Turley on early Virginia voting: "One World War II marine veteran with two canes said that he felt he was back in combat. "

By GottaLaff

Here's an indication something's wrong in Virginia. Jonathan Turley's piece is titled, "Virginistan: Problems Begin to Appear with Early Voting in Key State". You don't want to know. Okay, you do, but you won't like it.

We'll start with this preface: "Fairfax County is viewed as Obama’s only hope to win the state. If there is a big turnout in Fairfax, he hopes to overcome the deep red voting patterns in other parts of the state." Now Turley gives us the bad news:

In Virginia, one of the key swing states in the election, it has been well known for months that there would be a likely record turn out. However, early voting problems are being reported across the state. Much like Ohio in 2004, people are reporting what appears to be a knowing failure to properly staff election offices to accommodate the crowds, forcing people to either leave or wait for hours. I personally witnessed the problem this weekend. [...]

It took almost three hours to vote. The reason? The county put in only two telephone lines to clear every early voter. So, thousands of people were funneled into a room where they discovered two overworked volunteers calling a central number for each and every voter. I asked who was responsible for the obvious lack of resources and I was told that it was the county officials who only allowed for two phone lines to be running in the election office. One of the officials rolled her eyes and said that it was obvious from the start that the two lines would not be able to accommodate the expected numbers but the county officials would only approve two lines for the expected thousands of people who would come for early voting. [...]

At best, it is a case of truly moronic planning. At worst, it is willful blindness bordering on voter suppression. I saw dozens of people (including many elderly people) simply leave after an hour. I also saw elderly people struggling to remain standing. We assisted a couple of elderly voters in finding a chair that could be moved with them and held their place in line as it snaked back and forth in a hallway. One World War II marine veteran with two canes said that he felt he was back in combat. [...]

It was like a scene out of some former Soviet republic as thousands waited for antiquated systems to record their votes. However, this was Virginistan. What is equally alarming is that NPR and other new outlets are carrying warnings from election officials for voters to expect very long lines on election day, here and here and here and here. A recent report shows that critical states are unprepared for the expected number of voters on election day. [...]

It appears that officials have once again failed to order sufficient machines or hire sufficient staff to allow people to vote without jeopardizing their work or abandoning their families. [...]

These lines are the result of decision made by officials, who either intentionally or negligently underestimated the resources needed for the election. Since the shortage of machines was reported weeks ago, if not months ago, it hardly seem accidental. My question is where did all that money go if we are still waiting in line for hours and choosing between our jobs and our desire to vote.

There. That should be more than enough to give you nightmares.

H/t: Chris