Too late to try to influence us with late-breaking indictments and 25-year-old love children. We took a nice walk — er — over to the First Congregational Church where they'd made a polling place out of the big downstairs auditorium instead of the usual little ground-floor room. There was no line, but I was #220 at 8:15 a.m. The polls opened at 7, so maybe there were lines earlier — citizens who'd moved on into the workplace.
"Did you absentee vote?" I was asked as I checked in.
"No, I prefer the theater of in-person voting," I said, and the woman checking me in said that she did too.
The mood in the place was somber. I didn't bother to take a blue folder that's provided to hide the ballot as you go from the place where you draw a black marker line completing the arrows that point at the names of the candidates you like to the machine that sucks in the ballot and makes that reassuring noise that tells you the ballot is now truly and securely collected. But the young woman after me wielded the blue folder with great care as she approached the machine. So secretive! You know what that means.
Here in Madison, Wisconsin.
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Next election you will get a mailer from the Democratic Party:
"Your neighbor, so-and-so, used the blue folder to hide her vote. Let her know that you will hold her accountable if it happens again..."
t-man with the early thread win.
Chris Plante (here in Washington, DC) is on the radio this morning talking to a caller from Michigan who is in a convoy of charter buses hired by a democrat union, to transport Michigan residents to illegally vote in Wisconsin against conservative Scott Walker.
(Btw, this caller is on the bus to document the illegal activity, not to participate in it).
That's all I know for now - getting the word out!
I'm off to go vote for Darrell Issa...
So when is Ms. Ann going to tell us for whom she voted for?
@Jane - if that is true it could be a blockbuster story. I am doubting it though. A normal bus only holds what - 80 people? You would need thousands of them to help Barrett across the finish line and that is a pretty expensive proposition. There are easier and cheaper ways of conducting vote fraud.
"It's Election Day in Wisconsin tomorrow, and I'm standing by Tom Barrett. He'd make an outstanding governor. -bo,"
Barry,
way to have a decisive impact!!
You vote in a theater? Cool.
cubanbob said...
So when is Ms. Ann going to tell us for whom she voted for?
she won't, secret ballot etal, but already did.
I didn't bother to take a blue folder that's provided to hide the ballot as you go from the place where you draw a black marker line completing the arrows that point at the names of the candidates you like to the machine that sucks in the ballot and makes that reassuring noise that tells you the ballot is now truly and securely collected. But the young woman after me wielded the blue folder with great care as she approached the machine. So secretive!
You know what that means.
Althouse committed her first felony of the day?
Dan from Madison, what you say is true, but I suspect that people who engage in vote fraud deploy "all of the above" strategies, for real.
@DanfromMadison,
The man was on the phone - it sounds too crazy to be true, but if he pinpoints his location we will know soon.
Jane, you have to be registered to vote in Wisconsin. If they aren't registered, then, before they are allowed to vote, they have to sit down and have someone register them. Including providing an address. For 80 people to register would take a long time.
I voted for Scott Walker. No, not that Scott Walker. The other Scott Walker - the Scott Walker who did NOT father a so-called "illegitimate" child while he was a student at Marquette.
AllenS,
I agree - I hope for some follow-up. I dislike sensational stories if they are not true.
But what if the bus dropped people off a few at a time over various registration locations?
Ann, that's interesting about the absentee voting question. If you HAD voted that way, your name should have had a notation next to it. Mine did after I voted absentee during the primary; I went to the polling place on election day and checked.
The fact that the lady asked makes me wonder if there is a notification after my name this time...I voted absentee on Friday. Might have to go down and check.
They could be coordinated with locals who have a list of registered, non-voters.
I also like the sound the ballot-collecting machine makes. And then the little electronic beep to signify a count has occurred, and the number increments. Very satisfying.
I whistled the beautiful melody of "Stand .... with Gov-ern-or Walk-er!" on my way out of the school where I voted while doing the Chris Farley thing with my arms. I think all you non-Wisconsin types ought to play that song as loud as possible to share with your friends and co-workers. They'll love you for it.
Anecdote from Wauwatosa, Walker's hometown and a slightly red area within a deeply blue county: long lines with six or so lined up at the in-person registration booth. Fairly upbeat mood, some suspicious glances as people tried to size up the likely voting intentions of their fellow line-waiters. When I got into my car I noticed that I had three other "I Voted" stickers in the well beside the seat, not all from today, but evidence of the ridiculous number of times I have voted in the past few months.
Over at AoSHQ, more details:
Black guy named Mike on a bus coming out of Detroit to vote in Wisconsin. He’s being paid and given lunch, a union member. Said he was loaded up at a park with other union members into 4 stuffed Greyhound buses all coming out of the Detroit area.
Interstate 94 west. Look for 4 greyhound buses.
Just back from voting. More young women voting than I usually see, so I imagine the Ward will go Dem again. I started musing about what the large overlap between Barrett supporters and Justin Bieber fans means for Democracy in this state and country, but decided I didn't want to go there.
The only anomaly I noted was the woman piling out of her "Recall Walker" car with her Downs Syndrome adult-child and obviously just-woken college-age child and shepherding them both up to the registration table.
Gonna be close, I think.
"It's Election Day in Wisconsin tomorrow, and I'm standing by Tom Barrett. He'd make an outstanding governor. -bo,"
lol what a loser. (Thanks for posting that.)
"But the young woman after me wielded the blue folder with great care as she approached the machine. So secretive!"
For a previous election, I ran into my Alderperson as I walked up to the sucking machine. She stopped me and engaged me in converstaion, but it seems her real purpose was to see who I voted for. She kept craning her neck to try and read my ballot.
"I also like the sound the ballot-collecting machine makes. And then the little electronic beep to signify a count has occurred, and the number increments. Very satisfying."
I really miss the old machines with the little levers for each candidate and great big lever that registers your votes and operates the curtain. That was satisfying.
The mood in the place was somber..
People dont want to get arrested...
I really miss the old machines with the little levers for each candidate and great big lever that registers your votes and operates the curtain. That was satisfying.
Those were great, but they must've been very hard to keep from breaking after a while -- all those working parts to wear out over the course of time.
I wonder how big the room is where they store all the voting machines.
"In Person Voting" is sooo overrated.
NYT is not even reviewing it.
I have a hard time trusting leftists with an honest voting process.
Flashbacks of SNL joker Al Frankenstein.
Surprised you didn't need a couple of bandoliers of ammo and some grenades each to fight your way through the union slugs.
Love the line, "No, I prefer the theater of in-person voting,". Sounds like you were marching off to WWII.
Twas a somber mood at the polling place,
A matter of life and death;
"The personal is the political"
Vote wrong...Dear God the disgrace!
Bus loads of people coming in and registering to vote would be very suspicious, dontcha think?
"Did you absentee vote?" I was asked as I checked in.
"No, I prefer the theater of in-person voting," I said, and the woman checking me in said that she did too.
I actually prefer absentee voting to voting in person. It enables me to lock in my vote weeks in advance in the event something should happen to me the day of or right before Election Day.
I actually prefer absentee voting to voting in person.
I've a friend who does that in Palo Alto and discovered something after voting that made her dearly want to switch her vote. But the die was cast.
I also prefer to vote in person. It always feels quite grand: 235 years of history has allowed me to stand here.
Oop wants somebody to take him/her /it up on the idea Demos (and, more to the point, community organizers) don't regularly bus in voters.
@AllieOop,
No - especially not if they are black. No one wants to be seen as disenfranchising them.
I used to live near Philly - busloads are expected on voting day.
Drop them off 20 at a time around Milwaukee. Pick them all up and take them to dinner later.
Not to mention -
Voting habits are in databases. My activist neighbor has a database he's sharing with anyone who comes to his house this weekend. He knows if I vote in Republican or in Democratic primaries.
How easy would it be to get the names of a voter who hasn't shown up in 20 years, and just go in and say you're that person?
Jane said...
I used to live near Philly
Where?
I'm from Bryn Mawr, originally.
Some old curmudgeon voted in front of me. His ballot kicked out. Apparently, he had voted for both Lt. Governors. The poll worker was patient w/ this hearing aided man. The old guy said as he was escorted back to the booth, "Hell, I don't care about the other thing. I voted for Walker a year or so ago and I'm just here to vote for him again!" Many chuckled, a few frowned.
I already voted. You know when I signed the recall petition (both times).
I voted at 10:00am this morning. I've never seen so many folks voting at this time of day. Awesome turnout. Ole Tom is gonna get his face ripped off in Ozaukee Co. today.
--Bus loads of people coming in and registering to vote would be very suspicious, dontcha think?---
Ann has a thread on the high school doing just that last week, wasn't it?
Motor Voter, this is what it was designed for.
edutcher is a Mainline dude. Who knew?
It's a bummer for the Unions that the Students are out for the summer. I recall that as a student in the dorms there were always activists trying to get you to vote. It was because of some activist that I miscast one of my very first votes (for Ed Garvey in 1986. Fortunately he lost). A student who is at home for summer break, is a student who won't vote.
edutcher:
St. Davids.
I was there during the Clinton election in '92 - people I knew drove the buses.
Average turnout in Western WI, at least early.
The connect the arrow ballot seems new, but I must admit there have been one or two primaries I have been unable to make for out of town work reasons lately.
And I had to sign my name this time. Even though I know all the poll workers from long acquantance.
Well, here's to hoping. I think a 4% Walker win would be ideal...not close enough for recount nonsense or voter fraud allegations, not a resounding mandate to encourage Triumphant Nonsense...
Tacitus
Ed freakin' Garvey!?!? Were you drunk?
pretty cheesy but funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDThJKmIP7c&feature=youtube_gdata_player
and McKenna just reported 3 police officers were turned away from the polls because they were wearing their uniforms! Just who is running things?
It's a bummer for the Unions that the Students are out for the summer
That was part of the Walker plan. He kept requesting more time in order to "check signatures"...but then ended up not challenging even one that was submitted.
But the delays did push the election back far enough that the students are now out of school, which...like others have stated...is a huge plus for him.
Voting turnout about average in CA, but the machines aren't registering the "no party" ballots. It's our first open primary. So all the independents are having to vote on paper! What a mess.
I chose a Dem ballot for a strategic reason, and the machine took it.
But the delays did push the election back far enough that the students are now out of school, which...like others have stated...is a huge plus for him.
Truly, empathy that kids who are back at home and outside of WI cannot vote in a WI election should be in heavy supply nowadays.
A student who is at home for summer break, is a student who won't vote.
Which sounds something that should always be the case, no?
For what it's worth, I just got back from voting, in Grafton, where Walker yard signs outnumber Barrett signs (though not necessarily voters) by about 20 to 1.
At 11:20 AM I was voter number 411 in my precinct. During the last election (the primary) the number of votes cast in my precinct totalled 440.
That was part of the Walker plan.
The evil genius of Scott Walker. Planning his own recall to maximize the disenfranchisement of college students!
A poll worker suddenly said "I see you belong to the Walker party" to a voter. The whole room froze. The women hastily said "I mean, you know, you have a walker" to the elderly woman she was helping over to the booth. No one thought it was funny.
840 people has voted by 11:00.
I held out my driver's license as I gave my name and address to obtain the ballot. "We don't need that" I was told. "I know, but I feel more comfortable knowing that you know with certainty that I am the person I said I was" i replied.
Her eyes rolled.
wv: progov 12
CA's "Top Two" open primary is the stupidest thing on the planet. There was like 25 names on the list for US Senator.
In my little SoCal community there were only 2 people that had voted before me when I walked in at 8:15am.
I voted about 2:30, here in Western Wi. I was #357 in a township of about 1800 total population. I expected to be around #500, since last month when I voted mid-morning I think I was voter 335.
The sign said, "state your name and address", so as ususal, I pulled out my driver license and without saying a word held it for the election people to see. For the first time, they didn't say, "we don't need to see that." There is hope for voter ID laws.
The election people are pushing electronic voting, and because it is much cheaper for the township I gave up fill in the ovals. Not as satisfying, but times are tough.
What's with a photo as part of wv?
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