voting, third parties and the election

This is a post from the Chester County Coalition for Voting Integrity, a non-partisan organization dedicated to ensuring the integrity of our voting process. They are a Yahoo Group that Chester County citizens can join.

Thankfully, here in Chester County we vote on paper ballots. Unfortunately, in 52 other counties in Pennsylvania, paperless electronic voting systems rule.  In every election since 2006, these machines have broken down in enough numbers to cause long lines at the polls resulting in voter disenfranchisement.  November’s election is likely to generate a very high turnout.  As a result, certain advocacy groups are sending a letter to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Pedro Cortes, to urge him to release a directive that requires counties to issue enough emergency paper ballots to precincts in the event of machine failure or long lines at the polls.  Chester County Coalition for Voting Integrity will sign on to the letter and help advocate for these vital ballots.  Although we do not have this particular issue in our county, every Pennsylvania voter deserves to have the opportunity to cast a ballot.

Three friends of mine from the St. Joe Valley Greens in South Bend, IN ran for office last year on the Green Party ticket. Unbelievably, their votes were not counted. As one of them stated at the end of her posting: 

‘In a Democracy, no one should have to hire an attorney to make sure their vote is counted.’  You can read about it on her blog here.

Maureen Dowd has redeemed herself a little with this weekend’s ‘Bering Straight Talk’. excerpt:

‘An Arctic blast of action has swept into the 2008 race, making thinking passé. We don’t really need to hurt our brains studying the world; we just need the world to know we’re capable of bringing a world of hurt to the world if the world continues to be hell-bent on misbehaving.’

As always, Frank Rich is one of the more astute journalists reporting on election shenanigans;

‘McCain’s conspicuous subservience to his younger running mate’s hard-right ideology and his dependence on her electioneering energy raise the question of who has the power in this relationship and who is in charge. A strong and independent woman or the older ward who would be bobbing in a golf cart without her? The more voters see that McCain will be the figurehead for a Palin presidency, the more they are likely to demand stepped-up vetting of the rigidly scripted heir apparent.’

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