Hamilton's Pamphlets: Feels Like Florida...

23 November 2004

Feels Like Florida...

Really. Here we are in Washington (State) and it feels like Florida, but without the sun. And the heat. But with rain. And mountains. And snow. And did I mention rain?

What the heck is going on here? It feels like Florida 2000 all over again, what with the King County (or is it Broward or Palm Beach County?) recount follies. Stefan Sharkansky over on Sound Politics (and in Polipundit) is reporting on the shananigans (that's the second time in as many days that I've used that word and I honestly don't ever remember using it before...weird...) going on in Seattle. From the post:

King County vote counters have surgically enhanced 710 previously rejected ballots after county officials divined the voter's intent.

Just exactly how are they doing that? Devining their intent, I mean. Really. If they screwed up their ballots, then its done. Sorry, but we're all grown up now and that means no "do overs". If the ballot says fill in the circle beside the name of the candidate of your choice and you circle their name, put a check mark in the circle, or doodle all over the ballot, then your vote doesn't count.

I voted here in Washington and the Poll Workers and the ballots and the voters guides ALL clearly tell you how to mark the ballot and that incorrect and stray marks can cause your vote not to count. King County uses optical scanning ballots and machines. When you turn in your ballot the poll worker puts it in the machine to see if it gets rejected or accepted. If it gets rejected, they try it again and if it is rejected a second time they give it back to you to make corrections. You fix whatever you marked incorrectly so that it can be checked and accepted. If it STILL won't go through they give you ANOTHER ballot mark the old one as spoiled and put it aside. I'm not 100% sure if the new ballot is handled as if your old one never happened or if they are put together to prove you didn't vote twice or not (little fuzzy on that part). So, now King County is telling us that given all that, they still had 710 voters that couldn't get it right? The state is not disenfranchising these voters, they disenfranchised themselves. If you can't color in the little circle after THREE tries, then you probably are not competent to vote.

Allowing the King County vote counters to "devine" the voters intention opens the door to fraud. All reasonable precautions and preparations were taken to ensure a fair election. This election should not be decided on the basis of a few hundred ballots that are invalid. I would feel that way even if all 710 had Dino Rossi circled, check marked or whatever those knuckleheads did that made their ballots uncountable. One person, one vote and on election day! Not a group of "King County Vote Counters" get to cast 710 votes two or three weeks after the election.

For current and up to date vote counts (county by county, no less) and the latest news and info check out Sound Politics and Stefans vote tally spreadsheet (as of about noon today Rossi's lead is 297, of course that's not counting King County...).

UPDATE: As of 4:27pm Rossi's lead is 316. According to my math, even if the 710 votes go 60/40 for Gregoire as the rest of the King County votes have, she still can't win. I'm sure some other smart folks have done the math and come up with the same conclusion. That can only mean one of two things: One, Gregoire concedes or Two, the lawsuits hit high gear...

Posted by Alexander at 01:27 PM | Permalink

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23 November 2004

Feels Like Florida...

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