by Bob Fitrakis
November 4, 2008
Columbus, Ohio, 2p.m.: In Franklin County, there have been three reports of vote flipping by Free
Press election protection volunteers – at Jones Middle School in Upper Arlington where a voter reported a vote flip from Obama to Nader – and two others not verified yet.
Election Integrity and Mitofsky-Edison exit pollsters were being harassed at Tabernacle Church on Woodward in Columbus. The Franklin County Board of Elections directed the presiding judge not to interfere with the pollsters. Exit polls are the gold standard for detecting election fraud.
A spot check of inner city precinct vote totals as of 11am or so, reveals that there is an extraordinarily high number of people being forced to vote provisional ballots. The three reasons for the provisionals, as explained by the pollworkers, are names not the pollbook, people who requested absentees but decided to vote in person, and ID problems where the addresses do not match. It is not clear if all the pollworkers know the policies regarding provisional ballots.
At precinct 55D, the pollworkers were just as surprised as the voters to learn that their polling site, that used to contain 55D and E, had been split in two. Precinct 55E was moved several blocks away and everyone found out when a sign was posted on the door of the Broad Street Presbyterian Church at 6:15am this morning. These type of last minute tactics caused voter confusion and chaos in the 2004 election. This year, a Free Press volunteer reported that one voter waited in 1 1/2 hours in line this morning only to find they had to leave and stand in another line at the changed polling site location.
On a lighter note, this writer, Bob Fitrakis, voted on a paper ballot around 7:30am today and a check of the voter list, as posted at his precinct after 11am, indicated that he had not yet voted. This is an example of pollworker error and should not affect his vote being counted (we hope).
Election Integrity and Mitofsky-Edison exit pollsters were being harassed at Tabernacle Church on Woodward in Columbus. The Franklin County Board of Elections directed the presiding judge not to interfere with the pollsters. Exit polls are the gold standard for detecting election fraud.
A spot check of inner city precinct vote totals as of 11am or so, reveals that there is an extraordinarily high number of people being forced to vote provisional ballots. The three reasons for the provisionals, as explained by the pollworkers, are names not the pollbook, people who requested absentees but decided to vote in person, and ID problems where the addresses do not match. It is not clear if all the pollworkers know the policies regarding provisional ballots.
At precinct 55D, the pollworkers were just as surprised as the voters to learn that their polling site, that used to contain 55D and E, had been split in two. Precinct 55E was moved several blocks away and everyone found out when a sign was posted on the door of the Broad Street Presbyterian Church at 6:15am this morning. These type of last minute tactics caused voter confusion and chaos in the 2004 election. This year, a Free Press volunteer reported that one voter waited in 1 1/2 hours in line this morning only to find they had to leave and stand in another line at the changed polling site location.
On a lighter note, this writer, Bob Fitrakis, voted on a paper ballot around 7:30am today and a check of the voter list, as posted at his precinct after 11am, indicated that he had not yet voted. This is an example of pollworker error and should not affect his vote being counted (we hope).