What I hope is that you guys, and the obama campaign have plans afoot to directly counter voter intimidation at polling stations, even from cops.

Pasted in below is a "press release" I sent to local media yesterday about the potential for people in Thurston County, WA to show up at old polling sites, as they did in the last presidential election, because neither voters' pamphlets nor local media have done enough to emphasize and clarify that this is a mail-in only election. I have 2 specific questions for you:

1--I think it is important to track how many people do show up at their old polling sites expecting to vote in Thurston County on Tues. Since I'm sure that neither the County Auditor's Office, nor the Secretary of State, plans to conduct such a survey (they each told me as much), I wonder if you can suggest another entity which I could approach with this proposal.

2--I work for a free, progressive monthly newspaper in Olympia called Works In Progress ( http://www.olywip.org ). We go to press tomorrow. If space allows, may we reprint the article you wrote with Robert Kennedy Jr. which appeared on the Huffington Post on Oct 28, "Drinking the ACORN Kool-Aid"?

Thanks for your time and all your great work.

-Sandy Mayes
360-956-1136

Potential for voter confusion in Thurston County, WA

[Comment by Sandy Mayes]

October 29, 2008

Some residents in Thurston County may mistakenly believe that they have the option to vote on Nov 4 at the same poll-site they used the last time they voted in a presidential election.

This year, for the first time ever in Thurston County, voting poll-sites will not be open on the day of a general/presidential election.

I have been aware that, since 2005, all local and state elections in Thurston County have been strictly by mail. What I was not clear about, until recently, was whether this would also be true in the general, presidential election. I started asking around and found that nearly every one of the dozen or so people I asked were not sure if, despite having received ballots by mail, there did not also remain the option of voting in person at a regular polling site on Nov 4.

(The question of voting in person on Nov 4 arose for me after reading an article by Robert Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast in the current issue of Rolling Stone in which they advise that, whenever possible, we should vote in person rather than by mail. See the article here: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/23638322/block_the_vote/print .)

Voters' Pamphlets are not helpful; information about this being a strictly mail-in (or drop-off) election is scant and obscure.

The Thurston County Voters' Pamphlet cover is virtually identical on front and back. It informs readers that ballots begin arriving on Oct 18 and that "Election Day" is Nov 4. It also advises that people must register by Oct 20. It does not clarify that on "Election Day" — for the first time in a general, presidential election in Thurston County — the poll-sites will not be open. One has to scrutinize the 16-page pamphlet very carefully to find the one solitary clarifying sentence, not highlighted in any way, embedded in a paragraph in the middle of page 6, which reads: "NO pollsites will be open in Thurston County on Election Day." I found this sentence only after calling the Thurston County Auditor's Office; the person who answered the phone had to spend a minute or two flipping through the pamphlet before she found that one sentence and directed me to it.

A PDF of page 6 can be viewed here: http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/auditor/Elections/2008Elections/general/pamphlet/pdf/vp_general_6.pdf .

The entire Thurston County Voters' Pamphlet can be accessed here: http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/auditor/Elections/2008Elections/General/pamphlet/VPpdfmain.htm .

The State of Washington Voters' Pamphlet is similarly unhelpful on this question. On both the front and back covers it reminds voters that the General Election is Nov 4, and contains language emphasizing the new Primary Election system. On page 5 of this 89-page pamphlet, it briefly states that "The General Election is November 4, 2008. Polling place hours in King and Pierce Counties are 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m." On page 6, under a small sub-heading entitled "VOTE BY MAIL" it states, "Thirty-seven of Washington's 39 counties now vote entirely by mail."

Nowhere in the pamphlet is it specifically clarified, let alone highlighted or emphasized, that Pierce and King Counties are now the only Washington State counties in which polling sites will be open on Election Day.

The State of Washington Voters' Pamphlet can be accessed at http://www.vote.wa.gov .

We will never know how many people in Thurston County show up on Nov 4, at the site where they last voted in a presidential election, expecting to cast their ballot.

In addition to calling the Thurston County Auditor's Office, I also called the Secretary of State's office to express my concern that some Thurston County residents may show up at their usual polling places, expecting to cast their votes on a General/Presidential Election Day as they have always done. In each case, the individuals I spoke with were surprised by my concern and indicated that citizens should have been aware by now of the switch to mail-only voting in Thurston County, and that there should have been no need to make a point of emphasizing that fact in the voters' pamphlets. When I asked if there were any mechanisms in place to redirect people, I was informed of a poster being mailed this week to all the old polling sites for exactly that purpose.

With only six days left until Election Day, and with at least one very tight regional race (the gubernatorial race between Dino Rossi and Christine Gregoire) we need to make sure that all Thurston County residents understand that the polls will not be open that day.

I did a search on the Olympian newspaper's website looking for recent articles about the upcoming election in which Thurston County voters are specifically reminded that the election is mail-in (or drop-off) only. When I failed to locate any such articles, I called the Olympian's political desk and spoke with a reporter who confirmed that, to his knowledge, election coverage had not specifically clarified or emphasized that point, but that he would now make a point of doing so on or before election day.

I am sending this “press release” to the Olympian, and other regional newspapers and media outlets, hoping to trigger coverage — the sooner the better — which emphasizes and makes very clear that the polls will not be open in Thurston County on Election Day. I am also sending it to various listserves and blogs.

We need to know how many people show up on Nov 4 at old polling sites expecting to vote.

In addition to redirecting voters who mistakenly show up to vote, I suggest that employees at the old voting sites — schools, fire stations, churches, etc. — be advised to keep a record of how many people do mistakenly show up to vote. I intend to visit my old polling site, a grade school, on Nov 5 to ask that very question.

Nevertheless, it's clear that Obama has an overwhelming and insurmountable lead. So if McCain wins it will only be the result of election fraud.

What happens then? Will the people tolerate it yet again? Or will civil unrest ensue this time? Maybe that's why the Army has been called in for domestic duty.

Dave
http://daveeriqat.wordpress.com/

Connie Light

I'm hoping that despite this, that the Democrats, will win a fillabuster proof majority in both house and senate and to win the presidency.