MIDDAY ELECTION UPDATE FROM COUNTY CLERK DANA DEBEAUVOIR

We’re having a great Election Day in Travis County. Polling places are quite busy, and lines have been steady throughout the day. The overwhelming number of calls to the County Clerk’s Elections Division did result in a steady busy signal for a few minutes as voting got underway. The eSlate equipment has worked exceptionally well today. Other than a few loose cables and early morning jitters that were resolved quickly, we have had no major problems none with the voting system. Early this morning, we did experience some set-up issues with a few election workers who got flustered and were still setting up booths when voters arrived. As they are trained to do, these workers called for help and a team of troubleshooters was immediately dispatched to provide assistance. By mid-morning all polling places had settled into a steady, if somewhat frenzied, pace of processing voters. At this point, voters who haven’t gone to the polls yet should allow a little extra time because the period from 3:30 to 7:00 pm is traditionally the heaviest time of the day for turnout. Of concern, one voter said she had received an automated phone call at her residence incorrectly informing her that her polling place had changed. We hope for no campaign mischief, but we encourage voters to beware. Voters who want to verify their voting status or polling place can call the County Clerk’s Elections Division at 238-VOTE.

Karen Renick of VoteRescue, a national organization based here in Austin devoted to documenting voting "irregularities" has sent out an e-mail spotlighting the following reported problems. The Chronicle will try to verify with the County Clerk's office and provide more details as they become available.

Renick says:
* Wrong ballots issued in Cedar Park, PCT 277. No one answering at Williamson County election office. Secretary of State's office says they can't do anything; it's a county issue.

* Machines are breaking down in PCT 364, Westlake; voters being asked to vote on sample paper ballots.

* Power goes off at combined Precincts 439 and 465 in East Austin; machines are run on battery power.

The Quorum Report just posted a confirmed report that an "altercation" broke out in Hays County between state Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, and his Republican predecessor in that seat, Rick Green. Go to QR and click on "Daily Buzz." They also mention an unconfirmed report that Green threw the first punch. Wow, it was great enough seeing Green, possibly the biggest asshole in the Legislature, get tossed out by voters in 2002 – if we could send him off to jail too … hey, a man can dream, can't he?

This made me laugh.

A world without Santorum? What will Dan Savage do? (If your moral compass has been mercifully spared an explanation of "santorum," the frothy details start in the second to last paragraph here.

(Links NSFW if your employer's a dick.)

Voters in six states will today be asked to cast their ballots in favor of drug-law reform. Specifically, voters in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, and South Dakota will weigh in on a series of marijuana-related ballot questions, from propositions that seek to make pot-law policing the lowest of law enforcement priorities, to a Nevada proposition that would make legal marijuana possession and use by adults.

Below, Reefer Madness gives you the scoop on each of the pot issues voters will decide:

In Dallas yesterday, George W. Bush and Rick Perry talked up the war on terra’ like crazy. "Stick with us and the country will be better off!" Bush told the whoopin' crowd. Who knew that the governor’s campaign finale would turn into a love fest for war? Sort of gives you an idea of what the next four years will be like if voters re-elect the wannabe vice presidential nominee. The latest polls show Perry with an even clearer (and clearly depressing) lead over Democrat Chris Bell. "You go out and work your heart out tomorra' and I'll be your governor for four more years," Perry warned. Meanwhile, Bush's former staffers, Scott and Mark McClellan spent the day stumping for Perry's opponent, their independent mama, Carole Keeton Strayhorn. Bell and Friedman also made last-minute pitches around the state.

An interesting aside: In introducing state GOP officeholders at the Perry pep rally, Bush offered some kind words about each official, except for one – House Speaker Tom Craddick. This is all he got: “Speaker of the House Tommy Craddick ... thanks for coming, Tommy.”

A: Maybe. If the polls are open either two hours before your work starts, or two hours after quitting time, then your employer is not obligated to let you leave work to vote. Otherwise, yes, the boss must give you time off to go vote. Here is what the Texas Election Code says:

Sec. 276.004. UNLAWFULLY PROHIBITING EMPLOYEE FROM VOTING.
(a) A person commits an offense if, with respect to another person over whom the person has authority in the scope of employment, the person knowingly:
(1) refuses to permit the other person to be absent from work on election day for the purpose of attending the polls to vote; or
(2) subjects or threatens to subject the other person to a penalty for attending the polls on election day to vote.
(b) It is an exception to the application of this section that the person's conduct occurs in connection with an election in which the polls are open on election day for voting for two consecutive hours outside of the voter's working hours.
(c) In this section, "penalty" means a loss or reduction of wages or another benefit of employment.
(d) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

As you head to the polls today, take this phone number with you: 866/OUR-VOTE. (866/687-8683)

That's the voter assistance hotline manned by the nonpartisan Election Protection Coalition, a project of the People for the American Way Foundation, the NAACP, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. If you are having trouble figuring out how or where to vote, or if you think you are being denied your right to vote, they promise to have trained volunteers providing immediate, state specific, assistance to callers.

You may have noticed a sudden upsurge in ads for Republican state House District 47 candidate Bill Welch over the weekend. That's because, as we've previously blogged, he received a last-minute infusion of almost $700,000 in the month leading up to Election Day, including almost half a million from "Voucher Sugar Daddy" (as the campaign of Democrat Valinda Bolton put it) James Leininger. To express their displeasure at Leininger's attempt to buy yet another election, Education Austin – the union for Austin teachers and school staff – held a press conference Friday at Kocurek Elementary, where Bolton said, "In my opponent's ads, he keeps saying that I'm opposed to merit pay for teachers. You're darn right I am; the high-stakes testing pressure is so much, and it's unfair to tie teachers' pay to it." Teachers unions have historically opposed what proponents call "merit pay" because, they say, it leads to in-school politics determining who gets raises.

The Bolton campaign offers up other ways to interpret Welch's words on its Web site with something it calls The Official Bill Welch Translator. It's one of the best examples of interactive (in the online sense) political campaigning we've seen this season.