Politics

Election Shenanigans Watch: All Hell is Breaking Loose in Virginia

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In 2000 it was Florida, in 2004 it was Ohio. Could 2008 be the year that Virginia is the state that embarrasses democracy in America?

According to a conference call that is still ongoing with Election Protection (the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter protection coalition) right now voting in Virginia is in pretty bad shape.

There are reports of polling places opening late and long lines. That is pretty regular stuff.

But the Director for the national campaign for Lawyers for Fair Elections is saying that the real problems are occurring after the voting machines breakdown.

Virginia does not have a statewide mandate to have “back-up” paper ballots. However, voters who are able to vote using paper ballots are being told that those ballots are “provisional.”

According to election lawyers, this is wrong. If you are voting on a paper ballot because of a voting machine breakdown, that ballot should be counted as “regular.” Paper ballots should be counted as regular ballots even if you are voting on a form for “provisional” ballots.

But election officials are apparently telling voters that any paper vote is provisional. Lawyers are lobbying in Richmond right now to get the state the set their poll workers straight.

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Additional problems after the jump.


Virginia is also having a serious problems with students. Students are allowed to vote at or near their universities, but Virginia election officials are telling students that they cannot do so.

These Virginia breakdowns appear to be happening all across the state, suggesting that the issue is not partisan so much as it’s a situation of electoral incompetence.

Election protection plans to update the press at 3:30 p.m.

Right now lawyers are also asking Virginia to extend the time polls are open, but so far no decision has been made.

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In one county in Virginia, some polling precincts are allowing people into the polls based on alphabetical order. So if your surname starts with a W, you’re waiting for 6 hours, but if your surname is “Apple” you can waltz right in. Shockingly, there is no state law that prevents this practice.

Another state having problems is Pennsylvania, according to the lawyers.

So … good job Florida so far. Way to (provisionally) learn from your mistakes.

Update (11:30): Apparently the Radford College registrar told students that if they registered to vote from the school post office boxes that their votes would not count (wrong). At Virginia Tech, students were told that if they registered from school and then attempted to vote there would be “dire consequences.” Both of these statements have been retracted.

Also, apparently the Blacksburg polling place closest to Virginia Tech is located some 6.5 miles away … in a church.

We’ll keep you posted.

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