(Tennessee actually gives you until the eighth, but given the lack of post offices available open on Sunday, the extra day is not going to do much good.)

I looked all this stuff up for my own (rather unwieldy) post on registration a couple of weeks ago.

Someone Has to Look at the Issues

Issues Are Lost on the Mid-terms

Politicians Off Topic

In the general election, all bets are off. Before the Republican Party became the way it is now, I would vote for a Republican challenger over a Democratic incumbent.

However, this Congress is not a do-nothing, impotent Congress; it is an actively malevolent Congress. (See Military Commissions Bill, as the most egregious but certainly not the only example.) And one party is far more responsible for that than the other. I will do everything in my power to remove that party from power, and encourage others to do so, even if that means voting for incumbents.

Besides, I don't think it's a good idea for the Executive, House and Senate all to be controlled by the same party.

Nor will I vote Republican as long as that party is opposed to civil unions.

For a party that is so anti-gay, it's interesting that their latest scandal comes from the actions of someone who says he is a homosexual.

In California, at least (where I just moved last month), you can verify your registration by calling the county registrar of voters. For people who have moved recently this may be more effective than the website.

Not that I'm aware of, but when I lived in Rochester, NY, many of the polling places seemed to be located inside of retirement homes instead of the usual school basement.

I've been doing the permanent absentee voter thing since about 2002. I'm becoming increasingly concerned about this given the GOP tendency to challenge lots of ballots in heavily Democratic districts.

I live in Seattle, in one of the bluest districts there is. Last year, a couple of districts over, the GOP challenged the ballots of whole buildings full of people. Although, if I recall, the local authorities took a dim view of this and charges were filed. I don't know what ever came of the case, but the whole affair leaves me worried about the state of American democracy and the moral bankruptcy of the GOP.

Two years ago, a Republicrap Party executive in New Hampshire hired an business to jam the phone lines of the Democratic Party in New Hampshire, deliberately and with malicious intent preventing Democrats from being reminded to vote by the Democratic Party, and preventing Democrats trying to call the hotline to arrange for getting rides to polling places, from being able to get through and get to their polling location.

The apparatchik was actually tried, convicted, and jailed for interfering with a federal election. But, the same job he had in the Republican Party before he got hauled into court and sent to prison for several months, was there for him as soon as he got out of jail.... the same job involved in promoting the Police State Party and doing election campaign strategy etc....

Betsy Devine has been doing a great job of covering the topic and all the developments since (like Lincoln Chafee paying Tobin's wife $386K for "consulting services").

Given that, I've been thinking of what I can do to help the Democrats in November. There are a couple of nearby districts where "safe" Republithugs are suddenly finding their challengers gaining on them. I've been thinking of offering my services in those districts. I have a car, I can drive people to polls, I can poll watch; whatever needs doing...

never voted in my life (now 48) before 2004. africanamerican/cherokee, distrust of the gov't is ingrained, but a combination of the venality of this administration and Howard Dean got me wound up like an enraged energizer bunny and I haven't stopped since...

btw, I'm going to a 3-day writer's retreat in a couple weeks on the outskirts of Tokyo...Making Light is part of the reason I decided to do it, and I thank you!

1-time author, constant lurker

I missed an election last spring (one issue or two, don't remember and I just overlooked until I looked at the news online after 7 pm) and the next time they said 'we missed you last time!' But then they're also my neighbors, etc.

And when I realized I hadn't gone and voted I felt really guilty. I believe in exercising my franchise every time it's offered. I let the side down.

His 18 year old sister is voting absentee from UM Missoula; she took herself to the voter registrar on her 18th birthday and is keeping her registration at home because "Missoula doesn't need any more blue voters, and the 20rd legislative district does."

Is any one but me NOT getting the front page at all, just this:

Index of /electrolyte

Name Last modified Size Description

Parent Directory 29-Sep-2006 10:37 -
index.html -
Apache/1.3.37 Server at www.nielsenhayden.com Port 80

so much to do, so little time.

see you all on Nov. 8 (fingers, toes and ganglia crossed)...

Why so little outrage -- including none from our leading liberal political figures? Perhaps because, judging from things like the reaction to the TV show Jericho, more and more folks seem to think nuclear war is survivable with just a little grit and determination -- just another kind of war. It�s a huge collective failure of memory.

Some thoughts about an increasingly oblivious world poised on the edge of the abyss: Dr. Strangelove, please keep an eye on your toys. Your grandchildren are getting forgetful.

All -- I've been a poll clerk for many years (Alameda County, CA) and this year we've switched from Diebold (a.k.a. "hack me, please!") touchscreen machines to paper ballots with Sequoia optical scanners, with a single Sequoia touchscreen machine (for folks that need large print or audio) that keeps a complete paper record (each vote can be viewed and approved by the voter before it it is scrolled onto the output spool). And lots of seals and security procedures. Nothing's perfectly safe (I've watched a lot of episodes of Mission Impossible; plus there's plenty of low-tech ways to defraud), but this is a big improvement.

You fill out a college-test type ballot, so there IS a paper form to count if necessary, then run it through the reader so it's recorded.

Maybe they chose it because we're the Show Me State, but we're a skeptical bunch of voters and we don't trust Mr. No-Talent one bit either. His crew did a very ineffectual swift-boating attempt against an Iraq veteran who stood up for an TV ad on Claire's side, unfortunately for them he had all the paperwork that showed the VA kept putting off his appointments and so on. (Mr. Talent is on record as voting for reducing VA funding, Butthead.)

This is all starting to spiral out of all the Rethugs control. I'm enjoying it in an "it's icky but I don't care anymore' sort of way.