Local
Mostly quiet on the midwestern front.
The usual Republican lie was put forward in Akron. The Akron police warned the public about robocalls telling them the voting lines were too long today and they should wait to vote until Wednesday, according to a See Say 2020 post. The FBI is reportedly investigating the robocalls, according to USA Today.
Also, the perennial election official problem of simply not having the proper paper backup ballots happened when voting machines stopped working in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, someone posted on See Say 2020.
My wife and I found it a little more difficult than expected to vote on paper in Columbus’ 55 Ward precinct. First, paper wasn’t offered as an option, and when we asked for a paper ballot, their initial impulse was to give us a provisional ballot. One of the poll judges thought we were breaking the rules until another one interceded and explained that we were allowed to fill out a paper ballot and feed it into the digital scanner. Also, the pollworker writing down our names managed to spell both of them wrong.
The big news is that the electronic pollbooks in Franklin County, Ohio (Columbus) provided by the vendor KnowInk crashed due to problems uploading data overnight, according to the Franklin County Board of Elections.
Thankfully all polling places had back-up paper pollbooks when I voted this morning. I was checked in the old-fashioned way.
There was some concern that paper sign-in would be slower, but due to record early voting the lines were nonexistent at the Near East side inner-city Ward 55 at mid-morning.
Election integrity activists, including myself, generally favor paper pollbooks over electronic “black box” pollbooks. For one, it is much easier to match your signature with a pen and paper than with a stylus, which might cause a challenge by election workers. Electronic pollbooks are easily hackable, can be programmed with incorrect information that only shows up Election Day, and often go down at inopportune times – like today.
“Premature declarations of elections outcome” is the hot-potato phrase being passed around by lawyers, political operatives and journalists. It sounds way too Trumpian, but if it were to happen from either Trump or Biden it could spell disaster this week and the weeks after.
For older activists, especially those who remember Woody Hayes calling for peace between anti-war protesters and the National Guard as they faced-offed on the Oval, it boggles the mind Tuesday’s outcome could potentially ignite a deranged civil war on our downtown streets where not even the ghost of Woody can save us.
Peaceful rallies at the Statehouse called for by local and national progressives are scheduled for Wednesday night and Saturday, and no matter Tuesday’s outcome, hopefully the gun-toting red hats won’t be itchin’ for a fight, but we know how they lust to be shootin’ them dangerous Antifas.
Tuesday, November 3, 2020, 7pm
1755 E Broad St, Columbus,
Join your local organizing community for an election night watch party! We will be gathering in Franklin Park and providing food and drink. Please bring your own seats and masks!!!
I’ll never forget the first time I was warned that COVID-19 might disrupt our lives. It was early March, and I was meeting with other board members of a local social-dance group. On the agenda was the question of whether we would soon need to cancel our events to keep our dancers safe.
Naively, I doubted it would come to that, reasoning that U.S. health authorities would be able to control the outbreak since they could learn from China’s experiences. That, of course, turned out to be disastrously wrong. Instead, President Donald J. Trump and the rest of the government totally botched the country’s pandemic response.
If you still have any doubts about that, you might want to set aside an hour to watch The Curve. Written and directed by Adam Benzine and bankrolled through crowdfunding, the documentary is a step-by-step explanation of just what went wrong.
Friday, October 30, 2020, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Through October 31
Sean Christopher Gallery Ohio, 815 N. High St. Suite H & N, Columbus, Ohio
Columbus-based photographer and videographer Adam Berta welcomes you to his extended exhibition, “Adam Berta’s Protest Photography ends October 31 ” at Sean Christopher Gallery, Columbus Ohio during Regular Gallery Hours, by Appointment or choose a Virtual Option. Partial proceeds from all sales of artworks from the exhibit will benefit the Equal Justice Initiative @eji_org
Gallery Visits
Thursday Oct 29, Open Gallery Hours 3:30-530pm or by appointment
Friday Oct 30, Open Gallery Hours 3:30-530pm or by appointment
Saturday Oct 31, Open Gallery Hours 1:30-4:00pm
For all off-hours by appointment visits schedule in advance by calling (614) 327-1344
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today warned American Muslims that there is no guarantee that ballots mailed today will be received and counted on time to due the ongoing and deliberate slow-down of federal postal service.
CAIR advises all early voters to - if possible - submit their ballot either by drop off box or hand delivery. [NOTE: If you already have a mail in ballot, take it to the polls with you in case you need it.]