I will pause to let that absorb.

He made a scene, got to vote and got a complaint form... but I can't help but wonder what happened to all the other people they fed that line to. Absentee votes have to be received by today to count here, I believe. And it's not even like it's a rural area and they can claim that driving out to the polls is a hardship; this is a suburb of San Diego, for god's sake! I am livid, and I don't even want to know how my dad feels about it.

I had no intimidation at my polling place, but there was one which had the ballots disappear between last night and this morning, and another which had the machine refusing to accept ballots.

It's really dispicable, calling into doubt the foundation of our democracy in order to cast a little doubt on the other guy's big win.

I semi-like the idea of sending in all ballots by mail (even though I also like the ritual aspects of going to the neighborhood polling-place), but the idea of instituting that at the last moment is proving difficult to absorb. Maybe even impossible.

I, for one, really want to know the details. If no place was offered, how did he know where to go? Had he been sent a ballot in the mail, with instructions to return it by mail? (I've not previously heard of how CA handles situations like that.) I think I'd also enjoy learning how he feels about it, if you feel like coping with posting a short form.

This is where John McCain loses all vestiges of honor. He's willing to smear his fellow Americans and bring democracy itself into doubt, when he doesn't even have the excuse of wanting to win. It's just vindictiveness and vandalism.

Please ask your father to let MoveOn and the Obama campaign know about this.

Was Kevin Roberts noticeably drunk? California hasn't been in doubt for some time now. Given that the Democrats have a strong lead, why would they use a despicable last-minute tactic like telling people the polls had closed early?

Unless Roberts is deranged, he's just poisoning the well.

As for where he went, I got this all from my mom, so I'm not sure how that part of the story played out. But my parents are dedicated voters and their polling place has suddenly changed the last year or so. He would have had to check the back of his voter info pamphlet to go anywhere. (It used to be in the National Guard Armory, but at least the primary and possibly the election before that were at an old church.)

As for how my dad felt about it... I'm not sure I can repeat his sentiments in polite company.

I live in Riverside County (just north of San Diego County), and I am in a mail-in precinct as well. I received the same "surprise" in the 2004 general election, at the same polling place I'd voted for the primary. I can empathize - it can come as a heck of a shock to go to "your" polling place and have them tell you your name is not on the rolls. At the time, they let me vote a provisional ballot and provided a receipt and a number to call to verify that my vote was counted.

Always check your sample ballot, kids! When I got home, I sheepishly found both my sample ballot (with the "mail-in" designation clearly marked in the spot where the polling place normally appears), and the actual ballot in a pile of unsorted mail.

Same story this year. I voted "normally" in the primary, but received a mail-in ballot for the general election. Stamps are not required - the mail-in ballots can be dropped off at any polling place in the county on Election Day.

And Oregon holds every single vote by mail.

I'm wondering how that can be, because you're right that the postage stamp amounts to a poll tax.

I presume that counties in Oregon, as here in Colorado, have drop-off locations that mail ballots can be handed off at, as well? And maybe having that free drop-off alternative is enough to refrain from casting doubt on the legality of the mail ballot?

(I do like the mail-in option. I like spending time with my ballot and my computer, unhurried, looking up stuff and making informed decisions at home.)

In SF District 11 the Democrat is the (relatively) conservative candidate for City Council, and so might benefit from low turnout.

I live in District 11, have met the Democrat in question, and don't believe the charge for a second, but it's not self-contradictory if you define his self-interest narrowly enough.

It seems to me that a mail-in ballot eliminates the protection of the secret ballot. There is nothing to prevent an employer from making their employees show them the ballots, and "suggesting" a particular vote, or, in abusive relationships, the abuser forcing the victem to vote a certain way.

The voting booth is safe - whatever dangers you may face outside it, no one knows how you vote, and you can remain silent or lie about how you voted if needed.

A mail-in ballot sent to the home? Not so safe.