Feminist Peace Network

3 Responses to “Urgent Action Call #1 For U.S. Readers”

1. cq, on October 13th, 2008 at 5:20 pm Said:

   I am still confused about what I am supposed to do… As a person with entirely no knowledge of how votes get counted, this video didn’t quite give me enough of a “101″ to the system. My understanding is that I am supposed to figure out when and where they post up some tapes at my polling place, film them, and then check them against the results posted on my county website? Has anyone ever successfully challenged an official vote count with a videotape of the poll tape?

   I’ve never even seen a poll tape from any election I have voted in… it’s possible that I have just never noticed them before, or that they are not posted until the end of the election day… but I guess I am still a little skeptical about this tactic.

2. admin, on October 13th, 2008 at 6:08 pm Said:

   I’m a little confused too as far as what to do once you’ve taken video or pictures and I just sent a note to Bev Harris asking her to clarify, I’ll post that when I have it. As they indicated in the video, they have indeed taken such records and contested counts, so I think it is worth doing and for sure it will be good for them to know that citizens are watching.

   As far as what the vote record looks like in your state, it probably will vary from place to place so you’d sort of have to improvise a bit from the You Tube video. To me it looked familiar because of the odd coincidence that it was shot in my congressional district which I figured out by the names of the candidates on the tape!

3. JMarra, on October 15th, 2008 at 9:59 am Said:

   I’m going to be a poll worker in my state. I signed up through the local Board of Elections and have received two hours of training. I’ll be one of those people who sits at the table, says Hi, and opens the poll registers. The pencil and paper people.

   You can apply to be a poll “watcher.” These people literally sit behind poll workers (me) and have the right to challenge someone they think shouldn’t be able to vote. They can be anyone or from any faction, but they have to be registered.

   However, they at no time may PREVENT that person from casting a vote, nor may they examine ID or rosters. And my instructions as a poll worker are to let administrators handle challenges.

   We have poll managers and administrators for that (with experience), as well as representatives from both parties on hand.

   So it’s not a big worry. If you want to BE a poll watcher, you might Google the term. I don’t know anything off the top of my head, but there’s an administrative procedure to go through IF you want to be a worker or a watcher. (Administrators have to have experience–there are no “first time” administrators or higher-ups that I know of.)

   There were six or eight training sessions available, and there were at least 75 people at mine. LOTS of people want to be poll workers, and keeping an eye on the proceedings is certainly one reason why I want to do it. But EYES are all I’m allowed to use.

   ..

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