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The reports of "voter intimidation" on the electionlandstrends map matches the boundary of this racial demographic map. http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_nhwhite.gif Here's those two maps combined: http://i.imgur.com/eKT5s0h.png
https://xkcd.com/1138/
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Given that Washington State is all mail-in, I doubt we're seeing a lot of actual voter intimidation! I'm also in Seattle, and dropped my ballot off at one of three drop-off points. There were some nice people in smocks there who thanked me for voting.
This. I don't understand the whole going to a location to vote on two dozen things that I probably don't know well enough versus reading a pamphlet and taking an hour or so to fill it out at my leisure. Seriously why do we have voting places anymore? Just do it all by mail.
You're doing it wrong. Before you go to vote, do all of that stuff you listed after the word "versus". Instead of marking a ballot, just write it down on a piece of paper. Bring that paper with you when you vote. Worked well for me during 30 years of going to a polling place.
Me, as a Washington resident, I miss going to the polling place. I dunno, I just liked the whole physical process of going to our designated place, mingling with my neighbors and fellow citizens...and going into work late because you wouldn't dare ding me for voting. Because you don't hate democracy...do you? Now voting is just more paperwork I have to do, along with rebalancing my 401K and filling out those insurance forms I've been putting off.
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I know it sucks but it's good that you at least voted provisionally. If you get any kind of receipt, etc, it can help if there's class actions following the election. Given the state of this election... there very well might be.
Definitely. EDIT I hrhmmm, hope there is some evidence of my ballot.
"(5) No photography is permitted in the polling room or early voting area."
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How come? I would think the opposite. Voting from home absolutely applies to "voter intimidation" situations. Someone could literally be in your home with a gun to your head, making you vote the way they want you to vote. The same problem as well as vote buying applies to online voting, too. But those are not even the biggest problems with online voting, so most people tend not to focus on them.
Voting machine problems though?! There are no voting machines here.
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Forgive my ignorance, but how do you vote in Oregon?
You don't get the option to vote in person. We don't even have voter booths. Instead, the state mails you a voter guide and a ballot that you fill out in the convenience of your own home. This allows you to review the candidates and new proposed bills line by line. Once filled out you simply drop it off at one of the hundreds of drop-off locations and you're done (or mail it in if you have time). This can all be done…
As I said in another comment, there's nothing stopping you from reviewing candidates and bills line-by-line in the convenience of your own home even if you go to a voting booth. Even if you were a completely honest student in school, surely you've heard of "cheat sheets"? Unlike school, they are allowed in the voting booth (at least in IN, NC, and WA when they had voting booths).
I just had to vote "provisional" myself (Palm Beach County). I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of fraud reports against the Florida Board of Elections. We registered almost 2 weeks before our Oct 11 deadline, yet neither my wife nor I were in their system - we received no mail or anything from the BoE. My vote, I'm absolutely certain now, will be thrown in the trash. Even if it isn't, the election will be o…
Why isn't eligibility automatic? Whether state of federal, doesn't the government already know whether or not you qualify to vote?
Unfortunately the US is setup in such a way so that individual states get to decide who is eligible to vote. This is a state right defined in the constitution[0].
In practice the vast majority of states have similar voting requirements. But because, in theory, they could all differ then no unified automated system is possible, it would have to be per-state.
Of course individual states could create an automatic voter registration system, and I believe some have/do. But a lot of other states are actively trying to disenfranchise the poor, young, or minorities who would benefit the most from automatic registration.
Ultimately voting and voter registration needs to be handled by a non-partisan organisation within states. But considering it would take partisan politicians to set up such a non-partisan organisation, it has little chance of happening.
[0] http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2014/08/constitution-chec...
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Definitely. EDIT I hrhmmm, hope there is some evidence of my ballot.
It is illegal to take a picture of your ballot in Florida FYI: "(5) No photography is permitted in the polling room or early voting area." http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2011/102.031
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I wonder if blockchain technology could some how be used to improve the voting system?
Not really (or at least you would lose privacy part), one reason why voting is anonymous is to prevent 1) intimidation 2) paying people to vote in favor of specific issues. If block chain would be used it would be easy for someone buying votes to verify that the people who got paid voted in certain way.
You'd have to really trust whoever was keeping the records to have a secure db which we know is basically impossible and could allow for coercion if a malicious actor got hold of it.
However if this problem was solved, it would allow for cryptographically provable elections.