We’re going to see a lot of discussion today about problems with voting machines, attempts at voter suppression and intimidation, poll worker confusion and mistakes, and so on.
Here at Common Cause, we’re getting these stories straight from the voters’ mouths.
That’s because we and a number of other organizations are running the 1-866-MYVOTE1 hotline again. We used this in the 2004 elections to show numerous problems with the presidential election that year: long lines, badly trained poll workers, malfunctioning equipment and uneven distribution of machines.
Voters can also call this number to find their polling place as well as to report election problems. Most of the calls we’ve received on this hotline have been for that purpose, although we’ve had significant numbers of calls from people reporting problems in voting.
We want to share these voter stories with all of you, so that you can get reports of problems almost literally as they happen. We’ll also keep you up-to-date on the steps being taken to correct these problems.
Throughout the day, I’ll be updating here with news on problems and the hot spots that are popping up around the country. Check back for the latest stories!
Here are two calls that we received from Wayne County, Michigan:
“Hi, Precinct 13 at Adler Elementary on Fillmore. The machine that counts the ballots was not operating this morning just after opening. I left at five minutes to eight; I was there at 7 am, and it was not counting the ballots, so we had to put it in and they assured us it would be hand-counted, but a lot of people were very upset.”
“Uh, the voting machines this morning won’t take the voting cards. They keep saying error, and like seven or eight of us had to put our ballots to the side while they call in repairs or whatever.”
And we’re receiving reports that voters in Mercer County, PA, are being asked what party they’re affiliated with. More on that as it comes in…