Early voting surges ahead of U.S. elections, and complaints follow

[rooster59]

Early voting surges ahead of U.S. elections, and complaints follow

By Liz Hampton

 

Democratic candidate Lucy McBath running for U.S. Congress in Georgia's sixth district speaks with supporters in Marietta, Georgia, U.S., October 25, 2018. Photo taken October 25, 2018. REUTERS/Liz Hampton

 

MARIETTA, Ga. (Reuters) - Hope Norris showed up two weeks early to vote in Marietta, Georgia, and waited 45 minutes to cast a ballot for Democrat Stacey Abrams, who could become the first black woman governor elected in U.S. history.

 

The 55-year-old social service worker was far from alone in voting well ahead of the Nov. 6 elections that will determine control of the U.S. Congress. Four states have already received more early ballots than they did in all of 2014, according to a Florida researcher who tracks the practice.

 

Graphic: A look at battleground states - https://tmsnrt.rs/2PmsO7M

 

The rise in early voting has been accompanied by accounts of voters encountering trouble casting ballots or even being harassed in the wake of the heated U.S. political rhetoric fanned by Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic opponents.

 

Candidates from both major parties are urging their supporters to vote early, with Democrats placing particular emphasis on it in the face of new laws imposing strict voter ID limits in states including Georgia and North Dakota.

 

"People are coming to vote early. That's what we need them to do," said Democratic House candidate Lucy McBath after casting her own early ballot in Marietta. "If there is a problem with your voter registration and your ability to vote, that still gives you time to rectify the problem and come back."

 

Delaware, Indiana, Minnesota and Tennessee have received more early ballots with 12 days to go before the election than they had received in all of 2014 early voting, according to data compiled by Michael McDonald, a professor of political science at University of Florida at Gainesville.

 

North Carolina, Georgia, Minnesota, Texas, Florida and Nevada have already received at least twice as many ballots as they had at this point in 2014, the last non-presidential federal elections, McDonald said in a phone interview.

 

"We've never seen anything like this," McDonald said. He expects that in the end, turnout for nearly all of the 50 U.S. states will outstrip 2014, possibly nearing the 49 percent turnout in midterm elections in 1966, when Lyndon Johnson was president. If turnout tops 50 percent of eligible voters, it would be the first time since 1914 that such a high percentage of Americans voted in midterm elections.

 

Graphic: Can Democrats regain control of the House? - https://tmsnrt.rs/2Qdinjo

 

'DISHEARTENING'

 

Norris's wait time was well above average compared with recent elections. A 2016 nationwide voter survey by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that 68 percent of people who voted early waited less than 10 minutes to cast their vote.

 

Norris was glad she had did not wait until Nov. 6 to vote, saying the electronic voting machine she used seemed to have trouble registering her vote for Abrams, initially showing her as choosing Republican candidate Brian Kemp, the state's top election official.

 

Similar issues led the NAACP to file a complaint about some voting machines in Georgia. State officials said the problems appeared to be users pressing the wrong part of the touch-screen voting stations.

 

"It's disheartening because you have to wonder ... is this election going to be stolen from Abrams?" Norris said. "I don't even know if it registered as a Democrat."

 

Voting rights groups have sued Kemp, who serves as Georgia Secretary of State, saying his office had inappropriately stopped processing more than 50,000 voter registration applications, many from black voters.

 

Kemp on Thursday appealed a ruling that prevent absentee ballots from being rejected if their signatures do not appear to match what the state has on file without due process.

 

BIPARTISAN PROBLEMS

 

Republicans have also reported problems with voting machines. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz's campaign on Friday warned supporters that some voters had been unable to cast straight-party ballots, picking all the candidates running as Republicans or Democrats.

 

Texas officials blamed user errors.

 

At least one person has been criminally charged with threatening early voters.

 

In Mecklenberg County, North Carolina, 28-year-old Jason Donald Wayne was arrested on Wednesday for communicating threats, ethnic intimidation and going armed to terrorize people.

 

His victim was private detective Derek Partee, an African-American volunteer for the campaign of Republican state Senator Jeff Tarte, according to the campaign he worked for and a Facebook post by Partee.

 

"Down here in Steele Creek working the polls just threatened by two white males," Partee wrote, adding that the men had used racial slurs.

 

Larry Shaheen, Tarte's campaign chief of staff, said he had witnessed voters who identified themselves as Democrats yelling at a Republican volunteer and also knew Democrats who had been insulted by Republicans.

 

"These are not campaign volunteers who are doing this – these are voters who are very, very angry," Shaheen said. "It's happening on both sides and it's happening everywhere."

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-27

[JAG]

There is quite a lot to be said for a plywood booth, a ballot paper and a pencil on the end of a bit of string, isn't there?

[watcharacters]

8 minutes ago, JAG said:

There is quite a lot to be said for a plywood booth, a ballot paper and a pencil on the end of a bit of string, isn't there?

 

I guess you just  can't stop progress?..   

[spidermike007]

An absolute slaughter is about to take place on November 6th. The GOP just does not realize how angry, disenfranchised, disappointed, and annoyed millions are, over the absolute fool in the White House. Plus, you have nitwits like Chuck Grassley, who are mimicking Trump style bullying, and being tone deaf to the ramifications of their actions. Just wait. Give it another week or so. Trump will be the lame duck that he deserves to be. And most of the world will celebrate this.

[Brunolem]

[alex8912]

With the way scandals break out I would never vote 2 weeks ahead of time. Seems very foolish. You can go from winner to sinner overnight!

[mcambl61]

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

An absolute slaughter is about to take place on November 6th. The GOP just does not realize how angry, disenfranchised, disappointed, and annoyed millions are, over the absolute fool in the White House. Plus, you have nitwits like Chuck Grassley, who are mimicking Trump style bullying, and being tone deaf to the ramifications of their actions. Just wait. Give it another week or so. Trump will be the lame duck that he deserves to be. And most of the world will celebrate this.

you may not like the results, especially in the senate. but time will tell if there are enough socialists and progressives to take the house.

[jcsmith]

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

An absolute slaughter is about to take place on November 6th. The GOP just does not realize how angry, disenfranchised, disappointed, and annoyed millions are, over the absolute fool in the White House. 

Oh they do. That's why they are working so hard to suppress votes and to invent problems like, "the caravan" that are months away from even reaching the U.S. to distract from issues which they have no answer for.

[Sakeopete]

7 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

An absolute slaughter is about to take place on November 6th. The GOP just does not realize how angry, disenfranchised, disappointed, and annoyed millions are, over the absolute fool in the White House. Plus, you have nitwits like Chuck Grassley, who are mimicking Trump style bullying, and being tone deaf to the ramifications of their actions. Just wait. Give it another week or so. Trump will be the lame duck that he deserves to be. And most of the world will celebrate this.

Honestly if I were American I would vote Republican. Who in their right mind would risk such a strong Republican led economy by voting in Democrats. At the end of the day most people want jobs and a strong economy. You can try and give Obama credit for it but it happened under Republicans.

[Langsuan Man]

3 minutes ago, Sakeopete said:

Honestly if I were American I would vote Republican. Who in their right mind would risk such a strong Republican led economy by voting in Democrats. At the end of the day most people want jobs and a strong economy. You can try and give Obama credit for it but it happened under Republicans.

If you were an American then you would have a better idea of what is really going on with the economy and not be so quick to give credit to the current criminal enterprise that is running America

Majority in survey say their finances have not improved since President Trump took over

 source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2018/10/27/finances-better-worse-same-under-trump-survey/1762016002/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories

[Tug]

I voted allready and sadly this time if a republican I had to reject they are in trumps pocket.wait till the trade war gets going and you pay 20% more for everything the stock market lost all of the 2018 gains the attacks on immigrant children the shameless sucking up to dictators the attacks on our allies the attacks on the fbi cia nsa ect ect trump isn’t on the ballot but it’s definitely about him he needs at a minimum to be checked before he creates more damage impeached would be better Leavenworth would be best

[guest879]

13 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

An absolute slaughter is about to take place on November 6th. The GOP just does not realize how angry, disenfranchised, disappointed, and annoyed millions are, over the absolute fool in the White House. Plus, you have nitwits like Chuck Grassley, who are mimicking Trump style bullying, and being tone deaf to the ramifications of their actions. Just wait. Give it another week or so. Trump will be the lame duck that he deserves to be. And most of the world will celebrate this.

go Maxine waters. 

[mcambl61]

19 hours ago, jcsmith said:

Oh they do. That's why they are working so hard to suppress votes and to invent problems like, "the caravan" that are months away from even reaching the U.S. to distract from issues which they have no answer for.

and precisely what answers (in detail) does the resistance have or have presented, please give us details

[mcambl61]

14 hours ago, Tug said:

I voted allready and sadly this time if a republican I had to reject they are in trumps pocket.wait till the trade war gets going and you pay 20% more for everything the stock market lost all of the 2018 gains the attacks on immigrant children the shameless sucking up to dictators the attacks on our allies the attacks on the fbi cia nsa ect ect trump isn’t on the ballot but it’s definitely about him he needs at a minimum to be checked before he creates more damage impeached would be better Leavenworth would be best

for what actual reasons? factually verifiable reasons

[mcambl61]

15 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

If you were an American then you would have a better idea of what is really going on with the economy

yes we most certainly do, my family and their families have had a tremendous increase in salary and opportunities, but then they are people who actually work with their hands. Better than the last 15 years without any doubt

[Morch]

On 10/28/2018 at 12:05 PM, mcambl61 said:

yes we most certainly do, my family and their families have had a tremendous increase in salary and opportunities, but then they are people who actually work with their hands. Better than the last 15 years without any doubt

 

"...my family and their families have had a tremendous increase in salary and opportunities, but then they are people who actually work with their hands."

 

If you say so. It's not like your credibility on this could be questioned.

[Morch]

On 10/27/2018 at 9:23 PM, Tug said:

I voted allready and sadly this time if a republican I had to reject they are in trumps pocket.wait till the trade war gets going and you pay 20% more for everything the stock market lost all of the 2018 gains the attacks on immigrant children the shameless sucking up to dictators the attacks on our allies the attacks on the fbi cia nsa ect ect trump isn’t on the ballot but it’s definitely about him he needs at a minimum to be checked before he creates more damage impeached would be better Leavenworth would be best

 

I'll vote for any candidate who runs on a punctuation-marks-please ticket.

[GinBoy2]

I can't remember the last time I actually went into a real live voting booth.

For years, be it overseas, or here in the US I've done postal ballots.

In some ways I think it helps that you actually have the time, sat at kitchen table or wherever to actually have the time to think about it.

The worst are actually ballot measures. A lot of those take take to digest and understand, since many of them are not simple, and have consequences....talk to the Brits about that! LOL

Anyhoo, I'm all done, so I can sit back and watch the show unfold

Edited October 29, 2018 by GinBoy2

[Srinivas]

Gop is doing pretty good so far in early voter tallys.

plus projectveritas knocked off 2 maybe 3 races so far.

popcorn time as networks are going to cover this like a presidential race.

[Scott]

Troll posts removed.   Continue and face a suspension.

 

[sirineou]

On 10/27/2018 at 2:01 AM, spidermike007 said:

An absolute slaughter is about to take place on November 6th. The GOP just does not realize how angry, disenfranchised, disappointed, and annoyed millions are, over the absolute fool in the White House. Plus, you have nitwits like Chuck Grassley, who are mimicking Trump style bullying, and being tone deaf to the ramifications of their actions. Just wait. Give it another week or so. Trump will be the lame duck that he deserves to be. And most of the world will celebrate this.

 I tried to get an absentee ballot but I was unsuccessful, They wanted to send it to a previous address that was no longer valid, When I tried to change the address they said that I needed to go to their website download a form, sign notarize  and mail it  Not only is it a hustle, I would never get the ballot in time, I am flying to FL where I am registered this Thursday, and will be voting for anything with a D in front of it. Even if Charles Manson's name  was on the ballot and had a D  in front of it I would be voting for him, I don't even care that he is dead.