Voting machines missing on election day in New Orleans

[Kadie]

Voting machines missing on election day in New Orleans

Saturday, September 18, 2004


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(09-18) 07:59 PDT NEW ORLEANS (AP) --

Many New Orleans voters were unable to cast ballots Saturday on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage because voting machines had not been delivered to polling places, a state official said.

At least 35 precincts did not have voting machines because drivers hired to deliver the machines had apparently not shown up for work, said Scott Madere, a spokesman for Secretary of State Fox McKeithen.

Workers in McKeithen's office, including McKeithen, were driving trucks Saturday morning to deliver the machines from a warehouse in east New Orleans, Madere said. He said New Orleans was the only city to experience the problem.

Voters around Louisiana were casting ballots Saturday on an amendment to the state constitution that would ban gay marriage. New Orleans voters were also voting in local races

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/09/18/politics1059EDT0503.DTL

[Not Me]

1. Hmmm...seems to me

that New Orleans might vote more progressively than the rest of the state???????????

[Cocoa]

2. then this vote is worthless

seems to me there should be and investigation, and in any case, a re-vote. How can you just disenfranchise a whole city?

[Rose Siding]

3. That should be a rhetorical question

But I don't believe it is anymore.

[sam sarrha]

4. The same way they will disenfranchise the whole country..it is a Dry Run

[nodehopper]

5. were these electornic machines or regular lever ones?

[pacalo]

7. We have the lever machines in Louisiana. :)

[nodehopper]

9. now the story makes sense :(

for some reason I thought it was the diabold machines that did not get delivered...

[pacalo]

6. This looks bad, & I was wondering if the recent evacuation due to

Hurricane Ivan had anything to do with it. Trucks were having a hard time getting through for deliveries. I know that some areas in New Orleans close to Lake Ponchartrain could still be flooded, but if that were the case, the polling areas could easily be switched to drier areas.

Weird.

[jus_the_facts]

8. Hmmmm not surprised in the least....betcha Nov. 2 will be worse....

....in fact I'll even double down on that bet! x(

[kayleybeth]

10. I just called McKeithen's office

I don't even live in New Orleans, I'm in Repukeville, but I found this so disturbing I called Fox McKeithen's office and asked about it.

The lady I spoke with said they were trying to correct the problem "as we speak". I asked her what happened and she said the trucks showed up with the machines but there was no one at the polling place to let them in. I said, "IN 35 PRECINCTS?!!". She said, "yeah, it's bad, I know, but that's the only information I have."

Anyway, I asked her about the people who weren't able to vote and she said she was sure they'd "work something out" for them, but didn't know what the solution would be.

McKeithen is currently the only Repuke to hold statewide office in Louisiana. I smell a rat.