I ran across a great blog entry at Politico that I thought I'd share with all of you. It is an inspiring piece of writing from Ben Smith's blog. Here's an excerpt from a medical student who voted early in Evansville:
For me the most moving moment came when the family in front of me, comprising probably 4 generations of voters (including an 18 year old girl voting for her first time and a 90-something hunched-over grandmother), got their turn to vote. When the old woman left the voting booth she made it about halfway to the door before collapsing in a nearby chair, where she began weeping uncontrollably. When we rushed over to help we realized that she wasn't in trouble at all but she had not truly believed, until she left the booth, that she would ever live long enough to cast a vote for an African-American for president. Anyone who doesn't think that African-American turnout will absolutely SHATTER every existing record is in for a very rude surprise.
Early voting in Evansville has been strong and steady with 1-2 hours wait. Other nearby counties are reporting even faster wait times. I voted early and it only took 20 minutes in Warrick County.
Arguments before the Indiana Court of Appeals began yesterday in the Lake County early vote center controversy, and while it looks increasingly unlikely that the decision will affect the sites in question, it was at least nice in some small way to see the Republicans back away from the absurd idea that they would seek to throw out the thousands of votes already cast.
Arguing before the state Court of Appeals on Thursday, Republican Party attorney Timothy Sendak said the party no longer will seek to have votes already cast at the three sites invalidated -- a possibility GOP attorneys had raised in earlier hearings.
But after Thursday's hearing, Sendak said individual candidates retain the right to challenge votes and demand recounts after the election.
"We don't anticipate any of that," Sendak said. "That's up to the candidates."
More than 6,400 people cast ballots at the three disputed sites through Wednesday, county elections officials said. Until Thursday, those votes were considered by many to be in jeopardy as the case wound through six county and state courts this month.
There was some thought that people might be shying away from early voting at the disputed sites in fear that their ballot would be tossed. Now that the shadow of GOP-sponsored suppression has been lifted, here's to hoping that we see a deluge of votes in the next few days.
The Star Press reports that Delaware County (Muncie, IN) has already surpassed expectations with early voting. The 2008 early vote numbers are larger than the 2005 and 2006 elections combined and there is still a week of early voting to go. Monday morning saw a line an hour long at the City/County building. I can only wonder, what if Republicans had not blocked the second early-vote location on Ball State's campus? Would people still be waiting for over an hour in line?
Early voting started at the satellite stations in Marion County today, and turnout at the Washington Township location was phenomenal. After getting off work, I thought I would stop by and cast my ballot.
Think again. Nearly every single parking space at North Central High School was occupied, and the line was three hours long. Three hours. I stayed for 30 minutes, thinking that the people coming out saying "3 hours" were exaggerating, but they weren't. Person after person said "3 hours." And upon getting inside, I saw why.
I decided to give up the wait and vote on a day off next week. But I admire the people who waited. Many were elderly, several were wheelchair bound. There were a ton of young people and a good racial mix. There were candidates and officeholders galore.
Gabrielle Campo and her sister were passing out flyers, as were Pam Hickman and Steve Keltner. Beth White was overseeing operations. Her staff was doing the best they could given the conditions.
My guess is that they didn't expect anywhere near the amount of early voters that are showing up. Thankfully, North Central is on Fall Break today and tomorrow, meaning the parking lot and building were void of students and teachers. But what happens next week when they return? The parking situation will be absolutely chaotic.
I think Senator Obama's visit had a lot to do with this. The Obama bumper stickers outnumbered McCain stickers by a huge margin, and several people were saying they were at the rally and were voting early because he encouraged them to do so.
As frustrating as it was for my impatient self, it was also such a beautiful sight to behold. My one suggestion for Beth White is to extend the hours at these locations.
When the Lake County early voting fiasco first developed, the GOP lawyers and representatives took the tact that they weren't upset about early voting being extended to county offices in the northern, poorer portions of the county -- they just wanted to make sure that everyone got that opportunity. To wit:
Republican attorney David Brooks of Indianapolis law firm Brooks Koch & Sorg argued allowing Lake County to open satellite offices would be unfair.
"The implication here is that citizens in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago -- heavily Democratic areas -- have some right citizens in Hamilton County, for instance -- a heavily Republican area -- do not," Brooks said.
Now, after two weeks of legal maneuvering, the case is in a Superior Court. The judge asked a simple, reasonable question yesterday: What if we allowed these vote sites to stay open, and allow you to open additional ones in more suburban areas?
She explored with LaSota whether to open even more early in-person voting centers in suburban communities in response to Republican complaints Democrats have opened voting in the county's three largest Democratic strongholds.
However, R. Lawrence Steele, a GOP lawyer, told the judge they don't want more early voting centers open, they want Gary, Hammond and East Chicago's centers closed.
Kavadias-Schneider asked, "What of those who have already voted?" Steele said, "Maybe those votes should be discarded."
Compassionate conservatism? Change versus more of the same? Or perhaps we really should look into this pro-America, anti-America line of thinking.
These guys care about nothing more than making it extremely difficult for people to vote -- especially if you don't work regular hours, don't happen to have a car, or perhaps just don't happen to have three hours to kill on a Tuesday, standing in cold lines in November. And on top of it all, they apparently are fine with tossing a few thousand votes just days before the election.
I was getting ready to write a summary of the latest developments in the ongoing saga over Lake County early voting, but I wandered across Masson's post on the subject prior to finishing, so I'll shamelessly quote him instead.
The federal court kicked the Superior case back down to the Superior judge. The circuit court entered an order requiring the centers to remain open. The superior court declined to intervene any further as of yesterday.
The latest is that the Indiana Supreme Court has entered an order consolidating the circuit and superior court cases and putting them both back in the superior court. The Supreme Court specifically did not rule on whether the superior court had jurisdiction or on the merits of the case. It set forth an expedited procedure for the parties to exercise their right to an automatic change of the judge if they so desired.
I'm still of the (admittedly uninformed) mind that the relevant statute appears relatively clear as to the appropriate venue for this appeal. Regardless, though, the matter remains up in the air at the present moment. The AP has more if you're interested.
Just received this email from Jen Wagner of the Schellinger for Governor campaign:
Friends,
Four weeks from today, you will have the opportunity to cast your vote for the Democratic candidates of your choice.
But you don't have to wait until then to fill out your ballot - you can go today to your County Election Board Office and participate in early voting! Every registered Indiana voter is eligible to cast an early ballot in person.
(Use these links to verify your voter registration and find out where you can vote early in your county.)
If you aren't able to go in person to the County Election Board Office, you can still vote absentee by requesting an absentee ballot application. After you submit your request, you will receive an absentee ballot in the mail. All you have to do is fill it out and send it back!
You can find more information on who is eligible to vote absentee by mail here, and you can also download the form to request an absentee ballot.
This election is about choices.
In the gubernatorial race, Jim Schellinger has clear momentum and is the only candidate who is poised to successfully take on Mitch Daniels in November.
Schellinger has been endorsed by former First Lady Judy O'Bannon and former Gov. Joe Kernan. Just last week, several polls showed him in a statistical dead heat with his opponent, a more than 20-point gain from the last time polling results were released.
But elections are about more than endorsements and polls: They're about picking the person whose personal values and vision for our state most closely align with yours. We don't need four more years of Washington-style leadership.
Jim Schellinger believes Indiana can and should be doing better, that we can achieve positive results without further dividing our state as Mitch Daniels has done. We need a leader who listens, a working-class Hoosier who worked tirelessly to put himself through school and has helped build a successful Indiana company.
But we can't elect Jim Schellinger without your help!
Please consider going to your County Election Board Office and voting early for Jim Schellinger or submitting an absentee ballot request today. That way, you know your vote for Jim will count on Election Day.
With your help, we will be successful four weeks from today, and we will be on our way to making sure Indiana doesn't have to endure four more years of Mitch Daniels' bad ideas and arrogant leadership.
Thank you for your continued support of our campaign to Pick Up Indiana!
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