Well, I made my way to the early voting center in Arlington this morning to cast my ballot. The system used in Tarrant county is an electronic voting system. I didn't have any problems with it, but I could see how it might be confusing to those who are "electronically challenged." Quite a few people had shown up to vote, and I was glad to see that. I ended up passing the time chatting with another fellow biker (BMW). We had some interesting discussions about the Arlington Stadium proposal. He was still on the fence, while I was clearly decided. ;-) One thing I didn't like about the electronic system is that it made it a little more difficult to write in a candidate, if that is what you choose to do. I wonder if that would discourage people from voting this way? I had also read about some of the severe lack of security with these systems, so it will be interesting to see what happens if we have another close race. In any case - get out there and VOTE! --Fullstate Me and Mah 'Priller!
<><>~~~~~~One thing I didn't like about the electronic system is that it made it a little more difficult to write in a candidate, if that is what you choose to do. I wonder if that would discourage people from voting this way? I had also read about some of the severe lack of security with these systems, so it will be interesting to see what happens if we have another close race. In any case - get out there and VOTE! --Fullstate Me and Mah 'Priller! <><><><><><><><><><><><><><>>< hmmmm? gives me an idea....I may go vote early..that way I'll not be considered an UNdecided voter anymore...... <>I have never rote in a candidate. <>I remember I did vote for Perot, of course he was on all the ballots.....I have hurd of folks writing in the damn'dest odd ball names....to me...that is a bunch of bullButter....bjay Mercer.......heehee <>haveAgoodDay-Bjay<>
Currently in Texas in order to do a write in Candidate they have to be registered as a write in candidate or it won't count as a vote. Don't know if that still applys to national candidates. From what I was reading they are using windows as the basic os. If they are connected to the internet I would be very worried.
It depends on the system. Some of them use a proprietary OS, some don't. The NSA took several of them in a room and pretty much had them all hacked in some way, shape, form, or fashion within about 2 minutes. They also found other major flaws which could screw up the voting. Apparently, the two major manufacturers of these things come from an ATM background. I find that interesting considering that the Texas Lotto system has a fairly secure system and I don't know if that same company was offered an opportunity to build these things. --Fullstate Me and Mah 'Priller!
Not that far fetched... Several years ago (I believe it was the election of 2000 or '98, a ficus tree was run against an incumbent from New Jersey. The ficus tree won! Their slogan was "... doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. Ficus, his ass IS a hole in the ground". Also keep in mind, Missouri Senate race was against Ashcroft and a dead man...the dead man won. As Moore says "Ashcroft was sworn in on a stack of Bibles, cause when you can't beat a dead guy, you need all the help you can get". You really voted for Ross Perot? And you admit that openly? The only reason he started running in the first place was because he wanted to lean the regulations toward him and his son getting into Mexico's pockets. The only reason he came back into the race the second time was because the RNC begged and pleaded (with a little money added) for him to get back in. That way it wouldn't have looked so bad that Clinton was going to wax Bush's ass on that November 3rd. You talk about a flip flopper, Perot couldn't even make up his mind whether he wanted to run or not...without the help of his "charts".
Voting back there for Ross Perot, showed just How Much Of An Indepenent voter I really am, hmmmm,I Iike that.... at the time, I thought he would, run this country like a business,if elected, and so 4th, like I say "at the Time".....chuckle......bj <>haveAgoodDay-Bjay<>
I just hope the large numbers of turnout at the polls shows good signs. Generally, when there's a large turnout, the votes lean largely to the Democrats. And keep in mind too, in '92 there were large turnouts and Bill Clinton carried Texas. I believe it to be a mistake that the Kerry campaign shows no interest in Texas since it's still quite a bit of electoral votes involved. Their reasoning is "it's wasted money". If they believe that, then it is. Clinton carried Texas because he invested in Texas. We'll see how this one turns out in just under 2 weeks. I went by to vote yesterday and it was standing room only at the precinct where I vote. There were still cars and trucks coming in by the masses. I've never seen that poll so busy...and we don't have an "Arlington Stadium" election to give as an excuse for the floods of crowds. BTW, if something goes upside down and Kerry doesn't win this election, I'll just be satisfied if he carries Texas. Well, probably not, but it would make me feel better.
Yeah, they were packed! Good to see the turn-out, though. I wish more young people were making the effort, but it's still nice to see. I had some discussions and did some reading on the whole Stadium thing. One rumor is that the Dallas City Council didn't want the stadium proposal on the Nov. 2nd ballot because they were afraid of more people coming out to vote for it. I'm not sure if I buy that.... However, I did read that statistically special elections are frequently lost as the voters that turn out are more informed than when an issue comes up on a general election. So, the strategy for the Jones Tax works well in this example. Have the mass voters turn out anyway, and if they aren't informed they think it's a great thing and pass it. I'd be surprised if Kerry carries Texas....but like you said, we'll know it 2 weeks! --Fullstate Me and Mah 'Priller!
Guess JFKERRY thinks we are all for Bush down in these parts....if he came to see us texacans he might be surprised. I know Molly Ivins would escourt Him around....and help him get some good rallies going around Houston, etc. <>haveAgoodDay-Bjay<>
I can point to 3 generations of Oklahomans that are Democrats for that exact reason. For the longest time they didn't even have a Repub primary anywhere in the state. So, the logic was that, if you wanted to vote in a primary, you better be a registered Dem. I didn't see many smiles on their faces when I later changed my party affiliation (initially listening to their explanation and sometime around 25 or so, changing to a different party).
