Election update - Lindsey Graham gets the chutzpah award

Yesterday, I talked about how Senator Lindsey Graham was encouraging black voters to "split their ticket" and re-elect him to the Senate.

Today, the story becomes murkier.

I have in my possession a flyer from the Graham campaign. It is an endorsement for Graham from A.M.E. Bishop Preston Warren Williams II which encourages black voters to re-elect Graham over his Democratic challenger.

One of the reasons why Williams feels that Graham should be re-elected is because his Democratic challenger (exact words in the flyer) "refuses to endorse Barack Obama."

But here is the kicker. Today, I received an email from the Graham campaign that said the following:

URGENT UPDATE: Early reports from numerous precincts across South Carolina reveal record-breaking Democratic turnout. Do not assume that any seat is "safe." If you have not yet voted, it is CRITICAL that you make it to the polls today to vote for Senator Graham and the entire Republican Team. According to state law, any registered voter in line by 7:00pm must be allowed to vote no matter how long it takes. Please head to the polls as soon as possible. Thank you.

So at the same time Graham is encouraging black voters not support his challenger because of he did not support Obama, he is telling Republican voters to get out and vote because of a "record-breaking Democratic turnout," a turnout that is most likely fueled by Obama's running for the presidency.

For the record I didn't vote for Graham or his challenger; Graham for obvious reasons and his challenger because he did not campaign hard enough to peak my interest. Candidates for national office in South Carolina seem to always try to out-Republican each other.

But regardless, you have to stand in awe of Graham's straddling the fence and juggling the voters at the same time.

I wonder what his next trick will be.


Election morning - Things nearly got shady in my district

(I am presently on my lunchbreak from my job so I thought I would share my morning's voting experience with you all. If there are any questions, I will answer them when I get home.)

When I arrived to my voting area 6:45 this morning, I wasn't surprised to see the very long line of voters.

I knew it would be an eventful morning, but I didn't have any idea how eventful it would be.

At a certain time the line stopped. I mean totally stopped as in I stood in my same area for almost an hour.

Needless to say standing an hour in the same place made a lot of us restless. And it got worse.

Sensing our restlessness, a poll worker came out and explained the delay:

Apparently our registrations had to be checked twice. There was a list of registrations for the general election and a list of registrations for the school board elections.

This didn't (and still doesn't even now) make a damned lick of sense. I had been voting at that same precinct since 1992 and we have never had to have our registrations checked twice.

That, and that fact that the two poll workers doing the checking were elderly women, made for a large crowd of angry folks who, in a little while, had the potential to make the storming of the French Bastille look like a walk across the street.

I am exaggerating of course, but there was a lot of anger; specifically from a black woman who I will now christen as Norma Rae. She got on her cell phone and began making calls; Representative Jim Clyburn's office, the State Election Commission, the Attorney General's Office.

I think sister girl was probably going to call Batman if she had his number.

To make a long story short, some people (probably members of the Election Commission) came by with new lists and when I got up to vote (the line started moving as if by "magic"), I had to have my registration checked only once.

I am not totally aware of the whys or whats, but one thing I did like about the situation was everyone's resolve. No one left the line. Hell, there was one black woman with a huge afro passing out Halloween candy.

My district is all African-American so that gives you an idea of how important this election is to us.

Like I said, keep fingers crossed.