They know exactly how many people will be voting.

But to run out of forms because "who could have guessed so many people would have voted?

That is horse crap.

Also, the voters being disenfranchised do fall into a certain demographic that hasn't shown a strong inclination to vote for Sanders.

But I do share your concern with voter suppression. In the primary and the general election.

Fact is, Republicans control a lot of state level politics that deal with voting.

Which is why it's such a travesty Sanders has spent decades trashing both Democrats AND Republicans and not encouraging Leftwing voters to participate in their own local politics.

That's primarily how you deal with this issue.

And when Clinton told someone to "run for office" a few weeks back, Sanders supporters howled in protest.

to make this partisan?

I don't give a shit who you are going to vote for - if you show up to vote, you should be allowed to vote. That's the point I'm making.

...because that's where control of the election process lies. Not with Clinton, not with DWS...

a Primary, I suggest you take a look.

Do you see that bridge over there?

You can get it at a low, low price.

This isn't a Bernie vs. Hillary situation.

It affects the entire election.

That both the major parties couldn't care less about average people. For a long time I thought it was only the Republicans, but boy was I wrong...

Make sure you have one for all of them.

You know how many you need.

It is inexcusable that you "run out".

You know it's funny that the Democratic party has all of a sudden developed a habit of running out of ballots when one of the candidates depends on high voter turnouts to win elections. Go figure...

hue and cry about this.

Since when should people going to vote be presented with a scenario that there are not enough ballots to vote with?

Voter ID is bad enough.

"You can't vote because we don't have any ballots for you to use to vote" is an even worse tactic.

caucuses are usually a small present of all registered voters. In past years that is exactly what happened.

This year is much different. It is why all the polls are so messed up. At least in my state they just make extra ballots and no one is left out.

However, if anyone had been watching the first 3 states they would have been prepared.

ballots. I agree completely with your point.

have to stand around for two hours to cast said vote?

... and, yes, people leave: they have to go to work, or pick up their children.

This should never be tolerated.

In my state, I have to ask for a ballot for the party of my choice, and that choice is made when I walk up to the table. If there are a thousand voters in my precinct, we need a thousand Democratic ballots, a thousand Green ballots, a thousand Independent ballots, fifteen Republican ballots, etc.

The whole 'system' is badly messed up, and We the People, and the whole world, are victims.

You are the real deal, my friend.

Happy to see you again.

I no longer recognize my own party...

Love ya Ellen!

On topic, I cannot fathom giving a pass to this issue. It would be awful if it was an isolated, precinct level incident.

News, returns, and those that tried to vote but couldn't tell an absolutely different story.

I'm not sure I believe the not enough ballots excuse anyway. Surely they know when they are running out and surely they know where to get more ballots.

and not only do they have no provisional ballots, they have no damn ballots at all.

I was unaware that we only had the right to representation as long as there were enough ballots to accommodate those that wish to vote.

This has happened repeatedly this election, as though precincts are shocked that people - and they know how many people live in their precinct - want to vote.

And you are right they would have to have a good idea of how many are registered to vote the data is right there on the sheets that they check names off of when they hand you a ballot. They should have at least 75% of that number of ballots. I haven't seen elections with higher turnout than that, but lets say they have that amount and they get half way through at some point well before polls close they need to print more off or go get more.

of constituents that are arriving to vote.

You don't fail to take into account tax revenue, census data, and property tax figures, why is it so insurmountable to figure out how many people will be voting and provide one for every one of them?

"Found" them in a closet on the site later.

I guess this is what we can expect come November, too.

... if they run out.

We need better standards for running elections. It might be time to have national standards.

Since voters can go to any of the early voting sites in the county during normal elections they have to do this so the ballot is correct for every race for that voter. I like this system - they never run out of ballots no matter if far more voters show up than expected - and they don't waste paper on printing ballots if voters do not show up.

These are paper ballots for the optical scanners - my favorite way of voting these days since there is a paper ballot that can be counted if there are questions.

Paper ballots are only available on Election Day, or absentee.

I also prefer the paper ballots.

At least at the locations I have gone for early voting. Our county has used optical scanners since the late 1980s. The previous supervisor of elections screwed up the placement of ballots in the old lever machines - lawsuits over that elections were used as precedent for no "do overs" for Gore v Bush in 2000. When our current supervisor (Ion Sancho) was running his platform was verifiable elections . He brought in the optical scanners and has run great elections ever since. Unfortunately he is retiring but has endorsed one of his assistants who is running for the position this year.

The only touch screens are for voters who need them because of disabilities and for the few who want to use them. I have never seen anyone using one at the polls when I have voted!

I'll let you vote on a piece of scrap paper and call it a provisional vote. We have your signature. Let the COURTS decide your vote doesn't count and see what happens.

I was the Poll Worker Training Coordinator for Orange County, CA for a few cycles. I've been through recounts. It was the signature the monitors were looking at, not the paper they were written on.

I cannot freaking believe the number of people that were unable to *vote* *vote* for heaven's sake, because the polling place ran out of damn forms.

That is absolutely electioneering.

It is WORSE than voter ID laws!

Can I give you a big hug for volunteering to work your local polls?

When I was working for the Registrar we instituted a policy where you could list a freeway overpass or an intersection as your address (should you be homeless (Dog forbid)) for the purpose of voting. A love letter with your name on the envelope could be used as proof of residence and address.

Off topic but what's really cool... I wanted my name on the pamphlet I wrote. Being a government employee; my work product was not my own so that was shot down. On one of the pages in the pamphlet I used a screenshot from an electronic voting booth we used and Photoshopped my name juxtaposed with Abraham Lincoln's on a presidential ballot. After that election the Registrar called me into his office, closed the door, and laughed his ass off and told me while shaking my hand I could NEVER, EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES do that again. Then we went to a three martini lunch... on him.

college precincts and in heavily Latino portions of town.

And provisional ballots? They end up uncounted for months.

that you are a member of a polling committee, draft the list of people eligible to vote and then fail to have enough paperwork.

It's voter suppression via a supposed Devil's Printing Office

It would be something to overlook if it happened in only one or two precincts - everybody makes mistakes.

But this many?

The problems always happen in states controlled by repugs.

It has happened in different states and different precincts. I couldn't believe it when I realized how many disparate states and counties were having the "lack of ballots" problem.

it's Absolute Bullshit!!!

so it could go either way, my MS friend!

It happened to me, and ours is tiny.

Moss Point, my home, is a small town, so 10 is plenty.

by using lack of resources as an excuse. Bullshit at its finest.

and I'm upset about it.

What if those people that were denied voting rights wanted to vote for anybody they wanted to vote for.

Isn't that our right?

When people come out to vote, they should be fucking able to vote.

It denies everyone the right to vote.

regardless of who you are voting for.

If you want to vote for Satan McDoodoo, there should be a ballot for you as a citizen.

or Ken Blackwell or Kathrine Harris,
seems like

Voting machines? Me neither.

Remember when Democrats in high office addressed concerns over voter suppression? Me neither.

Remember when Democrats in high office have given a damn about anything related to our distrust of the election process? Me neither.

Doesn't take an Einstein to figure out why it's not a MAJOR concern to the Democratic party.

had the opportunity to stop any number of bills that were detrimental to our economy, our safety and our country - took a stand against them?

Me neither.

Remember when Republicans pushed through any number of bills, etc. and Democrats threw their hands in the air and said "We can do nothing because we aren't in the majority"!

I remember that shit clearly.

to reflect my true concern - that people can't vote because they have to hang around for hours waiting for "the printer" or whatever horseshittery they come up with to prevent people from having a ballot and a chance to vote.

This isn't a partisan concern - it's a concern that no matter who in the hell you vote for should concern you.

and it should have you incensed, as well.

You show up to vote, and ... you can't because "we've run out of ballots/paperwork, etc."

That should scare the hell out of you, because it might *happen* to you.

Suppose you show up to the poll with the express reason to cast your vote to say "Good grief, we need a Democrat instead of Trump!" ... and your polling place is mysteriously overwhelmed that the number of people on the rolls actually showed up to vote.

"Who would have thought people would show up to vote?"

This shit is happening in the Primary, and you can laugh about it, but what will you say when it happens in the GE?

It *NEEDS* to be nipped in the bud lest we have a vine that strangles the Democratic party.

It makes me sick inside.

This will be pulled right out in the General Election if we stand idle.

It's inexcusable.

lack of paperwork, administrative errors, bullshit excuses should not interfere with your ability to do so.

What's next? We already have voter ID, should you get frisked at the polling place, too, to decide if you are allowed to vote? Should you provide your medical history as proof that you are cognizant of your vote?

This is not alarmist thinking. This is being alarmed at the bullshit that is already going on.

I think going forward we should be asking ahead of the vote - do you have enough ballots for every voter. Get them on record so they can't use this again. Start commenting in your local papers and calling the media so that they can't ignore it and have to cover it. Shine a spotlight on it so they will be too afraid to try it again. We can't shut down all of the crap they come up with (we shut one down they come up with another) but we can shut this down if we are willing to fight them.

to cry to the heavens that no one could see this trickery coming.

NO ONE SAW IT COMING.

You can always see it coming, but you can never stop it.

"we should be asking ahead of the vote - do you have enough ballots for every voter."

We have to do it at every precinct, but that's a winner. Thank you, nrns for this idea.

I think we are going to need a bunch of different strategies to confront this, but you have a damned good idea!

when we can head it out at the pass via November.

I'm tired, mixing metaphors, and it's garbage day.

Talk to you later, cher.

Sleep well.

mid-western city the college students hired a bus to take them to their caucus. The first bus load of students showed up and the Hillary people said "Oh, they are busing them in."

A little later another bus load of Bernie voters showed up and the conveners realized they were going to be short on ballots. They started making extras. The Hillary voters started looking a bit worried.

The 3rd but showed up and the Hillary supporters started looking defeated. ----- There were yet to be 2 more buses.

I forgot to ask what the delegate count at that precinct was.

As to the charge of busing them in - they paid for a bus to take them to their own precinct. That is not busing them in.

You *planned* to run out of ballots.

This is by design, and I shudder to think what is going to happen when *any* of us go to the polls in November.

This entire election season is shaping up to be a shit show of epic proportions, and Democracy will take a back seat to who can be more ruthless.

I do not relish it.

not registered anywhere yet.

There may be a difference in some states. MN has a caucus run by the Democratic Party so you do not have to be registered to vote in it. That caucus is what I was describing in the above article.

There was no way that they knew the long lines of young voters were going to show up. They acted as soon as they realized that the turn out was going to be bigger than they expected and no one went home before they voted.

The only reason that I am not in favor of printing out a ballot for every registered voters is because I hate it when the ACA insurance companies send us all those manuals and cut down a bunch of trees that just get recycled long before they are ever read. I hate to think about the ballots that will be thrown away unused.

Our precinct used small 3M notecards to vote on for that reason.

I don't disagree with you on the issue of not letting people vote. That does have to stop. And I also hope that the young people who are coming out continue to grow. Finally we are actually taking part in elections.

That's planned failure, IMO.

"We don't have enough ballots."

The math is not very damn difficult.

Minnesota is a caucus state. The caucus begins at 7 and voting for the Presidential nominee is the first item of business.

In 2008, Edwards had just dropped out and it was Clinton and Obama (I think Clinton was leading at that point). Record turnout.

In 2016, as we know, heading into the Minnesota caucus Clinton lead but Sanders is still in it. And, Minnesotans vote. Everybody - the media, the pundits, people I know, people I read on FB through mutual friends - expect another big turnout for the caucuses for both parties.

And yet ... you guessed it. When I left at 7:30 or so to walk to my car, there was still a line of cars just trying to get in to park. I, myself, had to wait in line to park four blocks from my caucus site (four blocks, in a Minnesota winter, where sometimes that means that there are no sidewalks but rather ditches with snow, slush, cold water and caucus sites are not at places on bus routes ... think about who THAT excludes). I was listening to Minnesota Public Radio once I got to it and was embarrassed and ashamed to hear DFL party reps talk about the surprise turnout and that the decision had been made to allow those still trying to get in to vote, voiding the 8 p.m. deadline.

It is exclusionary. It is wrong. It is today's Democratic party. It is how those who run it want it. Frickin' scraps of paper, FFS!

others, in other states didn't.

It just tears me up inside to think that there are so many hurdles to jump to vote, and then, you can't vote because there aren't enough ballots.

That strains the suspension of disbelief in even the most dewy-eyed lover of all things Washington.

Do not be surprised if this crap doesn't happen in November.

We need to deal with it before then.

and that we will overcome such devious infighting.

because the ability to vote is important.