Monday, October 06, 2008

MONDAY VOTING UPDATE FOR ENIGMA.....( yes, my story has a Happy Ending...so far)


5 PM Update Monday :::
Brief History of Enigma 's Voting Situation.
So as of 3 am Last Night, I was not registered on the Online Sites ( MoveOn, RocktheVote, or the Obama site)....SO at 3am DK came up with Checking the State Site , Ohio Secretary of State , which did have me registered....BUT the County site did not....( which I found after she crashed...) NOW......As I said Earlier I have been registered here since early 2006, and at this address since Spring 2007 ( after my downtown address got foreclosed- and we moved winter 2007 I did re-register in person at the County Board of Elections.) I voted here in 2006 and the Primary 2008 ( with an early vote at the County Election Center). I voted early for Obama. I have a new registration card that was mailed to me January of 2008.

Previous History::: ( MY Caged Voting Story)
I voted in 2000 for Gore, along with my neighborhood, we all stood in line for hours. Mr,Enigma ( my Ex) was in front of me in the line about a 100 people and he voted first. We were in line long enough, that someone had Pizza sent to us....and we watched the sun go down....So we voted and then we all watched that Election Night....and we all know it was stolen....So then in 2004, I was living in a different state, California, and when I went to register they could not find My Vote or previous registration in Northwest Washington State. I had voted in every election since I was 18....A LONG TIME....And once I was a mom...I always took my son with me...even as a Baby..( he swears he remembers helping to Vote for Clinton and playing under the polling booth..)....So in California this Justice Dept Person calls me from Diane Feinstein's office and asked me questions about my Voting History, and I said I voted and told her about 2000, that is what she had Questions about. Then she asked more about my neighborhood, how many people voted, were they poor , elderly or college students. I said , they are ALL of those, so when they looked up my street, there was only ONE recorded Vote.....She read the Name.....it was Mr.Enigma's name...HIS VOTE was the ONLY Vote for the WHOLE Street for three blocks.....It made me ill, realizing that I had stood there for hours with my friends, and neighbors and NONE of us had been counted.....NONE.

( Needless to say I filed all the reports with ALL the right people, Diane Feinstiens Office, Human Rights Watch and ACLU.....and they were all very nice...and they said there 1000's of such reports from people like me....they did also ask if I worked as an activist, lifelong Democrat etc....I said yes...to all. They also asked questions about my neighborhoods etc.Which have always been the same....poorer, elderly , college students etc. I never heard more, and at one point I heard on the news or cspan that the situation /investigation was dropped ?)

2004 I voted with special Ballot after all of this...and went and voted in person that fateful day.....

THEN in Late 2005 I moved here to C-Town...and did not register to vote until late that fall, and received paperwork January 2006....and at that point we could not locate my previous Vote of 2004 in California....again...

So NOW you can see that I am Wanting to Make Certain that THIS Vote is Counted....

UPDATE OF TODAY:::
So at 2PM I am driving to the Board of Elections..and the Obama People called me.....From Franklin County, and they were very nice....they let me know I am NOT alone, that there are many going through this and that the Obama Campaign is there to help. They said if I ran into ANY problems , they would send a lawyer over. I was speechless....They said just call and let them know....For the First time in 8 very long years.....I drove to the Center finally not feeling Abandoned or Invisible. I thanked him...profusely....really choked me up...WOW...they KNOW that Cleveland and Ohio really does have problems...the Voters do Matter....

So I arrived at the center...I had to park over a mile away....there was no parking or lots open near the Election Center....People were excited and cheerful...there was even a rep. outside of the Center helping people and guiding them how to register. Then inside everybody was very nice.....even the Security Guards were very nice.....The lines for voting were winding through the building but very calm and not stressed. There were also Church Vans helping the elderly and disabled vote.....that was nice to see.....So I went talked with them now everything is fixed in the computer, I am NOW registered at the County and the State Level and I have a NEW Laminated Card...So as of right now 4 PM I AM REGISTERED.....Phew....

Thank you ONE and ALL for all of your advice and support and good thoughts and helpful advice...be sure to see the post below about HOW to check your vote and your registration .....and get ready to vote...and Just Do It...and take lots of photos and post them on your blog and tell your story...We should ALL Document OUR Votes...

**** And yes, I am going to vote, but I promised 6-6 that he could be there when I vote.....like always...we will take lots of photos....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10.09.08 Update:::
Report: Voter purges in 6 states may violate law
October 08, 2008 10:48 PM EDT
NEW YORK - The New York Times reports that tens of thousands of eligible voters have been removed from rolls or blocked from registering in at least six swing states, and the voters' exclusion appears to violate federal law.The newspaper says its findings are based on reviews of state records and Social Security data.

The Times says voters appear to have been purged by mistake, not because of any intentional violations by election officials or coordinated efforts by any party.The newspaper says it identified apparent problems in Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina. It says some states are improperly using Social Security data to verify new voters' registration applications, and others may have broken rules that govern removing voters from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election.

*** Considering it took me TWO years to get the Social Security Administration to get MY card with MY Number and My Name right...this little tidbit that came in my email tonight might explain Some of the problems...

13 comments:

tom said...

Yes dear, but how did you get purged, and who did it?
THAT is the enduring question
when I think of voting rights, and the bastards who have and are going out of their way to disenfranchise you and other progressives/ dems / CITIZENS it makes me ILL.
Why is it Republicans are not purged.....why cause WE DON'T work that way......glad you are back registered, but I wonder how many folk will be really surprised on election day .....

D.K. Raed said...

wonderful news! especially after all you've gone through to vote before. yeaaay, Redheads for Obama ... a small but vocal contingent, for sure!

Unknown said...

Holy shit! I've been away too long! What the? How the? Geez!

I'm glad everything worked out for you but I'm also concerned that this could be happening on a grand scale.

I'm so glad the Obama people are helpful. They'll need to be.

enigma4ever said...

DK::
thanks for all of your help last night- good sleuthing there....and yet we did not have all the answers or reassurances we should have had...


TOM::
I agree...but you and I know FOIA's don't always bring the truth..sadly....I think there are some problems with the Board of Elections...( which has quite a history here...) BUT I am more hopeful today, tonight after going there in person... I hope and pray that this time with so much scrutiny....and observers....NO ONE is going to sit by and let Another Election be stolen...NO ONE....

Hairball T. Hairball said...

Your story about the election in 2000 brought back memories. I can still remember watching the cable news channels as the saga slowly unfolded before our eyes.

In 2004 as we went to vote, Mr. Hairball tells me there's no way in Hell the 'W' will get reelected...

Good website on the subject:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

Jackie said...

Way to go Enigma!

Here in GA, we can check online to make sure we are registered. It is super easy, and I am not aware of any problems thus far (although you probably remember from a year or 2 ago, that brouhaha regarding changing the ID requirements in GA). Hubby and I will be voting early in the next week.

GA has the electronic voting machines, which I do not like.

Fran said...

Glad to hear of the happy ending, but also curious how you keep getting dropped of Voting registrations
Your post triggered me to check with our local county elections people to make sure we are registered.
My son's info had an anomaly,so we could not verify ours online.... but yes we are all registered. Have to wait until next week to get the hot ballots into our hands.
Let the voting begin!

enigma4ever said...

Fran:::
I hope yours is all okay...is there any other way to check- can you call or go to an election center ? I hope your son's is okay....I also hope you get your ballots soon...

I think there are a couple of things that made things complicated....I always live in the poor part of town- that is a big part of understanding the Caging....and then there is I got a Divorce...that might have messed things up - it took 2 years for the Social Security Administration to FINALLY get my Card RIGHT....but no I think that is part of the mess....I actually think that Caging might be more prevalent then we all know - that is why it is important to get millions more to vote.....

Jackie:::
so many states are wrestling with archaic requirements and problems...someday maybe we can have a NORMAL Vote....with no sheninigans....

Hairball:::
thanks for that...BlackBox Voting folks are pretty damn smart.......and I hope and pray that this time we don't have another stolen election ...that we do another Tsunami like we did in 2006....

Gryphen said...

I LOVE the graphic!

I cannot beleive you had to go through all of that just to get registered to vote!

Hell they had less trouble registering in Iraq!

enigma4ever said...

Well....on Election Day I am going to dip my finger in Purple Dye...so I can feel like really voted...

;-)

Fran said...

E ~We verified 2 of 3 of us & then called in this morning to verify the 3rd, and double checked on ours just to make sure. Thankfully, all is well.
The ballots don't get mailed will the 17th, so not worried about that either. We only vote by mail, and I will hand deliver our ballots to a lock box designated for them.

Oregon just made a new rule robo-calling for campaigns- pre recorded campaign calls are now considered solicitation calls- so if you are on the no call list, they will be blocked.
Remember when I had all those pre recorded calls
from Chelsea Clinton during the primaries???

No more of that!

enigma4ever said...

yahooo no more robo calls- excellent..and good about the voting too...6-6 wants to vote here in our hood together...he is very psyched...my neighbors say they have never had problems...I hope they are right...I fell more optimistic about this then Kerry...

downtown was very exciting...really..

JackB said...

Of course, America has to thank those who fight so hard for what is supposed to be a basic right here.

Luckily, or by fate, I firmly believe that this year enough voters will choose Obama that the stealing of a few percentage points of votes by the Repugs won't tip the scales.

A friend asked yesterday, "What if you're wrong?"

I couldn't answer; I can't even allow myself to contemplate what that would mean to our country!