[Frizzle]

One would think that after the 2000 elections, Florida would have gotten its election-process act together. Especially since there have been 12 years and 3 presidential elections between.

And yet. Not so much.

I know some of you saw my thread about standing in line for almost five hours to vote. And it turns out that was actually not too bad compared to what some people had to suffer. According to the Miami Herald, the last ballot cast in Dade county was @ 2:30 am, a full SEVEN and a half hours after the polls closed. President Obama had already given his speech and walked off the stage. It's 24 hours later and they still haven't counted all the votes. Not that it's going to make a difference, but it could have and, once again, the state is the butt of many deserved jokes.

There was a pretty big segment about it today on CNN, as well. Our oh-so-brilliant governor Rick Scott CUT early voting substantially (for ?? what reason?). The ballot was five pages long, front and back, and apparently the longest ballot in our history. The districts were shifted, which apparently made a difference (for the worse, in my area, appaently). Didn't anyone see all of these things adding up to create election day madness?

It was projected that 9 million people would vote in Florida. The last figure I heard was that around 8 million people had voted. And I know that a lot of those people didn't vote because they saw the lines and were not willing (or were unable) to stand in line for that long.

So, seriously, Florida--figure it out already!!!!

[darkmoonlady]

I was shocked when I heard that. Honestly after the 2000 elections you would think they would have gotten the kinks out of the system. I heard that early election access had been shortened by the Republican governor because most older Democratic voters went to the polls as early as possible.

http://theweek.com/article/index/235...mocratic-votes

[springer]

It's not your state that's retarded, it's the PEOPLE living in your state who are retarded. And I'm a born and raised Floridian, so I'm allowed to say that

[axl]

We were honestly wondering this yesterday at work.

[FlightCheck]

We're probably the only people who pray "Please don't let Florida be the state to screw up the election"

EVERY ELECTION

[tradewind]

Not to be rude, but having worked with the developmentally disabled, the title of your post really really annoys me...As far as Florida goes, there are many forms of attempted voter suppression that are happening in your state and have been for quite some time. This plus technical glitches are partly to blame for the reason that your state is a mess every election.

[Jamie2337]

Tradewind, I am with you. Can we please quit using the word "retarded" to describe ideas like this? It's really offensive to those with disabilities.

[Long Spot]

Thirding about the use of that word.

[rustbreeches]

I only clciked on this thread to also share my aversion to using this word to describe something one feels is stupid. I'm sure you didn't mean it in an offensive way, but the use of this word in this thread might really upset some people, particularly those with loved ones dealing with challenges

[Windsor1]

Another who believes the word "retarded" as used in the thread title has got to GO.

I so wish I had saved a post by someone on these very forums years ago in which the poster very clearly, very articulately, and very logically explained why this term, used in a derogatory way, is offensive. I still remember it. It was like a light bulb going off.

[DMK]

As a former South Floridian who worked in Dade county (yeah, I date myself) almost every day of her working life, can I just say how very proud I am of South Florida? I mean it's not easy maintaining the standard of the Nation's Fustercluck for FOUR consecutive elections, especially with no shortage of contenders trying to take your crown away (seriously, I thought NJ or NY would have been the unwitting winner this year thanks to Sandy). Even we former South Floridians take pride in a job well done!

I mean if they get this right, next thing you know Hialeah or Miami will vote in somebody without at least a felony indictment on their record...

On the fun side I saw Scott Hiassen as the byline on some of the Herald articles on the election, and I am guessing he is Carl's son, and that's kind of awesome.

Today's best quote out of Miami was the Miami-Dade Supervisor saying "We got this election mostly right" (because only a few precincts out of the 541 were overwhelmed). Yeah, with the state 100% unreported in the presidential election, I'd hate to see your definition of "a little bit wrong"...

[pal-o-mino]

I thought retarded was ok now, because to be PC they're known as 'developmentally disabled'. She didn't say the voting system is developmentally disabled. Anyway, I don't think anyone's comparing the voting system to a person. And it sounds retarded.

[DMK]

too true, I think it would be an insult to developmentally disabled people everywhere to be compared to the Florida election process...

[MoonoverMississippi]

I thought retarded was ok now, because to be PC they're known as 'developmentally disabled'. She didn't say the voting system is developmentally disabled. Anyway, I don't think anyone's comparing the voting system to a person. And it sounds retarded.

Wow, so the "n-word" is now okay since the PC term is "African American"?
That thought process scares me.

[callidorre]

I work with individuals with mental disabilities/developmental disabilities/ mental retardation/whatever term you want to use. Using "retarded" when you mean something is stupid, is the same to me as using the word "gay" to mean stupid/wrong. It really bugs me when people do it, and I do think it's derogatory. The reason people start using other terms is to get away from that derogatory influence. We even having trainings at work specifically on terminology in the past and present. And the term mental retardation is still used (though not as much). The field I work in is classified as MH/MR which is mental health/mental retardation.

To stray off of that rant and be a bit more off topic, we also have other terms that get changed from time to time because of different reasons. The people we assist can be called clients, consumers, individuals, and more terms depending on the year and location.

I do not enough about the voting process to really talk about Florida and what they need to do. That really sucks for the voters though.

[happymom]

Well, they DID elect a felon governor...

[Kate66]

Another who believes the word "retarded" as used in the thread title has got to GO.

I so wish I had saved a post by someone on these very forums years ago in which the poster very clearly, very articulately, and very logically explained why this term, used in a derogatory way, is offensive. I still remember it. It was like a light bulb going off.

As the mother of a child who has some developmental delays I want to help you understand why the word retarded is so offensive to some of us.

Here is quite an interesting and topical thread
http://abcnews.go.com/US/syndrome-at...4#.UJvHboZy7dg

Mental retardation is still an active definition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_retardation

The problem with using the word is that you are using it in an insulting manner. You are using the word "retard!" in an attempt to be offensive, to describe something as less than perfect. Mental retardation is a real and valid definition of a person. A person that has difficulties and intellectual challenges, a person that didn't choose to be any different from you or me and has no control over the label given to them.

I know these days that there is an over sensitivity to a lot of political correctness, but this really is one that is offensive to many people.

[DieBlaueReiterin]

can't believe someone would so blatantly use this word, and can't believe people are down voting those who are trying to explain why it's so offensive. come work in my job for a few days and you'll understand it. how heartless some people are.

[PassionForSaddles]

I agree on the very poor choice of word... and it would be an easy fix to edit it so I guess OP isn't of the same opinion. Oh well.
However I do agree 100% with OP that something is wrong when you have to stand in line for hours in order to vote. I actually think Floridians did really great. I know people in some European countries for instance would not ever consider it if they had to wait so long, they simply wouldn't vote.

[WindyIsles]

I don't know. Why do you use offensive ableist language?

If you wanted any kind of rational discussion you completely derail it by your poor choice of wording.