Am I the only one who is extremely worried about an outright conspiracy?

[unhinged1]

I'm sure most people here know more about this than me, what what is to stop some right wing nut working the polls in Ohio, VA, FL, etc from just trashing thousands of ballots from a heavily democratic area? Or rigging the machines somehow? I mean someone has to program those things, riight?

[scheming daemons]

1. 2500 lawyers in Ohio who will be watching polls is what will stop them

We've learned from 2000 and 2004.

[unhinged1]

3. How can lawyers watch the machine programmers though?

[Cetacea]

7. I hear that Anonymous is watching the servers....

Do you feel lucky, Karl?

[pnwmom]

19. What are those lawyers doing about the experimental software patches

that are being used in many counties in Ohio -- under a contract that allows the voting machine company to not share the software with the state (on the grounds that it's experimental)?

[Gman]

2. Nope. I know too this election is close enough to steal

I was also scared in 08 after FL in 00 and OH in 04. Now I can't unconvince myself that they will steal it because they can.

[Kahuna]

4. I am very concerned. nt

[LiberalEsto]

5. I share your concern.

It happened in 2000 and in 2004.

Little if anything has been done, as far as I can see, to change the way voting is done in this country. Meanwhile the Repukes have probably come up with new techniques to alter votes.

The groups who worked to get us back to using paper ballots were for the most part ignored, or considered a joke.

[Faith9326]

6. All I know is

Because of their hatred for our President, Republicans definitely aren't going down without a fight.

[Lightsource777]

8. Halperin moment : well both sides could do it

lol

Jack Welch moment: those Chicago guys would do anything

Chuck Todd moment : let's see... if Romney can just rig California and win the black vote in Maryland he can turn this all around!

[socialindependocrat]

9. I agree - what about FL and WI?

With the problems they have had in FL, I have seen no federal group or ethics committee assigned to oversee the results.

In WI there have been problems witht the person in charge for the past two elections.

Who do we complain to to get some feedback on what they are doing to correct these problems?

There has been no general ruling against the voter supression efforts - They are all dealt with on a state by state basis.

I am going to submit to my senator that there be a law tat says that voter roles can not be adjusted within
three months of any election to allow time for the to reverse any incorrect deletions. In one case there were deetions
made and they found that the notifications were sent to the wrong address and the names were deleted because they didn't get a response back from the letter snet to the wrong address. These are all obvious conspiracies to control the election process but Congress seems to want to say it's all part of politics. They are so jaded that they accept some pretty poor ethics as politically acceptable.

When I think of these things I send a note to MSNBC and Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz to at least get the thought out there.
You'd be surprised what you can get started when you suggest a good idea to the media.

[Blue Idaho]

10. The best way to chase away that case of nerves is to

Lend a hand...

Make some calls - you can call from anywhere.

Help at HQ - if you have a Democratic office in town they would love to meet you.

Knock on doors, offer rides to the polls, and donate what you can when you can.


When we take action we become part of the solution and that always feels great!

[Faith9326]

11. +1111

[Norbert]

12. I worked an Ohio precinct at the polls in 2008

as a Democratic captain and I worked along side a Republican captain. There is very little chance of that happening, only after the polls have closed and ONLY if both captains had agreed to do so. We need to account for every ballot and the number must match the number of people who signed in to vote. If it didn't match we would be called on the carpet. Even at that we would have some 'splainin' to do to the other poll workers that were there if we did any funny business. Trashing ballots, not very likely.

[peace13]

13. No,you are not. N/t

[Hannahcares]

14. Vote flipping in Ohio 2008

See Michael Collins article describing Cumulative Precinct Vote Tally Charts. Ohio 2008 Cuyahoga County -Obama votes flipped to McCain. Obama too far ahead to make a difference in 2008. This year, could be enough to lose Ohio ...

[DCBob]

15. All we need to worry about is showing up to vote.

The Obama campaign is on top of any potential conspiracies or cheating. They have an army of lawyers.

[Baitball Blogger]

16. Yes, they will try. Which is why we have to vote in numbers.

[whttevrr]

17. Democrats, for instance, will have 2,500 lawyers stationed across Ohio

Justice Dept., campaigns, dispatch poll observers
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57544629/justice-dept-campaigns-dispatch-poll-observers/

I think people should be comforted in knowing that while Romney may have dirty tricks up his sleeves... The President has the DOJ and 2,500 lawyers...

2,500?

That's crazy... 2,500 lawyers plus "The Justice Department announced today it is deploying more than 780 federal officials to 51 jurisdictions in 23 states on Election Day to watch for voting rights violations."

I think it might be difficult to steal an election from an incumbent President. Especially from one who is paying attention. President Obama is definitely paying attention. The 'True the Vote' goon squad might be in for a rude awakening.

[diane in sf]

18. I hope the DOJ has programmers and statisticians on call as well...

[pnwmom]

20. What can the lawyers do if they're not software programmers

and software programmers are not allowed to examine the new "experimental" software patch that was just put in voting machines?

[DFW]

21. The machines are probably already rigged

Especially in Ohio with Husted's "experimental" whaddya-gonna-do-about-it?" software patch that no one has examined.

The question is whether or not Rove's dirty tricks will be enough to sway the election. They certainly invested enough money in it, and businessmen HATE to make investments that see zero return. Two Senate seats and retaining the House don't justify two billion dollars of their money. The White House and two new right wing Supreme Court Judges DO justify it.

But these people are no poverty cases. They have enough money left over in case they lose, and Romney isn't the only one who knows where Grand Cayman is. They will be perfectly content to let puppets like Ohio's Husted be led off in handcuffs and serve three to five in a minimum security prison hotel, while they relax on the beach and think up who they want to be president in 2016.

My theory is that they are frankly amazed at the success they had in promoting Romney as far as they did. Remember NO ONE liked Romney, and they didn't field one serious candidate during the primaries because they didn't think they had a chance. Now that they have seen how close they came with a nothing candidate and two billion dollars, next time they will start with a candidate they think can win in the first place and three billion dollars.