Ohio and Florida, raising hackles once again.

I know what I'd tell these and the other dirty tricksters, should they venture out to my 'hood (California):

NO ON 8.

If this is true, then this would constitute a federal crime (by virtue of taking place by phone, which grants federal authority) on several felony counts. (Fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, attempt to deny federally protected civil rights, to name three.) Should be relatively easy to prove the underlying offense, as well as to trace the calls to the parties who planned, financed, and executed them. These crimes need to be prosecuted, and prosecuted quickly after the election while people are still paying attention, as an example to those who would consider committing them in the future. The beauty is that RICO could even allow the prosecution of candidates if any paid member of that candidate's campaign had any knowledge of the conspiracy, depending on the particulars. It'd be a great lesson to the political class to have a candidate sent to prison for his campaign's involvement in this sort of criminal activity.

In a way, we have to lay blame also on the lunkheads who'd fall for this load of crap. I mean, sheesh, contrary to the Bush administration, ignorance is far from bliss. If grown adults are fooled by this, then they deserve to have it coming.

Hmmm....I am torn.

On the one hand, I think that election fraud should be punishable by life in prison, as it is not merely a theft of someone's rights, but an attack on our very system of government.

On the other hand, if you're stupid enough to think you can vote by phone because a computer rings you up and tells you so, I probably don't want you voting.

I see no reason to be torn, janus.  These are not exclusive conditions.  

Fair point, that.

This better not be the only place I read about this.

Must we go through this every 4 years.  We are (supposedly) the most advanced, most wired, bestest nation on earth.  So do our elections devolve into these farces that should be monitored by Jimmy Carter and other NGOs?  Why is voting so damn difficult?  

We've been harangued for decades by Good Government/League of Woman Voters on our civic duty to vote, and tusked tusked to shame for low voter turnout.  Now that people ARE turning out, the system can't handle it.

Do European and other first-world nations have the kinds of voting problems I've been reading about for the past several days? I'm with dubya on this issue. Our high-tech society should have no trouble pulling off a well-run election, even with historically high turnout.

I'm both excited to vote tomorrow and dreading the long lines. Since our public schools are polling places, my kids will be home from school tomorrow, so somehow I'll have to accommodate them in my planning. Should have taken advantage of early voting, but the wait times have been horrendous here in Georgia.

I know I shouldn't be bitching about the inconvenience considering what others around the world endure to cast a vote. But still . . .