Eight years is nothing for me. I guess it is because I have lived longer and I can't believe the degrees people and political parties will use to cheat the electorate out of their choice for president. I am a registered voter in Palm Beach County, Florida. I contacted them for my absentee ballot (and also a ballot for my partner a day later). I received mail from them in Thailand, a spanking new voter's registration card.
My house is still in Florida, along with my driver's license. I sent them a fourth email asking:
"By what date will I receive my absentee ballot?"
I want it here early. I want it counted on the DAY of the election. I do not want to be disenfranchised in the way we were when Bush II stole won in 2000 and we have been treated to every horror since. Neither by dangling chad or poll worker will I easily allow my vote to be lost.
And I am damn angry about it. I am also very frightened that my not being able to physically be at the polls, to stare into the eyes of an election judge, will somehow cost me the chance to be heard.
I don't want a repeat of Donald Rumsfeld- and I kind of liked him. No, truly, I liked him in my delusion that there was an imaginary enemy that had no weapons of mass destruction in the wake of the avoidable strike on the twin towers in New York.
I don't want a repeat of Dick Cheney as a Jerry Fallwellesque Beauty Pagent Queen. At least Cheney has a Gay daughter pushing beer for Coors. (And I liked that beer!) Funny, you seldom hear anything about Halliburton corporation any more. Cheney, as congressman from Wyoming, voted against funding for abortions in the event of rape or incest. SOUND FAMILIAR? Now she has a big bun of hair on her head to hide the transmitter.
I don't want another John Ashcroft (or a younger more doctrinaire version) to deprive interpret the rule of law and the amount of justice I am to receive or that any American should receive. Particularly the scrutiny that any American Corporation should receive.
I don't want a Secretary of Energy that is anti-environment ever again.
I don't want a President's cabinet that looks like a dislocated group of CEO's and lobbyists, looking for their next merger opportunity, which is virtually the entirety of what we have endured for the past eight years. This both weakens our country, our participation in the republic and the connection of the government to it's people.
The next generation of Karl Rove really scares me.
I get no answers back from Palm Beach county on email and I worry every day.
On election day I will be in Saigon. I will be at the very prison where John McCain endured what no human should have to endure, for any cause, let alone because they are an American. I honor his sacrifice- I doubt I could have survived it- but that is hardly the qualification I want for president. I have to ask the question that needs to be asked of anyone who votes Republican:
Have you had enough yet?
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7 Comments
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Seriously! Drop me a line when you receive it! I am absentee voting from GA and I still haven't gotten mine yet, either (OCT 14)
-Ben
Ben | October 14, 2008 11:31 AM
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I requested mine using the online form 09/23, today is 10/21 and still haven't received it- I called and got the runaround, sent a fax, and sent e-mail all requesting it. What's going on????
liz | October 21, 2008 9:13 AM
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If any of you are registered in Duval county (Jacksonville) the phone number for the Supervisor of Elections office is 904 630 1414. They can check if your AB has been sent out, when it was sent and to what address.
Christy | October 22, 2008 10:00 AM
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As a Republican voter, have I had enough? Enough of what? Oh, you mean watching my income soar? My job opportunities soar? My net worth increase?
Oh...I think I know what you're talking about. You're talking about the mess the economy is in right now, right? Yes, Yes, the mess that began with the subprime lending trade? Oh yes, that. Let's see if we can test your political memory, shall we? Do you remember that it was President Clinton, yes a Democrat, who pushed for all people to be able to own a home? For special loan opportunities to be given to low-income folks so that they might enjoy the American Dream?? Yes, Yes, it was definitely Clinton who started this. So....the mess we're in right now is a direct result of actions taken by a Democratic president. Not Bush. He may not have made it better, but he sure didn't create the mess that we're in.
Nothing like "Spreading the Wealth" around to people who have no clue how to manage their money.
Obama will probably become President....and I want the media to go out and interview all the Obama supporters in a few years...when they can't get necessary surgeries and medical care due to Nationalized Healthcare Plans. Ever speak to folks in the UK? I once met a woman who needed her gallbladder removed, and she had been waiting for 9 months in pain for that surgery. I want to see how people feel when they lose their jobs after their employers get hit with higher taxes and can't afford to keep them on the payroll. I hope the media will go around and ask them how they feel about the "change" they wanted so badly.
Taylor Smythe, Palm Beach, FL | October 30, 2008 2:21 PM
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as of today 10/31 hundreds of americans spending the winter in mexico have not reiceived their absentee ballots. no problems in past elections even in this last primary no problems...what happened? who can help?
teri Reed | October 31, 2008 2:36 PM
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I found this posting searching under problems with florida absentee voting. I'm registered in St. Johns County and am in school in Indiana. Despite the fact that I put my Indiana address as my mailing address, they sent my ballot to my parents house in Florida. Which, I think, means I can't vote because even if my parents overnight it to me, I won't be able to get it back in time. This could easily be a mistake, whether on my end or the county's, but I'm concerned. Mixing up the mailing address with the permanent address would disenfranchise all Florida residents that are attending school out of state - most of whom I imagine are voting Obama. Has anyone heard anything?
EKidd | November 3, 2008 10:49 AM
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I haven't heard much about this, but I would contact Election Protection Coalition at 866-OUR-VOTE or http://www.866ourvote.org/
Maybe they can help. At the very least, they should have a record of it to try and stop it from happening again...
Waymon Hudson | November 3, 2008 4:47 PM
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