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[MIMIC]

I just received my absentee ballot in the mail. I can now vote in my very first Presidential Election!

*punches #6 for "For President: John F. Kerry and For Vice-President: John Edwards (Democratic)"

Now on to vote for all the Democratic candidates.

 

[duderon]

Got mine a couple of hours ago, and that's pretty much what i did haha.

I can't sympathize with any senator or representative that supports bush's policies, let alone vote for them.

 

[Baron Aloha]

Just make sure that you punch all the way through and don't leave any hanging chads!!!

 

[duderon]

Just make sure that you punch all the way through and don't leave any hanging chads!!!

most def. If Kerry loses this election it's going to be by republicans tampering with voting machines, not by hanging chad's

 

[Dan]

Just make sure that you punch all the way through and don't leave any hanging chads!!!

Punching is for losers. I get to fill in little ovals with ink pen or pencil.

 

[Gantz]

Where can I pick one up?

 

[Agent Dormer]

We're allowed to vote in Florida already with early voting. Go us!

 

[Lonestar]

Mine should be coming in the mail any day now. I can't believe I'm actually going to be out of the country during that time.

Maybe, while out and about, I won't know who is elected, and when I come back, it's all Twilight Zone, and Gigantic Mecha-Apple Tree's have taken over.

 

[MIMIC]

I just realized that Nader isn't on the ballot.

 

[LinesInTheSand]

I just realized that Nader isn't on the ballot.

-1 Diversity and Freedom in this great nation's election process

 

[MIMIC]

Shit, I already made a mistake. :lol

I accidentally voted for both candidates running for something. If I leave it as is, will they discard that particular vote, or will my entire ballot be considered void?

 

[btrboyev]

you may have just fucked up your entire vote...do not make mistakes people, it cost the election last time.

 

[Lonestar]

The entire thing is invalid. And then they release your name to Fox News for Mocking.

Seriously, don't know.

 

[BigJonsson]

Geez

In Canada our ballots just have a circle that we mark with an X and then the ballots are counted by hand

It works perfectly

 

[Screaming_Gremlin]

I just realized that Nader isn't on the ballot.

He isn't on the Missouri ballot either. Badnarik is, then again the Libertarian Party is always on the ballot (I think they are the only 3rd party that is required to be on the ballot in Missouri) and the Constitutional Party candidate is on it.

 

[Outlaw Pro Mod]

*punches #6 for "For President: John F. Kerry and For Vice-President: John Edwards (Democratic)"

Whoa, you're voting democratic?!?!?!

 

[BILL CLINTON]

Geez

In Canada our ballots just have a circle that we mark with an X and then the ballots are counted by hand

It works perfectly

yah if we were a nation of 18 people we'd count by hand with x's too...

 

[MIMIC]

I voted NO for the Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage.

 

[Screaming_Gremlin]

I voted NO for the Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage.

I voted no for that in Missouri back in August. Not that it mattered, it still passed 75% to 25%.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

can i get an absentee ballot online or something?

otherwise i have to take a day off from work and drive down to where my parents live to vote (which i will do if necessary)

+1 kerry!

 

[Fifty]

Aren't absentee ballots only for people who live out of the country, not just lazy people? :lol

I got mine in the mail today as well.

 

[MIMIC]

:lol

Insert your ballot card attached to foam backing into your completed identification envelope and seal

*runs to trash room in dorm hallway*

Got it.

 

[MIMIC]

LOOK WHAT'S GOING ON IN MY FUCKING STATE!!

Kerry left off some absentee ballots

Some absentee ballots distributed to Hamilton County voters do not include the name of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, local election officials confirmed today.

Because of a printing error -- limited, election officials believe, to only a few ballots in the Forest Park area -- absentee ballots recently mailed out exclude the Democratic presidential ticket of Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards.

"It's a screw-up," said Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Board of Elections. "This just feeds the paranoia that's out there. The tragic thing is that even though I think we will have a very fair and accurate count here, this will cause people to question the accuracy of our operation."

Although election officials believe only two voters have received the inaccurate ballot to date, Burke said he is worried that the mix-up "will open us up to all kinds of questions and concerns." He also conceded that some may question whether the problem is, indeed, limited to only a few ballots.

"I'm happy we're talking about a very small number," Burke said. "But it's something that never should have happened."

One of the voters who received the inaccurate ballot said today she "just couldn't believe it" when she opened her absentee ballot envelope and noticed that Kerry's name was missing.

"I knew enough to see something was wrong," said the voter, who asked not to be identified. "But you wonder whether others maybe didn't notice it before they sent their ballots back."

The printing error is the second major mistake to plague Hamilton County's absentee ballots for the Nov. 2 election.

Earlier this month, officials scrapped 17,500 absentee ballots after Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell ordered presidential candidate Ralph Nader off the ballot because of invalid signatures on his candidacy petitions. Those ballots also had been tainted by the elections board's discovery that the punch positions of Hamilton County Engineer Bill Brayshaw and one of the candidates for Ohio Supreme Court had been switched.

Nader's removal from ballots throughout Ohio also figures into the new problem that caused Kerry's name to be dropped from some absentee ballots in Hamilton County. In seeking to remove Nader's name from some local ballots, Hamilton County officials inadvertently struck Kerry's name instead.

On the flawed ballots, the words "Candidate removed" appear on the line where Kerry's name should appear. On the line below, Nader's name -- where "Candidate removed" actually should have been printed -- remains.

John Williams, director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections, explained that there are 72 different ballots countywide covering different political jurisdictions. For each of those 72 ballots, the order in which candidates' names are listed is rotated 10 times, Williams said.

The problem with Kerry's name being dropped occurred with one rotation on a ballot used in Forest Park. Although 22 absentee ballots in that area have gone out to voters so far, election officials believe that only two of them are the flawed ballots without Kerry's name, Williams said.

Williams was contacted over the weekend by one of the voters who received an inaccurate ballot and gave her a corrected ballot. Election officials today were trying to contact the rest of the 22 people who received the particular style of ballot at issue to find the one person they know also has a ballot without Kerry's name.

"Mistakes happen in every election," Williams said. "I'm not happy about it, but we're trying to do what we can to correct it. This time, you're under their magnifying glass, so it gets more attention."

What is especially frustrating, Williams said, is that the mistake actually had been caught by the election board's proof readers. But when a broken copier forced officials to use an old copying machine, the old, mistaken ballot format without Kerry's name accidentally was printed, he said.

"It's unfortunate it happened," Williams said. "But I don't think there's any reason for people to worry about the accuracy of the election."

Cincinnati Post

Get it together bitches!! I don't care if it's two or two hundred...have this shit happen in Texas or somewhere.

 

[Mr. Blonde]

I went to the courthouse here on Friday and voted for John Kerry. The people working there didn't find it very funny when I asked them how much the poll tax was..

 

[duderon]

:lol

Insert your ballot card attached to foam backing into your completed identification envelope and seal

*runs to trash room in dorm hallway*

Got it.

Mine says

PLEASE DO NOT RETURN THE FOLLOWING
a. Absentee Voter Booklet
b. Metal Punching Tool
c. Styro-Foam

I guess it could be a different county thing, though *shrug*

 

[BobbyRobby]

Can anyone from NJ confirm if Nader is on their ballot?

 

[Incognito]

can i get an absentee ballot online or something?

otherwise i have to take a day off from work and drive down to where my parents live to vote (which i will do if necessary)

+1 kerry!

california is blue, anyway. solid kerry support! sigh, i wish i lived there.

our votes are worthless in the big red/blue states.

 

[Jim Bowie]

He ain't lying! My state, Indiana, is going to be a hard sell for Kerry.

 

[fart]

can i get an absentee ballot online or something?

otherwise i have to take a day off from work and drive down to where my parents live to vote (which i will do if necessary)

+1 kerry!

if your county registrar voter thingamajig accepts absentee forms by fax or online i think there's a day or two left. find the website and hopefully the form will be up there.

i forgot to put a stamp on my first form XD so i had to fax it in.

 

[Dan]

Can anyone from NJ confirm if Nader is on their ballot?

Yes, Nader's there.

As are the Socialist Party USA, Green Party, Constitution Party, Socialist Equality Party, Libertarian Party and Socialist Workers Party.

 

[distantmantra]

I got mine over the weekend, voted pretty much all democrat except for one position where my friend's Dad is running. He is a Republican, but more on the business end of things (he's an independent farmer) and a really great person.

 

[MIMIC]

*breathes sigh of relief*

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections says that just that single vote will be discarded and not the entire ballot.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

He ain't lying! My state, Indiana, is going to be a hard sell for Kerry.

Word to my Hoosier brother.


So all you already voting with these things, are you actually somewhere other than where you're registered, are the rules looser in your states, or are you just stretching the system a bit? I recently checked a PDF regarding the vote in Indiana I downloaded a few months back, and it says to get an absentee ballot you must be working the entire time the polls are up, unable to leave the house, taking care of someone full-time, going to be gone on election day, things like t hat.

 

[Screaming_Gremlin]

So all you already voting with these things, are you actually somewhere other than where you're registered, are the rules looser in your states, or are you just stretching the system a bit? I recently checked a PDF regarding the vote in Indiana I downloaded a few months back, and it says to get an absentee ballot you must be working the entire time the polls are up, unable to leave the house, taking care of someone full-time, going to be gone on election day, things like t hat.

I'm in another state for college and it isn't going to be possible for me to go back and vote because of classes.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

I'm in another state for college and it isn't going to be possible for me to go back and vote because of classes.

Yeah, I should've realized that would be a pretty big phenomenon on GAF.

 

[Dan]

I'm in another state for college and it isn't going to be possible for me to go back and vote because of classes.

Likewise. It's not exactly possible to travel 650 miles to vote in my district.

 

[distantmantra]

Word to my Hoosier brother.


So all you already voting with these things, are you actually somewhere other than where you're registered, are the rules looser in your states, or are you just stretching the system a bit? I recently checked a PDF regarding the vote in Indiana I downloaded a few months back, and it says to get an absentee ballot you must be working the entire time the polls are up, unable to leave the house, taking care of someone full-time, going to be gone on election day, things like t hat.

That's really odd. Anyone in the state of Washington can get absentee ballots, I've been doing it since I could first vote back in 1999.

 

[Lathentar]

Now on to vote for all the Democratic candidates.

Can't you just punch the All Democractic Candidates option?

 

[Lonestar]

Well, voted on my absentee ballot. The end is here!

 

[cvxfreak]

Why does voting have to be complicated in other places?

In San Mateo Country (near SF County), you just complete a friggin arrow.

 

[Ryu]

I'll actually be going to the voting booths on that Tuesday, but it is indeed nice to know San Mateo county will be using that arrow stuff. How simple is that? Yay for San Bruno for being a part of San Mateo County.

 

[HAOHMARU]

I just filled mine out today...first time voter as well.

 

[Diablos]

LOOK WHAT'S GOING ON IN MY FUCKING STATE!!

Cincinnati Post

Get it together bitches!! I don't care if it's two or two hundred...have this shit happen in Texas or somewhere.

Man, that's bullshit.

 

[teiresias]

Damn this thread is depressing.

"Hohoho, it's so funny, I need to run and grab some stuff out of the trash because I didn't read the directions before starting."

Jesus H. Christ people, this damn thing only happens once every four years, would it kill you to read the damn instructions for five minutes so you do it correctly?? This rant also goes for the damn ballot misprints, not just incompetent or impatient voters; major magazines and newspapers are printed weekly or monthly and contain less errors then the damn 4 year ballots.

 

[Lambtron]

A national standard on the ballots would take care of all these problems.

And if you're too dumb to figure out how to use the ballot, you're too dumb to be an informed voter, so you shouldn't fucking vote. End of story.

 

[ohamsie]

Heh, I live really close to Hamilton County, I wonder if my absentee ballot is going to be messed up.

 

[Hournda]

You can always just WRITE IN a candidate if he/she is not on the ballot.