Posted on 11/01/2002 3:24:15 PM PST by GOPcapitalist
Officials with the Travis County Republican Party say there's something rotten at the early voting polls this year. And they say they've got affidavits to prove it.
Alan Sager, chairman of the party, said that at least twice while demonstrating the new eSlate voting system, election clerks turned the dial so that it stopped on a ballot for a straight-Democratic vote.
"We've had five or eight different people say that Democratic clerks showed them how to run the system and vote straight Democrat," Sager said Thursday.
In one instance, Sager said, two people who wanted to vote for a Republican candidate were instructed during the demonstration to cast the ballot for the straight Democratic ticket and unwittingly did.
According to affidavits, relatives of the two voters were not allowed to assist the pair during the incident at H-E-B at 7th Street and Pleasant Valley Road. Sager said he will give their testimony to the Travis County district attorney today.
Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir, a Democrat, said she had not seen the affidavits but said her office investigates any irregularity reported to them.
"Even if I get a vague rumor over the telephone, we do take it seriously," DeBeauvoir said. "Every time Alan has told me some vague rumor, I send out a notice to all locations."
DeBeauvoir said she's done that at least twice since early voting began.
But she said she was aware of at least one problem Sager referred to Thursday and had taken immediate corrective action.
At the Randall's grocery store in Lakeway, the election judge had failed to set up a demonstration of the eSlate system.
Marc and Beverly McCord went to cast their ballots at the store earlier this week. They say the judge reached into their booth, operated the system for them and turned the dial to a straight Democratic ticket.
After Marc McCord made a mistake, the judge came over and "reached in again and dialed up the straight Democratic ticket again and said, 'Now hit enter,' " McCord said. "He sat there and watched while I dialed up my votes. I found out in comparing with my wife that he had done the same thing for her."
DeBeauvoir said the judge has since been told that's not how things are supposed to operate and he's corrected his procedures.
"We have since talked with that judge and said, 'What were you thinking?' " DeBeauvoir said. "We have since instructed him, 'Do not go in the booth with the voters.' He insists he never told anybody which party to vote."
The irony, DeBeauvoir said, is that the judge happens to be a Republican.
josborne@statesman.com; 445-3621
To report fraud
The U.S. attorney's office and the FBI are asking that any allegations of fraud on Election Day, including voter bribery, voter intimidation and ballot forgery, be reported directly to either agency.
To report a violation, the public can call the FBI 24 hours a day at (210) 225-6741. During business hours, they can contact the U.S. attorney's Austin office at 916-5858.
Next year you can cross party lines and vote in the RAT PRIMARY instead of the Republican Primary if you wish.
The registration card for voting does not have a spot for you to check off and identify party.
Lynn Ashby, the former editor for the Houston Post, says that he votes in both parties' primaries on alternate years. That way he gets campaign literature from both sides of the campaigns.
Some Democrats have few enough choices (no candidate or uncontested race) that they vote in the Republican primaries to vote on the judges.
My parents had to do that to have a say in Texas politics for decades.
Some people will cross party lines to vote in the primaries to choose a weaker candidate for their own party.
Some people picked up the forms. The officer joked but patted his holstered gun at the same time and said, "You'd better remeber to register Democrat".
I swear that Democrats are evil and will be the cause of the downfall of this nation.
Yep but you didn't register as Republican. It was stamped to show which primary you voted in.... Everyone starts with a non stamped card for the primary. You'll get a new card toward the end of 03 which will become effective 1/1/04 in time for the primaries of 04. Go Bush Go
If you renewed your license in Texas you went to the Departmnet of Public Safety (DPS) not the "DMV".
We have lawyers?
It works like entering a high score on a video game. You rotate the wheel through the selections and hit ENTER to select. The first page has a straight ticket selection that marks all of the rest of the pages, and then you can scroll through them and modify individual races.
When you submit your ballot, a little flag appears on the screen (and if you voted Republican, your selections are electronically discarded.)
;-P
Dude, get over yourself. I used one two days ago and the first choice is straight party ticket. Then you can page forward and back to individual races. I don't care what the general demo shows, the actual machines have straight ticket options.
But I still don't like it.
Consider that Nixon chose not to contest his loss to Kennedy, despite obvious voter fraud in Chicago resulting in him losing Illinois, the decisive state, for the good of the nation. Even Nixon understood that his ambitions were not worth undermining the country's faith in the electoral process, even though he was the victim of the fraud (along with the rest of us). What's this tell you about Algore? The 'Toon and Algore make Nixon and Agnew look like saints.
No physical record of an actual vote. Speaking of voting. It looks like we will be stuck with that traitor Sam Farr again.
That man is a traitor to the United States and he is our Representative. It is such an outrage. What is it with this area we live in?
Is there something going on locally that keeps local Republicans from fielding viable candidates? All we seem to get are candidates who never have a chance of winning.
I can't wait to see the local results of the utility tax repeals. There are a number of cities here who have repeals on the ballot. De-fund the Left with populist initiatives to eliminate taxes. This is the only way we will ever beat them here this Leftist looney bin...
Actually, there is. The very idea of serving the goofballs we have for a citizenry is repugnant to anyone with common sense. (A friend of mine once said, "Why would I want to run the complaint department?") Some conservatives will suffer running for office out of altruism, but few will tolerate it for ambition, having other alternatives in life. Liberal ideologues can't make it in the real world and have no end to their ambition to control, so they are far more willing to express their ambition through politics.
DeBeauvoir said she's done that at least twice since early voting began.
Well, I'm just so relieved that strong actions are being taken to avert voter fraud! If anything will do it, a NOTICE, will. Maybe if she wants to get really strict about it, she could send a MEMO!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.