Confusing North Carolina Ballot Leaves off Votes for President
In North Carolina, a straight-party vote counter-intuitively does not include a vote for president. Voters must make a separate mark under the Presidential Contest box.
RALEIGH, N.C. -- "I was sure I voted for president, but then a friend told me that a straight-party vote in North Carolina includes every office except president. That made me really mad," Linda Chavis told OffTheBus.Politically speaking, Chavis didn't just fall off the turnip truck. She is a volunteer "crew chief" for the Obama campaign in Raleigh who did not notice the separation between the straight-party vote and the presidential vote on North Carolina's poorly designed ballot in 2004. "I thought I voted against George W. Bush, but it turned out I didn't vote for president at all. It's an issue today because we're still using the same confusing ballot," said Chavis.
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Volunteers
"One woman told me she'd gone to her family's ancestral home, collected soil from the ground where her grandparents had walked, and rubbed a little bit of it on her ballot. She wanted them to share in this experience with her."
DURHAM, N.C. -- On a drizzly Saturday outside Durham, almost 1300 residents waited for ten to forty-five minutes outside Southwest Elementary School to cast their ballots. Voters came and went leisurely, many making a stop at the polls part of their weekend errands. One woman had jogged over and bounced on the toes of her sneakers while she waited. A number of people brought their kids, either as a civics lesson or simply because school was out.
In a state where residents have been going to the polls since mid-October, the most obvious advantage to early voting is time. Bad weather, the stomach flu, a glitch in the machine--with two weeks to cast ballots, none of these become sufficient reasons to limit votes on election day. In Durham County alone, more than 50,000 people have already voted--a whopping one-third of registered voters. Because North Carolina allows residents who are voting early to register and vote on the same day, the eventual number of voters will likely exceed even projected totals.
In a state where residents have been going to the polls since mid-October, the most obvious advantage to early voting is time. Bad weather, the stomach flu, a glitch in the machine--with two weeks to cast ballots, none of these become sufficient reasons to limit votes on election day. In Durham County alone, more than 50,000 people have already voted--a whopping one-third of registered voters. Because North Carolina allows residents who are voting early to register and vote on the same day, the eventual number of voters will likely exceed even projected totals.
Of course, early voting alone doesn't explain the record numbers of ballots cast in Durham County this year. Like many other factors in this election, Barack Obama seems to be the reason for the turnout--both the candidate and the campaign.
"This is one of the most popular presidential elections ever," said Chuck, who had voted two days before but was waiting for wife. He was wearing an Obama hat and grinning at voters as they left the polls. "You can feel the electricity."
Carol Rist, an Obama volunteer passing out a Democratic slate, said many people stopped to chat on their way out. "Most people seem happy, and African-Americans seem downright giddy," she said. "One woman told me she'd gone to her family's ancestral home, collected soil from the ground where her grandparents had walked, and rubbed a little bit of it on her ballot. She wanted them to share in this experience with her."
It's no secret that Durham is a blue county, and that the overwhelming majority of African-American voters are supporting Obama. But the Obama campaign is also making a concentrated effort to translate that enthusiasm into early ballots.
"This is one of the most popular presidential elections ever," said Chuck, who had voted two days before but was waiting for wife. He was wearing an Obama hat and grinning at voters as they left the polls. "You can feel the electricity."
Carol Rist, an Obama volunteer passing out a Democratic slate, said many people stopped to chat on their way out. "Most people seem happy, and African-Americans seem downright giddy," she said. "One woman told me she'd gone to her family's ancestral home, collected soil from the ground where her grandparents had walked, and rubbed a little bit of it on her ballot. She wanted them to share in this experience with her."
It's no secret that Durham is a blue county, and that the overwhelming majority of African-American voters are supporting Obama. But the Obama campaign is also making a concentrated effort to translate that enthusiasm into early ballots.
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 3:20 PM
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