News-Record.com

No, I don't think so, they look like they are centered around population centers. But at least we know where he (Arnold) stands on voter rights and the importance of voting. Besides, the proper response would be opening more polling places,not fewer. I guess that wouldn't serve the purpose would it? Why did the Editors wimp out and not ask directly if we support Mr. Arnold's suggestion of closing polling places?

I don't think reasonable people can disagree that the entire reason why we have had these dramatic changes in voting, i.e., early voting, same day voting, motor voter, etc. is because democrats believe that they will benefit them. (Please don't insult our intelligence by telling us that dems are really concerned with ensuring that everyone has a chance to vote after they do all they can to disinfranchise active-duty military who attempt to vote by mail from overseas. For more a more recent example, please see the Ohio Secretary of State, who has thrown out a bunch of requests for absentee ballots for extra-legal reasons.)

There is no doubt that with early voting, provisional ballots, same-day voting, there is also a great risk of fraud (which also is not coincidental). In Ohio I can register and vote on election day. My vote will be tallied before the board of election even confirms my information. (Does anyone really suppose that after the election and the votes have been tallied that the boes will disqualify voters, and potentially change election results).

We are moving closer and closer to a third-world country where there is massive voter fraud and elections literally are stolen.

No I don't, and Steve Arnold needs to be concerned with real issues... He has lost any credibility he had and is another example of why I'm proud not to be a Republican.

I'm proud of Steve Arnold and I'm a republican because not everyone can be on WELFARE.

"Massive voter fraud"? Paul, do you really believe that? Serious (i.e. nonpartisan) studies have shown pretty conclusively that voter fraud of the sort you describe is infrequent and unsystematic in the U.S. It's essentially a non-fact. And yet it's a big deal in the minds of movement conservatives. It couldn't be because cracking down on nonexistent voter fraud is believed to help Republicans, could it?

Besides, if you're so concerned about election fraud, why no mention of the scandals surrounding Diebold voting equipment? Oh right, the alleged fraud in those cases tended to favor Republicans.

As for me, I want the system to allow everyone (who's eligible) to vote, whether they're active military personnel, poor people who can't easily get away from work, etc. Burdensome requirements like those being imposed (by conservatives) in a number of states violate that simple and nonpartisan principle.

So what if expanding voter turnout tends to help Democrats? Attacking that effort on the basis of dubious facts doesn't serve Republicans well. It makes them look small and lacking in confidence. They'd be better off trying to gain the support of all voters.

As for the question at hand, I think it's perfectly fine for Steve Arnold to question the location of early-voting sites. It appears that the Board of Elections has demonstrated that it's about accessibility (and hence cost containment), not partisanship. But if Arnold has a better plan, let him propose it.

I think it's amusing to think that there are places in Guilford County where Republicans dare not tread, even for a half-hour or so, Still, I think they could handle the risk of going to vote early in Friendly Shopping Center - they have a security force there to guard their Escalades while they step away for a few minutes. True, it's not Blackwater. But they do try. :)

Andrew:

My prediction about "massive fraud" is for the future (this fact would be readily apparent to you if you read it before firing off your reply). However, there is already a growing body of evidence that fraud is on the rise.
Have you ever heard of ACORN? Even your complaint about Diebolt undermines your argument that voter fraud is "a non-issue."

In early 2001,The CATO Institute wrote in part with regard to Motor Voter:

In the short time since Election 2000, we have seen startling new evidence of the disorder of registration rolls in several states. In Indiana, for example, the Indianapolis Star looked closely at the rolls. They concluded that tens of thousands of people appear on the voter rolls more than once, that more than 300 dead people were registered, and that three convicted killers and two convicted child molesters were on the rolls. In general, experts believe one in five names on the rolls in Indiana do not belong there. A recent study in Georgia found more than 15,000 dead people on active voting rolls statewide. Alaska, according to Federal Election Commission, had 502,968 names on its voter rolls in 1998. The census estimates only 437,000 people of voting age were living in the state that year. Similar studies in other states would no doubt return similar data.
. . . .

Since last fall, "Operation Big Vote" has been active in the St. Louis area as part of a national campaign -- promoted by Democrats -- to register more African-American voters and get them to the polling booth. This effort delivered 3,800 voter registration cards to the St. Louis Elections Board on the February 7, 2001, the deadline for the March mayoral primary in that city.

A cursory check of the registration cards turned up questionable names. Shortly thereafter, election board workers spent an entire day calling the names listed on the cards and found that nearly all of them were fraudulent. Many of them sought to register prominent people, dead or alive - as well as at least three deceased aldermen and a dog. The media have reported that close examinations have turned up cards that attempted to register prominent businessmen using their childhood addresses, a former deputy mayor using an old address for an alderman, and a former alderman who has been dead for years. They also found cards for convicted felons and for residents who did not seek to register themselves in the primary. The woman at the center of this vote fraud investigation "doesn't deny" that some of her canvassers may have turned in bogus voter registration cards. A grand jury convened by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce has begun interviewing witnesses regarding the 3,800 bogus registration cards. St. Louis police have obtained a warrant and searched the house of the Operation Big Vote director for evidence.

Hmmmm? Saying that there is no fraud, Andrew, does not make it so. Or is your position that fraudulent registration does not count as voter fraud?

And let's not forget an oldy but a goody, Sam Giancana (sp.) delivering Chicago and Illinois and the presidency for John F. Kennedy? Hardly small potatoes.

You really think that asking people to prove that they are legally entitled to vote is burdensome? The Supreme Court and most people disagree with you. I have to have an ID to go to court or to drive a car, why not have one to vote, one of our most sacred rights, especially if it will deter fraud.

There is nothing wrong with requiring folks to show up on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November to vote, unless of course, you aren't getting the results you want at the ballot box.

You got me, Paul. How can I argue with the logic of mentioning Momo Giancana and the 1960 election?

As a registered Independent who tries to vote primarily on individuals rather than party lines, the proposed topic to me is not that complex. We don't need to pull references from the 1960s and make accusations of fraudulent registration/voting practices. A simple "yes" to the question at hand will suffice. Politics is an artistic science, yet still a science. It’s common knowledge that the targeted persons who will utilize the early voting process will do so because of other inconveniences with the established procedures. I would venture to say the most common two of those inconveniences are a lack of transportation and a lack of job security. It doesn’t take a brilliant mind to realize these concerns tend to affect the lower socioeconomic strata of our society. If you can’t take off of work for fear of losing your minimum wage job and/or drive yourself to the polls on a Tuesday in November, you are no less restricted from having your vote count than our ancestors who faced the literacy tests and poll taxes of the Jim Crowe era. It’s no real mystery that in recent history, these same socioeconomically disadvantaged people tend to benefit more from what is accepted as foundational Democratic Party ideals of social welfare. If we placed the voting polls outside the reach of public transportation, in the picket line out front of Planned Parenthood yesterday, or hosted them at the Bass Pro shop gun sales counter, no doubt our voting may be different. That’s simply a downfall of our bipartisan political system; Democrats and Republicans tend to take nearly opposite stands on highly emotional political issues. We have no middle ground in the US. However, the general idea of providing early voting and the locations of those polls is an attempt to reestablish a fair voting opportunity for all citizens of the US.

Will there be voting sites at Guilford College,
UNC-G, or Elon University along with A&T? It is
obvious that the democrats are bending over back-
wards to insure a democratic victory. Also, my sister witnessed during last election, people who came to
the wrong precinct voting place and were
allowed to vote instead of going to the proper place. Voter registration fraud should be addressed and
checked out properly. Is this being done? I don't
think it is due to the huge number of new
registrants.

Who approves the early voting? Does it have to be approved through the congress? There's no excuse for the early voting. They already have absentee ballots which i understand. The voting sites are open from at least 5 or 6am until at least 8 or 9pm. If you can't get there that's your fought. I have to be at work at 9am that day and I will be voting before I go to work. People stop being lazy and get up and vote between the hours they are suppose to vote!