turnout reports, voting problems, and last minute dirty tricks

[GeorgiaModerate]

Athens GA: Youngest kid (a student at Univ. of GA) got to the polling place, which is just off-campus, shortly before they opened at 7 and reported a long line.  Took about 45 minutes to get through.

[GeorgiaModerate]

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is running a live blog on voting in metro Atlanta at http://www.ajc.com/news/local/election-day-atlanta-long-lines-inoperable-voting-machines/9st3wCxgGHgbmN73shzRoI/.  It's worth a look if you're interested.  It included this old chestnut:

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I also drove by my Forsyth County precinct but didn't go in (I voted early).  There was no line outside and the parking lot was about half full.  Both are unusual from my voting experiences there, but it was at a probably slow time of day (10 a.m.)

[GeorgiaModerate]

Long lines, strong turnout reported in Ohio: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2016/11/08/s-election-day-and-ll-closely-watched/93421714/

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Hamilton County includes Cincinnati, and strong turnout there is a good sign for Clinton.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Geoff Dornan
‏@NvDornan
#electionday carson city 200 waiting when doors opened, 2000 voted by 10 am

Jon Ralston ‏@RalstonReports  2m2 minutes ago
Jon Ralston Retweeted Geoff Dornan
That's a big turnout there. Only 9,000 voters in all left to cast ballots today. GOP won early/mail, 45-35.

Jon Ralston ‏@RalstonReports  44s44 seconds ago
Guys, Trump is going to win in Carson City and the rest of the rurals. They are about 12-15 percent of the vote.


Also, Mark Kirk voted for David Petraeus for President.

Does anyone else find it ironic that he voted for someone who pled guilty to mishandling classified information?

[GeorgiaModerate]

It's riiiiiigggged:   

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2016/11/08/some-problems-reported-as-voters-head-to-polls/#.WCIZQZouPxg.twitter

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Likely lying for the attention without proof.

Not necessarily.  This happened during early voting with one machine in Bryan County, Georgia (in the other direction).  The machine was removed from service and it was determined that the calibration was off on its touch screen, so it was registering a touch at a slightly offset location.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I've seen videos of the supposedly "rigged" voting machines on both sides. 99% of the time, it's because it's a touch screen, and the cursor is ever so slightly off from where your finger touches it. So, rather than trying press a different part of the screen, they will simply keep pressing the middle of their candidate's box going "baaaa rigged!" as some other thing gets selected.

Urggh! Just get rid of those damn voting machines. Paper is more, secure and more efficient.

Why is it so hard for America to run efficient and secure elections? Every country in Europe can do it!

Seriously someone should start a Make American Voting Great Again campaign.

I'd contribute to that.  We really need some uniform and modernized election standards and practices.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Do we know anything about the turnout in Philly?

I've only heard the same platitudes from everywhere else: "very high"

That's probably even more true in Colorado.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Fight breaks out at polling place in Jupiter FL: http://www.ajc.com/news/national-govt--politics/woman-pepper-sprays-man-fight-breaks-out-florida-polling-site/I25JVlMkyiWFeUQlUjZwTM/

[GeorgiaModerate]

Voting hours will be extended by 20 minutes at one location in DeKalb County, Georgia, after an electrical fire caused temporary evacuation of the site.  http://www.ajc.com/news/local/election-day-atlanta-polling-site-evacuated-after-fire/9st3wCxgGHgbmN73shzRoI/

[GeorgiaModerate]

From 538's live blog:

All Is Well, Says The Philadelphia District Attorney

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said that despite widespread concerns about voter intimidation and voter fraud, today’s election in Philadelphia has been normal and without major incident.

“We have no founded complaints of intimidation, no founded complaints of voter fraud,” he said during an afternoon news conference. “We have no walking apocalypse of zombies voting all over town. We don’t have it.” The zombie quip is a reference to claims of voter fraud involving people who have died still “casting votes.”

Williams said that his office’s Election Fraud Task Force had received 69 calls as of 2 p.m., which is on par with the number of calls the task force has received the last three presidential elections. Among the calls received by the task force, there were:

13 complaints of electioneering
Five calls about illegal assistance
15 calls about voter assistance
10 calls of machine problems
The task force deployed teams of investigators to look into more than 30 complaints today, but the dispositions of those complaints haven’t yet been released. Most of the calls received by the task force were associated with people going to the wrong polling place.

Williams’ assertions though that today is a normal Election Day doesn’t jibe with claims from Philadelphia GOP executive director Joe DeFelice that “voter suppression, disenfranchisement and intimidation” is happening at polling places across Philadelphia. DeFelice told Billy Penn that Republican poll inspectors were denied entry or thrown out of polling stations across the city. However, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wellbrook said no one had called the task force’s hotline to complain about the issue since 8 a.m. this morning.

The district attorney also said he was aware that Twitter was abuzz about the activities of James O’Keefe, a conservative activist who tweeted that he was “in Philadelphia tailing a pastor’s bus that’s bussing people to the polls.” Williams emphasized that taking people to the polls isn’t illegal.

[GeorgiaModerate]

McMullin is on the ballot in SC according to ballotpedia.org (a good source for this kind of information).  Their list:

Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine (Democratic)
Darrell Castle/Scott Bradley (Constitution)
Evan McMullin/Nathan Johnson (Independence)
Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka (Green)
Donald Trump/Mike Pence (Republican)
Peter Skewes/Michael Lacy (American)
Gary Johnson/Bill Weld (Libertarian)

[GeorgiaModerate]

Durham County NC requests a 90-minute extension of voting hours following a glitch with the check-in system: http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/08/politics/north-carolina-durham-county-glitch/index.html

[GeorgiaModerate]

From 538's live blog;

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office is investigating a report that a man wearing a badge labeled “poll police” attempted to interfere outside a polling place near 39th and Haverford in West Philly.

A police report was filed in the 16th District; a spokesperson from the DA’s Office confirmed that officials “are aware” of the incident and “we are investigating.”

BillyPenn learned the confrontation happened after a question about a voter’s eligibility that was eventually resolved. After the ordeal, a group arrived in a pickup truck and the man with the badge approached the poll watcher, asking whether the poll watcher was making trouble. He took off his jacket and showed the badge. The poll watcher apparently thought the man may have been a Trump supporter.

The report follows an Election Day that had largely passed without major incident from Trump supporters and few complications. At an afternoon press conference, the D.A.’s office said it had received 10 calls of machine malfunctions, a handful of calls of illegal assistance and 13 complaints of electioneering.