1,117 Reasons Friends Don't Let Floridians Vote By Mail

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Oh, and by the way, Florida is getting ready to have another primary.Uh huh, they could have
obeyed the rules and still have a primary much earlier than many states (like mine)

1,117 absentee ballots for House race are lost

By Cristina Silva, Times Staff Writer Published Saturday, March 15, 2008

CLEARWATER — Just nine days before the primary election, the U.S. Postal Service has lost more than 1,100 absentee ballots for the state House District 55 race.

Pinellas elections officials said they delivered the 1,117 ballots to the Clearwater Bulk Mail Unit on Monday.

Postal officials confirmed the ballots were received but say they have no record of what happened to them after that.

The mishap has alarmed local political leaders.

"My concern is, if there is something nefarious going on how are we going to fix it?" said Toni Molinaro, chairwoman of the Pinellas County Democratic Executive Committee. "The worst case scenario is that someone took them and is going to do something fraudulent with them."

Elections officials say there is no need to worry. The ballots, originally sent to voters who requested them, were resent to the same voters on Friday by priority mail.

The Democrats in the race are attorney Darryl Rouson, St. Petersburg City Council member Earnest Williams and educator Charles McKenzie. The primary is March 25.

No Republicans entered the race.

more at the link

According to some locals in Florida,
Darryl Rouson is a party switcher, in other words, he was a republican but switched, he is DINO.

[Captain Angry]

1. Moving ballots is too important for normal controls.

The US Postal Service has a program for sending things that can't get lost.

You take the item to the Post Office. They charge you. Plenty. But then they put it in another box, and seal it with special paper, and tape every single seam and fold. They stamp every spot where the tape overlaps another strip of tape.

The person there signs a slip, and then it's put in a safe. That safe is moved from location A to location B with signatures for every change of possession. It then stays in the safe at location B until the receiver arrives and has proper identification. Signatures all around, and the process is done.

Add a little of the technology that's come about recently, and you would be able to have GPS location of that package to within 6 feet at all times. Not some lousy tracking number based on whenever somebody scanned it last, but actual broadcasting "Here I am."

That can be done with some packages now. I don't believe for a second that it's too expensive. Not when we can pay KBR extra to stamp their own logo on the towels given to our soldiers. This is something that should be identified, quantified, paid for and deployed at the Federal level since it is not a "states right" to have crappy elections.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

3. exactly how much would your plan cost

and how would you carry it out in real life.

How would you prevent people from signing their ballots or ballot envelopes and
then selling them to someone else who may complete the vote?

How would you protect the voters from coercion?

How would you ensure that there are no crooked employees working for the delivery service?

[Captain Angry]

11. Definitely a problem.

My point is that in 2008, the United States has the ability to look to other countries to find best practices. We have the ability to implement a completely secure method with tracking to account for any anomalies.

Not that it's fantastically easy, but that it's incredibly important that we don't leave this stuff to chance.

[Wilms]

12. I agree with your last sentence.

But all that WillYourVoteBeCounted pointed out (and more) are really big reasons to discourage (I wouldn't want to ban, however) absentee voting.

You're right. It ain't easy.

[davidinalameda]

2. Hillary used to be a repug

just saying

[aquart]

4. Just distorting.

Because you will use anything you can seize to make your punk televangelist look better than the lying opportunist he is.

[durrrty libby]

5. He is a stunning fraud and your description nails it

"punk televangelist"

[Wilms]

9. Perhaps a software glitch brought you here by mistake.

You'll like the weather her...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Wilms]

8. Perhaps you made a wrong turn.

Bear right at the Latest page and merge with this forum:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[davidinalameda]

10. televangelist?

Rev. Wright isn't a televangelist; he never was

my comment is in response to the original poster's comment that someone used to be a repug and that makes him a DINO

not all former repugs are DINOs

you have lifelong Democrats who are way more of a DINO than any party-switcher

[Wilms]

7. Please. Let me give you directions.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Wilms]

6. K&R this! Not like we hadn't warned and been warned.

Thanks for posting this. Hopefully more will think carefully about casting votes.

[EFerrari]

13. Greg Palast does a segment on the LinkTv fundraiser where

he gives his opinion on the safest way to vote -- which is to vote early and in a group in case you're challenged. He had nothing good to say about absentee ballots.