Down to the final hours

The CNN countdown to election clock just reported 2 days, 10 hours, and 50 minutes until the polls close on yet another election for President of the United States. We are all suffering election fatigue. Nothing new there. Some of us were tired of this months ago.

Now the post traumatic stress disorder kicks in. Having had the last two presidential elections stolen caused a lot of PTSD among the voters.

I remember in the closing hours of the 2000 election praising the citizens of the United States for not rioting in the streets over that. Any third world nation would have and the UN would have sent in peace keepers. In 2004 while the BBC was alleging irregularities that the US press were only barely covering I thought maybe it was not a good thing there was no rioting in the streets. If they try to pull this this again I am personally going to be in the streets leading the riots until I am arrested and hauled off to Gitmo.

That said I do hope all works smoothly and in the spirit of democracy which GW Bush gives a lot of lip service to even if he has the tendency to undermine it here on our shores. I hope he does not allow a terrorist attack (or encourage one) to sway the election. I hope nobody tries to assassinate either candidate despite the inflammatory rhetoric being tossed around by McCain/Palin. I hope that there are no last minute major highway renovations in heavily Democratic precincts. Or that any new registrations have gotten lost by Republican administrations.

We still do have computerized voting machines with no paper trails that can be reprogrammed with a cellphone in the parking lot of some major precincts. But we have Federal attorneys lined up for calls on Tuesday should there be any voting irregularities. And I do believe we have gotten rid of all hanging chads.

In some areas which suffered some major issues in 2000 and 2004 the early voting has been up to 60% of the registered voters. These people do not want their opportunity to vote yanked away from them as in the past. And yet my friend in a neighboring community reports that his friends think the election is so in the bag they do not have to take the time to vote. Shame!

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone that could vote did vote? If we surpassed that 1/3 we usually hover around because we truly believe nobody counts them anyway. Went all the way up to the 60% they are projecting for this election and into that rare space of above 75% of registered voters. How historic would that be?

But I just want an honest count. I want the United States to reclaim its reputation (sorely damaged in the last two presidential elections) of being a model of voting propriety.

Voting Fraud?

In the 2004 election New Mexico was one of the three states investigated by the BBC for voting fraud.

We have always rather excelled at the graveyard vote but this was different. We had those computerized voting machines with no paper trail and evidently a large number of those voting somehow missed voting for President. And then it was shown that with a cell phone votes could be changed from the parking lot.

New Mexico, under the leadership of Governor Bill Richardson changed over to paper ballots in the 2006 election. We were one of the first. Ohio still hasn't fully transferred back to polling with a paper trail. Nor has Florida I understand.

But irregularities at the polling places was not the only irregularity. Here in New Mexico a Republican organization in 2004 made a major drive to register voters. Seems they only registered Republican voters. And when those that thought they had registered Democrat showed up at the polls there was no record of their registration. They were allowed to cast provisional ballots but when no verification of their registration showed up the ballots were not counted.

So a couple months back someone professing to be from the Democratic Party called to ask if I wanted a mail in ballot. They would have one sent to me if I did. They said I could still take the mail in ballot to the polling place on the actual election day if I chose to do that.

My friends choosing to mail in their ballots have all received them. Once said the deadline for returning them was November 4th. I started to wonder about the information I had received over the phone so I called the Secretary of State Office. And she said that no way would I be allowed to vote on the day of the election if I was sent a mail in ballot. She referred me to the Colfax County Clerk who was very helpful. She checked the computer records and no request for a mail in ballot was made in my name. And I would have had to sign the form.

So my choices now are early voting an hour and a half from here or wait to the actual day. But there is something strange about that too. In the dozen years I have lived here we have always voted at the Community Center. They have changed it to the Angel Fire Courthouse - Clerk's office which is considerably smaller and which would require we all stand outside to wait to vote. This in November and with a far heavier than turnout expected.

So next week I am taking a day and driving to the County Clerk's office in Raton to vote. I really do not trust the process after GW cheated his way into office twice. So I am willing to go the extra miles and take the extra time to avoid being excluded from the process.

Paranoid? Maybe.

Red State/Blue State Made Simple

On with the political manifesto as it were. Today I would like to deal with the state of polarization which exists in the United States due to the divisive political strategies of those running the George W. Bush campaigns in 2000 and 2004.

We have always had to make a choice come election day. And American's have historically been very quiet about that choice until shame was heaped upon them by the Bush campaigns and his religious right supporters. Suddenly whether you were Republican or Democrat became about whether you believed in Jesus or Darwin. Whether you were educated and snobbish, or Christian and for the people. Whether you were bad or good.

Political debate is a long standing tradition in the United States and we have been known to carry it on long after the election but almost always in a good natured way. Following the Supreme Court appointment of G.W.Bush as president in 2000 there was a deafening silence. And a real fear. Which was only magnified after his actions following 9/11. Those whispering in the corners were seriously afraid they would be sent to Gitmo for any criticism of the Bush policies.

So when the 2004 election rolled around those opposing him were virtually silenced in the media and in all conversation. To vote for Kerry and against GW was to vote for the terrorists and for the Muslims that want to "destroy our Christian Nation." I kept thinking of the Salem Witchcraft trials. Something inside of me was literally scared I would be burned at the stake. I cut off all contact with my Republican friends and with anyone that attended a Christian Church. Yes, there were and still are people that do not fit into these two categories. Bush really lost the 2004 election. The majority of the people of the United States voted for Gore. And there are those that believe because of electronic voting machines with no paper trail that Bush cheated himself into office in 2004.

The result was that most of us believed we were powerless over his machine and those backing him. We were suddenly not people with a different opinion but WRONG, BAD, WORKING FOR OUR ENEMIES. The list goes on. Bush has succeeded by the end of the 2004 election in complete polarization of the United States (assisted by our electoral college - winner take all system) and divided it into Red States and Blue States.

po·lar·i·za·tion (plr--zshn) KEY

NOUN:

1. The production or condition of polarity, as:
   1. A process or state in which rays of light exhibit different properties in different directions, especially the state in which all the vibration takes place in one plane.
   2. The partial or complete polar separation of positive and negative electric charge in a nuclear, atomic, molecular, or chemical system.
2. A concentration, as of groups, forces, or interests, about two conflicting or contrasting positions.

It is the effort to heal this great rift in the soul of the American people which keeps us from impeaching G.W.Bush for crimes against our constitution and humanity in general, opening a criminal investigation into the cheating tactics of the 2000 and 2004 elections, and rioting in the streets. Deep in our hearts we believe we can heal this rift in the upcoming election.

And some positive things are being done:

1. Electronic voting machines with no paper trail are being replaced.
2. Many organizations like CNN are holding many open debates with the candidates
3. 87% of the American people are really upset with the political process
4. More voters are getting involved in the primary voting process
5. Candidates are standing up and demanding a positive and not a negative campaign
6. The clamor for change is building
   

More needs to be done. I would not oppose (as GW Bush did in 2006) having United Nation Poll Watchers. Yes, that is something which only happens in third world nations seeking to get out from under a political dictator. Yes, we are trying to get out from under a political dictator and we are attempting this through a democratic process rather than revolt.