It doesnt just happen in Florida...

[lifesaver]

Yesterday I tried to vote and it was a DISASTER. Same for everyone I spoke to. Both parties changes, consolidated and eliminated poling locations at midnight the night before the primary yesterday, AFTER the locations had been printed in the paper. I finally did get to vote, but instead of driving 40 miles across town to my party HQ, I just voted for the other party - I only had to drive 20 miles to get there. At least I voted tho. Many werent that lucky. I am pissed about not voting for the part I wanted to. Some people in my party waited till midnight to vote - lines were that long. Sorry, but I had to work today. It was complet FU*KING Chaos.

See editorial below:

Cary Clack: For voters, correct polling place is a prize of joy and beauty


Web Posted : 03/13/2002 12:00 AM

And so they wandered into the night, and across the land, famished and tired. From door to door, the weary travelers went, seeking help only to have the doors slammed in their faces.
So when they come to your door, answer it and be gentle when you tell them, "I'm sorry, but you don't vote here, either."

Unbeknownst to their constituencies, the Bexar County Democratic and Republican parties on Tuesday unveiled a new and exciting game designed to see just how bad the electorate wished to exercise its right to vote.

They have yet to come up with a name for it, having to decide between "Try to Pick a Polling Place Before Going Home Disgusted" or the more conventional, "Hide-and-Seek."

In this political shell game, contestants, also known as voters, had 12 hours to scramble across the city in a frantic search to find the correct polling location.

The 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery, Ala., march for voting rights was 43 miles, about the same mileage many voters put on their vehicles Tuesday trying to find the proper place to vote.

As a public service, the San Antonio Express-News publishes polling sites before each election. In Tuesday's editions, voters could use their voter registration cards to determine which precinct they live in and then match that precinct with the correct polling site.

Sounds simple enough, until the political parties decided at the last minute to change hundreds of polling sites.

In a radical departure from the usual goal of getting out the vote, this may have been the first election in Bexar County history in which both political parties acted as if they were trying to keep the vote in.

Throughout the city, voters bounced like pinballs from incorrect polling place to incorrect polling place. Angry and frustrated, many of them called party headquarters, the election administrator's office, radio shows and this newspaper trying to find out where they were supposed to go.

Some also had suggestions where those responsible for the mess could go.

There has been no confirmation of a report that three polling sites were moved to a cave in Afghanistan, but officials in Florida did send a telegram to both local parties saying, "Congratulations! We couldn't have done it any better."

Dangling and dimpled chads called to say, "Wow! You didn't even need us."

One woman's experience reflected the frustration of other voters.

At 8 o'clock, the 24-year-old registered Democrat went to her assigned polling site at the Thousand Oaks Women, Infants and Children clinic. The election judge told her that she couldn't vote there but didn't know where she could.

The prospective voter then went to Northern Hills Elementary School, and was told she couldn't vote there. And again, no one knew where to send her.

The election administrator's office couldn't tell her where to go, and no one answered the phone at the Democratic Party headquarters.

When she finally voted at El Dorado Elementary School, she was shocked that there was no lock box and the election judge put her ballot in a brown envelope.

When other countries hold important elections that have the potential for improprieties, the United States sends a delegation of election monitors that often includes a former president.

Jimmy Carter, Bexar County needs you.