I just voted in CA and asked for/got a paper ballot!

[fed-up]

I voted around 11 am this morning and was the first one to ask for a paper ballot. Only one of the volunteers knew what to do. I filled out the ballot in pen- it looked like the sample ballot that came in the mail-they just tore out and gave me the democratic page, when I finished it got put into a large envelope.

I even got my "I voted" sticker to add to my collection on my bathroom mirror.


Now back to packing and moving

[derby378]

1. Way to go!!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

:toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast:

[LibDemAlways]

2. What county are you in, and what

voting machines do they use?

I'm in Ventura Co. and we just switched to opti-scan (or is it "opti-scam"), brought to us by the crooks at Sequoia. The sample ballot touted the fact that opti-scan is a paper ballot. What they didn't mention, of course, is that it is machine read and there's plenty of room for fraud. After I voted today, they deposited my ballot into a device that looked like a paper shredder. I don't have a good feeling about any of this.

[partylessinOhio]

4. I'm sure you know this but others may not-

Ballot Firm's Ties to Venezuela Criticized
Some American officials worry that Sequoia Voting Systems' foreign link could compromise the integrity of the U.S. election process.
By Marc Lifsher, Times Staff Writer
June 3, 2006

An Oakland company that provides electronic voting machines in California and 19 other states is drawing scrutiny over its acquisition last year by a group of Venezuelan investors with past business ties to the government of President Hugo Chavez.

Voters in 20 California counties Tuesday will use voting machines provided by Sequoia Voting Systems, the country's oldest maker of election equipment. Sequoia's ownership has barely caused a ripple in California, but it has prompted elected officials in Chicago and New York to raise questions about possible foreign influence in U.S. elections.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) last month wrote U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow asking whether the Bush administration had weighed the national security implications of "a company with possible ties to the Venezuelan government" selling touch-screen voting machines for U.S. elections. ...

A spokeswoman for the Treasury Department, which evaluates foreign acquisitions of U.S.-based companies, said officials were looking into Maloney's query but declined to comment further.

Sequoia, founded in Jamestown, N.Y., in the late 1890s, was acquired in March 2005 by Smartmatic Corp., a private company owned by Venezuelan investors through a series of holding companies based in Europe and the Caribbean. Sequoia's previous owner was the British firm De La Rue, best known for printing currencies for dozens of foreign governments.

Smartmatic emerged from obscurity the year before when it won a $100-million contract to supply touch-screen voting machines for an ultimately unsuccessful recall effort against Chavez in 2004. ...

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-sequoia3jun03,1,2530644.story

[Divine Discontent]

5. now you know how I felt in FL when I voted for Kerry in a Republican dist.

and they put it in that big paper shredder, er, I mean, Opti-scan machine to be tossed, er, I mean removed later and laughed at, er, I mean kept for a possible recount. Yeah right, the fraud was rampant and despite many more people coming in to vote for Kerry (I was there the WHOLE day and heard the honks and waves for each candidate's greeters) by a strong margin (even the Bush greeter said, well I think your guy has this thing won), Bush still won the district easily...


BULL-SHIT


when does fascism get replaced by honest elections again? because until then, young people are going to be turned off after they came out in the millions, led on by huge videos by Eminem decrying Bush's bloody war, and still, Kerry "lost".


www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<<--- CHECK IT OUT! top pro-Dem anti-Rep & bush stickers!

[fed-up]

6. diebold-ack!!!-below is a link to list of voting machines by county in CA

http://www.calvoter.org/issues/votingtech/currentdirectory.html

[LibDemAlways]

8. Thanks for the list.

Good thing you asked for the paper ballot. Hope they count it.

[Peace Patriot]

3. I hope you voted for DEBRA BOWEN for Sec of State!

If she loses the primary, we will have no chance to restore election transparency in California in the near future. Her opponent Deborah Ortiz doesn't have a clue.

If you didn't vote for Bowen, you can repair that mistake by finding someone who hasn't voted yet, and telling them about Bowen. Spread the word! Call, email friends. Post to blogs. This is a critically important race!

It's a tight race, with a whole lot at stake! BOWEN knows her stuff, is very savvy on electronic voting, and is a strong, strong advocate for open goverment. Her opponent Deborah Ortiz doesn't have a clue about electronic voting, and has made some alarmingly naive statements about it. You want someone to protect your right to a paper ballot? That's BOWEN. Want someone to fight Diebold? BOWEN already has! Want someone for Sec of State who is an expert on electronic voting, and an advocate for the public not for the Bushite voting corporations? BOWEN. She's been a state senator--her best work has been on OPEN GOVERNMENT. She got the endorsement of 80% of the rank and file at the state Dem convention.

If you need more info:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2664425
www.debrabowen.com

Help pay for Spanish language ads for BOWEN today:
https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/9271 (--add $.06 to your donation, to specify use.)
Valley Grassroots for Democracy. Discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2662470

----------------

If you haven't voted yet, and can't decide between Angelides/Westly, vote for MICHAEL STRIMLING. Check out his web site--www.michaelstrimling.com--and weep for the California Democratic Party that once was--a true Lefist (i.e., mainstream) political force. Send a message to our "business as usual" well-funded frontrunners.

[fed-up]

7. I voted for deb, not because I knew anything, but because her name sounded

better.


Yes, I know, totally irresponsible voting, but I am in the middle of moving and don't have tv and haven't been reading the paper, and there was not much posted here on about who to vote for in CA when I skimmed the boards...lame excuses, bring on the wet noodles....