Voting in Texas

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recycledelectrons

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Here's an experiment to see if your vote really counts:

Vote for a write-in candidate who is registered with the Texas Secretary of State's Office. Then, after the votes are counted, check to see if that candidate got any votes in your precinct. (Most write-in candidates get zero votes in most precincts.)

There are two possible options: (1) The person you voted for does not get even one vote in your precinct. This means your vote was not counted. (2) The person you voted for gets at least one vote in your precinct. This means your vote was probably counted.

DETAILED STEPS:


1.
Make sure your are registered to vote. The last day to register to vote in the Texas 2012 Presidential Election is October 9, 2012. You can learn more about registering to vote at http://www.VoteTexas.gov.

2.
Find someone to vote for. In Texas, for a vote for a write-in candidate to count, that candidate must have registered with the secretary of state's office. Writing in "Nolan Ryan" will not work. A PDF from the Texas Secretary of State's Office listing the write-in candidates that will be on the Texas Presidential Ballot in 2012 is avilable at: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/forms/cert-write-ins-2012.pdf

3.
Vote on November 6, 2012. You may be asked to vote on an electronic voting machine, or you may be asked to vote on paper. If you vote on paper it may take a while (up to 2 months) to go back and count your write-in ballot. If you vote on an electronic machine, where you type in the name of the candidate, then you confirm the name from a list…then there's no excuse. Your vote should be counted instantly.

4.
Check the Texas Secretary of State's web site at http://www.sos.state.tx.us. They publish a county-by-county and precinct-by-precinct breakdown of the votes each candidate received. Remember, if you voted on paper, your vote may take several months to be tabulated.

You can call the Texas Secretary of State's Office to see if all votes have been counted for your precinct. Do not tell them who you voted for! They might make up votes to keep you happy, as they have done to me in the past.

If your vote for a write-in candidate shows up, you know your vote was probably counted, especially if most other write-in candidates in your precinct receive 0 votes. (Most write-in candidates receive 0 votes in most precincts.)

Some people say this is could influence the outcome of the election. Those people are wrong. Texas' electoral votes are an all-or-nothing thing. The only way your vote can change the outcome of the election, is if Texas is decided by a single vote. If Texas comes down to a single vote, Obama will have won by such a wide margin that Texas will not matter.

Some who support the political establishment will claim that their vote was counted. Ask them who they voted for, and in what precinct so you can check if there is a vote for that candidate in that precinct. If they do not answer quickly, they are probably lying.

MY EXPERIENCES:


1996:
I voted for Howard Phillips with the National Taxpayers Party. My precinct showed 0 votes for Phillips.

2000:
I voted for Phillips again. And again, my precinct showed 0 votes for Phillips.
I called the Texas Secretary of State's Office, and asked about my vote. The guy I was talking to at the Texas Secretary of State's Office said they had just gotten those numbers in and were about to enter them. Within 5 minutes, a single vote magically appeared on http://www.sos.state.tx.us for Phillips person in my precinct.

I wondered if they had just made it up, so I called back and asked if the votes were finalized in my precinct. I was told that yes, they were final. I complained that I had talked several of my friends into voting for the same person, and magically, 3 more votes showed up for that person.

2004:
I tried to vote for Michael Peroutka, but the voting machine was designed to emit a loud series of beeps when I tried to vote for a write-in candidate. This alerted a group of US Marines and DeSoto, TX Police who beat me down. I would have been killed if it were not for armed intervention by my friends. I was unable to vote in 2004 because of this violence.

2008:
I voted for Chuck Baldwin. Baldwin received 0 votes in my precinct.
 
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smokinbasser

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And just why would I want to waste my vote on a no name that might not even be eligible for the office??? I value my rights too much to waste it for an "experiment"
 
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