Time and time again, it has been the same story. Primary elections long expected to produce record turnouts quickly ground to a halt by malfunctioning machines and a lack of ballots. Every national election, politicians express outrage only to have the same cycle repeated. New Yorkers are saying that they are facing the same barriers to voting from long lines to broken machines.
There are reports of “hundreds of thousands” of problems and a call for an audit to deal with the gross mismanagement. This has been one of the most anticipated elections in New York history and yet there are systemic failures being reported across the state, but particularly in New York City.
Voters in Brooklyn are outraged by what they say is the delays and incompetence of the polling places. That is a disgrace for the De Blasio administration and the election officials. Putting on elections is a basic as it gets in terms of minimal governmental services. On top of that, there are reports that Republican voters arrived to vote in places like Harlem and were told that they did not have Republican ballots.
In the meantime, some 27 percent of voters will not be able to vote in New York because of its restrictions.
Then there is the vanishing of thousands of voters (though officials insist that the disappearance is due to their general failure to keep update voting records).
The problem is that after such incompetence, no one is usually held accountable. In the meantime, officials use their own poor performance to secure more money for the next election, which seems to follow the very same cycle.
It gets worse
I put nothing past Hillary
54,000 Brooklyn voters ‘vanish’ ahead of primary day
http://nypost.com/2016/04/19/54000-brooklyn-voters-vanish-ahead-of-primary-day/
In a pre-primary bombshell, the city’s Board of Elections was pummeled with questions Monday about how 54,000 Democratic voters vanished from the rolls in Brooklyn.
The voter rolls on April 1 showed the borough had 853,687 registered Democrats who are considered “active” because they voted at least once in the last four years.
But in November, there were 917,508, or 63,558 more.
The board said the numbers changed because many once-active voters were moved to the inactive list.
But that list grew by only 9,154 voters — from 82,807 to 91,961 — leaving 54,404 Brooklyn voters missing
Vote early and often. It is easier to vote often if there are machines rather than ballots. Put your ear into an election hall after polls are closed and listen for any levers being turned and thus votes cast. They are voting for the no shows. Straight ticket. Has nothing to do with gays.
“It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”– Joseph Stalin
Stalin was telling it like it is here. But don’t forget that this is the same guy who said the following:
“My greatest pleasure is to choose one’s victim, prepare one’s plans minutely, slake an implacable vengeance, and then go to bed. There’s nothing sweeter in the world.”–Joseph Stalin
I voted in the primary in Missouri. I was shocked to have an individual, who was required to start the process, on the computerized contraption used to cast a vote, ask me which screen I wanted. Why was that necessary? Answer: it’s not. I felt as though I was casting a vote in some banana republic, where my choice of party was not kept anonymous. Why should I have to inform anyone the manner in which I was going to vote? I was informed that different screens were necessary, depending upon my choice of party, so, to pull up the correct screen, the revelation as to my choice of party was necessary. Ludicrous. There should’ve been one screen, which was equally divided into sections for the various parties. No reason, whatsoever, for a stranger to control which screen to access for the voter. I contacted the Board of Elections the next day. The response? It would take too much money and time to correct the problem, although others had voiced similar concerns regarding the same issue. My brother is a computer whiz. I offered up his programming services for free.
Each and every day the news on the so-called election get worst and worst. How we count delegates? Who knows. Why each state has different rules and remember these are the “rules.” Or so I hear each day.
I ran across this quote from novelist Paul Verhaeren the other day and how it fits the era,’
“When you remove yourself far enough away from the daily bang and clatter of American politics, what else is there to hear but the low soft hum of constant sorrow……….
KarenS, LOL!
Voting machines, when you can pull levers, are the easy method of fraud. In NC you can fill out a hand ballot and then they scan it in a machine right there in your presence. The paper ballot is preserved. Good way.
The part of Florida will be played by NY in this election cycle…
This has nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans. This has to do with the insane concept of keeping government out of government. We elect the government. The system of elections should be sacred and guaranteed by the government agencies that are non political, like the military. Voters should be bussed if necessary to vote. The poles should be open for as long as it takes. The count should be done well after the doors close, long enough to accommodate for time differences. There should be no impediment to voting. Every voter should be able to use a photo ID such as a drivers license. There should be absolutely no political bias involved, paid or volunteer. Somehow, it has all become a part of a sick game. This is one area the US must look to more democratic nations for a model. Shameful
Voting by mail works well here in Washington state.
Could be Sanders professional disrupters at work.
Not only is Brooklyn controlled by Dems, Queen Hillary has her campaign office there!! Where there’s big turnout, Sanders wins.
One might even think this is intentional.
Isn’t Brooklyn controlled by the Democrats? Surely they have efficient voting procedures?
I usually have no trouble voting with very short lines. Quick and easy time in and out. Things were different the last time I voted. There were enough machines and enough polling places, but there weren’t enough poll workers to sign us in so the wait was at least an hour. Considering that only people registered as Democrats or Republicans are hired to work the polls, there may even be a legitimate lack of people to take the job as more and more people are opting for other choices. Since I’m no longer registered with a party, I have no voice in the primary so I have no personal experience for the current spectacle.
“Why is anybody surprised by this? Neither of the party’s leaders want the humans to have their choice and they will do anything to stop it.”
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
Only the government allows the same incompetence year after year.
A business with these customer service issues would go broke, but government just excuses itself and goes on.
Why is anybody surprised by this? Neither of the party’s leaders want the humans to have their choice and they will do anything to stop it.