NationStates Jolt Archive

Yes, in West Palm Beach there is a new rule saying that journalists must stay away from polling locations. Aparently the election is far too important to allow it to be... in the public domain.

Of course, it would have been nice if they had publicized the new rule.... (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041101/ts_alt_afp/us_vote_media_violence)


A sheriff's deputy tackled, punched and arrested a US journalist for taking pictures of people waiting in line to cast early ballots in West Palm Beach, local media reported.

...

The deputy Sunday tried to grab the camera of James Henry, a freelance journalist who has written for The New York Times and The Washington Post.


Henry, 54, ran across the pavement but was tackled by the deputy, who pinned him to the ground, punched him in the back and handcuffed him, according to the daily.


He was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.


Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections Teresa LePore did not comment on the incident or the new rule, which had not been previously announced. LePore gained notoriety as the creator of the infamous butterfly ballot that confused thousands of voters in the chaotic and controversial 2000 election.

...

Election monitors say sheriff's deputies themselves broke the law on Sunday by standing right outside polling offices while early voting was going on.


"We are considering filing a lawsuit," said Reggie Mitchell, a civil rights lawyer with the non-partisan Election Protection group that has deployed thousands of electoral monitors to Florida.


He said the law prohibits police from standing in the immediate vicinity of polling stations unless they are voting or called in to handle a disturbance.


Mitchell said deputies challenged Election Protection volunteers who were legally 15 meters (50 feet) away from the voting place.




Never mind the criminals.... what we REALLY need is to crack down on the people that are trying to ensure that a fair election is held.

The whole country has gone crazy. For the record, every time I have voted, there were always police present.

Now they are saying that by asking for a picture ID to identify if someone is indeed registered to vote, they are "harassing" people. WTF is that all about? You have to show an ID to write a check, to use a credit card and for other things, why should voting be different?

we're all boned

The whole country has gone crazy. For the record, every time I have voted, there were always police present.

Now they are saying that by asking for a picture ID to identify if someone is indeed registered to vote, they are "harassing" people. WTF is that all about? You have to show an ID to write a check, to use a credit card and for other things, why should voting be different?


Certainly photo-ID should be a requirement. Indeed, there are so many laxities and loopholes on your electoral proceedures that it makes one wonder if there has ever been a fraud-free election held!

Certainly photo-ID should be a requirement. Indeed, there are so many laxities and loopholes on your electoral proceedures that it makes one wonder if there has ever been a fraud-free election held!

No, there never has been. One county in Ohio right now has more people registered to vote than there are living there. Judges around the country are making stupid rulings. One in Ohio said that people can vote wherever they want to, not where they are assigned. What would stop someone from going to polling place to place and voting many times? The whole thing is crazy. Lawyers running around everywhere.

Certainly photo-ID should be a requirement. Indeed, there are so many laxities and loopholes on your electoral proceedures that it makes one wonder if there has ever been a fraud-free election held!

Nope. Never been. Supposedly its getting better. Yeah right. Even this election, I saw on the news that some state(battleground), some of its counties had more registered voters than population. I understand that populations shift, but given that only a fraction of people register to vote, it seems impossible to me that this could happen without fraud.

partison snipe: The lady who passed this new law about journalists in florida is.... A Democrat.

Nope. Never been. Supposedly its getting better. Yeah right. Even this election, I saw on the news that some state(battleground), some of its counties had more registered voters than population. I understand that populations shift, but given that only a fraction of people register to vote, it seems impossible to me that this could happen without fraud.

partison snipe: The lady who passed this new law about journalists in florida is.... A Democrat.



Oh dear... I haven't done something horribly fair and point out an instance of stupidity on it's own merits as opposed to in a partisan fashion have I?



Good lord - what will people say?

Nope. Never been. Supposedly its getting better. Yeah right. Even this election, I saw on the news that some state(battleground), some of its counties had more registered voters than population. I understand that populations shift, but given that only a fraction of people register to vote, it seems impossible to me that this could happen without fraud.

partison snipe: The lady who passed this new law about journalists in florida is.... A Democrat.

I have always had to show a picture ID when I have voted. That was true in Virginia, Illinois and here in Florida. All they do is check your name against the register and have you sign your name beside your entry. That way you cannot vote more than once. maybe it is not like that everywhere, but in those 3 states it has been the same.

Yes, the woman in question was a Democrat in 2000 but has reregistered as an independent. However, like the cheetah, her spots are most certainly the same despite the new label.

Oh dear... I haven't done something horribly fair and point out an instance of stupidity on it's own merits as opposed to in a partisan fashion have I?



Good lord - what will people say?

Stupid is as stupid does. I am awaiting tomorrow to see some real stupidity in action.

Stupid is as stupid does. I am awaiting tomorrow to see some real stupidity in action.


Why? What's tomorrow? Something important going on?

:D

I think only The Daily Show correspondents should be allowed to cover this election. :D

Stupid is as stupid does. I am awaiting tomorrow to see some real stupidity in action.

Nope, gotta wait till Wednesday for the mass stupidity to begin. Or at least, for to start hearing about it.

Luckily I live in a State that only goes 1 way(NY).

Nope, gotta wait till Wednesday for the mass stupidity to begin. Or at least, for to start hearing about it.

Luckily I live in a State that only goes 1 way(NY).

Yes, but here in Florida we have several thousands who are registered both here and in NY. Want to bet they are voting twice? Absentee ballots are too easily gotten.

Maybe we will wake up and realize that the masses are just too stupid to make correct decisions. Then again, only about 30% of those eligible to vote bother to do so. Does that constitute the masses?

from everything I have read (as a non-American) a sadly large part of the population doesnt vote over there...do the ones that vote 5 times even things out?
On a more serious note, in Australia voting is compulsory, and if you fail to vote there is a $50 fine. Start the same thing in the US, and these people who have registered 40 times (according to one report) will have to vote 40 times for EVERYTHING - local, state, or federal. They ever forget, or miss something happening in different areas, they end up with a fine. They would have to spend the rest of their lives doing nothing but voting!!

In my country, come elction time, I go to the polling station, bringing a photo ID and a piece of mail with my name and address on it just to be on the safe side. I get checked in, checked off the voters lists, given my ballot to mark, and once it's marked, it goes into an electronic tabulating machine.

Quick. Easy. Painless. Foolproof. We get the electronic results instantaneously once the polling station closes, with the hand-marked ballots retained for manual recounting, should it prove necessary. In fact the only downside is that election night goes too quickly, now. It puts a damper on election night parties!

I guess I might be coming off as sounding smug, here - but why does an American election have to necessarily generate all of this fear & loathing? The last time out, it was an awful mess, and the experience highlighted in bold caps that there are some pretty serious problems with the current electoral process...but that was four years ago, why are these issues being allowed to linger instead of being dealt with in an above-board manner?

from everything I have read (as a non-American) a sadly large part of the population doesnt vote over there...do the ones that vote 5 times even things out? On a more serious note, in Australia voting is compulsory, and if you fail to vote there is a $50 fine. Start the same thing in the US, and these people who have registered 40 times (according to one report) will have to vote 40 times for EVERYTHING - local, state, or federal. They ever forget, or miss something happening in different areas, they end up with a fine. They would have to spend the rest of their lives doing nothing but voting!!

Voting compulsory? I did not know that. I suspect the same was true in Saddam's Iraq as well, but there was only one person on the ballot there. Hell, you can't even get most people to pay their bills on time, most would just pay the fine and go about their lives. It would be a great way to pay off the national debt though.

There are so many people here who have NO idea who the current vice-president is so why would we want these idiots be required to vote?

In my country, come elction time, I go to the polling station, bringing a photo ID and a piece of mail with my name and address on it just to be on the safe side. I get checked in, checked off the voters lists, given my ballot to mark, and once it's marked, it goes into an electronic tabulating machine.

Quick. Easy. Painless. Foolproof. We get the electronic results instantaneously once the polling station closes, with the hand-marked ballots retained for manual recounting, should it prove necessary. In fact the only downside is that election night goes too quickly, now. It puts a damper on election night parties!

I guess I might be coming off as sounding smug, here - but why does an American election have to necessarily generate all of this fear & loathing? The last time out, it was an awful mess, and the experience highlighted in bold caps that there are some pretty serious problems with the current electoral process...but that was four years ago, why are these issues being allowed to linger instead of being dealt with in an above-board manner?

Because there is no "national" standard for voting. Some areas still use the punch cards, some use electronic methods. Here in my county we use the system you describe. We have a ballot with the candidates and other things being voted on and there are arrows with the center missing pointing to each one. You merely "complete" the arrow and they run your ballot through a machine that tabulates your votes and the sheet is then retained if hand counting is needed.

Why the rest of the country cannot do this is beyond me.