February 5th "Super Tuesday"

With over half of the country voting in primaries on February 5, 2008, Election Protection sprung into action to protect voters across the country.  Overall, the coalition received nearly 3000 calls to the 1-866-OUR-VOTE voter services hotline, run by the Lawyers’ Committee, and also recruited and trained over 500 legal volunteers who answered over 70 phone lines in 5 call centers from coast to coast, and assisted voters on the ground at targeted polling places.

Volunteers in Los Angeles Call Center

Once again, Election Protection painted a complete picture of the experience of American voters from their perspective.  While election officials and poll workers worked valiantly, a disturbing number of eligible voters were disenfranchised due to poor administration and insufficient resources.  Americans came out in record numbers to exercise their fundamental right to vote; unfortunately, in many jurisdictions, the infrastructure of our elections weren’t up for this historic challenge. 

Across the country, properly registered voters were left off of voter registration rolls forcing them to vote provisional ballots, uncertain if they will count.  In every state targeted by Election Protection partners, voters called to complain of poll workers who were misinformed or under trained causing myriad problems at the polling place, leading to eligible voters being disenfranchised.  Poor ballot design and problems with voting machines led to voters being turned away without casting a ballot, and polling place breakdowns and poor planning caused long lines forcing voters to choose between exercising the most fundamental right and other, essential responsibilities.   

 

Below are some specific examples of the problems voters faced from across the country:

California

  • Minutes after receiving reports that a poll worker in Baldwin Park was going down a long line of voters demanding they show identification before they could vote, despite no identification being required, Election Protection was able to work with the Los Angeles County Registrar’s office to stop the poll worker from intimidating more voters.
  • Election Protection volunteers helped many unaffiliated voters, eligible to vote in the open Democratic and American Independent Primaries, who were having trouble voting.  The main obstacles volunteers helped voters overcome were:
    • Uninformed poll workers initially refusing to allow unaffiliated voters to vote in the open primaries;
    • Poll workers, particularly in Los Angeles County, not instructing unaffiliated voters to fill in a confusing extra bubble indicating their choice of party primary.
  • A number of callers reported they did not receive the vote-by-mail ballots they had previously requested.
    • With assistance from Election Protection, many of these voters cast provisional ballots at their polling place that will count for the candidate of their choice.
  • A number of callers indicated they were registered in one party, but the registration rolls indicated they are unaffiliated voters or affiliated with a different party.  While the phenomenon was not limited to Republicans, Republican voters seemed to report this problem most frequently. Volunteers in Los Angeles Call Center
  • In Oxnard, a polling place did not have the voter registration roll for any voter with a name beginning with "M" or later in the alphabet.  All voters with a last name beginning with "M" or later were being instructed to vote by provisional ballot.
  • Several polling places opened late, making it difficult for working voters to vote prior to going to work and creating confusion for voters.
  • In addition to problems at the polls, the call center assisted over 400 California voters in locating their polling places on Election Day.

Georgia

  • Election Protection was able to help many voters with questions about their registration status, their poll location, and what kind of photo ID was required.
  • Some long lines were caused by a shortage of systems used to check in voters and problems with new computerized poll books; though there were a sufficient number of voting machines in most precincts, voters experienced bottlenecks waiting to check in.
  • A number of voters reported intimidation concerns caused by roving roadblocks and in one case by an armed Secretary of State elections investigator who was in a precinct.
  • There were scattered reports of voters being issued an incorrect ballot. In some cases, the problem was resolved, in other cases, the machine appeared to cast the incorrect ballot and the problem was not resolved.
  • Many voters showed up to vote, believed they were registered, and in some cases had received confirmation of their registration, but were told they were not on the rolls.

Illinois

  • The overwhelming majority of calls involved a request for a polling place      location. 
  • Some individuals were asked to show identification when identification was not required; one individual witnessed other voters being turned away for not having ID.
  • There were several reports about electioneering close to the polls, or about pollworkers encouraging individuals to vote for particular candidates.
  • There were several reports about difficulties obtaining ballots for minor-party (in particular, Green Party) primaries.
  • At least one polling place opened late, which prevented a caller from voting because he works an hour away from the polling place. 

New York

  • Across the city, longtime voters were showing up at the polls to find that their names were not on the registration rolls.  In one location in Brooklyn, for example, many voters who had been living and voting in the same spot for over 20 years were told they could not vote by regular ballot because their names did not appear on the rolls.   
  • Voting machine failures occurred in a number of districts across the city, including Bushwick in Brooklyn, the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Midtown, West Harlem, and the Lower East Side in Manhattan, and areas of the Bronx.
  • Many poll workers were confused about proper procedures when machines went down, distributing affidavit ballots to voters instead of emergency paper ballots. In other cases, they placed emergency paper ballots in the wrong envelopes, increasing the chances that eligible voters’ votes will not be counted. 
    • In one location, poll workers were entering the voting booths to try to fix machines while the voters were still in there attempting to vote, and at another location, poll workers handed out paper ballots that were already filled in.
  • Many New Yorkers who tried to change their party enrollment before the voter registration deadline on January 11, 2008 - but after October 26, 2007 - discovered that, under state law, they were not allowed to vote in their new party’s primary today.  Instead, their new affiliation will not take effect until after the November 2008 general election. 

Press

California

Remember to VOTE Today, Berkeley Daily Planet (February 5, 2008)

L.A. County Ballot Flaw Could Void Hundreds of Thousands of Votes: Problem Involves Non-Partisan Crossovers for President, LA Daily News (February 6, 2008)

Georgia

Monitors to Aid Voters Tuesday at Precincts, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (January 30, 2008)

Voters Rights Group Offers Election Day Assistance, WABE (January 30, 2008)

Voters: IDs OK, Waits not, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (February 5, 2008)

Voting Issues, News4Jax (February 5, 2008)

READY FOR SUPER TUESDAY: Extra eyes on the polls for presidential contests, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (February 5, 2008)

Minor Voting Problems Reported in Georgia on Super Tuesday, WJBF-TV (February 5, 2008)

Georgia Voters Head to the Polls for Super Tuesday, Associated Press foxnews.com (February 5, 2008)

Long Lines, Not Enough Machines Spark Complaints: Attorneys Fan Out when Problems Arise at Polls, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (February 5, 2008)

Election group says minor tweaking needed before Georgians vote in November, WABE (February 6, 2008)

POLL POLICE: Attorneys in field have a quiet day Smooth running: Most glitches cleared up before Election Protection workers arrived on scene, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (February 6, 2008)

They were Voting Everywhere...or Trying to, Herald Tribune (February 6, 2008)

New York

Super Tuesday Snaps: Cute, Corruption, Crap, Time-Blog (February 5, 2008)

States Prepare for Tests of Changes to Voting System, New York Times (February 5, 2008)

Find Polling Places, and Share Voting Stories, New York Times: City Room (February 5, 2008)

In NY, a few scattered voting problems on busy primary day, The Associated Press mlive.com (February 5, 2008)

Monitors Report Array of Voting Problems in the City, New York Times: City Room (February 5, 2008)

Voting Goes Smoothly in Most Places, New York Times (February 6, 2008)

Area Voters Savor Rare Feeling: A Suspenseful Primary, New York Times (February 6, 2008)