Mistakes cost thousands their vote (Cook Co. IL)

[Ediacara]

Mistakes cost thousands their vote

May 10, 2004

BY STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporter

Thousands of Cook County voters were disenfranchised after the March primary, their votes thrown out due to election judge mistakes.

Records show most of those mistakes were made in Chicago precincts.

Provisional ballots, used for the first time in Illinois, were issued to 9,982 Cook County voters because their registrations couldn't be verified at the polling sites that day.

More at the Chicago Sun-Times

[acmavm]

1. This is totally insane. This is not the 'American way'. This was not what

we were taught during all the days we had to sit through classes in American government. This is not my government at all. This is some third world foreign country run by a bunch of despots.

[Cocoa]

2. I was one of these

I wasn't on the list.

And they didn't tell me about the provisional ballots. The only reason I knew about it is that my father is an election judge and he'd just been telling me about this procedure, which is new.

When I asked for the provisional ballot, they resisted, I had to be pretty persistent and finally they did it for me. They had to consult their manual because they hadn't done one before me.

[narcjen]

3. 'Mistakes appear to be limited to the Chicago area'

I bet which also happens to be the most democratic part of the state.

Gee what a coincidence.