2 hours in line to vote
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In our state they send all registered voters information about these things. What's interesting is to look to see which groups are for or against the proposition - usually don't even have to see their arguments, just their affiliations.
I don't believe they did that in my area. The first I saw of the proposition was when it was on the electronic voting machine.
John
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I stood 2 hours in line to vote (it normally 20 minutes tops) for the candidate that I am very confident will loose my state and most likely will loose the election as well. I am still happy I did that.
John
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2 hours! :wtf: I don't remember needing more than 5 minutes. Why is it so long to vote?
Where do you expect us to go when the bombs fall?
20 minutes was the longest for me before today. Way more people than usual and the system of verifying that you are permitted to vote at that location is paperwork. All the names are in a card catalog style index cards. First your name must be found in a thousand or so. Then your ID or voter registration card gets matched. Then you sign the card and then someone else verifies your signature against a second 3 ring binder with all the names again and finally a third person shows you how to use the machine even if you already know how.. On top of that I do not believe the volunteers who ran the election were prepared for this volume of people. I have never seen that many people voting in the 18 years I have been able to vote.
John
modified on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 2:47 PM
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There was only one proposition on our ballet and I voted against it although I was very unsure what exactly the details were as this was the first I had heard about it.
John
What's the ballot prop? I haven't heard about it either and would like to do a bit of minimal research before voting in a few hours.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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What's the ballot prop? I haven't heard about it either and would like to do a bit of minimal research before voting in a few hours.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
For us it was something about replacing sewer lines. I did not read the whole possibly 500 word essay describing the thing. I do know that the EPA had for some reason ordered the city to replace most of the sewers for some reason and I am against that.
John
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20 minutes was the longest for me before today. Way more people than usual and the system of verifying that you are permitted to vote at that location is paperwork. All the names are in a card catalog style index cards. First your name must be found in a thousand or so. Then your ID or voter registration card gets matched. Then you sign the card and then someone else verifies your signature against a second 3 ring binder with all the names again and finally a third person shows you how to use the machine even if you already know how.. On top of that I do not believe the volunteers who ran the election were prepared for this volume of people. I have never seen that many people voting in the 18 years I have been able to vote.
John
modified on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 2:47 PM
Granted I'm in a fairly small town, but here you present your voter registration or ID, they look you up on a laptop to verify you, you sign, then you go to the machines. I can't imagine why people are stuck using a card catalog in this day and age.
Visit BoneSoft.com for code generation tools (XML & XSD -> C#, VB, etc...) and some free developer tools as well.
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2 hours! :wtf: I don't remember needing more than 5 minutes. Why is it so long to vote?
Where do you expect us to go when the bombs fall?
In some states, they have to vote for a gazillion other people (judges, sheriff, ... ) and vote on a number of different referendums.
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Granted I'm in a fairly small town, but here you present your voter registration or ID, they look you up on a laptop to verify you, you sign, then you go to the machines. I can't imagine why people are stuck using a card catalog in this day and age.
Visit BoneSoft.com for code generation tools (XML & XSD -> C#, VB, etc...) and some free developer tools as well.
BoneSoft wrote:
I can't imagine why people are stuck using a card catalog in this day and age.
Me either. Nothing has changed in this respect in the last 18 years. We did get electronic voting machines 2 or 3 years ago though. So we don't have the old pull the leaver machines.
John
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For us it was something about replacing sewer lines. I did not read the whole possibly 500 word essay describing the thing. I do know that the EPA had for some reason ordered the city to replace most of the sewers for some reason and I am against that.
John
OK, local not statewide then I'd assume. OTOH the EPA's making the same nasty noises at the Greater Johnstown Sewer Authority because they were leaking badly and in some areas storm and sanitary systems were combined. I'd assume you've got the same problem in Pittsburgh. The last I'd read jtown was hoping to avoid direct EPA action by committing to digup and repair the lines at the same time the overlying street was repaved. Dunno if it ever went from 'we should do this' to 'we're spending money to do this' though.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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20 minutes was the longest for me before today. Way more people than usual and the system of verifying that you are permitted to vote at that location is paperwork. All the names are in a card catalog style index cards. First your name must be found in a thousand or so. Then your ID or voter registration card gets matched. Then you sign the card and then someone else verifies your signature against a second 3 ring binder with all the names again and finally a third person shows you how to use the machine even if you already know how.. On top of that I do not believe the volunteers who ran the election were prepared for this volume of people. I have never seen that many people voting in the 18 years I have been able to vote.
John
modified on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 2:47 PM
BTW, I forgot to say. The 3 ring binder has the official signatures to match. I have no idea how they do that being that my signature is never the same and always an unreadable mess. But I guess that would be the consistent thing about my signature. :laugh:
John
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OK, local not statewide then I'd assume. OTOH the EPA's making the same nasty noises at the Greater Johnstown Sewer Authority because they were leaking badly and in some areas storm and sanitary systems were combined. I'd assume you've got the same problem in Pittsburgh. The last I'd read jtown was hoping to avoid direct EPA action by committing to digup and repair the lines at the same time the overlying street was repaved. Dunno if it ever went from 'we should do this' to 'we're spending money to do this' though.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
I remember that there were threats of fines if the city did not comply. The city could use the repaving (they do not spend very much money on neighborhood road upkeep anymore) but this is going to come at a huge expense and take many years.
John
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Our whole damn financial system depends on secure electronic data transfer and record keeping. You'd think we could manage to do as well with voting... That we don't suggests that there are powerful vested interests in failure...
Rob Graham wrote:
You'd think we could manage to do as well with voting... That we don't suggests that there are powerful vested interests in failure...
Not necessarily - there's a simpler explanation based entirely on human psychology. Namely this: that humans are predisposed to deal immediately with problems that have an immediate impact. Financial transaction failure would qualify - you lose $1 million, you're going to be immediately all over the bank until they fix it. The same is not true with a rigged election. Assuming we could even detect it, the apparent cost takes years, sometimes decades to observe, and the human psychology is very poorly constructed to connect such observations. And because the effect is not immediate, no immediate course of action is apparently necessary. Thus none is taken. Now, this isn't to say there AREN'T powerful vested interests in failure - I have no doubt there are - I just don't want to overstate their influence on the fact that greater steps aren't taken to secure our votes.
modified on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 4:32 PM
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I remember that there were threats of fines if the city did not comply. The city could use the repaving (they do not spend very much money on neighborhood road upkeep anymore) but this is going to come at a huge expense and take many years.
John
AFAIK the EPA's doing that to almost every city with century+ old sewage systems. They all fall far short of modern sanitation standards.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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Rob Graham wrote:
You'd think we could manage to do as well with voting... That we don't suggests that there are powerful vested interests in failure...
Not necessarily - there's a simpler explanation based entirely on human psychology. Namely this: that humans are predisposed to deal immediately with problems that have an immediate impact. Financial transaction failure would qualify - you lose $1 million, you're going to be immediately all over the bank until they fix it. The same is not true with a rigged election. Assuming we could even detect it, the apparent cost takes years, sometimes decades to observe, and the human psychology is very poorly constructed to connect such observations. And because the effect is not immediate, no immediate course of action is apparently necessary. Thus none is taken. Now, this isn't to say there AREN'T powerful vested interests in failure - I have no doubt there are - I just don't want to overstate their influence on the fact that greater steps aren't taken to secure our votes.
modified on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 4:32 PM
That's a really good point. One of the most plausible explaination I've heard. Have a 5 :) [optional snide remark]
Patrick Etc. wrote:
the apparent cost takes years, sometimes decades to observe
That might also explain why Obama happily blames Bush and "deregulation" *wink*wink* for allowing banks to give out crappy loans they didn't want to give (due to pressure from activist groups and Obama law suits spurred by previous socialist programs) thus causing the economic crisis. ;P [/optional snide remark]
Visit BoneSoft.com for code generation tools (XML & XSD -> C#, VB, etc...) and some free developer tools as well.
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That's a really good point. One of the most plausible explaination I've heard. Have a 5 :) [optional snide remark]
Patrick Etc. wrote:
the apparent cost takes years, sometimes decades to observe
That might also explain why Obama happily blames Bush and "deregulation" *wink*wink* for allowing banks to give out crappy loans they didn't want to give (due to pressure from activist groups and Obama law suits spurred by previous socialist programs) thus causing the economic crisis. ;P [/optional snide remark]
Visit BoneSoft.com for code generation tools (XML & XSD -> C#, VB, etc...) and some free developer tools as well.
BoneSoft wrote:
[optional snide remark] Patrick Etc. wrote: the apparent cost takes years, sometimes decades to observe That might also explain why Obama happily blames Bush and "deregulation" *wink*wink* for allowing banks to give out crappy loans they didn't want to give (due to pressure from activist groups and Obama law suits spurred by previous socialist programs) thus causing the economic crisis. [/optional snide remark]
Heh. It was Clinton's signing of the repeal of the... ????? Act (name escapes me at the moment) allowing investment banks to purchase mortgage bonds that helped lead to this. Add to that the Democrats' push for banks to provide more sub prime loans, and behold a new industry was born that just imploded. I'd say they're both responsible... the Republicans wanted the act repealed, but the Democrats merely exacerbated the problem. (I almost wrote masterbated. I'm not sure that would have been wrong........ :~ :doh: )
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BoneSoft wrote:
[optional snide remark] Patrick Etc. wrote: the apparent cost takes years, sometimes decades to observe That might also explain why Obama happily blames Bush and "deregulation" *wink*wink* for allowing banks to give out crappy loans they didn't want to give (due to pressure from activist groups and Obama law suits spurred by previous socialist programs) thus causing the economic crisis. [/optional snide remark]
Heh. It was Clinton's signing of the repeal of the... ????? Act (name escapes me at the moment) allowing investment banks to purchase mortgage bonds that helped lead to this. Add to that the Democrats' push for banks to provide more sub prime loans, and behold a new industry was born that just imploded. I'd say they're both responsible... the Republicans wanted the act repealed, but the Democrats merely exacerbated the problem. (I almost wrote masterbated. I'm not sure that would have been wrong........ :~ :doh: )
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Patrick Etc. wrote:
I almost wrote masterbated. I'm not sure that would have been wrong
Yes, it would. The proper term is masturbated. :)
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
LOL. You're just awful. :-D
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BoneSoft wrote:
[optional snide remark] Patrick Etc. wrote: the apparent cost takes years, sometimes decades to observe That might also explain why Obama happily blames Bush and "deregulation" *wink*wink* for allowing banks to give out crappy loans they didn't want to give (due to pressure from activist groups and Obama law suits spurred by previous socialist programs) thus causing the economic crisis. [/optional snide remark]
Heh. It was Clinton's signing of the repeal of the... ????? Act (name escapes me at the moment) allowing investment banks to purchase mortgage bonds that helped lead to this. Add to that the Democrats' push for banks to provide more sub prime loans, and behold a new industry was born that just imploded. I'd say they're both responsible... the Republicans wanted the act repealed, but the Democrats merely exacerbated the problem. (I almost wrote masterbated. I'm not sure that would have been wrong........ :~ :doh: )
True. There are a lot of heads that deserve to roll from both sides of the aisle.
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