Ready to Vote?

The Presidential Election is just 8 days away. Although I feel as though this has been the longest election season I’ve ever experienced (and admittedly I’m not old enough to have recalled that many), I still can’t quite believe how quickly November 4th will be upon us.

Although I’m filled with excitement, after watching Mark Crispin Miller discuss the possibilities of voter fraud on Bill Moyers Journal, I have to admit I have some serious anxiety about next Tuesday. Miller, a professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University, has been following voter fraud allegations in his blog and is an expert on propaganda and media. His latest book, Loser Take All is an anthology of writings covering election fraud.

I watched Miller after reading that Common Cause and two other public interest groups issued a 50-state report card titled, "Is America Ready to Vote?" The report stated that vast improvements have been made in voting technologies and procedures but it also warns that many still are not ready.

Why constitutes this so-called voter fraud? And what kinds of activities should we be on the lookout for next week? There’s the kind of voter fraud that has a long-standing history in the United States. This includes tactics such as suppressing voting turnout and voter purges. But there is also the problem of computerized voting systems which are in place in at least 80% of the country. These voting machines are run by private companies and often leave no paper trail to confirm a voter’s intention in the voting booth.

Although this is scary stuff, luckily there are places that voters can turn too. Click here for an Election Protection voting checklist. There are also great ways to allow people to discover, watch and share their experience next Tuesday. You can take part in uploading your voting experiences to YouTube at Video Your Vote. There’s also an a way to monitor election day via Twitter called Twitter The Vote! (For anyone needing a crash course in Twitter, you can see my blog post last week).

So remember to vote on Tuesday. Be vigilant and make sure your vote will count.