The message above is from plenty of people I respect. I hope you do take the time to vote on Tuesday.

This is my last post on OneVoteMatters. I’ve enjoyed my time here immensely and hope that you have as well. You can still find me online, through my personal website or through Twitter.

Post from: EveryJoe

One last thought before I go

Alli presents Silver Lining in Economic Collapse – Abolish the Federal Reserve posted at The Smoking Argus.

jdixson presents Oh Thank Heaven. Obama vs. McCain at 7-Eleven posted at Paunchiness – Lose Weight, Get Fit.

Allison Bricker presents Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF) – WTF? posted at The Smoking Argus.

DWSUWF presents Barack buys an election? posted at Divided We Stand United We Fall.
Jack H. Swift presents Connecting the Bailout Dots posted at Government is Not Your Daddy.

John Phillips presents Time Off to Vote for Employees?A State by State Survey posted at The Word.

David Weingarten presents B.C. Pipeline Terrorism Eerily Similar to RCMP “Dirty Tricks” posted at Weingarten.ca.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Politics and Money Carnival – Edition 11

You can vote early in 31 states, and it looks like plenty of people are taking advantage of that fact. Of those 31, only 22 actually make any sort of early voting data available. I’m making all my judgments on early voting on data from less than half the states in the U.S. — so no promises on whether what I believe is happening is actually going on. So far, California is reporting that almost 2.2 million ballots have already been cast, through both mail-in and in-person voting. That’s over 12 percent of the state’s population.

I think there’s no question that there will be record turnout in every state. But I think that a higher percentage of voters are also taking advantage of early voting: while I expect higher than normal numbers at the polls, I don’t think they’ll be quite as high as most people are predicting. Colorado’s numbers really drive that fact home. Over 800,000 voters have already handed in their ballots in Colorado. That’s over 30 percent of registered voters in the state.

In 2004, only 64 percent of Americans eligible to vote did so. It’s a stretch but it’s possible that 64 percent of Americans could cast their votes before Election Day this year.

And, yes, in most states you still get the ‘I Voted’ sticker even if you vote early.

Post from: EveryJoe

Early Voting: Preliminary Data

At least at my polls, I’ll be voting on a Congressional Representative, three judges, three school board members and two constitutional amendment — and I know that in many states, there’s plenty more on the ballot. I’m particularly interested in one of the two constitutional amendments for the state of Maryland, but I’ve been spending a little time online looking at all these other choices I get to make next week.

Have you made any decisions on which way you’re going to vote — outside of the presidential election — this year? Are there any issues on the ballot you’re particularly interested in? Let us know in the comments!

Post from: EveryJoe

Who’s Running In Your District?

It’s pretty normal to see a few ballot errors right up to Election Day. Absentee voters have already reported a variety of problems, across the country. It wouldn’t normally be a major issue.

But in this election, ballots may be a bigger question than we expect. There are some pretty serious questions on the reliability of the electronic voting machines that are used in most precincts these days, and problems with paper ballots just makes the situation worrying. The fact that various groups have demonstrated how easy it is to affect a voting machine isn’t exactly reassuring, either.  All this is complicated by the fact that just about every voting precinct in the country is expecting record turnout this year.

More and more reports of problems keep popping up in the news. No matter whether you’re voting early, absentee or on election day, it’s up to you to be aware of what’s going on with the ballots and voting machines in your own area.

Post from: EveryJoe

Voting’s Getttng Scary

In my county, we use Diebold machines — purchased before Diebold became Premier Election Solutions last year. The demographics of our judges skews heavily toward the older end of the spectrum, although there are younger judges as well. But it’s not just age that causes some of the technical programs: these machines are just specialized computers and prone to all the problems of any other computer. Loose cables, power surges and other such problems happen with voting machines, too. What does worry me about the judges, though, is that few of them are technically minded. An unplugged cable requires help from IT — and I’m scared to consider the ramifications of that fact on a day when we expect record turnout and have one IT guy for ten precincts.

Wish me luck on Election Day. I think I’m going to need it.

And one last bit of information, folks: most precincts are expecting record turnout this year and don’t have enough judges to handle it. Check with your local board of elections if you’re interested in working as an election judge. In some states, you’ll even get paid for your work.

Post from: EveryJoe

Election Day Worries

• ‘Do you know who you’ll be voting for on November 4?’ 21 votes
• ‘Yes, and it’s one of the third party candidates.’ 4 votes
• ‘No, I’m still undecided.’ 4 votes
• ‘No, I’m still undecided.’ 1 vote

Nothing especially unexpected, I think: A surprising number of voters remain undecided, even outside our fairly unscientific poll and very few voters are planning not to vote this year — although there are a few.

Post from: EveryJoe

Our Most Recent Poll Results

The first is a video that I found on Daily Kos:

This video intercuts Colin Powell’s announcement with specific examples of his concerns about the McCain campaign. I think that Powell’s concerns are shown as very valid — no matter the actual party politics.

The National Review’s response to Powell’s endorsement was another item I found this morning. While I generally feel that the NRO has well-written, interesting articles in line with conservative thoughts, I really have to question the decision to post this morning’s response. Powell discussed some serious concerns — and has been a solid force in the Republican party. But the NRO’s first response to Powell’s decision to vote for someone other than John McCain with a personal attack.

Let us consider Colin Powell’s stated reasons for endorsing Barack Obama’s presidential bid in a spirit of charity. Let us assume that Gen. Powell’s decision has nothing to do with race, nothing to do with Obama’s lead in the polls, and nothing to do with any desire by the general to cover his left flank.

An ill-considered move, at best, I think.

Post from: EveryJoe

Colin Powell: Reactions From the Media

I am one of those Americans who has not felt their vote to be very important in past presidential elections. Fortunately, because of my age, I have only been eligible to vote in one other presidential election. At that time, I was studying abroad in Australia and found it to be much too troublesome to get an absentee ballot. I also didn’t feel as if there were a clear candidate to vote for: W had failed to make many good choices while in office, but Kerry wasn’t going to be able to live up to his promises, so I didn’t know where that would lead us.

In any case, I feel this election is much too important to pass up the chance to practice my right to vote. I feel that the American people have two worthwhile candidates running for president. It is truly amazing how divided the candidates are on very important issues, and further how the American people mirror that division in the polls.

The issues that I find to be the most important are foremost the economy, which negatively impacts nearly every American, including myself, foreign affairs, especially our plans in the middle east for Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran, health care reform and energy. Both candidates seem to agree that change is a necessity, but they have very different plans for attempting to solve these issues. I also need change in my life and believe my candidate offers the package that will succeed in that end, so I am going to vote for him.

Hopefully my vote in this election will not be my first and my last; however, I would find it hard to believe that I will feel as passionate about my vote in all upcoming elections.

Post from: EveryJoe

First Time Voters Coming Out of the Woodwork

Energy picked up only three votes and the War in Iraq got two. A reader added in Sovereignty, and that picked up two votes as well.

We’re starting up a new poll today. The question is “Do you know who you’ll be voting for on November 4?” You can vote in the sidebar.

Post from: EveryJoe

Poll Results: The Most Important Issue