Access to polling places tightened – The Washington Times: Nation/Politics – October 19, 2004

Under Florida law, if voters show up at a polling place but officials there have no record that they are registered, they are given provisional ballots. Those ballots are then held until officials determine whether the persons were entitled to vote at that precinct and had not already voted.

If they should have been allowed to vote at that precinct, the ballots count; if not, they are thrown out.

The court said requiring that provisional voters vote at the correct precinct is no more unreasonable than requiring that everyone else vote at the correct polling place. …

The Florida court’s ruling contradicted a ruling last week by a federal judge in Ohio. U.S. District Judge James Carr blocked a directive requiring poll workers to send voters to their correct precinct, ruling that Ohio voters can cast provisional ballots as long as they are in the county in which they are registered. Ohio’s secretary of state is appealing.

Would this nice lady lie to you?

The Republican National Committee seems to be using an old list from my days registered as DTS (Decline To State). So, I get these RNC mailings (let them waste their money).

“Don’t believe the scare tactics by the Democrats.”

Republicans know fear is powerful. They invoke fear constantly. It is ironic that they want to neutralize the Dems use of fear.

I heard Barbara get great laughs by saying (roughly) ‘Do you think we would let our son touch social security,’ as in, ‘we’re going to get SS ourselves.’ Yeah, right. The Bushes are richer than Satan. You could destroy the government and they’d still do well. Hmmm. mjh

fear is the power (search)

http://www.DumpBushBlog.com/

ABC News: The Note

Suffice it to say, it is vitally important to the country that the final election results — particularly for the presidency — be seen as fair and legitimate by all Americans.

So we’re seeking YOUR help — and by “you” we mean citizens, journalists, activists, party officials and consultants, election administrators, and interested observers.

ABC News is kicking off our 2004 Watchdog project today, and The Note — and Noted Now — will be its canvass. Between now and Election Day, look for regular reports on all ABC News programs.

If you want to help, or if you’re concerned, all it takes is an e-mail to The ABC News Political Unit: politicalunit@abcnews.com.

You might encounter problems or issues with the mechanics of casting and tabulating your ballot, from rules about absentee votes and voter IDs, to problems with electronic machines in your county, to poll workers who don’t know the law.

As we said, we’re especially interested this year in the mechanics of voting (“casting and counting”) and voter contact. We’re looking for any type of communication — be it from a neighbor, a radio ad, a flyer, a billboard, a county elections official, police officer, a secretary of state — that confuses voters or seems suspect.

To submit material to our casting and counting watchdog corps, just e-mail us — politicalunit@abcnews.com.

You can and should start writing us right now — and all the way through Election Day.

Daily News…Advocate.com

After saying homosexuality is “selfish hedonism,” [Republican Alan Keyes, who is running against Democrat Barack Obama for a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois] was asked if that makes Mary Cheney “a selfish hedonist.” “Of course she is,” Keyes told Signorile. “That goes by definition.”

This from the Republican candidate. The world awaits the outraged reaction of Mr & Mrs Cheney. mjh

[Update — this guy is nuts.]

Keyes says incest awaits kids of gays BY CHERYL V. JACKSON Staff Reporter

U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes told a rally Saturday that incest was “inevitable” for children raised by gay couples because the children might not know both biological parents.

“If we do not know who the mother is, who the father is, without knowing all the brothers and sisters, incest becomes inevitable,” Keyes told the Marquette Park rally held to oppose same-sex marriages.

“Whether they mean it or not, that is what will happen. If you are masked from your knowing your biological parents, you are in danger of encountering brothers and sisters you have no knowledge of.”

Most expensive TV campaign ad goes for emotions
Spot features Bush with teen whose mom died on 9/11
By Judy Keen and Mark Memmott, USA TODAY

The most expensive TV ad buy of the presidential campaign shows President Bush consoling a teenage girl whose mother died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.

The ad, created by the conservative Progress for America Voter Fund, will run until the election on cable stations and in nine key states at a cost of $14.2 million, said the group’s president, Brian McCabe. …

Progress for America Voter Fund’s eight previous ads have been a mix of attacks aimed at Sen. John Kerry and positive ads on Bush’s record. …

McCabe said his group has spent $24.8 million on TV ads, including “Ashley’s Story.” The new ad will be buttressed by a Web site …. E-mails, automated phone calls and 2.3 million brochures will go to voters. …

The fund’s ad spending since both parties’ conventions has exceeded that of other independent pro-Bush groups. … Progress for America has also, in recent weeks, outspent two of its most prominent liberal rivals. The Media Fund and MoveOn PAC, two anti-Bush groups, have spent about $1.5 million each since Labor Day to run ads in key states.