As the days to the November 2nd elections wind down, many folks are getting anxious over the potential for impropriety at the polling stations. After the debacle in Florida in 2000, many people have called for close monitoring of this election - former President Jimmy Carter even asked the United Nations to send their own election monitors, an idea which was quickly shot down by Congress and the White House.
Today brings a number of new developments, both here at home and across the country. Locally, SiliconValley.com hosted a roundtable on eVoting today which examined the potential problems with paperless electronic voting. Regionally, a firm employed by Sproul & Associates and funded by the Republican Party in a get-out-the-vote effort, Voters Outreach of America, has been accused of throwing away registration forms submitted by Democrats in Clark County, Nevada, which Al Gore carried in 2000. Sites such as Daily Kos have encouraged voters in heavy democratic states to travel to nearby swing states in order to canvass and request donations, and many Californians are just now returning from Reno and Las Vegas since voter registration in Nevada has ended. Similar allegations are now being made in Oregon. Each state has its own rules, but in all states it is illegal not to submit voter registration forms as part of a canvassing effort.
While SFist can't confirm that this company did business in California, the potential scale of fraud could extend to our own state. You can verify your registration address and status at 1-800-345-VOTE (8673). While provisional voting is in effect in California, it is still a good idea to vote within your own precinct unless it's absolutely impossible. You have until Monday to register in order to vote in this election, and you can do it online, so what the hell are you waiting for?