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one_voice

(20,043 posts)
Tue Mar 8, 2016, 11:03 PM Mar 2016

Flint Polling Places Ran Out Of Ballots, Turned Voters Away

FLINT, MI — At least one Flint, Michigan polling location ran out of Democratic ballots on Tuesday, forcing voters to either wait over an hour for city clerks to deliver new ones or to leave their phones numbers to be called when more ballots arrived.

Grace Emmanuel Church, one of the busiest polling locations in Flint servicing Precinct 49, ran out of ballots for the presidential primary around 4 p.m., a poll worker confirmed to ThinkProgress. Flint’s NBC25 reported that two other locations across the city ran out of ballots as well.

Loyce Driskell, an elections administrator at Grace Emmanuel, told ThinkProgress that she has worked at the polls for four elections, but this is the first time she has seen a location run out of ballots. A city clerk did not deliver more ballots to the location until around 5:30 p.m., the beginning of the evening rush.

Driskell said she took down the phone numbers for ten people who did not have time to wait. Seven she was later able to reach, and they told her they would come back to vote. Three of the numbers were disconnected or she was not able to reach the voter.

The increased national attention on Flint likely created increased interest in the primary. Both Democratic candidates have visited the city and they held a debate here on Sunday, much of which focused on the water that is continuing to poison the city’s residents.

“Absolutely there’s more interest this year,” she said. “I think the water crisis, maybe the debate. I just think that Flint is on the map for the world to see and I just think all of that has really gotten voters to turn out.”

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/03/08/3757998/michigan-ballots-shortage/



This shouldn't happen. Voters shouldn't be turned away.
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Flint Polling Places Ran Out Of Ballots, Turned Voters Away (Original Post) one_voice Mar 2016 OP
well, at least they were called back to vote veronique25 Mar 2016 #1
 

veronique25

(74 posts)
1. well, at least they were called back to vote
Tue Mar 8, 2016, 11:12 PM
Mar 2016

at least the election people were responsible enough to call the people back.

think of all the horror stories where police told eligible voters they were ineligible and had to leave immediately

bernie would be the first to agree that this year's election is not about a single candidate or a current platform -- but the embyonic growth of people's consciences to recognize that every citizen is a link in the hard-won chain of democracy

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