The projections for Democratic turnout in Harris ran 40 to 60,000. The actual turnout was close to 100,000. Also hopeful is the data on the undervote. The undervote is a measure of the difference between the voter totals for candidates at the top of the ticket and those down ballot. That figure was 30+%.
What does this mean about November? Several things. First, out base is more energized than the dismal projections of the national electorate seems to be projecting for November. Voting in primary elections is not that much fun. The ballots are long and, outside of the races at the top of the ticket, few know or care about who is running. To have this kind of turnout is very encouraging and projected to November bodes well. Even more so, the undervote of 30% means that 70% of the primary voters have bought into the whole ticket, into the party itself. It means that they are more likely to vote in November as well.
A strong Democratic voter turnout in Harris in November is a very good thing for Democrats.
Two in five Democratic voters either consider themselves unlikely to vote at this point in time, or have already made the firm decision to remove themselves from the 2010 electorate pool. Indeed, Democrats were three times more likely to say that they will "definitely not vote" in 2010 than are Republicans.
I can't find any numbers specifically for Texas, but if the Governor's race heats up with Bill White entering for the Dems, I suspect we will get much better statewide numbers.
The conclusion that DailyKos draws from these numbers is the importance of a viable Heath Care bill being passed. I agree. Having spent this much energy on this policy, we damn well better be able to have something positive to show for it.
The poll also included this bad news: a -17 in the right versus wrong direction for the country question.
Anybody in the dark as to why all the lying and manufactured outrage on the other side? I thought not.
With a big hat tip to Momocrats this bit of voting news.
The Secretary of State's office is claming that there is a new statewide rule that you must provide a driver's license to vote and that every polling place should be asking for a driver's license, and scanning it.
I found a discussion of this novel claim a few minutes ago and it literally made me see red.
When will we get it? I was far from the perfect candidate in '06, but I think I did my part for the greater good. My race was a complete longshot and most had written it off before I even got started, and I knew that, yet I still agreed to do it.
We are 12 months away from the election, and why do I still feel like Democrats are still in hiding? Wake up people....if we can sell out a Hannah Montana concert, we can certainly fill the same venue with voters!
A email from a group called Progressive States Dispatch raises some warnings about reforming the Presidental voting system state by state. Specifically, it seems that Arnold's buddies in California want to go to a modified form of proportional presidental voting.
A new ballot measure in California would change the way that California's 55 presidential electoral votes would be allocated; not to make sure that every vote counted, but to make sure that any right-wing candidate for President could lop off a significant number of that state's electoral votes.
[snip]
The "Presidential Election Reform Act" would award two electoral votes to the statewide winner and then distribute the rest, one by one, to the winner of each congressional district. If the measure was in place in 2004, Presidential Bush would have received around 20 of California's electoral votes- the equivalent to a Pennsylvania or Illinois- instead of the zero that he ended up receiving.
FLORIDA VOTERS COALITION CONGRATULATES GOVERNOR CRIST AND THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE FOR ENDING PAPERLESS VOTING.
TALLAHASSEE: In a historic vote, the Florida House today unanimously passed CS/HB 537, already passed in the Senate, that provides almost all voters paper ballots in time for the 2008 Presidential election, and bans paperless DREs outright by 2012. The bill now goes to the Governor where he's sure to sign it since it's his initiative.
Counties will have the option to pitch DREs immediately and provide ballot marking devices for voters with disabilities. "FVC urges all 67 counties to convert to uniform paper ballot systems without delay and leave no voter behind voting on failed electronic voting machines," said FVC Co-Founder, Dan McCrea.
ng good money after bad...
ACTION ONE: Please call, email, fax Your STRONG PROTEST of Holt's H.R. 811, As Soon As Possible as the U.S. House returns this Monday, April 16th, and may try to fast track Holt's H.R. 811 again. Go To Election Defense Alliance's Action Page: http://electiondefen...
Call: Rep. Charles A. Gonzales (D-TX 20th)
Phone: (202) 225-3236
Fax: (202) 225-1915
E-mail Webform: http://gonzalez.hous...
Other members of the committee: http://www.electiond...
The House Reconvenes Monday, April 16.
Let's greet them with whirring FAX machines pouring out citizen opposition to H.R. 811.
Prior to Spring recess, the HCA was trying to "fast track" H.R. 811.
An unprecedented outpouring of citizen protest stopped them in their tracks. Keep FAXING and pouring it on until Congress gets the message: END the EAC
(Keep the unitary executive OUT of elections) BAN DREs
(The Holt bill supports them) END SECRET COUNTS
(Currently 85+% of our votes are counted in secret, with no citizen oversight)
Copy and Forward this Page Widely with this Link: http://www.ElectionD...
ACTION TWO: Please call, email, fax Your STRONG SUPPORT of Burnam's HB 3894. In Texas, it is extremely important we pass this bill, Rep. Burnam's 3894 Hand Counted Papers 2007 in THIS session (which ends at the end of May 2007) because the next session of the Texas Legislature isn't until January 2009-which is AFTER the 2008 Presidential Election.
Go To: VoteRescue.org http://voterescue.or...
Find Contact Information for your Texas Representatives at:http://www.fyi.legis...
from: http://voterescue.or...
THE most important action to take right now, is to contact your House Representative by visiting their Capitol office and/or mailing or faxing a personal letter urging him/her to sponsor HB 3894 (the bill for Hand Counted Paper Ballots 2007) NOW! Please go to our newly overhauled website at www.voterescue.org for contact information and an overview of the bill. When you receive a favorable reply, please let Karen Renick, Director, know at 496-7408 as soon as possible.
...HR 811 has now passed out of that committee and is headed to the floor for consideration by the House. Although some changes have been scribbled into it, the bill still permits the use of DRE machines. So HR 811 is, at best, as good as useless.
Thus the Dems have tucked themselves into their deathbeds, and will disappear into the Great Beyond as sure as shootin', with the Bush Republicans in the role of Jack Kevorkian (but without the solemn face).
Why are the Dems doing it? Basically, because they cannot, will not, recognize that it is happening. It's too big, too scary, and they don't want to go there--even though the unraveling US Attorney scandal makes it ever clearer that election fraud is at the heart, and is there very basis of, this whole regime.
(Mobilize now to protect voting rights. - promoted by boadicea)
(cross posted on BOR and LFT & DU)
Texas is one of several states subject to the Voter Rights Act Section 5 pre-clearance whereby election practices or procedures are frozen until the new proposed procedures have been subjected to review by the US Department of Justice. You wouldn't be too surprised by our state neighbors in the Section 5 pool. You also wouldn't be too surprised that under the Bush administration DOJ pre-clearance has been relatively easy.
LA Times 3/25/2007 Justice Department tugged to the right
Under Bush, the department has been tainted by politics, many say.
(snip)
The Civil Rights Division veterans focused their criticism on major voting case decisions over the last six years that they say have generally benefited the GOP.
The most recent case concerned a 2005 Georgia law that required voters to provide photo identification. Staff attorneys raised concerns about the law after the Georgia secretary of state supplied data showing that tens of thousands of voters might not have driver's licenses or other prescribed forms of identification. They said the plan could effectively disenfranchise large numbers of black voters.
Monday the state Senate will hold public hearings on SB 836 (Duncan-R). This bill would allow the expansion of countywide polling locations, sometimes called Super Precincts.
Lubbock County was the only county to conduct the pilot program in November 2006.
The results of the pilot were crystal clear, but totally excluded from the Secretary of State's report to the legislature. The results?
Overall voting declined by 3.6%
Voting in the top 10 minority precincts declined 25.7%
There was no cost savings.
There was no influx of first-time voters.
I was part of the group that implemented this pilot. It failed miserably, but the Lubbock County Elections office and Secretary of State's office have continued to be cheerleaders for this bad policy. They have both submitted reports that are absent of any negative results.
I'll be at the hearing and hope that the Senators will listen.
Hope that some of you who care about voting for all Texans can join me.
Is this fraud all over again? Not necessarily. I actually have quite a bit of experience with touchscreens being in IT and having worked for a company that used these machines extensively. I programmed and admistered and setup these machines at various client sites around the country. More on touchscreens on the flip.
However, these incidents do show that ALL voters need to confirm their votes and that we Democrats need to stay vigilant that these incidents get reported and get a proper response by election officials. That means ALL voters - Republicans included.
To this, may I suggest some Action Items:
Get word to poll volunteers and candidates that they remind Voters that at the end of the process there is a confirmation screen and they need to CONFIRM THEIR VOTES.
Post it on your blog, email your friends and Democratic volunteers.
And may I suggest that you not call it FRAUD yet. Why on the flip.
Now, I don't pretend to understand Chris Bowers very much; but I read him religiously, and I mean religiously. But I understood this like I understand flashing lights, bells, and barriers at a train crossing:
The system of dams in levees that Republicans have in places (maps, voter suppression, fundraising, media, GOTV) appears incapable of withstanding a blow of greater than eight percent.
(Well, I did correct his spelling, which is OK, genius like his is excused just about anything except rape or voting Republican.)
That little tidbit of math I can not only understand, but use, is found here. And he ends this post with these words, which makes my crazy life worth it:
So, when you are watching generic ballot polls, keep the number 8 in mind. Anything above, and we should have blue skies up ahead.
And I remember David Van Os saying at the Populist Progressive caucus at the TDP convention in Ft. Worth, in response to some question about the Republican Machine Fraud Machine, "Well, the answer is to win and win big in November. We have to blow them out of the water at the polls."
Just one more thing David seems to be right about.
Are we gonna win big enough to break their levees?
Pasadena Texas finally removes the blot from its record of not recognizing the legal winner of a city council race.
In October 27, 2005 a judge declared that two of Don Harrison's absentee voter ballots had signatures that did not match and the votes under Texas law did not count. Don Harrison in his campaigns relies heavily on absentee elderly voters. Harrison defense in the trial, the appeal, the further appeal, the Texas Supreme Court appeal, and the further Texas Supreme Court appeal was that he had testimony from three voters whose absentee ballots were not counted that those were their ballots. All 12 judges who saw the case said that Texas law was settled on the matter. Don Harrison as of last week was still discussing appealing to the United States Supreme Court.
For something really strange to ponder while you toss and turn (like I am doing of late), pop over to My DD and see what Chris has to say about the odd polling going on lately. Weird, in a horror-movie-scary-buildup sort of way.
OK, make this your generic open thread while you ponder the portent the latest generic ballots seem to be.
And what's your best insomnia treatment? Lately for me, not even two OTC antihistamine with a hot chocolate chaser does shit.
I was prompted to write this because of a recent experience I had when I decided I would venture to post a comment on one of the big named community blogs. The issue boils down to institutionalized racism regarding Hispanic credibility based on my perception in today's society.
What I find amusing is how people on the left cherry pick the articles to blast la raza. These are the same people who will cry out on the mountain tops saying that the MSM is a tool of the corporatist and they lie about anything. But when it comes to minorities and la raza from South of border, they take what the MSM says as the gospel truth. What is worse, no matter what WE say, it will always be looked at as questionable. And if we espeak Espanish berry well, pues forget it, its not good enough, we must not know what we are talking about.
Considering where I was, I was not surprised to get the response I did.
True leftists dont fit your model.
Don't shit on those who really love you.
While it was just another defensiveness knee-jerk reaction, which I should have let it go, I, however, responded by asking the commenter to define the meaning of a "true leftist."
Kossack DocGonzo has an interesting diary which covers a Slashdot programming group taking apart a Diebold voting computer and finding serious security flaws with the system.
I'm an IT guy & I've worked extensively with databases - including in my early days with MS Access. I've worked with it since 1996 & still with later apps.
Diebold has offered some pretty skeptical reasons why they can't turn over the data, claiming that it's proprietary.
On the flip, I'm going to take apart this and other arguments from Diebold and address the security flaw of the story in general.
Right-wing Ballot Scheme to Manipulate Presidential Votes in California
