# You've lost the ballots?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 27, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499 "2004-10-27T18:02:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/1 "2004-10-27T18:02:05Z")
From [here.](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=615&e=2&u=/nm/20041027/pl_nm/campaign_florida_dc) It’s a Yahoo news link - I don’t know how long it’ll be accessible. > [@](#): > > MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. Postal Service investigators on Wednesday were trying to find thousands of absentee ballots that should have been delivered to voters in one of Florida’s most populous counties, officials said. Some 60,000 absentee ballots were mailed out on October 7th and 8th - some have been delivered, but apparently most have disappeared. :rolleyes: I doubt it’s anything fraudulent - just your basic mistake. But sometimes, being a Floridian is embarrasing… ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/2 "2004-10-27T18:09:29Z")
Way to go Florida. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/3 "2004-10-27T18:24:48Z")
How 'bout them Gators! ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/4 "2004-10-27T18:26:12Z")
One tries not to be paranoid, but everything about the pending election forebodes doom. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/5 "2004-10-27T18:32:08Z")
Eh, I’d want to know if there’s any obvious demographic slant one way or another in the county in question before I get too worked up about it. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/6 "2004-10-27T18:32:12Z")
I love these bits: > [@](#): > > On election day itself, those who requested absentee ballots will only be able to vote in person if they bring the blank absentee forms with them. > > AND > > “So most definitely we want to get the message out that yes they can go to an early voting site and cast their ballot and that’s what we would encourage them to do,” she said. Well isn’'t that just fine and dandy… except for those of us who aren’t in the U.S. presently and won’t be back in time to get ANY of the polls. I requested and received my absentee ballot from Michigan (I haven’t been in the U.S. since September and won’t be until the en d of November). Glad I wasn’t registered in Florida. Between that and [Bush blocking his website from outside of the U.S.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3958665.stm) I’m really wondering if they want any of us Americans abroad exercising our voting rights. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/7 "2004-10-27T18:34:50Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Eh, I’d want to know if there’s any obvious demographic slant one way or another in the county in question before I get too worked up about it. Whatever the demographics, there’s an obvious question of what happened to the ballots and where they’ll end up. My first thought was voter suppression, but my second thought is simple fraud. My third and hopefully accurate thought is that the damned post office just screwed up again. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/8 "2004-10-27T18:37:05Z")
C’mon, you’re not up to date. [Here’s](http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/102804Z.shtml) the latest breaking bullshit from the Orange-Free State. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/9 "2004-10-27T18:43:09Z")
BTW - can any overseas Dopers confirm my link above? I’m in Canada and did have isssues visiting the Chimp’s site earlier, but now I have access. Are overseas ISPs still blocked? As for the mail – my company’s marketing department send out huge batches of stuff (10,000-20,000 pieces) and it’s actually not that unusual for stuff to get a bit fucked up with big batches of stuff getting held up at the mail house where it sits for awhile before it gets released to the USPS. I suspect it was just a mail snafu. Would still suck to be a Floridian abroad right now. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/10 "2004-10-27T18:45:00Z")
Someone just tried to run down Kathleen Harris. He missed though, which I suppose is a good thing. \ [http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/27/fl.13.harris.attack/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/27/fl.13.harris.attack/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/11 "2004-10-27T18:49:30Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > Whatever the demographics, there’s an obvious question of what happened to the ballots and where they’ll end up. My first thought was voter suppression, but my second thought is simple fraud. D’oh! I am clearly undercaffeinated. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/12 "2004-10-27T18:50:20Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Someone just tried to run down Kathleen Harris. Egads. This just gets uglified and uglifieder. Exercising his rights to free speech by running people down? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/13 "2004-10-27T18:53:02Z")
**EC:** _BTW - can any overseas Dopers confirm my link above? I’m in Canada and did have isssues visiting the Chimp’s site earlier, but now I have access. Are overseas ISPs still blocked?_ I’m an American citizen (not that that matters, since how could the White House server know?) residing in the Netherlands, and I just tried to go to [www.georgewbush.com](http://www.georgewbush.com): > [@](#): > > Access Denied > > You don’t have permission to access “[http://www.georgewbush.com/](http://www.georgewbush.com/)” on this server. Somebody please explain to me a valid reason for this decision while I’m still on low simmer. Geez, when you consider all the bad PR this administration has already garnered for being secretive and sneaky, why on earth would they want to pull a stunt like this? Even if it doesn’t really make a significant difference when it comes to informing the public, it just looks bad. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/14 "2004-10-27T19:00:49Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > **EC:** _BTW - can any overseas Dopers confirm my link above? I’m in Canada and did have isssues visiting the Chimp’s site earlier, but now I have access. Are overseas ISPs still blocked?_ > > I’m an American citizen (not that that matters, since how could the White House server know?) residing in the Netherlands, and I just tried to go to > [www.georgewbush.com](http://www.georgewbush.com): > > Somebody please explain to me a valid reason for this decision while I’m still on low simmer. Geez, when you consider all the bad PR this administration has already garnered for being secretive and sneaky, why on earth would they want to pull a stunt like this? Even if it doesn’t really make a significant difference when it comes to informing the public, it just looks bad. Maybe only people in Ohio are allowed to connect. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/15 "2004-10-27T19:24:17Z")
[paraphrasing Jon Stewart] “I’m sorry Florida. It’s nothing personal, but we’re going to have to let you go. It’s just not working out” WTF is with the blocked int’l access?? Momentary glitch, I’d think. They can’t be that ham-fisted, can they? ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/16 "2004-10-27T19:29:28Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Someone just tried to run down Kathleen Harris. > [http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/27/fl.13.harris.attack/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/27/fl.13.harris.attack/index.html) My bet is that it was her husband! did anyone see the CSpan video of her flirting _hard_ with that other married congressperson? Kinda funny. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/17 "2004-10-27T19:32:46Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > My bet is that it was her husband! > > did anyone see the CSpan video of her flirting _hard_ with that other married congressperson? Kinda funny. I saw a few stills on [canoodling.com](http://canoodling.com) or something. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/18 "2004-10-27T19:33:33Z")
**jk:** _WTF is with the blocked int’l access?? Momentary glitch, I’d think. They can’t be that ham-fisted, can they?_ Well, the BBC article that **Eats\_Crayons** linked to says that the blocking began early Monday morning. If it’s just an unintentional glitch, I’m surprised they haven’t fixed it by now. ---
**Author:** ![blinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@blinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinx)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/19 "2004-10-27T19:44:50Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > BTW - can any overseas Dopers confirm my link above? I’m in Canada and did have isssues visiting the Chimp’s site earlier, but now I have access. Are overseas ISPs still blocked? I’m in Denmark, and what I see when I try to access the site is: > [@](#): > > Access Denied > > You don’t have permission to access “[http://www.georgewbush.com/](http://www.georgewbush.com/)” on this server. So yes, the block is still active. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499/20 "2004-10-27T20:06:08Z")
Thanks **Kimstu** , I hadn’t RTFA. **Blinx** confirms it is still blocked. Wow. Just, wow. The only possible explanation could be saving costs by limitiing bandwith to only those who can vote, but that’s pretty damn weak. Can any overseas dopers try accessing other relevant sites to see if they are blocked? [www.johnkerry.com](http://www.johnkerry.com) [www.votenader.org](http://www.votenader.org) Any others? Anyone have experience running international websites that can estimate how much $$ can be saved by this type of move? I can’t imagine it’s be enough to make the negative press worthwhile. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-lost-the-ballots/271499.md?page=2)