Lampson Poll Watcher (me) illegally ejected from Polling place on Tuesday:

Andy would have loved this story.

Voters Turned Away In Democratic Precinct
by Bob Dunn, Nov 07, 2006, 09 51 am


Less than two hours after the polls opened, campaign workers for Democratic congressional candidate Nick Lampson complained that voters have been turned away from the polls in a strongly Democratic precinct in east Fort Bend County.

Voters on their way to work in Precinct 4126 stopped early this morning at Oak Lake Baptist Church, at 15555 W. Airport Blvd. near Sugar Land, but found they couldn’t cast ballots, said Lampson campaign manager Mike Malaise.

Election officials “just said the voting machines aren’t working. They just told them there’s no way to vote right now,” Malaise said.

A Lampson poll watcher said eSlate voting machine control units from three precincts were inadvertently delivered to the wrong locations, and thus voters would be presented with ballots that were incorrect for their locations. While the control units were switched, the eSlate machines couldn’t be used.



14 elena - Nov 8, 09:40 am

The voters of precinct 4126 patiently waited up to 2 1/2 hours to vote last night. Polling place doors were closed at 7— they were still voting after 9:15 p.m.

At 7:02 p.m, the Elections Judge rudely denied entry to three people—at least one of whom had been present but unable to vote that morning while the units were being “switched out”.

The Lampson campaigns’ poll watcher, under advice of legal counsel, suggested to the Judge that, due to the 55 minute delay in voting earlier in the morning, the three voters— one of whom required assistance to walk, and all of whom had encountered difficulties reaching the polling place doors by 7 p.m. due to a severe lack of available parking—be allowed to cast provisional ballots. The request was loudly denied. Several people witnessed the Judge tell these voters “The polls are closed, you’re not voting.
GO AWAY!”

At 8:15 p.m., after a private conversation with a Sekula-Gibbs-appointed poll watcher, the Election Judge, in violation of TX election code, ejected Nick Lampson’s poll watcher from Oak Lake Church in front of approximately 40 witnesses. The poll watcher elected to leave quietly, as the misinformed Elections Judge was behaving in an undignified manner in the presence of said voters. The elections judge admitted she had no cause for this action, but that it had been approved by Mr. Perez.

Lampson’s poll watcher was quoted as saying “The patience and dignity that the voters of precinct 4126 displayed on Tuesday was awesome—and it was an honor to serve their interests. Of course, I’m also ecstatically happy that Nick Lampson deservedly and decisively won DeLay’s Congressional seat.”

http://www.fortbendnow.com/news/2182/lampson-campaign-says-voters-turned-away-in-heavy-democrat-district

Poll watching can be tough. :yourock:

My neighbors really came through. This 'hood is like the UN, very multicultural--and we like it that way. We had voting "problems" in this precinct in 2000 & 2004. Wonder why?

Or maybe those disenfranchised voters? There is no excuse for that. A lawsuit will help to get your message across to the elections department.

THIS is why I am so happy we still have paper ballots on election day. The judge checks and initials the ballots ahead of time and there is NO WAY you have the wrong ballots. Power failure, technology failure, anything can happen -- and you can still vote. I don't mind electronic voting during Early Voting as you can always come back, but on election day, everything HAS to go smoothly.

You should. Make sure that we hold these partisan election judges accountable. Any voter suppression tactic must be reported and documented to the SOS. Do it now before a good description of the incident is forgotten.

Poll Watcher's Guide
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/pamphlets/pollwatcher.shtml
As a poll watcher, you are entitled to observe the conduct of the election at the polling location to which you are assigned. Please remember, however, that the election judge is in charge of the polling place and must maintain control and order in the polling place. You should establish a cooperative relationship with the judge and work with the judge to ensure that the voting process works smoothly. If any questions arise during your service that the election judge cannot answer, please call the Elections Division at our toll-free number, 1-800-252-VOTE(8683). The Elections Division is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and during all uniform election dates from before the polls open until after they close.


Sonia

I have a big precinct and had only one working JBC and 4 eslates.

I called over and over for 4 hours before a new JBC was brought out, so I had very long line of people very angry but they stayed and voted. Several had to leave but they came back later after work.

I had a line so long a woman passed out and I had call 911.

I never had a problem like this before, if a JBC was broken the visiting Tech always carried a one or two extra with them.

I am not happy at all with what happened on Tuesday.

My precinct still went Democratic, I am very proud of that.

sounds like you need to file one, too.

It was one hell of a day.

They're still collecting data, and it's important to get the stories from as many people as possible.

Problems Voting? Call 866-OUR VOTE
Fraud Reports? Call the Velvet Revolution Fraud Line at 888-VOTE TIP
Problems with Machines? Call 888-SAV VOTE

You also might want to contact Pollworkers For Democracy and see if you can be part of their assessment of how the elections went.

It's very important that all dirty tricks--whether successful or not--are reported so investigations can happen where appropriate, witnesses can be found for lawsuites, etc., and we can prepare for the next election.

I do hope you file an official complaint. :yourock:

I owe it to these fab neighbors & friends here in our precinct.

All the credit goes to Andy S. He's still working.