Early Voting - If you have it, Just Do It!

So I've decided to change the name of the blog (but not the address yet) from Val in the 'ville to The Yammering Yank. Nobody but outsiders actually call it the 'ville. In fact natives pronounce it Nashvull. And I find that I talk much faster than most people here and without their overall gentility (though I am by no means a boor, but possibly a bore at times). So Yank fits, I think.

On to today's post - there will be several of these up through election day because I volunteered as a poll-watcher for the League of Women Voters! I guess they're pretty desperate for warm bodies.

In Tennessee I guess they have Early Voting - this is very cool. Any registered voter can go to any Early Voting Poll station (In Davidson County there are 162 regular polling stations but only 12 are early voting locations). Early voting runs for 14 days starting Wednesday October 15th and through Thursday October 30th (but of course not Sundays).

So here's my diary for the first 4 days of early voting for 2008!

Even though Nashville and Davidson County governments have been incorporated together as a single entity since 1964, Belle Meade (which is all that it sounds and very, very red) retains it's own local government for a few services. Hence they have their own city hall. Here are some interesting stats about opening day: There are 13 poll workers there plus the officer. There are six women operating the computers where they look up the voter, check their ID and registration status and, if all good, they print out an "application" which is really an affidavit that you've voted but not a record of how you voted. Then you take that paper to a voting booth worker (there are 10 voting booths at BMCH). They have an electronic key (PEB) that they stick into a voting machine (these flat electronic tables with big LED screens). They activate a ballot for you and then you touch the screen and vote. They had about 5 people waiting at 7am and approximately 30 – 35 when the polls opened at 8am. At 4:58pm there was a lull so I voted and was the 17,699th vote cast in Davidson county.(The total for the day was approximately 18,000. In 2004 on the first day of early elections it was 8,000).

At 5:30 pm 1,215 people had voted at BMCH and by 6:30pm 1,330 people had voted. The day's total ended up being 1,451 so the average votes per hour was 121 or 1 vote every 2 minutes aalthough the experience for an individual voter was probably closer to 10 – 15 minutes). The poll workers there said that the lines were the lowest they’d been all day during the hour from 5:30 – 6:30 because only 115 people voted during that time. The whole time people were pleased and pleasant. Even the poor gal who couldn't vote was smiling as she left and seemed determine to vote in Florida (where she spends 1/2 the year). I don’t know how meaningful these stats are ‘cause I’ve never done this before. I will say the voting process was pretty efficient. They only turned one woman away while I was there. She had registered an auto in Florida and their Motor Voter registration had negated her TN voter registration. She left with information on how to get a FL absentee ballot. I won't be there on Thursday but did go Friday and Saturday am. I'll post my diary entries for Friday and Saturday tomorrow.

IF YOU CAN VOTE EARLY DO SO! VOTE INVALIDATION - PURPOSEFUL OR ACCIDENTAL - IS HARDER TO ACCOMPLISH WITH EARLY VOTING. CHECK OUT THIS 80 MINUTE MOVIE: "UNCOUNTED: THE NEW MATH OF AMERICAN ELECTIONS". IT'S AMAZING! www.uncountedthemovie.com - this sober and well made film shows actual fraud, incompetence and everything in between. Learn how to protect your vote!

Also check out the results of this international poll - note the #'s voting in Australia, Canada, and elsewhere. http://www.iftheworldcouldvote.com/results