Blog For Arizona

Reports from the Election Day front lines

Just wanted to drop in and introduce myself. I'm Tim Vandehey, and I'm a progressive activist and freelance journalist from Ventura, California. I'll be coming to Arizona on November 1 as a volunteer for ElectionProtection.org, a group that's recruiting 150,000 people around the country to monitor polls in swing states to ensure that, unlike the Florida debacle in 2000, no voters (especially minority and non-English-speaking voters) are disenfranchised in 2004.

I'll be working at a polling place either in Tucson or Phoenix (don't know which, yet) and filing reports as often as I can from the front lines of the election, both from my polling place and as many others as I can get to.

Will there be any voter influencing going down? Who's to say? I hope not. I hope my reports are as boring as a John Tesh greatest hits album, because I'd like to think that no one would ever try to prevent Americans from exercising their right to vote. Then again, look where we are. I don't think any of us doubts the Republicans will do anything to maintain their hold on power, including intimidating or confusing hesistant voters into going home without casting a ballot. And as we saw in Florida, every vote is critical.

So I'll be out there, one small gear in a big machine that will, hopefully, keep the election on the up and up. Stay tuned.

Peace.

Tim Vandehey

posted by Book Surgeon @ 9/29/2004 09:48:00 AM