We Can Expect More of the Same VOTING IRREGULARITIES!
There was almost no mention anywhere in any press article or report of police gauntlets around the polling centers in the primarily black and Spanish neighborhoods in Tampa during the last presidential election. People were pulled over for stupid things like tail lights out. My own SO's mother had the police called on her when one center refused her patient her right to vote. My SO's mother was the patient's caregiver who had walked into the center with her. The officials told her that her patient was crazy (did not have all of her mental faculties) and therefore could not vote. After loud indignation by my SO's mother, she tried to explain that her patient had the ability to vote and that the center was denying her that right. The police were then called and her patient was finally allowed to vote as long as my SO's mother did not go into the cubicle with her. Both of the ladies are African-American. She said while she was in the voting center that many black people were turned away for one reason or another.Miami was noted in the press as having problems with the "minority" vote during the Bush/Gore Election. Minorities in Miami are mostly Cuban and other Spanish speakers, African Americans and Haitians, and most with English as a second language, very limited or with no knowledge of English at all. People went to the polling centers and were told that their names were not in the log books, therefore, they could not vote. Their names might have been misspelled by one letter but no other contact info such as address was compared to make sure that the person noted in the logbook was the person standing there ready to vote. People with English as a second language could not communicate with the poll workers. What people and most of the press outside of Florida failed to realize is that the "minority vote" in Miami IS THE MAJORITY!!! Therefore, the press noted it as a problem with the "minority" vote leading most people to believe that it was a "small" problem when in effect--it was a HUGE one.
Even our First Lady and the GOP are advocating voting through absentee ballot. I think the Republicans know something we do not. I will be voting by absentee ballot, not because of what Mrs. Bush has said, but because of my belief that there will be no big difference in this election from the last one. I hope you all will consider voting via absentee ballot also. I expect that the voting results will not be accurate, especially when tallied by the voting machines. That is allowing the corporations to influence the voting as most of the companies that produce the machines are contributing to the Republican campaign.
If your state has the voting machines, promptly contact your elections office RIGHT NOW and request an absentee ballot. There is a deadline for ordering your absentee ballot--do not let the deadline pass you by! Voter Registration and Voting irregularities have already been noted here in Florida. All the protest actions in the World, emails to Congressmen and calls to Washington will not help us if our votes are not noted, accounted for and tallied correctly. Be sure to copy your vote for a possible recount later! This is a call to action and it can be accomplished with one phone call that takes a few minutes. We all need to do our part for ourselves, our leadership and our country! http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/29/State/GOP_flier_questions_n.shtml
posted by Zalala @ 8/30/2004 05:11:00 PM
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