It's Not Over Yet Blanche...The Sec. of State Says There's A Problem

[Me.]

#AR SecofState has said th Garland Co didn't give voters enough notice b4 reducing nbr polling places fr 42 to 2. This might not be over yet. 42 minutes ago via TweetDeck

http://twitter.com/joanneleon

[hlthe2b]

1. why the hell didn't SOS step in before hand...

God I am so tired of all these maneuvers to disenfranchise voters...

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Because it looks like they are doing

something after, when they don't have to do a thing.

[hlthe2b]

5. I'll believe it when I see it. For him/her to step in now...

and doing anything to remedy the situation, might unseat a sitting Senator from her primary "win".... So the momentum is against the SOS doing much other than saying the "right things" to appease the concerned. On the other hand, he/she undoubtedly knew, given the controversy, that the local official planned to cut all these polling places and could have ordered him to reinstate before hand, avoiding this whole situation.

I think that is what you are trying to say as well...We'll see, I guess. But, I'm not optimistic.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Yeah we are saying the same thing

It looks like they are doing something, when they will not do a thing.

[daleanime]

3. +Infinity...

this crap has got to come to an end.:grr:

[Sebastian Doyle]

4. Please let it be so

They cannot get away with this shit again.

[gateley]

6. How much "notice" was given? nt

[Me.]

9. They Should've Been Given 5 Days Notice

“The Garland County issue is making such huge waves as to draw attention from one of our candidates for Secretary of State, Blue Arkansas endorsed candidate Pat O’Brien. Here’s the press release:

Pat O’Brien, a candidate for Arkansas Secretary of State, today strongly denounced the decision of the Garland County Election Commission to reduce the number of polling places for the June 8th Run-off Election to only two county-wide. In addition, he offered his own plan for how to avoid this situation in future elections along with encouraging voters in Garland County to vote anyway.

“The Garland County voting situation has become a mess,” said O’Brien, “What started out as an effort to save money has created a crisis that could have been avoided with a few simple legal changes. Bottom-line, I don’t want even one person to be discouraged to vote.” O’Brien offered a three-point plan of how this situation can be avoided in the future:

1) Every county in Arkansas needs to have an election coordinator that has been certified by the Secretary of State’s office as qualified to conduct elections and enforce the myriad of laws pertaining to elections. O’Brien has made this a center point of his campaign since last year;
2) Election Commissions should be required to petition the Secretary of State prior to consolidating more than 15% of polling locations when there are statewide or Congressional races on the ballot. The Secretary of State will then keep a central registry of all polling places publicly available on its’ website. Any campaigns affected should have a reasonable time to appeal the decision; and
3) An Election Commission should be required to perform a cost analysis of how much money it will take to notify affected voters individually prior to making a decision.”…cont…

http://bluearkansasblog.com/?tag=election-problems

[daleanime]

10. Oh, so we'll fix it in the future....

but screw up today:eyes:

[Me.]

11. Isn't There A Law That Says No Voting On Saturday?

“Tapp made the poll decisions unilaterally, without a vote from the two other members of the Election Commission. I was also told he was informed in time Friday to call back the dogs on a special day of early voting Saturday meant as a makeup for the reduction in polls”

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Voting-News-Garland-Arkan-by-Joyce-McCloy-100608-138.html

[Greyskye]

20. Yep. Voters showed up to polling places on Sat to find "NO Voting Today" signs.

:grr:

[Me.]

24. So The Bone Thrown To Those Voters

Had no meat on it....

[Angry Dragon]

15. I heard they were required to give 15 days notice

[Me.]

13. Correction: They Were Supposed To Be Given 15 Days Notice

“The lawsuit may be the first in a string of possible protests in Garland County, a populous area 55 miles from Little Rock that both the Lincoln and Halter campaigns have focused on with get-out-the-vote efforts.

County election officials decided to open only two polling spots for Tuesday's runoff instead of the 41 precincts that were open for the May 18 primary. The action was to save money, the county election commissioner said, but the state pays for primary and runoff elections.

A notice was supposed to be mailed by the county clerk under the direction of the county election commission to registered voters within 15 days of the election. That did not happen in Garland County.

Traffic and parking problems earlier in the day led to police showing up to control the congestion at the downtown polling spot. That location, which is next to the election commission, had waits of up to 30 minutes in late afternoon. That was in contrast to precincts in Little Rock where voters walked in and cast their ballots in less than 10 minutes.” Cont…

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/08/voter-lawsuit-filed-in-arkansas-blanche-lincoln-bill-halter-se/

[depakid]

7. Reduced 42 to 2?

That's just laughable. Fucking banana republic stuff.

Though I suppose it's well suited for a nation (and a Senator who's helped it) moving inexorably into third world economic status.

[Bryn]

12. Awful, isn't it? I feel cheated

That's where I live ... in county where they took out 40 voting polls, opened ONE place in the city of Hot Springs and another one 40 minutes away at Hot Springs Village, a gated community. I couldn't believe it. Halter is very popular in this county. He got cheated out of votes. Someone who supports Lincoln set it up to make sure she wins and it worked. I am so disgusted. It's so wrong. We have criminals running the country. I give up! x(

[depakid]

14. Any objective person would have to agree- that's just ciminal (or would be in any sane nation)

[avaistheone1]

16. It has been widely reported that voters were not given access to

their polling places.

Something fishy is going on with Blanche Lincoln.

[glitch]

18. Another option: Republicans sabotaging the Democrats.

Twofer: make sure the weakest opponent wins the primary AND tarnish her reputation with illegal shenanigans. Win/win, if the DLC candidate survives the general, ok, if the Republican wins even better.

Take who benefits up another level.

Not saying that's what happened, just saying that's how they roll.

[avaistheone1]

25. That is another possible scenario.

[Greyhound]

17. SOP in all these redneck states.

They closed up all but 1 polling place to ensure something passed in the last election. When I lived in GA, my county moved all the polling places after the election materials were sent out.

They got away with it, too.

[lonestarnot]

19. Tee hee!

:applause:

[Freddie Stubbs]

21. It's over. Halter conceded.

[xchrom]

22. When did the SOS know the info was supposed

To go out and how did he/she not have notice
on such a dramatic reduction?

I'll be pleased if Blanche doesn't get in - but puh-leeez this is
some rank amateur shit.

[Dinger]

23. Well, I'd Like To See This Resolved, But You Know How That Goes. And Is It Me,

or wasn't there some diebold/ess&s thingie that was decided recently, just in time for these selections, oops, el;ections?