I voted today.
My honest and honorable vote is a sham here in the state of New Mexico. I feel cheated. I feel like something sacred was stolen from me.
One of my favorite exercises as an American citizen is voting. I take it very seriously. It is not as much a privilege, but a sacred responsibility. It is not to be taken lightly. As I went into the Senior Center in Ruidoso I was excited. I was finally getting to vote for a woman who has a serious shot at a position of very real power. Last June, when I finally voted for John McCain in the primary, I did the lump in the throat thing, thrilled to be voting him after being a staunch supporter for so darn many months.
This was to be one of the most special moments in my life. I was getting to vote for a woman for Vice President of the United States.
A woman! A Republican woman!
I have waited for this moment since 1984 when Democrats had the opportunity to vote for Geraldine Ferraro. As a die-hard Republican I was voting for Ronald Reagan, and more importantly George H. W. Bush. Consequently, I’ve had to wait for nearly a quarter of a century for the honor and privilege of voting for a woman.
It was a nightmare.
I soon discovered that in New Mexico, in order to exercise one’s freedom to vote, said registered, honest voter is required to surrender their First Amendment rights.
Go figure.
It seems that here in New Mexico I am electioneering because I have a McCain bumper sticker, a Palin bumper sticker and an “I Support President Bush and the Troops” bumper sticker. I was greeted at the door by a volunteer who is helping with the election. I had to turn off my cell phone. I had to remove my Palin Power button. I had to go back out into the parking lot and either remove my bumper stickers, cover them, or move my vehicle.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Arch Conservative
There is no legitimate reason whatsoever to oppose the requirement to provide id when voting.
Those who do oppose it seek to committ voter fraud.
2 - Lisa Solod Warren
ALL precincts in Virginia do NOT allow voters to show up with buttons, tee shirts or any thing with campaign material on it. Don't think it applies to cars.
Everyone must show their voter ID card. If they don't have one, they have to show a picture ID and be on the rolls. If they don't have an ID they will be given a provisional ballot and will have to show up the next day with a photo ID in order to have their vote counted.
WHAT is the big deal????
3 - Cannonshop
Same here, Lisa-you leave your campaign buttons, teeshirts, etc. in the car (and hope nobody sees your bumper stickers or window-signs) when you go to the polls. I once had a Poll worker tell me to get rid of my hat because it had the seal of the National Rifle Association! They didn't have a problem with my Union jacket though...weird, huh?
4 - troll
Lincoln has always been an odd county...but look on the bright side - you might have been trying to vote in Rio Arriba
or Taos where the Repubs were unable to field one candidate in any local election this cycle
5 - Dan(Miller)
Here is another article about a fraudulent multiple registration, by someone who should know better. According to the article,
There is an old Welsh saying, Many a mickle makes a muckle.
Dan(Miller)
6 - Cindy D
My vote was diminished because of fraud.
Republicans purged Democrat voter rolls where you live too, huh? Or maybe they Or maybe Republicans installed the "Easy-Hack 2008" black box voting machines where you live? Or maybe they conveniently failed to recalibrate the machines, so that all of them (from different companies even) would stop switching Democrat votes to Republican candidates.
Or maybe you had to stand in line for 8, 10, 12 hours like voters in poor Democratic neighborhoods. Stand in line until you fainted, like one disabled woman did and had to be taken home saying, "I tried."
Maybe Republicans tried to stop Democrats from voting where you live by ripping up their registration forms...like:
That must be the fraud you are talking about, because all evidence shows that vote fraud by individuals at the polls is rare and insignificant. But voter disenfranchisement itself is widespread. And it is associated with Republicans trying to suppress Democratic voters.
Stealing America: Vote by Vote (video documentary)
7 - wdufkin
Recently I went to the local mall to have my daughters ears pierced. She being a minor needed a parent to attend...but that's not all. It wasn't good enough that I was with her or that I sign a release form. She was denied the piercing until I could produce a notorized release form. Forget about her choice rights regarding her own body...what if the same standard could be applied to the right to vote? Why shouldn't we have to prove who we are?
8 - Mark Saleski
i'm looking forward to voting wearing my "Bong hits for Palin" tee-shirt.
the bumper sticker thing is nuts.
9 - Cindy D
wdufkin,
I guess you haven't been paying attention.
BECAUSE VOTE FRAUD IS RARE AND INSIGNIFICANT!
ALL EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT THE PROTECTIONS IN PLACE ARE WORKING JUST FINE THANK YOU!
MAKING PEOPLE JUMP THROUGH MORE AND MORE HOOPS DISENFRANCHISES THEM! WHY DO THIS FOR NO REASON?
Mostly the disenfranchised are the poor, elderly and/or disabled. You may wish to read about this topic. There is overwhelming evidence for all my assertions.
10 - Lisa Solod Warren
Right ON, Cindy.
11 - Cindy D
Hey Lisa,
That Greg Palast comic Steal Back Your Vote is great. I noticed you posted that in another thread.
Did you also download the Rolling Stone article Block the Vote?
It was offered along with the comic. I have been trying to find it for about a week. Thanks for that link.
--an investigative report by John Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast
12 - Cindy D
Here is a link to the Steal Back Your Vote Movie Clip Palast posted on Vimeo.
It appears that 1 in 9 voter names vanished from the Las Vegas, New Mexico voter rolls--including that of the election supervisor!
13 - Cindy D
correction at #11: I always do that.
14 - SJ Reidhead
To #6 - Cindy;
Sorry, I no longer have sympathy for any of this. I'm sick of it. As for the purged voter rolls, they have always been purged of non-voters. I know bleeding liberals think the dead still have a right to vote, but they don't.
I no longer care.
Yesterday I realized something. My vote is JUST AS IMPORTANT as anyone else. I've decided I'm going to fight for it. I'm also going to fight for the right to have all voters be FORCED to show matching identification - with photo - in order to vote.
Your tears and recitations of alleged suppression of alleged voters no longer moves me. You see, i've realized tears and protests are the last refuge of voter fraud. Anyone who protests no match no vote is up to something illegal. It's as simple as that.
SJR
The Pink Flamingo
15 - Cindy D
SJ Reidhead,
So basically what your saying is:
"Facts mean nothing to me. I prefer to tilt at the windmills of my delusional biases."
Like others of your ilk, you get confused by factual information, it so often doesn't seem to give credit to your version of reality.
So, you're not credible. Who gives a flying fuck what people who make shit up think?
Stop whining about imaginary injustices done to YOU. It's nauseating.
16 - Baronius
Feelin' the love from Cindy. Did the Rolling Stone article point out that Democrats were responsible for all the historical voter fraud they mentioned?
SJ, displaying campaign support near a polling place is a slippery slope. I respect them for rigorously enforcing that law. I'm with you on the ID thing, though.
17 - Glenn Contrarian
SJR -
Welcome to the club, to having the same experience that has been shared by literally tens of thousands of Democrats. There's one site that lists TONS of voting- and election-fraud information: bradblog.com
Despite the name, the blog has reputable sources. But you won't like it, because it exposes the fact that the vast majority of voter- and election fraud in America is being perpetrated by the Republican party and its supporters.
Chances are very strong that if you check the site at all, you'll leave it in less than five minutes, convinced that the accusations must be false, that your party is too American, too patriotic to actually be part of something so...unAmerican.
But here's the REASON that your Republican party does not really care about the democratic (small 'd') process:
It's right here, complete with a link to a 40-second video, where Heritage Foundation founder Paul Weyrich gave a speech in 1980 to fifteen thousand Baptist preachers in Dallas. The audience included Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell. During that speech, he says:
The Republican voter disenfranchisement efforts will cause tens of thousands of eligible voters to lose their chance to vote...and the vast majority will be Democratic voters because the Republican efforts have of course been concentrated in majority Democratic districts. If you want to see my proofs, then please read my blogcritic post here. I also show the falsity of the GOP's attacks against ACORN (and how the Republicans did the same and worse in 2004).
In my post you should easily see that I'm not some unpatriotic tool, but someone who looks at the evidence at hand.
Lastly, our esteemed BC editor Dave Nalle tried to reply with a list of Democratic voter/election fraud. I never said the Dems' hands were totally clean...but the grand total of fraud by Democrats - if all Dave's accusations were completely proven true - were less than ONE-HUNDRETH of the proven fraud committed by the Republican party and its supporters.
One party's leadership believes in the democratic process. One party's leadership thinks the democratic process is a sham. Remember who was in the audience the day the founder of the Heritage Foundation said that the fewer the people voting, the better. Fifteen thousand Baptist preachers, Jerry Falwell, and Ronald Reagan.
Think about it, SJR. Do you yourself truly believe in the democratic process? By your post, I believe you truly do. I do suggest, then, that you reconsider your party affiliation after taking a hard look at the Republican party's actions.
18 - Dr Dreadful
What a daft rule.
If someone wants to show up to the polls with their entire car covered in McCain/Palin stickers, with the windows rolled down and Rush Limbaugh blaring at top volume over the stereo, then march into the polling station with an NRA t-shirt, a Bush/Cheney '04 baseball cap, Republican buttons pinned to every square inch of clothing and a 'Support the Troops' car magnet Scotch-taped to their ass, let them.
To be sure, your vote is a private matter between you and the ballot box; but, if you choose to advertise to all and sundry who you're going to vote for, that's your right too.
And I, too, am unclear exactly what not being allowed to bring partisan materials to the polls has to do with preventing electoral fraud.
19 - Glenn Contrarian
SJR -
P.S. New Mexico is NOT the most corrupt state. Personally, I would say that dubious title belongs to Mississippi, followed closely by Alabama. Check out this article from Harper's. It's...enlightening.
20 - Dawn
Mark,
Where are they giving away "bong hits" if you vote for Sarah Palin? Unless of course that means you take a hit BEFORE you vote for her, because that makes sense.
As for the bumper sticker thing, that's dumb as hell.
21 - Clavos
SJR,
Move down here to Miami. Because we are not (culturally, at least) really part of the USA, we have rampant, open campaigning at the polls -- it's one of our many idiosyncrasies that confuse and puzzle the American tourists; another is our tendency to re-elect officials who lose their office because of a criminal conviction -- as soon as they're released, we put 'em back in office.
22 - Baronius
That supposedly damning statement of Weyrich's is nothing of the kind. The fact is that Republicans have a more consistent turnout than Democrats. A rainy day will lower voter turnout, which favors the Republicans. Big turnout usually means a Democratic win.
Glenn, I thought that Louisiana was the gold standard for corruption. I haven't checked out the Harper's article yet, but I will.
23 - pablo
SJ,
You said in your article:
"It is not as much a privilege, but a sacred responsibility"
Privilege? Pleassssse, where did you get such an absurd notion from. Privilege from whom? It is a right, which is fundamentally different that a privilege from our rulers. Responsibility? Pleassssse, says whom? It is a responsibility of government, in this case State government to not only show in a clear and concrete fashion that your vote counts but to follow it up in the actual deed, which thus far most if not all states have failed miserable in this fundamental RESPONSIBILITY. Until that time, I will not waste my time and participate in a sham.
24 - Dr Dreadful
another is our tendency to re-elect officials who lose their office because of a criminal conviction -- as soon as they're released, we put 'em back in office.
In Peru, too. It's the national sport.
25 - Clavos
It's worth noting that the much revered Founders were decidedly against one man-one vote; some even wanted to restrict the vote to land owners and other persons of means.
This country was NOT founded on democratic principles, despite what all of you were taught by your union teachers in your government schools.
The "democratic" nonsense came along much later; from about the mid nineteenth century on, and not gaining real traction until the twentieth.