Republicans Start Assholing

Well, you can always count on the Republicans doing everything they can to stop minorities and students from voting. This year it's happening in Virginia.

• Dozens of polling places are experiencing varying degrees of machine malfunction. Some polling places are either completely closed or have been closed for hours. Thousands of voters may have been turned away illegally by polling workers.
• Voters have illegally been issued with provisional ballets where machines have been broken.
• Students at Virginia Tech, previously the victims of misinformation, have seen their polling place suddenly and unexpectedly moved six miles to a location with little parking.

More than 5,600 people, mainly Virginia Tech students, are registered to vote at precinct E1 in Blacksburg, Virginia (Montgomery County). That number is nearly double what the state law allows for polling stations and the lack of an additional polling station is causing substantial delays. In addition, the polling place is 6.5 miles away from campus at a tiny church located off the main road. There is no street sign marking the turn off to the one lane road. There are 30 parking spots for the thousands of voters expected to turn up at precinct E1.

And then there's Florida.

Florida is reporting a wider variety of challenges, including registration issues where individuals do not appear to be registered; machines at poll sites appear to not be functioning, or are insufficient; and, optical scanners are breaking down, aggravating the already long lines. The Voter Action legal team was unable to reach local officials by phone, but has faxed alerts to both local and state officials, including the Secretary of State.

And there's Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania is primarily reporting mechanical problems, especially in Philadelphia where there are extensive reports of machines simply not working. Voter Action is especially concerned about emergency paper ballots being improperly treated as provisional ballots. In light of the recent federal court order, Voter Action is particularly concerned about Philadelphia County officials stating that emergency paper ballots will not be counted until Friday, which does not comply with the Secretary of State directive that these be treated as regular ballots to be counted on Election Day.

If this goes wrong, remember what I said: Calm is for assholes.