Big lines, but no big problems in Ohio
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» Listen to voters who called the Mirror » Election Day weather » Obama's grandmother diesCLEVELAND -- Big crowds greeted voters Tuesday in Ohio, where a record 80 percent turnout is possible in a swing state that had presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama running neck and neck.
No major problems were reported but in Montgomery County, which includes Dayton, so many people chose to use paper ballots instead of touch-screen machines that it may hold up the county's vote count until Wednesday, officials said.
Overall, voting was brisk and orderly around the state, said Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat elected two years ago on a pledge to improve Ohio's much-maligned voting system.
Long lines were expected despite about 1.5 million people taking advantage of early voting. The maximum wait time to vote Tuesday was one hour, mostly in precincts with large numbers of voters, Brunner said.
"This is like a piece of cake," said Donna Bowman, 63, a retired judge from Franklin County who voted for McCain. "The last presidential election the lines stretched several hundred yards and it took hours to vote."
Other scattered problems around the state included voting machines that weren't set up correctly and poll workers who didn't hand out complete ballots.
In Columbus, the Ohio Republican Party filed a complaint asking a federal judge to require that provisional ballots be verified and counted the same way statewide.
Republicans said they are concerned provisional ballots will be handled differently. Provisional ballots are those cast by voters whose registration has been questioned. The ballots are held for 10 days while elections workers check voter eligibility before they are counted.
Republicans said Brunner had issued "vague and confusing instructions" on handling provisional ballots and "actually seemed to encourage local officials to overlook non-matching signatures" of voters.
Brunner called the GOP legal action partisan and troubling.
"While Ohioans are voting with confidence in record numbers, partisan attempts to re-litigate issues that have been decided by the Ohio Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court are troubling," she said.
In reliably Democratic Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, which has a history of election problems, the voting went smoothly, said elections director Jane Platten. Problems with fewer than 25 vote scanners were quickly fixed, she said.
Platten said three polling places opened as much as 10 minutes late, but no voters were turned away. She also said about 2 percent of the county's 8,599 poll workers failed to show up for work, but that was better than a 20 percent no-show in recent elections.
In addition, she said a couple of precincts mistakenly handed out only one page of a two-page ballot, but the problem was fixed. The half-ballot problem also was reported in Canton, where the elections board sent crews out to remind poll workers to provide both pages.
In Knox County northeast of Columbus, one precinct's three voting machines were taking presidential votes for independent Ralph Nader but no other candidates. The machines were reset and back in operation by 9:30 a.m.
Wariness by voters determined to wait out polling-place problems may have contributed to early lines in the morning. In Cleveland, Shanna Sheline, 30, a dance instructor and office assistant, said she wasn't taking any chances and set aside the whole day to vote if she encountered long lines or other problems.
Franklin County, which includes Columbus, had some jammed paper problems early in the day but nothing major or systemic said elections spokesman Ben Piscitelli.
Shannon Friebel, 22, a senior biophysics major at Ohio State University who voted in his first presidential election, said the process was smooth.
"It was very simple. Short lines, and there were plenty of machines to use," he said.
In Westlake, an upscale suburb west of Cleveland, there appeared to be confusion among voters, some of whom were seeing for the first time the return of old-fashioned paper ballots that replaced touch-screen voting machines used for the March primary.
The paper ballots require voters to choose a candidate by filling in an oval. After finishing, the ballot is scanned to alert the voter to disqualifying duplicate votes for one office. If that happens, the voter can ask for a replacement ballot.
Cuyahoga County is one of 35 Ohio counties where voters cast ballots on paper. The other 53 counties use touch-screen machines.
Bush won by about 118,000 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast in Ohio. Sen. John Kerry conceded the day after the election, convinced he would not receive enough votes when provisional ballots were counted.
Ohio made changes this year, including putting more voting machines in precincts that are expected to be the busiest. Franklin County has about twice as many touch-screen voting machines this year as it did in 2004.
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kilgore
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11-04-08 12:53 PM
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gandulf then i guess having an affair with a rich rodeo queen while your married.... ..leaving your crippled wife for said rich rodeo queen,"other women" who can only further your career is a vocation also? let me get this right ..you take the time to post a snark against kerry (who is a non-issue anyway) ..about his marrying a rich woman? all the while neglecting to even realize mcsame married a rich woman ...well actually..he had an affair with her first. ..then he dumped his crippled wife for her All this escaped you before you decided to post your inane dribble?? don't answer..it was rhetorical it just is amazing what 20%'ers will say/type
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gandulf
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11-04-08 12:36 PM
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Well, John Kerry did not earn his money--unless of course marrying rich women/widows is a vocation.
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Schroeder
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11-04-08 12:36 PM
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PLEASE READ MY COMMENTS IN INVERSE ORDER. I understand the reason for 1,000 word limits but the fact of the matter is that it limits insightful and informative posts. I took a lot of time to compile this data. Thanks.. Francis J. Schroeder
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Schroeder
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11-04-08 12:32 PM
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Only 1% of all Americans can claim personal wealth of more than $1 million. Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, said, "With a median net worth of $746,000, most members of Congress have a comfortable financial cushion to ride out any recession." Her center conducted the study. In the House, Jane Harman, D-Calif., ranks No. 1, with $397 million; followed by Darrell Issa, R-Calif., with $343 million. Robin Hayes, R-N.C., ranks third, with $173.4 million. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., ranks sixth with $62 million. In the Senate two Democrats from Massachusetts claimed two of the top three spots. John Kerry led the pack, with $336 million, while Edward M. Kennedy ranked third, with $104 million. Herb Kohl, D-Wis, ranked second with $241.5 million. Overall, senators had a median net worth estimated at $1.7 million.
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Schroeder
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11-04-08 12:29 PM
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If members of Congress don't fully understand the problems of millions who are jobless, without health insurance, and losing their homes to foreclosure, we may have discovered the reason. Their collective wealth grew by 13% last year, leaving them in better shape than most Americans to make it through an economic downturn, according to a new analysis of personal financial reports. Many of the members are millionaires. Nearly two-thirds of the senators are in that class and 39% of all members of the House of Representatives possess that level of wealth. Both presidential candidates - Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain are multi-millionaires. Obama ranked as one of the biggest financial winners, with his net worth increasing from $800,000 in 2006 to $4.7 million last year, thanks mainly to royalties from his two best-selling books. McCain had a net worth estimated at $28.5 million, with most of the wealth attributed to his wife Cindy's family fortune. Only 1% of all A
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drophammer
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11-04-08 12:13 PM
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Die of cancer and bankrupt your children? ". McCain cites as his "biggest" legislative victory of that era a 1989 bill that abolished catastrophic health insurance for seniors, a move he still cheers as the first-ever repeal of a federal entitlement program."
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drophammer
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11-04-08 12:12 PM
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Good news for seniors! The New York Times "A federal court has blocked the Bush administration's effort to save money on Medicare by paying for only the least expensive treatments for particular conditions." Hope McCain doesn't win though: From the Wall St. Journal Oct. 6, 2008 "McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs. The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan "budget neutral," as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn't given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn't dispute the analysts' estimate. "
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Bacchus
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11-04-08 11:31 AM
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Ah yes, I heard we (the burgh) won... I had my roughness around the edges yesterday morning, so I feel your pain.
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KlausVR
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11-04-08 9:46 AM
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Gay marriage? Absolutely YES! Why shouldn't they have the chance to be just as miserable as us heteros? 8^)
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RazMnaz
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11-04-08 9:29 AM
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As a matter of fact I did, as I'm nursing my "roughness around the edges" from the Steelers-Redskins MNF party I went to last night. Whew!
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Bacchus
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11-04-08 9:20 AM
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Did you all think of me as you read this story!?!
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