Hey guys, I see we've got a thread to report turnout throughout the day. I thought it would be helpful to open an election problem/fraud thread so that we can quickly get word out of any issues occurring today. I've already had one semi-major problem reported in Tarrant County (details beneath the fold). Please comment on this thread if you are seeing issues as well.
UPDATE: This thread is getting heavy. Here is the second "problem reporting" thread. Please recommend it and unrec this diary. Thanks!!
Got a call from one of our Obama Precinct Captains in South East Fort Worth. She is working her precinct and she has already talked to 10 voters who were directed to the wrong polling location. At the regular polling place, there is a sign directing people in South East Forth Worth (updated to add) and South West Arlington (which is HEAVILY African American on the Fort Worth end and expected to go heavy for Obama) to go to North Arlington to vote. This is FALSE INFORMATION. I've directed our PC to go over to that polling place, photograph the sign, remove it, put up a new sign with the CORRECT polling location info, then call the Obama hotline to let them know what happened. She's on her way to do that right now and will be calling me back with the specific precinct numbers shortly (I will add to this thread when she calls back). So, at least she knew to call me and we know how to resolve this situation.
update: My captain just called back. The precincts being incorrectly redirected are four precincts that voted early at Kenneth Davis Elementary School in zip code 76001. Here are the correct voting locations for the precincts: 2462, 2581, 2030, and 2519: Arlington South Service Center, 1100 Southwest Green Oaks Boulevard, Arlington, Texas 76017
New signage has been posted at the early voting location directing people to the right place.
Is anyone else experiencing issues this morning? If so please report them here.
update: here's the Obama hotline for Texas: 877-48-OBAMA (h/t kath25). Here is the national hotline: 866-675-2008 (h/t NAS) PFAW non-partisan election protection hotline 1-866-OUR-VOTE (h/t sele) CLinton Texas hotline 1-877-472-9465 (h/t demosthenes)
update: We got problems. We have had a ton of election judges resign in the past week so they could attend their caucuses. At several precincts in East Fort Worth, Hillary precinct captains showed up, saw there was no election judges, and literally took over the running of the election while wearing their Hillary gear. THIS IS ILLEGAL. It is called electioneering and legally they cannot do this within 100 feet of the polling locations. I don't even know if these people have been trained to run an election. I do not mean to sound alarmist but this is very serious stuff. Again, I'm waiting for a phone call from my field director so that I can list which precincts this is happening in. Illegal activity is being reported in East Fort Worth. I will post more details when they become available. update on this situation: We are sending in the legal team. Still no word on which specific precincts are effected. He did confirm this is occuring in House District 91 (NE Ft. Worth, Haltom CIty, North Richland Hills, and Watauga area) and House District 95 (East Ft. Worth). updated to add: issues RESOLVED in HD95! Still waiting on word from HD 91. updated: I still have not gotten word on whether this issue is ongoing or has been resolved. I've put in calls to two field directors now and am hoping to hear back soon. updated: Ok, finally got word on HD 91. It is being dealt with. Situation escalated up the food chain, lawyers dispatched, etc etc. It will be handled.
update: Ohio problems being reported here. Apparently a legal team in on the way there as well.
update: via the fort worth star-telegram politex blog:
Police called to Southlake polling place
This election news comes via the police scanner.
Officers have been called to a polling place in Southlake where a person has been reported harassing a polling judge. Police say they are on the scene talking to an "irate man."
No word yet on what caused the man to become upset.
-- Melissa Vargas
Will post more info as it becomes available.
update: From Collin County Texas: Seems that the county board of elections shortchanged our Democratic election judges. Multiple reports have polling places with half as many voting booths for democrats as for republicans (ie, 4-2 in Repub favor). Be prepared to wait in line if you vote in Collin County. Confirmed in Precinct 139 in Plano.
Also, Precinct 20 in Houston: you must pay to park on the college campus. Confirmed via voter. Please bring money for parking. Obama hotline will be notified of this issue.
TX precinct 0020: Election judges do not have stamp ink, so they are handwriting "DEM" on the voter registration cards.
Rhode Island election day open thread (offsite link).
update: In Ohio, severe flooding has resulted in the Ohio SOS going to court to make sure voters in the effected locations may cast provisional ballots elsewhere. Link here. (h/t buckeye battlecry)
update: VERY IMPORTANT!!! Dallas County, precincts 2506, 2507, 2503, 2504 were delayed this morning due to lack of elections judges and lack of equipment. Please see this DU thread for more details. It has been reported to the Obama hotline (Clinton people please help by reporting it to your team as well). I am forwarding this info to Dallas Obama HQ. I would suggest that perhaps we should keep this polling location open for an extra hour to allow people to vote. update: Team Obama has been notified and is taking measures to ensure these people get to vote.
update: Police have been posted at several polling locations in Arlington. My boss just got in and confirmed that Shackelford Junior HIgh & Butler Elementary Schools both have uniformed police officers onsite. Not sure why they're there; just reporting the fact.
critical ohio update!!: We are seeing lots of voters who are registered not appearing on the voting rolls at some precincts. These voters are being made to vote provisionally. Some voters who ARE on the rolls and requesting paper ballots are being given provisional ballots instead. If you experience this please call the PFAW hotline in this diary. PFAW - if they get enough reports - will send people. ALso call the hotline corresponding to your candidate. Thanks!
this is the last update of this diary: Ok, so the whole "sign in sheet flap" being flogged over at Jeralyn's place and Taylor's place has been shot down by our local media. The Fort Worth Star Telegram has been following this story all day and they just posted an update:
Sign-in sheet flap: a false alarm?
This fight over sign-in sheets may just be a misunderstanding.
At North Euless Elementary, two Hillary Clinton supporters standing outside the school were reminding voters of the caucus and passing around a sign-up sheet, said Tommy Daves, the precinct chairman.
The sign-up sheets they were using, however, were identical to the official sheets used at the caucuses.
Daves told them that wouldn’t work, and he destroyed the sign-ups. The Clinton supporters started a new sign-up on different forms.
Jack Weiss, one of the supporters, said he wasn’t trying to confuse voters. They just accidentally grabbed the wrong forms in the morning.
"It’s been crazy all day," Daves said. "It’s gonna be like an indoor rodeo tonight."
Tarrant County Democratic Chair Art Brender said this sign-in sheet flap was resulting from a bunch of "false alarms" from both campaigns.
Brender has spent his day racing from polling location to polling location checking up on complaints. Everything so far has had a logical explanation, he said.
Of course, none of this explains the allegation from the Obama camp - that at an Oak Clift precinct, someone is telling people that if they put down their name and presidential pick on a sheet, they won't have to come back tonight to caucus (which is completely false).
-Sarah Bahari and Aman Batheja
I consider both Jeralyn and Taylor friends. Jeralyn and I met in 2004 in NYC during the GOP convention (don't worry! we were protesting it!) and Taylor and I met via a mailing list. I have sent this update to them in good faith and sincerely hope they will update their posts. Now, please unrec this diary and go rec aloha and mahalo's follow up thread.