Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., with his wife Jane O’Meara Sanders, arrives to speak to supporters at a primary night election rally in Manchester, N.H., Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
A quick rundown of the in-progress Super Tuesday dumpster fire voting experience sponsored by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder County Clerk:
- About 20 percent of the machines were not working Tuesday morning.
- Registered voters (many of whom had their registration card with them) were not showing up in the voter file and were forced to vote a provisional ballot.
- Entire precincts were forcing ALL voters to vote by provisional ballot due to “connectivity issues” with the e-pollbooks.
- Lines are still 3.5 hours long at some places, including college campuses full of Bernie supporters, at 6:30 PM PST.
- Some machines are changing the voter’s selected candidate numerous times.
- Machine malfunctions in East LA, whose Latino residents are generally Bernie Sanders supporters, forced properly registered voters to cast provisional ballots for no reason.
- Poll workers, who were not given proper training or supplies, became frazzled and yelled at voters that they should have voted before Election Day.
Long lines are being reported at polling locations around Los Angeles County with estimated wait times of more than two hours for some. Polls are open until 8 p.m., and as long as you're in line before then, you'll be able to vote https://t.co/ugNHdbABck pic.twitter.com/ibqOmg4luX
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) March 4, 2020
The problems started day one of early voting, as we reported. But the problems from March 1 forward mainly had to do with machine failure or “connectivity issues” forcing massive numbers of already-registered voters to cast provisional ballots. Bernie Sanders’ supporters have expressed a major lack of confidence that their provisional votes will be counted.
https://twitter.com/Beatgrrrl/status/1234198102367555589
At the polling place on UCLA’s campus (gee, I wonder which candidate is most popular among college students?) only 9 out of 39 machines were working, leading to a more than 3-hour wait…
The wait is now 3+ hours with 300 students in line and growing. @LACountyRRCC @CASOSvote This must be resolved now
— Rafael Návar (@Rafael_Navar) March 4, 2020
One activist and poll watcher noted that EVERYONE in that polling place was given a provisional ballot because the check-in machines direct them to do so even if they’re in the voter file. The tech guy can’t figure it out.
Every single voter at UCLA has been given a provisional ballot. Check in machines are telling them to do that even if they're properly registered. Tech guy here. Can't figure out problem. @LACountyRRCC this is a failure of epic proportions. pic.twitter.com/lPvTmonTi7
— The Robust Opposition (@Lauren_Steiner) March 3, 2020
When Latinos in East Los Angeles (Sanders stronghold) went to a late night location to cast their votes, they too were forced to cast provisional ballots because the machines were malfunctioning.
ATTENTION: @LACountyRRCC ! At the East Los Angeles late night location, the machines are down and the workers are handing out #ProvisionalBallots to multiple voters who were verified in the Voter File. https://t.co/Cf7uz13gM7
— Craig Pasta Jardula (@yopasta) March 3, 2020
But even if one could get the e-pollbook machine working, there’s no guarantee it would properly register one’s vote.
One of the judge picks did the same machine blink, changing my choice to the first person listed – TWICE." First I heard of this problem. She said she reported it to you. Did you fix? @TheBradBlog @FilmsForChange @marcywinograd @judy_bellaspina
— The Robust Opposition (@Lauren_Steiner) March 2, 2020
Brad Friedman, who was quoted in my earlier story about the multitude of ways in which the new systems could fail, called out the liberal clique media cheerleaders who put out puff pieces anticipating a glorious new experience.
Who could have predicted it? Oh, right. That was me. While the rest of the media was running stories headlined things like “LA’s Exciting New Voting Experience is Here!” https://t.co/9SLh8xZjSY
— Brad Friedman (@TheBradBlog) March 4, 2020
Common Cause advised registered voters who were being told to vote a provisional ballot to make sure they receive a written explanation why and a method to check to see if the ballot was counted.
Please call @866OURVOTE — volunteers can help. If you are given a provisional ballot, it must come with an explanation and a way to check to see if your ballot is counted. Rules vary by state — check your Secretary of State website for specifics. #ProtectTheVote #SuperTuesday
— Common Cause (@CommonCause) March 3, 2020
Let’s hope no one really wants these results from California for a few weeks. It might take that long to get it all worked out – and that’s before any challenges that might be filed.
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