Where Should I Vote?

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click here, enter your address, and the site will tell you where your polling site is!

A New Yorker at Heart?

Over the weekend, a voter in Northern Virginia received a message from someone claiming to BE an Election Board representative. This caller said that the voter is registered in New York and that if he comes to the polls in Virginia on Election Day, he will be criminally prosecuted.

The problems with all of this? I'm not even sure where to begin, but for a start, the recipient of this call says that he has been a registered Virginia voter for six years!

With less than twenty-four hours until the polls open in Virginia, the voter-protection stakes are higher than ever. If you or someone you know has an experience like the one described above, try to get all the information you can. If someone calls, try to get their name, address, phone number and e-mail address. Preserve any recorded version of the call (such as answering machine messages). Sometimes the warnings come as leaflets dropped at the door, or in the mail. If you receive such a leaflet, SAVE IT! Above all, document any incident in as much detail as possible. Then, call 1-(888) DEMVOTE. There is a team of people eager to protect your vote!

We will not allow these baseless threats to intimidate or discourage Virginians from coming to the polls. After weeks of hard work, we hope you will remember that there are scores of people out there dedicated to making every Virginian's vote count.

Election 2006: Notes from the Campaign

Here’s an update from Erin, another volunteer, on her efforts to organize election monitors:

I've always been interested in politics, but I've never done any campaigning before this year. My involvement in the electoral process (aside from voting!) was limited to updating the "results blackboard" outside the courthouse as precincts were counted in my hometown in rural South Carolina. But during this important election year I decided to organize some law school friends to spend fall break campaigning. The experience I've had here over the past week has got me hooked.

Since my family now lives in Virginia, it was really a no-brainer to choose Virginia. It not only has one of the country's closest Senate races. It also offers us a chance to show that the Republican party can’t take Southerners like me for granted. When the "macaca" scandal and ensuing media frenzy fixed the nation's eye on Virginia, my friends and I decided to take part in the last push for this exciting race.

To be honest, I expected to get to Arlington and start canvassing, lit-dropping, or phone banking. Isn't that what temporary volunteers are supposed to do? We have done our share of that work, but we’ve also helped organize a group that is working with the state party to organize election protection efforts in Virginia. We email and call lawyers and law students to enlist them as polling place monitors on Election Day. Everyone’s excitement about the project has been infectious. I'm visiting my parents in Lynchburg now, but constantly sneaking away to make more phone calls or check in with the campaign!

Not everyone has been able to volunteer (hey, lawyers are working people too!), but I’ve been impressed by the level of enthusiasm and involvement with the issues. I’ve spoken with Virginians who are already committed to "Get Out the Vote" efforts or "Vote No on #1" groups. There are even informal groups of lawyers in some of the tiniest Virginia towns who have organized and trained themselves as election monitors. Now that’s what I call civic responsibility. What I'm seeing is that "real Virginians" are concerned about the electoral process in this state, and they are invested in making sure the process is fair and accurate.

I vote in Virginia, in the 5th district, but I’m still relatively new to the area (my parents moved while I was in college). But speaking with people who are making a difference all over this state makes me proud to be a Virginian. If you're like me, I hope you'll click the "sign me up" link on this page and get involved. It's minimal time commitment for a HUGE payoff!

Finally, kudos to all the people here on the ground who are taking time out from partisan politics to make sure that ALL voters have a fair chance to cast their vote. You guys are amazing!

Election Monitoring in 2004: Notes from Ohio

Time for another blast from the past. Gabrielle is a Webb for Senate volunteer who is determined to make every vote count. She understands the stakes particularly well. As a precinct captain in Ohio in 2004, Gabrielle coordinated a team of volunteers to support voters. Election monitors this year will benefit from Gabrielle's experience and advice.

On E day 2004 I was captain of a voter protection team, and we were deployed out to OSU, Ohio State University. I had 4 people on my team, and stationed them at each of the entrances and exits of the precinct. These volunteers were there to remind people that today was the day to vote ask voters how things went and what their experience was, if they had any problems.

At 10 I received a phone call from one of my team members letting me know that a problem had come up. I went down. When I arrived, I saw my team member with a girl who was in tears. She had waited almost 2 hours in line, at which point someone at the polling place told her that if it turned out that her name wasn't on the voters list, she could be arrested. We notified the relevant authorities, but we also reassured her that she absolutely had the right to vote. When she exited the polling place for the second time, she was wearing an "I voted" sticker and beaming.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the problems we dealt with. Student after student came out and saying it seemed like the polling employees were rushing the voters. The lines were long, and it seemed they weren't always checking the list thoroughly. Instead, they were passing out provisional ballots like they were candy. A student would arrive and they would say a name "Michael Smith". They would go through the list with a cursory glance and say, Michael Smith, your not on the list. People were just being told that they couldn't vote. The line at 8 oclock was still quite long. They were just telling people no, you can't vote. They wouldn't even give them a provisional ballot at that point.

After Gabrielle shared her story, I asked what advice she would give to voters this year. She replied "Know your rights. Be prepared for whatever comes your way, and be persistent. Don't let anything keep you from exercising your right to vote."

Democrats and Republicans agree: George Allen is #1!!!

Well, the #1 worst-run Senate campaign in America, that is.












(It's a PDF. Thanks, National Journal!)

UPDATE... State Board of Elections working on ShortNameGate

One of our lawyers met with the State Board of Elections yesterday and has the latest on how the name shortening problem (see our old post here) is being addressed:

"Uniform signs are being developed among the 3 affected jurisdictions under the state board's supervision. They will be forwarded to the party committees and the candidates when completed. The signs will be posted inside the booths, on the demonstration machines and enlarged version will be posted on the wall. Additionally, they are exploring posting the signs outside the machines so that they will be seen on the way in."

Again, this will happen if and only if the State Board is unable to change the style of the computer ballot so that we can see the entire name wihtout opening up the software on the comptuer ballots. (If the software is changed, the new software needs to be tested and approved, which will work great for the 2007 election, but doesn't do so much for that little shindig going down in two weeks.) This is the ideal solution, of course, but our folks close to the process say it's unlikely we'll find a fix without touching the software.

Our guy said the feeling at the meeting was that the folks on the State Board are doing everything they can, and that everything that can be done to protect voters and ensure a fair vote is being done.

More news as it breaks...

The New York Times weighs in: election protection is vital

The New York Times just ran a story about how vital election protection will be this time around.
Everyone needs to know that the voting process will be watched to make sure that every vote is counted.

...


and that's exactly what is going to happen.

Read the article @ NYT

(thanks for finding this article, dan!)

Election Monitoring in 2004: Notes from the Field III

read part 2
read part 1

There were, of course, real problems also – things that I didn't see myself, but that I heard about from other poll workers around the country. Some of them were really scary stories about voter intimidation. How would you feel if when you drove up to your polling cite there was a person there writing down your license plate number and who-knows-what information about you? There were polling sites where people were told that they couldn't vote if they had outstanding parking tickets. There were even sites where people were warned that their papers with the INS would have to be checked over after they voted. I don't know what you would think if someone told you that, but if it was me I'd think I'd better be safe and not vote at all.

Simplest of all – and scariest, too – was the polling sites where official-looking individuals in dark suits standing near the entrance to the site with a clipboard. They didn’t even have to be writing anything, but the feeling of being watched made the air electric around them. No one wants to be put under a microscope – especially when they’re doing something as personal as voting.

For some of the problems we saw, we were only about to record them and report about them to the press – at the least, this made sure that people knew what was happening. At other times, though, we were able to get in touch with election officials who would then send the trouble-makers away.

Remember – the right to vote is a right ALL Americans have. A lot of people don’t know this, and we need people there to tell them – otherwise, folks from the other side end up keeping them away. No one should be afraid to vote because their CAR isn’t properly registered (and yes, that happened too). When you’ve got poll watchers there, those things aren’t as likely to happen.

We learned a lot from the 2004 elections. We might not have been able to stop every problem at the polls, but we exposed the voter suppression that has been going on for years, largely unnoticed. The more people we get this time around, the better the election will run in two weeks. Here in Virginia and across the country, we need election monitors to make sure that we can keep accidents from happening at the polls, keep the other side honest, and make sure that no one gets away with the honest-to-god-scams that someone will almost certainly try.

This time around, every vote is going to count. We’ve seen the problems before, we know what to look for, and we’re ready for it. So get out and vote, email us if you’re interested in volunteering as an election monitor, and let’s win this thing on nov. 7th!

The more stories we can get out, the more we’ll be ready for this election, so please comment and let everyone know what you’ve faced if you’ve ever worked as an election monitor.

Stay tuned for more stories from the field...

The Silence of the Ads: We need your help!

Two concerned citizens in Richmond, Virginia just alerted the Webb team that there’s something “odd” occurring with the campaign ads on TV.

In the words of one voter:

“My mother and I noticed that every time a Republican ad came on it BOOMED out at us. But when the Webb ads came on, we could hardly hear them.

At first we thought it was our clicker. But then we set the volume on the television to a comfortable volume. It be became painfully obvious how loud the Republican ads are and how quiet the Webb ads are.”

The team noticed the volume discrepancies on Channel 8, which is ABC in Richmond, Virginia.

Thanks to the alert- representatives of the Webb campaign and lawyers dedicated promoting the vote in Virginia are working to get this fixed.

Still, we need your help!

If you notice (or have already noticed) volume descrepancies or other oddities in the campaign ads- please comment on this post and cc your reports to virginiademlawyers@gmail.com

Please include as much info as possible (location, channel, time of day, which ad, etc.)

And do spread the word. The more eyes we have the better!

Election Monitoring in 2004: Notes from the Field II

read part I

Working as a poll monitor isn't all intrigue - it isn't all sneaky tricks. Some of it is keeping an eye on the little things that you never think would be a problem - like having enough parking spaces - and making sure that there's no trouble. Most of it, in fact, is working with people from across the political spectrum who just want to make sure that we have a good, fair election where every vote gets counted.

Another set of problems we faced were things that don't seem so bad at first, but when you really think about it, turn out to be a huge problem. Imagine that there's a lack of parking at the polling site you're going to. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Now imagine that it's nearing six pm on election day, you're driving home with your kids in the back-seat, all of them complaining about how hungry they are, you pull in to cast your vote, and can't find anywhere to park. Which is more likely – that you'll wait for a place to open, or that you'll just go home, make them dinner, and forget about voting until next time?

Similarly, people might be waiting outside the polling site in a giant line. Once again – you're coming home late from work, and you're exhausted. You just want to vote, but are you going to stand in a long line or just head home? We hope everyone would stick around no matter how long it takes (and here in Virginia, if you're in line when the polls close, you're guaranteed to get a chance to cast your vote), but we want to make it as easy as possible for people to vote – not make it more difficult.

How does an election monitor fix these sorts of problems? We talk to the people running the polling place, get people on line moved inside, make sure everyone is warm and comfortable maybe even get access to another polling place or an extra machine to spread out the load. We work to smooth the way, so that voting can be as pleasant an experience as possible, and every vote gets counted.

One of my favorite parts was watching the absentee voting process. That was fascinating. It was all paper ballots. There were literally four women, bless their hearts, two from each party, who would inspect every absentee ballot. There were problems, of course – college students would vote absentee and then, if the election suddenly grew closer, they might show up at home, wanting to vote in person. No one was trying to trick anyone – they were just excited about the election and wanted to take part. We had to figure out which vote should be counted, and make sure that everyone knew what was happening. In the end, we decided in a small town like that, the people working the polls would recognize the voters anyway – so we counted the absentee ballot, put their name on a list, and let them know when they came into the polling place. That way we didn't have to turn them away from both places, and everyone knew that their votes had been counted properly. Most of the work that I did was like that - logistical things that you wouldn't catch without poll watchers there.

... to be continued

and if you're lucky, you just might get to watch the absentee ballots getting counted. 1... 2... 3...

Mason-Dixon and Bloomberg/L.A. Times Polls weigh in

Want to know how close this race is going to be? just check the polls -
Yesterday's Mason/Dixon poll has Allen up 47-43 [fox news], but a Bloomberg/L.A. Times poll from today puts Webb up 47-44 [bloomberg]!

With the race this close, the independent monitors that will be out around the state ensuring that every vote gets counted will be even more important.

read more about new polling data over at Raising Kaine...

Jim Webb meets voter protection volunteers

Here's a look at some of the volunteers who are working to make every vote count. Thanks to (left to right) Nathaniel, Dan, Jim Webb, Tom, Esther, Erin, Neil and Anita!

Everything you wanted to know about election law but were afraid to ask

Nathaniel and I caught a ride out to Fairfax last night for the first voter protection training, where we learned the ins and outs of election monitoring in Virginia. We snagged the last few seats in the packed conference room, and listened as the trainers and some veteran election monitors shared strategies and stories.

Voter identification was a hot topic of discussion. One experienced election monitor noted that in the past there had been confusion about picture IDs. Some voters without IDs were asked to vote with provisional ballots rather than using the machines.

The lowdown for voters? Bring ID to keep your life simple. However, EVEN IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ID, YOU CAN AND SHOULD VOTE AT THE MACHINES. Unless you are a first time voter who registered by mail, you do not have to show picture identification. If you don’t have ID, you will probably be asked to sign a piece of paper that basically says, “Yes, that’s me!” But you do have a right to vote at the machines!

For Virginia voters, the good news is that election monitors will be out in full force on Election Day, passing out helpful materials and making sure every vote counts. Be sure to let them know if you have any concerns about your vote. You will know them by the steely, determined look in their eyes, not to mention their election monitor signs and buttons.

Do you have other advice for voters on election day? The more we learn, the better prepared all our monitors will be. Stay tuned here for more tips about voters’ rights!

Election Day Monitoring 2004: Notes from the Field I

Right now we're going to step into the way-back machine, and take a look at how things used to be. This post will be the first in a series of posts from people who've worked as election monitors in the past. By hearing their stories, by listening to the challenges they faced, their failures and successes, we can be that much more prepared this time around.

I was placed in a very rural part of the country – my town was probably 2,000 people. Polls were opened and closed by people identified with one party or another – because in such a small town, everyone knows everyone, and there's only so many people to work the polls. I'm sure this is the same all in small towns all over the country, and that's fine. It just makes having someone from both parties at every polling site very important.

First of all, I think it's important to remember that people who volunteer their time to sit at a polling place all day have very good intentions. I wish more people were like that. I wish more people gave back to the democratic process the way these people do.

That said, I saw things, and heard about things, that we all need to be careful of. This year in Virginia, we can make sure that every vote is counted the way it should be.

A common problem that we faced was people not being allowed to vote because they weren't registered to vote at that particular polling place. Poll watchers were able to inform voters that they could go to a central location and find out where he or she was in fact registered to vote. Procedures vary from state to state, but many people were turned away from polling because of this issue.

... to be continued

Do you have any stories from the polls that you'd like to share? Any challenges you've faced? The more we know, the better prepared we can all be.