Elder Absentee Voting: Could We?

Following up on Tuesday's Elderblogging Phone Con-- whether there's another manipulated election in our future, today's Time Goes By post reminds Elderbloggers to post information on absentee balloting details in their states.

New York City is caught up in a voting machine mess, thanks to the state legislature.  County election commissioners hold the key to decisions and time is short.  The Women's City Club of NY suggests contacting congressional representatives to help New York State save $50 million.  Why?  Unless Congress acts, the state wil have to repay this: the amount it was given to replace lever machines.

Using an absentee ballot  in New York City is an option for those who want to make sure there will be a paper trail of votes cast in the upcoming election.  Absentee ballot applications can be obtained by writing the Board of Elections, calling toll-free 1-866-VOTE-NYC or (212) VOTE-NYC, or by e-mailing your request to vote@boe.nyc.ny.us (please put in the subject line the borough in which you reside).

The application is short, can be mailed but must reach the Board of Elections no later than a week after the election.  If I were going to away from Manhattan on Election Day, say in Brooklyn--out of town for some of us--I'd use this approach.  Registerd voters can download the form HERE in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean.

At Mark Crispin Miller's blog, I first heard about Vermont's voting machine issues.  (Check out his book Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the Last Election...)  Also learned about a program I'd like to see--if I had the connection.  HBO will air a full-length feature film on problems with electronic voting machines on Thursday, November 2nd - just 5 days before the election! This movie focuses on problems with the optical-scan machines used in Vermont... Check out HBO's website, it will show several times, as Hacking Democracy http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/hackingdemocracy.

Though it's too close to November 7, to mobilize Elderbloggers to promote absentee balloting, my latest immodest proposal is that we consider becoming more visible through our blogs through coordinated blog posts on another topic that impacts all Americans.  Universal health care would get my vote. 

Comments

[MotherPie]

Mark Crispin Miller spoke to our political media studies a year ago after his book was published and we discussed the issue and why it was a taboo subject and no media would touch it.

Thanks for publishing this information!!!

[Marianne]

Thanks for the info, Naomi, I'm eager to watch the HBO show! Marianne