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Counting on Voting
September 30, 2008 | 10 Comments
My first “experience” with voting was in 1989. It was an interesting time in India. The ruling party was voted in with an incredible majority in 1984, but had bungled badly for a few years. Corruption was a major theme. The stakes were high. I wanted my vote to count.
Voting day arrived amidst feverish anticipation and furious discussions in our dorm and across campus. A few of us marched to the polling booth, only to be told – “aapka vote chup gaya saab.” (Your vote has already been cast, Sir). It took a few seconds to register. I had read about “booth capturing“, but hadn’t expected to experience it. The disappointment that we could not cast our vote, the anger that the system robbed us, the shame that we as a country let this happen, and countless other emotions are hard to describe after couple of decades.
It was a cold reminder to what Josef Stalin had once said – “Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.”
As Marty Kaplan pointed out recently in the Huffington Post :
I think he [Stalin] had it half right. Those who decide who cast the votes also decide everything.
Well, it can’t happen in the US of A, right? We teach the rest of the world how to run their countries, right? We spread democracy, right? We must be squeaky clean. Think again.
Photo Courtesy: ABC News
Many of us can recall what happened in Florida in 2000. It’s happening now. The stakes are high in the lead up to this election and many are hard at work. Throw into this mix a fair amount of “irregularities” with the electronic voting machines. We are in for an interesting ride.
The examples that Marty Kaplan points out in his article sent a chill up my spine.
In El Paso County, Colorado, the county clerk — a delegate to the Republican National Convention — told out-of-state undergraduates at Colorado College, falsely, that they couldn’t vote in Colorado if their parents claim them as dependents on their taxes.
In Montgomery County, Virginia, the county registrar issued a press release warning out-of-state college students, falsely, that if they register to vote in Virginia, they won’t be eligible for coverage under their parents’ health and car insurance, and that “if you have a scholarship attached to your former residence, you could lose this funding.”
In Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, Democratic voters received a mailing containing tear-out requests for absentee ballots addressed to the clerk in Caledonia — the wrong location. In Middleton, Wisconsin, Democratic voters received absentee ballot requests addressed to the clerk in Madison — the wrong address. Both mailers were sent by the McCain campaign.
Florida, Michigan and Ohio have some of the country’s highest foreclosure rates. “Because many homeowners in foreclosure are black or poor,” says the New York Times, “and are considered probable Democratic voters in many areas, the issue has begun to have political ramifications.” If you’re one of the million Americans who lost a home through foreclosure, and if you didn’t file a change of address with your election board, you’re a sitting duck for an Election Day challenge by a partisan poll watcher holding a public list of foreclosed homes. In states like New Mexico and Iowa, the number of foreclosures is greater than the number of votes by which George W. Bush carried the state in 2004.
Orchestrated disenfranchisement should be exposed and the people involved should be punished. Volunteer with non-partisan groups to ensure a free and fair election. That is the least we can do to ensure that all the voters are heard.
-Jai
Filed Under: booth capturing, Bush, Election, Florida, fraud, Gore, MUSINGS, Politics, Presidential, rigging, U.S.
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10 Comments
Whoa. That’s heinous. Thanks for sharing this.
That is shocking.
That is so sad – I live with someone who loves conspiracy theories and says it doesn’t matter who you vote for that there are bigger forces at work – I find this sort of talk disheartening – having said that, we got a new government elected in Nov last year in Australia and it is quite sad how little difference it has made – some but not a lot!
Good reminder that our system in the US is far from perfect, and it hasn’t been in the interest of the current administration to fix it. Let’s hope that changes in November.
i remember the fiasco in 2000 very well. scary that irregularities are expected to happen again, but no one can actually ensure that it doesn’t happen!
And we are attempting to spread democracy around the world! How about here in US first ? Disgusting that politicians would stoop so low and do anything to win. I remember my first time voting, I was so happy and proud to exercise my franchise, only to come home and find out that our maid’s daughter who was hardly 11, but looked like a teenager, also cast her vote not once but three times for a saree, and a water bucket (actually kudam). I was shocked in disbelief for a few weeks. Go figure.
This is the kind of stuff that makes one cynical.
Yes, it is incredibly dishonest, but I am not shocked. Some people will do anything for power. It’s disgusting. Thanks for speaking out. I’m amazed that so many people hear nothing of this, that so much of the media passes this over. There should be outrage. There should be justice.
I have seen some reporting on this very subject, so at least it’s not completely off the radar. Politics have gotten so dirty or maybe I am getting less naive. Either way, I sure hope my vote will count for something this time around. Thanks for writing about this.
aaaahhhh politics…