Share Your Thoughts: What is wrong with our election process in Florida?
Posted by Pam on November 8, 2012 · 28 Comments
This has been one of the hardest 36 hours that I’ve experienced in quite a while. I am sure that it is true for you as well. For instance, I woke up in the middle of the night thinking “Supreme Court Judges!”
This is a scary time. We have one lone potential bright spot and that is the ballot counting for Allen West! The support for monitoring ballot processes has been overwhelming! We thank each and every one of you for your care, your prayers, and your effort. We should know the outcome by Friday evening.
Share Your Experiences with Florida Voting Problems
This article was in the USA Today this morning. Please read it and post your thoughts and especially what you saw as a poll watcher or poll worker in the past two weeks! http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/11/07/florida-voting-problems/1690549/
I really think Palm Beach County has been allowing illegal immigrants to vote.
I was a polll watcher in M C and didn’t find any problems with my precient.
I would suggest that we ask Gov Scott to re-evaulate the voting process for the whole state.
I believe it should be one set of rules for ALL counties and that should be set by the state government.
I also thinik this should be done BEFORE any other elections that sre scheduled no matter at what level.
How is there not one set of procedures for all counties, we only have one SOS. All counties would have to count and prepare tallies for challenges in court. This is corrupt if we are all not doing voting the same. How do counties give out tags, drivers licenses-does each county have a different method
Our precinct 1252 has about 2200 voters. We were given only 1 scanner which produced a bottleneck all day. With the 3 page ballot, we could at best process only about 110 ballots per hour. If we had a better than 60 percent turnout or fewer early voting, we would not have been able to process all the votes.
Because of the bottleneck at the scanner, voting took most people an hour and a half. Unnecessary inconvenience.
Precinct # 66 , Merritt Island,Fl. The voting room was laid out all wrong. Too much congestion with the lines of people getting in the way of each other person. Not enough tables to fill out your ballot. We had about 24 tables and we needed perhaps 50. The room that it all took place was too small. The size needs to be doubled. My cell number is 321-505-0024 and I look forward to your call. Also, is it possible to have two ballot counting machines? We had one and the line was long and SLOOOOOWWWW!
Lee Hathaway, 1540 Venus Street, M.I.,Fl. 32953 and thank you for your quick response!!!!
I believe that we all have some decisions to make. Decide to stay involved, continue the message of principles are more important than parties and values transcend politics, or withdraw and let the inmates run the insane asylum. The two Democrat TV ads that featured Melanie Peterson and Dina Keever speaking at Tea Party events infuriated me. The Democrat party and their mainstream media sycophants have twisted our core belief in fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets into messages of hate-speech, racism and fear mongering. This election cycle taught me that the majority of my fellow countrymen would rather be given a fish than taught how to catch fish. Can we allow the takers and the looters to win? “Who is John Galt?”
I worked at a polling location in PBC and say a lot pf people using passports from out of state as ID. I did walk outside to see one of them drive away in a car from Missouri.
I thought that a 3 page ballot with L-O-N-G constitutional amendments on it was a little overdone. Citizens initiatives are only allowed 75 words. Why does the Legislature get more?
I volunteered to be an observer of the counting of absentee ballots at the office of the Supervisor of Elections PBC. What a mess! This really needs to change! The officials, for one Susan Boucher to name one was obnoxious, rude and fouled mouth. Big surprise! Granted, I would not like someone staring over my shoulder as I worked, but I am sure the employees knew we were coming. I did not witness anything out of the ordinary, until at one point late in the afternoon we (the observers) were not allowed to observe one table counting military absentee ballots. Two people were working at the speed of light to get these votes transcribed onto computer accessable ballots to run them thru the voting machines. We questioned why we were not allowed to observe these ballots, and for over 3 hours were not given an answer by any of the officials. Finally the lawyers had to step in and question the process. As of 10:00pm 10/7/12 we had not received a viable answer and the ballots were still being processed.
It sickens me to see the complete incompetence of the voting process in Fl. The touch screen ballots were so sensitive that people voting for one candidate registered for the another. Machine malfunctions. Front page ballots missing in palm beach asking people to come back later after people stood in line from 6:45 am before going to work. Poll watchers being told they cannot give them number of candidate votes. locking doors and ballots boxes.Voting for one candidate and it scanned another rigged machines.Poll watchers told they didn’t need to be there because someone was already there,3 are allowed at the polls.
We need a major revamp of the total system here in Fl. Every voter needs to have a recite of who they voted for to be sure it was their vote and was counted. No different then going to a store to purchase food. You always get a recipe for your purchase. As a vote is competed a receipt should be given listing your vote selection.That’s the only way to know for sure. Every voter must have voter picture ID.There needs to be more the one supervisor of election to represent Republican, Democrat,and Independence.There is far to much division among these people. Yesterday the Supervisor of election in Palm Beach county yelled and pushed a person observing ballot transfers because she didn’t like the question from a person from the opposing party. A g one week training needs to be giving for everyone who will work at polls on election day so everyone knows the rules. Then two day refresher just before elections begin plus Every vote needs to be counted, EVERY Military vote must be counted must be first.
WE ARE JOHN GALT AND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ”‘ATLAS SHRUGGED” BY AYN RAND, GET IT AND SPEND ALL YOUR FREE TIME DOING SO.
I STILL BELIEVE IN AMERICA. OUR pRESIDENT DOESN’T-SO WE MOBILIZE FOR 2014, IF WE LAST. I HAVE HEARD THAT THE pRESIDENT HAS PLANS TO OVERTURN THE SECOND AMENDMENT, TURN OUR SOVERIGNTY OVER TO A WORLD POWER BY HILLARY AND THE U.N. ALSO, AFTER A REST-SHE MAY BEGIN PREPARING TO RUN IN 2014.O WILL BE THE WORLD KING BY THEN.
EVERYONE SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR CHANCES TO HAVE THE U.S. SENATE ADD 6 MORE GOPS, WHICH WOULD TAKE AWAY FROM THE DEMS AND GIVE THE REPUBLICANS THE MAJORITY IN BOTH HOUSES–NOT ENOUGH-BUT IT WOULD TAKE A MIRACLE TO GET 16 MORE–A SUPER MAJORITY–STILL, MIRACLES HAPPEN. ARE THERE 16 SEATS OPEN IN 2014? WE NEED A SUPER MAJORITY TO OVERTURN OBAMACARE–AND IT CAN HAPPEN. IT IS PROBABLY DOABLE BY 2016.
GOOD LUCK-WE NEED EVERY SOUL.
CAROL
PERHAPS BOEHNER SHOULD GIVE IN TO TAXING THE RICH OVER $500,000, WITH A CLAUSE THAT SAYS THAT IF THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DOES NOT GO DOWN TO 5% FOR THE FIRST YEAR, THEN WE REMOVE THE TAX.
EVERY AMERICAN WHO CARES ABOUT AMERICA, INSTEAD OF FREE STUFF SHOULD GIVE THEIR IDEAS TO OUR CHAIRMAN–THE ONE IN THE PARTY IN YOUR STATE.
BY THE WAY, WHERE HAS THE TEA PARTY BEEN?????? THE PATRIOTS DIDN’T QUIT CENTURIES AGO-DESPITE EXTREME HARDSHIPS THAT WE COULD NOT ENDURE NOW.
Valuable commentary a bove, especially regarding the uninvigilated transcription of military votes, which were expected to be overwhelmingly anti-Obama, anti-Democrat. I say return to punch cards, a system that hadn’t failed, despite the 2000 election nonsense which enabled the execution by Republicans of a plan to require counting by machines whose programming is absurdly protected, as “proprietary”, from inspection by government and party officials.
Early voting wasn’t handled well, in large part because of the amendments. And why, when English was established decades ago as the official language here, does Spanish appear on trhe ballot? What’s next, Creole? Without the longer Spanish translations, the ballot woould have been a two-sided page shorter, and hundreds of thousands of lost hours waiting would have been avoided.
I voted late–on election day. At Precinct 5134, in Boca Raton, the whole process took ten minutes, with no lines to establish identity and sign, or to vote. At another voting site in Daggerwing Park, there was a long line. Always bring your voter card with you to ensure you’re in the right place. There were at least two voting precincts at the Coconut Cove Waterpark
We’ll never have accurate elections until we go to a total PAPER ballot , and people get re-trained to this instant-result addiction. Who cares about WHEN we know the winners, the accuracy is the number one priority.
OK. The Monday morning quarterbacks are in full swing on TV and the papers. He shuda done this, he shuda done that.
As rush said. the american people want freebies. The takers want more “stuff” given them. They don’t mind becoming a slave to the government as long as the freebie keep coming. I don’t see a change in Obama’s modus operendum as the just was reelected. The loss of 4 Americans in Benghazi will never see the light of day. Our congress has no BALLS to assert itself when Obama tosses the Constitution down the toilet by issuing unconstitutional directives.
I hope he doesn’t burn down the capital building alla the Reischstag (mispelled)
I was at Precinct 4200 at Omni Middle. There were 682 votes cast. There was one scanner. Everything went very smoothly. We had the early morning crush, that was all and then after that it was easy all day long.
I think Romney coudl have capitalized more on getting the hispanic vote. I don’t want to dicuss that matter here as I don’t want the dems picking up my ideas. I am of Puerto Rican descent and understand the thinking of latins.
I am very proud of the way the Republicans took this lose with dignity and poise. I am praying for Allen West that he makes it through. Such a valient dignified man.
I participated in early voting at the library on Military trail in Jupiter on Monday, Oct.29,2012. The line was long a1hr 45 minutes wait, but okay.
Major complaint – possible fraud occuring everywhere in Florida is the possiblity of out of state snow birds voting twice in our state and New York, NJ, Ct., Ohio and elsewhere. During the long wait, a couple in front of me was from New York escaping the storm Sandy, and I assumed voted for both the local and presidential candidates. They admitted that that live here seasonally, have a condo locally here in Jupiter, and were unaware that they should not be able to vote twice. When I mentioned it to them, they stated we only vote for the local condidates.
This I believe this could be rampant, and I suspect that the election supervisors are not cross checking/correlating with other states to be sure that residents are not voting twice.
Also, my son who flies thruout the US was given the erroneous absentee ballot which he filled out and mailed back in time. I peronally do not like the possibility of mistakes/potential fraud when his ballot was opened, I assume his votes copied/transferred correctly onto the new ballot to be read into the scanner -all 27,000 of them by Ms Busher’s team over a 1 week period? How do we know A. that the original bad ballot was even noticed to be a bad ballot, other wise it would a been scaned and no votes counted (since it is a bad ballot that the machine cannot read/accept, or B. that my son’s votes were manually transferred correctly onto the new ballots to be scanned by the machine. This method leaves open the possibility of mistakes and fraud.
Also, most of the soldiers overseas did not recieve the new correct ballots in time to vote, and I understand that they were told that the original erroneous/bad ballots they recieved were not to be used and they may not have voted at all – unlike my son.
Also I understand in the PBP that Ms. Bucher allowed local people (who originally supposedly asked for absentee ballots) to vote using the new absentee ballots handed out personally at the main station? on Sunday and Monday (Nov. 4, 5) after early voting was officially ended on Nov. 3rd. This was done so that these local people could vote and not be disenfranchised, which I accept. However I understand that her staff had to cross check with the official voting rolls to be sure that these people could not vote twice -Again on Tuesday, Nov. 6th, and that the new updated computer voter rolls were updated (all 27,000?) done in one night?? and delivered by the fire fighters throughout the various voting poling stations. I’m not suggesting that deliberate/fraud took place, but errors could easlly have taken place allowing double voting.
And last but not least, how does anyone know that their absentee ballot sent in, their signature checked, and may have been rejected because their signature on file doesn’t match the signature on the ballot/envelope? Who makes that rejection decision? How is one notified that his vote was deliberately not counted? Hanging chads anyone?
I voted early at Jupiter Library. Waited 1 1/2 hours at about 10:30 on the Sunday. Once inside it all went smoothly.
My husband made a mistake on his ballot and asked to throw it away and start over. They complied and gave him a new one while still standing at the counter he noticed it had Obama already filled in! He said this is already marked! This is not acceptible! This occured in Jupiter in the Islands Club House.
I was a pollworker in Palm Beach County and did not see anything incorrect or illegal in our Precinct. What I did see as problems were (1) a 3-page ballot that took far too long for people to fill out. We had 15-20 people backed up to fill out their ballots – even though we had far more than the normal (privacy) place to fill out your ballot. (2) We also had lines at times with people waiting for the scanner – we only had one scanner – should have had two.
(3) The big issue I saw was the length of time it took people to fill out their ballots – they should have filled out a “sample ballot” first and used that as a template, reducing wait times.
I was a “PA” – precinct adviser – helping direct people to the correct precinct if they were in the wrong one. (4) We had an excess amount of people that came to the wrong precinct. Apparently too few people are paying attention to the precinct change cards they receive from the Superintendent of elections office when they are moved to a new precinct.
Tom
Will we ever hear what happened with the first absentee ballots which went out in Palm Beach County? They were missing the judges. Then what happened to those ballots which had cards with the wrong amount of postage in them. They went back to the post office. What did the post office do with the. If they sent them back to the people they were too late to b e counted??
People in California got their ballots the Saturday before the election day. Hoe do they know that these got to Bucher’s office.
What about those people who were registered in Palm Beach County and their names were not on the books.
Bucher and her office needs to have nonpartisan people in there.
Poll watching was a sham as well as security around certain poles.
PLEASE FIND OUT , TOO. WHY PALM BEACH CITY WORKERS IN TRUCKS TOOK OUR SIGHNS DOWN AND NEVER TELL ANYONE THEY ARE DOING IT; OR WHERE THE SIGNS ARE TO BE TAKEN. wHAT A WASTE OF MONEY.
lOTS OF FRAUD GOING ON IN THIS STATE AND OTHER STATES WHICH NEEDS TO BE SATOPPED.
Obstruction and inability to early vote.
I am a very concerned citizen, now living in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. There was something terribly wrong with the organization of early voting in the City of Aventura. For three days in a row, Monday through Wednesday, October 29 – 31, I tried to vote 6 (six) times, twice a day at different times, at the Aventura Government Building, at 19200 West Country Club Drive Aventura, FL 33180.
I was not able to do so. Six times I was turned away by the Aventura policemen, who waved me away, because there was no parking space. I am a handicapped senior citizen and I have the handicapped parking sign hanging from my rear-view mirror. I kept asking where else I can park, but instead of an answer, I got a nasty attitude telling me to move along because I am blocking the traffic.
The sixth time this happened, I pulled my camera and took pictures of the policewoman. She got very upset when she saw that, asking me why I was taking pictures. I told her I wanted to have it on record that she is waving me away. At least, when I asked her where else I can park, she told me that there is additional parking space, around the corner, at Founders’ Park.
Those who could park, had to wait in line for 2-6 hours.
I went there, but the parking space was full. I had no place to park and I had to give up voting, because, just in case, I asked for an absentee ballot. I came home, filled my choices and personally handed the envelope to the potsman.
I was persistent and went to vote six times and could not, but how many people did that? How many people gave up and did not vote?
I called the Mayor’s office, Susan Gottlieb. I spoke with Arlene, I told her about the problem and asked her to have the Mayor call me back. I also told Arlene that after I finish talking to her, I’ll call all the local TV networks and the Miami Herald to tell them what is happening. So far, I did not hear from her.
As promised, I called the TV stations and the Miami Herald and left messages for the appropriate reporter: at Fox News Miami – Carmel, at ABC News Miami – Kelly, at NBC News Miami – Bertie, at CBS News Miami – Andy. Only Patty Mazzi, from the Miami Herald promptly returned my call and took an interest in my story.
I am immigrant since 1971. I run away from the Communist regime in Romania. Voting in that country was a sham. I became an American citizen in 1977 and ever since then, I never missed voting in any election.
To me, it is an incredible privilege and right to voice my choices. I get very upset when I see this right trampled and willfully hindered by the police and the Aventura government, who all are being paid by our tax money, to serve us, not to actively impede the citizens to vote.
If this happened in the City of Aventura, at how many other places were the voters robbed of their right to vote?
Is there anybody with the capability to do something about it, who will take the challenge and make known to the rest of the country about this incredible violation of the most basic right of the American citizen: THE RIGHT TO VOTE?
I am in District 7 SLC and there was someone going up and down the line giving out ‘cards’ with either all republican names or democratic names. He was saying here is who you vote for, either card, don’t bother reading all of the amendments ‘just mark no’ and you will get out quickly. Then there was a large bus, like a campaign bus with a bull horn saying ‘vote the domocratic ticket’ over and over. I felt like a sheep in the slaughter line. And, as it turns out, I was. You see there is voter fraud in SLC and it has been ongoing for years. There are always people in the Walmart parking lot ‘registering’ voters. They even claim that you can register as many times as you want. I have reported this on two occasions in 2008 to Ms. Walker’s office and they only say ‘this is not our office so we can’t do anything’.
I have researched voter fraud in St. Lucie County for the past 8 months. I submitted over 800 citizen challenges of questionable registrations to the Sup . of Elec. Then went to her office and requested proof of investigation of these challenges as required by state and federal statutes.. I got the same result that everyone gets out of that office…..nothing
Hi!
I forgot about all the people who have two homes in this country and they voted twice!!!!! Deplorable use of their right to vote. In this day and age we can send anything to space and bring it back but we can’t standardize our voting process in this country. What a disgrace!
Also, people from other states voted in Florida teo or three times.
I was a poll worker – an Inspector at Precinct 101 in Pinellas County. We had people lined up for at least 1 hour before the polls opened and it took us well over 1 1/2 hours before the lines started to slim down. I found that some people who had their ballots with them wanted to take their ballot to the voting booth and were surprised that they couldn’t do so but that we allowed them to jot their answers on the constitutional amendments and candidates on a piece of paper. I feel the Constitutional Amendments were making the wait quite long for our voters. Also as the day went on a lot of voters brought in a handout from the Democrat Party which listed the candidates to vote for from President on down to local races. Whether this affected the vote, I don’t know. I had one voter who came in and told me that he had voted in Nevada but wanted to vote here, too. I told him that was not permissable. At least he was honest about it.
This is the most technologically advanced country in the world, yet we run our elections like some third world hell hole. (of which we are rapidly approaching such esteemed status and notoriety ).
First: NO MORE EARLY (so we, ACORN and others can manipulate) VOTING!
Second: All states should standardize the process state wide. A voter ID card should be MANDATORY. That ID card should be at least as hard to get as a bank card or a divers license. Proof of some minimal standards of competence should apply. (like being alive and coherent, having a somewhat functional brain, and being a citizen of THIS country) Having read the Deceleration of Independence & the the US Constitution should also be a requirement. But this is certainly asking too much of a citizen in the line of their duty, right and privilege .
Third: National elections should be moved to April 16, or what ever day falls on the day after tax returns must be filed. Local elections should be held around the time you get your property tax bill.
Fourth: Immediate disqualification for any election supervisor who has or has had any associations with any radical organizations.
Democrat Union Groups, disguised in “Non-Partisan Poll Assistants/Black T-Shirts” were going around Early Voting Site at Military &near Southern Blvd AND Election Day Palm Springs Precinct Sites running over or removing Romney & other GOP signs, intimidating voters from the parking lot thru the voter lines forcing Voter Palm Cards & water bottles with Obama stickers & confrontational pressure to Vote for only Democrat candidates, — Vote for Obama, and vote NO on all Ammendments” Then, the disguised Union Dems / “Non-Partisan Poll Assistants LIED to Election Deputies that the Republican Poll Workers & Voters were NOT supposed to be near the line or entrance to Vote, and harrassing LIES to the Poll Deputy that Republicans were jumping the line for multiple fraud voting.
Majority Biased Dem Poll workers were selected to work, and shut out, and/or intimidated Equal Employment Opportunity for Republican Poll Worker / Watcher Applicants/ ONE OF EACH PARTY should be present at every Poll
DEMAND ALL SWING STATES SOE RE-COUNTS & PURGE NON-Registered Fraud Ballots and Multiple Fraud Ballots & Machine Callibrated Errors >> STOP DEMOCRAT’s Discriminatory VOTER INTIMDATION & Allowing Majority Dems Poll Site Workers HARASSMENT & Fraud against Republican Voters
REFORM, REFORM, REFORM and REFORM IT NOW! The system is broken. For far too long elections have been infiltrated by party bosses and radicals. Elections are becoming a joke. The system has been taken over by these party bosses, leftists, ACORNS and all the rest of the nuts. If we the people don’t stand up and demand free and honest elections in this county we can say goodbye to what is left of a democratic republic.