealing the courier envelope.
10. Seal the addressed envelope - and Mail your FWAB Today!
More questions? Contact our experts at votercentral@democratsabroad.org.
What are you waiting for? Do the FWAB today!
Mailing Ballots and FWABs
Foreign Postmark: All states will accept a foreign postmark as evidence of submission from outside the U.S.
Consular Stamp: All states have been informed by the U.S. State Department that they should accept a consular stamp as evidence of submission from outside the U.S. Find your nearest US consulate or embassy.
Commercial Courier: Some states will also accept a commercial courier service waybill as evidence of submission from outside the U.S. Using a courier service should be a last resort. Alabama explicitly refuses to accept materials sent to them by commercial couriers, such as Federal Express and DHL. Consider Federal Express' reduced fee courier service for ballots at Express Your Vote.
Don't forget the postage!! Note that even if the envelope says "postage paid," this is NOT the case when you are mailing outside of the US. Make sure you add sufficient postage! Take your ballot to the post office. They can give you proof of posting for free, weigh the ballot to assure correct postage, and stamp it with a post mark, which is required in some states. Always get proof of posting!
Video the Vote went to Jackson County, West Virginia, in response to numerous reports of machine vote flipping. The local county clerk showed us the machines in question, but the demonstration left us with questions, as the machine appeared to malfunction even after it was calibrated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q9NSVUu8nk
North Carolina has been voting Republican for three decades, but now the Democrat Obama stands a chance.
Every day Thierry is out and about encouraging people to go out and vote: "We've registered 600,000 new voters in this state alone. If they all turn up on Election Day there will be a problem, because there will be such long queues that people will decide to go home again and won't vote".North Carolina is one of the states where voters can cast their ballot ahead of the election.The Obama campaign is trying to encourage this and it seems to be working. In Charlotte, the waiting time is now two hours and more.For Fleming Thierry Wernaers the campaign has been going on for two years now. He hopes it will soon be over and that Obama will win: "My wife has already said we may have to return back to Belgium, if Obama loses, but we think he will win."
Video interview here: http://www.deredactie.be/cm/de.redactie.english/news/081024_obama
http://www.deredactie.be/cm/de.redactie.english/flanders_today/1.401016Su
n 26/10/08 11:06 - In the lead up to presidential elections in the United States on November 4, Flandersnews is surveying several Americans living in Belgium. We are polling them on how they voted and why: every day a new profile of an American living in Belgium.
The United States and Belgium have traditionally been good friends and allies. U.S companies find Belgium interesting for its advantageous location, highly-skilled and educated workforce and for its access to the rest of Europe. With Brussels as the de facto capital of the European Union, it is a ‘place to be’ for Americans of all kinds and in many fields. The resident American community in Belgium now exceeds 20,000.With elections coming up in the United States, groups of Americans in Belgium have been campaigning for the candidate of their choice. Many of the Americans here have dutifully sent in their overseas ballot. The overseas voters form an important group politically. They can have a crucial impact on the outcome of the elections.
October 6
http://electoral-vote.com/
Strong Dem (207)Weak Dem (57)Barely Dem (65)Exactly tied (15)Barely GOP (31)Weak GOP (63)Strong GOP (100)
Dem pickups (vs. 2004): FL IA NV NM OH VA ME NM OH PA
GOP pickups (vs. 2004): (None)
Task: Assess educational qualifications of two teams in order to choose one to take over an organization (the United States of America) with numerous and complex problems - historic debt, multiple war fronts, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, skyrocketing federal spending, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc. etc.
Candidates: Here are your choices -
Team # One:
Barack Obama:Occidental College - Two years.Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations.Harvard Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
and
Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.) VS.
Team # Two:
John McCain:United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 out of 899and
*Sarah Palin:Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semesterNorth Idaho College - 2 semesters - general studyUniversity of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalismMatanuska-Susitna College - 1 semesterUniversity of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism
*(Anchorage Daily News adn.com)
Difficult Choice?
Destined to become a classic - hysterically funny and an amazing impersonation!!!
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/
Palin Calling for an End to Investigation She Requested
Alaska AG Also Has New Objections to Probe
By EMMA SCHWARTZ and JUSTIN ROODSept. 17, 2008
GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin shifted her tactics for the second time in three weeks on the "Troopergate" investigation, this time calling to end the very investigation that she herself called for and the one the McCain campaign had said was the only proper venue for a probe.
Palin's Attorney General, who initially launched an internal probe into Palin, even before the legislature began theirs, is now asking the legislators to withdraw their subpoenas of Palin aides and Palin's husband.
When the Alaska Legislature's Legislative Council, a Republican-dominated panel of 14 legislators which conducts business when the Legislature is out session, voted to investigate the firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan in July, Palin pledged her full support.
But almost immediately after joining the GOP ticket, Palin's Troopergate strategy veered sharply. Despite her earlier vows of full cooperation with the probe, she declared it unlawful. The legislature lacked the authority to investigate the matter, she said. Instead, it should be handled by the state personnel board, Palin asserted -- a panel which is under her authority.
As a former South Carolina resident who now lives in Europe, I'd like to report that the reaction of much of the world to Sarah Palin's nomination is one of bewilderment and fear. "We knew Americans are not too bright (George W?) but what are they thinking?"...."Truly bizarre."...."As the Republican vice president could easily, if not likely, in the event of a McCain win, end up becoming the leader of the free world, the prospect is terrifying".... (reports from European press and media).
I have been reassuring folks over here that Americans are easily distracted, but not stupid, which is not easy to do in the wake of the Bush administration's devastating effect on the United States' reputation in the world.
Sarah Palin is indeed a frightening woman, but I have no fear that Americans will remain distracted for very much longer before they realize the absurdity of the Republican party's most recent blunder. Evidence in point, watch the polls in the coming weeks as the nation comes to its senses. An unbiased source, which provides a summary of ALL of the latest poll data, can be found here: http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/08-us-pres-ge-mvo.php
There are those who will continue to press forward armed with no more than creative fiction, as they attempt to discredit Barack Obama, and a set of blinders for the path of destruction left by our current administration. Sadly, it is pointless to argue or debate with these individuals, as their manipulation of fact has nothing to do with a believed truth, but rather is coded language for, "I will never vote for a black man."
From: http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/08-us-pres-ge-mvo.php
The Ugly New McCain
By Richard Cohen
Following his loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 South Carolina primary, John McCain did something extraordinary: He confessed to lying about how he felt about the Confederate battle flag, which he actually abhorred. "I broke my promise to always tell the truth," McCain said. Now he has broken that promise so completely that the John McCain of old is unrecognizable. He has become the sort of politician he once despised.
The precise moment of McCain's abasement came, would you believe, not at some news conference or on one of the Sunday shows but on "The View," the daytime TV show created by Barbara Walters. Last week, one of the co-hosts, Joy Behar, took McCain to task for some of the ads his campaign has been running. One deliberately mischaracterized what Barack Obama had said about putting lipstick on a pig -- an Americanism that McCain himself has used. The other asserted that Obama supported teaching sex education to kindergarteners.
"We know that those two ads are untrue," Behar said. "They are lies."
Freeze. Close in on McCain. This was the moment. He has largely been avoiding the press. The Straight Talk Express is now just a brand, an ad slogan like "Home Cooking" or "We Will Not Be Undersold." Until then, it was possible for McCain to say that he had not really known about the ads, that the formulation "I approve this message" was just boilerplate. But he didn't.
"Actually, they are not lies," he said.
Actually, they are.
Email Senator Hollis at:
Senator_Hollis_French@legis.state.ak.us
And he writes back!
Two examples are below -
Senator Hollis:
Please continue the ethics probe of Governor Sarah Palin and do not buckle under the pressure of John McCain, his campaign, or any other source. The 2008 Presidential Election is such an important election for Americans. I am 62 and live in Texas, and American voters desperately need the facts. We have suffered under 8 years of an administration that considers Abuse Of Power their right and privilege, which makes this ethics investigation a huge issue.
Expediency is of the utmost importance. I want the truth before I vote on November 4th. I sincerely thank you.....
Linda Andrus
Grapeland, TX
Dear Senator Hollis,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your efforts and perseverance in pushing forward the investigation of Governor Sarah Palin. You have the support of millions of Americans who are fed up with the arrogant sense of invincibility and entitlement and the abusive wielding of power by many of our nations' leaders. Your actions may ultimately be credited for diverting this country from making a very foolish decision.
Thank you again for working for truth and accountability, both absent from our administration for too long.
Laurie Singh
Brussels, Belgiuim (US citizen)
EDITORIAL
Gov. Palin’s Worldview
Published: September 12, 2008
As we watched Sarah Palin on TV the last couple of days, we kept wondering what on earth John McCain was thinking.
If he seriously thought this first-term governor — with less than two years in office — was qualified to be president, if necessary, at such a dangerous time, it raises profound questions about his judgment. If the choice was, as we suspect, a tactical move, then it was shockingly irresponsible.
It was bad enough that Ms. Palin’s performance in the first televised interviews she has done since she joined the Republican ticket was so visibly scripted and lacking in awareness.
What made it so much worse is the strategy for which the Republicans have made Ms. Palin the frontwoman: win the White House not on ideas, but by denigrating experience, judgment and qualifications.
The idea that Americans want leaders who have none of those things — who are so blindly certain of what Ms. Palin calls “the mission” that they won’t even pause for reflection — shows a contempt for voters and raises frightening questions about how Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin plan to run this country.
One of the many bizarre moments in the questioning by ABC News’s Charles Gibson was when Ms. Palin, the governor of Alaska, excused her lack of international experience by sneering that Americans don’t want “somebody’s big fat résumé maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state.”
A Police Chief, A Lawsuit And A Small-Town Mayor
By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball | NEWSWEEK
Published Sep 13, 2008 From the magazine issue dated Sep 22, 2008
Eleven years before the current investigation into her dismissal of Alaska's top cop,Sarah Palin was embroiled in a similar dispute over another personnel issue: her firing of the police chief in her hometown of Wasilla. Palin's decision to terminateIrl Stambaugh, months after she was elected mayor in 1996, created a ruckus. It also led to a bitter and protracted lawsuit charging that she fired Stambaugh out of pique—in part because he'd crossed the interests of influential backers, including bar owners and gun enthusiasts who'd contributed significantly to Palin's campaign, according to court and state records reviewed by NEWSWEEK. Palin denied these allegations under oath, and ultimately prevailed, after a federal judge concluded that the mayor had the right to fire any department head she wanted. Palin "made the decision ... because the people of Wasilla had elected her to reform Wasilla's government and he actively worked to frustrate those efforts," says Taylor Griffin, a spokesman for the McCain-Palin campaign.
But the dispute is now getting renewed scrutiny in light of a number of other controversial personnel moves by the GOP veep nominee, including her firing of the Wasilla librarian (she was later reinstated) and Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, whose dismissal last summer prompted the investigation, dubbed "Troopergate," by Alaska's legislature. (Monegan alleged he was fired because he resisted pressure from Palin and aides to can a state trooper involved in a messy custody battle with Palin's sister. A state panel last week voted to subpoena 13 members of Palin's administration in the probe, as well as her husband.)
Palin adviser warned that firing raised 'grave' concern
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- A former ethics adviser to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin warned in July that firing her public safety commissioner would become a "grave concern" for her administration.
Gov. Sarah Palin is fighting allegations she improperly tried to force the firing of her then brother-in-law.
Wevley Shea, a former U.S. attorney and fellow Republican, urged Palin to apologize to former Commissioner Walt Monegan and fire anyone on her staff who discussed her former brother-in-law, state Trooper Mike Wooten, with the commissioner.
"Your 'political advisers' have given you poor counsel; the situation is now grave," Shea wrote in a July 24 letter to the governor. "I recommend the following action 'now' to restore your credibility and Alaska's bright future with you."
From CNN Politics website
August 22, 2008
CNN headline:
Behind the Scenes: Meet George Obama - We found Barack Obama's half-brother living in a Nairobi slum....
(Further down in the article):
Reports surfaced in the past few days, springing from an Italian Vanity Fair article saying George Obama is living in a shack and "earning less than a dollar a day."
The reports left him angry. "I was brought up well. I live well even now," he said. "The magazines, they have exaggerated everything."
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/22/bts.obama.brother/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
David Paul Kuhn Sun Jun 15, 8:05 AM ET Politico
One week into the general election, the polls show a dead heat. But many presidential scholars doubt that John McCain stands much of a chance, if any.
Historians belonging to both parties offered a litany of historical comparisons that give little hope to the Republican. Several saw Barack Obama’s prospects as the most promising for a Democrat since Roosevelt trounced Hoover in 1932.
“This should be an overwhelming Democratic victory,” said Allan Lichtman, an American University presidential historian who ran in a Maryland Democratic senatorial primary in 2006. Lichtman, whose forecasting model has correctly predicted the last six presidential popular vote winners, predicts that this year, “Republicans face what have always been insurmountable historical odds.” His system gives McCain a score on par with Jimmy Carter’s in 1980.
“McCain shouldn’t win it,” said presidential historian Joan Hoff, a professor at Montana State University and former president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency. She compared McCain’s prospects to those of Hubert Humphrey, whose 1968 loss to Richard Nixon resulted in large part from the unpopularity of sitting Democratic president Lyndon Johnson.
