This item is less reassuring than it appears at first, once one pays attention to the details. Philadelphia Inquirer reporting…
Gov. Corbett [R] announced Monday night that he was extending the deadline for voters to request absentee ballots – originally 5 p.m. Tuesday – by up to two days, depending on how many days county offices were forced to close because of the storm.
That will give registered voters in Philadelphia, where offices were to be closed Monday and Tuesday, until Thursday at 5 p.m. to show up in person at county election offices, fill out an absentee ballot request, mark the ballot, and vote on the spot. The new deadline would be Wednesday for government offices closed only one day.
…
It will be too late to use that extended deadline to send an absentee ballot through the mail, because Corbett said he was not extending the Friday deadline for completed absentee ballots to arrive at county election offices.
Any use of the mail could be problematic because the storm has curtailed mail service in Philadelphia and the suburbs. Further cutbacks are likely throughout the state, depending on the course of the storm the remainder of the week.
The article was called to our attention on Twitter by MN’s Sec. of State Mark Ritchie who asks: “Maybe other states will follow” in extending their absentee deadlines? But, again, please note that extended deadline only works for those showing up in person to cast their absentee ballot.
And then the Inquirer article also adds this troubling tidbit…
Absentee ballots, however, could be the least of the problems for Pennsylvania’s electorate (along with some 6 other states) where voters are largely forced to vote on 100% unverifiable electronic touch-screen voting systems on Election Day. If power remains out in precincts as of next Tuesday, as it currently is for millions of Pennsylvanian’s and others in surrounding states, they may not be able to vote at all, as we detailed in our report yesterday.
We’ve sent a query to Singer asking about the city’s supply of emergency paper ballots in the event that power is not back on by next Tuesday. We’ve yet to hear back, but will update this item if/when we do.
While we’re on the topic, please note that confusion over Photo ID in PA still reigns, despite the fact that the PA courts determined almost a month ago that no Photo ID will be necessary to vote this year in the Keystone State. Thanks to the Republican judge who made the horrible ruling, however — allowing for poll workers to ask for ID anyway, and allowing the $5 million tax-payer funded “education campaign” for Photo ID to continue — a mess was assured in PA even before Sandy struck.
A CBS radio affiliate is still running inaccurate ads telling voters that Photo ID is needed to vote. The ad, heard running as late as October 26th, misinforms listeners:
That ad is completely inaccurate.
UPDATE 11/3/12: A bit of good news. Corbett has now done the right thing, perhaps for the first time in his life, and has extended the deadline for mail-in absentee ballots as well…
I hadn’t realized that Paul Ryan was (and is) Chair of the 2012 Presidential Trust… Which is the RNC’s fancy words for the $30m of “coordinated hard money funds” flowing from RNC to the state parties for the purposes of directly coordinating with campaigns.
Paul Ryan in September 2011 pledged to be ultra “hands on” in his role. I’m wondering if his hands on involvement included the RNC-mandated hiring of Sproul by state parties using those very coordinated funds???!!!
I wonder if it would be possible to hack an automated mail sorter and if they would go to those lengths…The second half of Dan Rathers report on “The Trouble with Touchscreens” says yes.
What about all the absentee ballots that were already in the mail when Sandy struck? Is it possible that lots of those are lost in flooded places, or will be delayed past the deadline by the storm’s aftermath?
Elizabeth Warren’s new campaign song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BHvpWP2V9Y
Along the same lines as the wrong radio ad, there are new TV commercials that verbally state you are not required to show your ID to vote all while showing various forms of ID that will satisfy the requirement. I think the commercial is intended to make people who are just watching it or can’t hear it think you still need ID to vote while the voice-over says you don’t. It’s terrible.
Congress could just change election day to Saturday November 10, 2012 to give 1/3 of the nation time to get back on their feet. It is a simple act of Congress from the 1800s.
How exactly does that ‘open meeting’ scene work in which anyone can stay and witness the ballot counting and record the results with cameras?
I predict plenty of voter intimidation at that point in Pennsylvania, which was so virulently anti-Obama after being swallowed whole by the fracking oil industry that they almost went to The Congressional District Method which allows a state the chance to split its electoral votes between multiple candidates, denying the winner 10 electoral votes in a 50-50 result.
Is anyone covering the Missouri paperless poll books. Nothing but iPads and voter fingers in case an audit might be requested.
I cannot believe there is NO BACKUP PLAN for disasters! EVERY government agency is required to have DISASTER PLANNING.
Why in the hell can’t the Federal government make sure that there are PAPER BALLOTS everywhere? Further, what in the world is the point of using an absentee ballot IN PERSON? Why wouldn’t you just use a regular paper ballot? Aren’t absentees counted differently?
NONE OF THIS MAKES ANY SENSE.