Republican vote tampering efforts in Ohio took a direct hit this week when newly elected Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner cast the deciding vote to get rid of hackable touch screen voting machines in Cuyahoga County.
Cleveland was the center of a hailstorm of objections to the presidential vote in 2004, where polls up until election day had Kerry comfortably ahead. Whoops, look at that, all of a sudden Kerry was behind…and so lost the national election. I’m sure there was a perfectly good explanation why all the exit polls were so wrong.
In 2005, partly in response to suspicions of vote tampering, Ohio voters were offered several good government referenda related to cleaning up election procedures. [Hey---I mean you could always relax and trust Secretary of State Ken Blackwell to do the right thing---right? The very idea that he came close to being governor in 2006! /rant]
As predicted by the Columbus Dispatch poll, which historically has been accurate to within a tenth of a percentage point, the referenda were slated to pass by a 2 to 1 margin. Ooops, look at that, overnight the voters must have changed their minds! The good government reforms LOST by a 2 to 1 margin. I’m sure it was just a "glitch." I hate this word, it sounds so teeny and innocent, and ever so much sweeter than its real meaning: "election fraud."
By November 2006 voters in Ohio had HAD ENOUGH. With rare exception voters cast out Republicans and elected Democrats for state office including Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Treasurer. People I know who have been lifelong Republicans cast their first ever vote for Democrats, probably crying as they went into the voting booth.
Newly victorious Jennifer Brunner raced to investigate claims of vote tampering and voting machine fraud, with special emphasis on the suspected epicenter of manipulation, Cuyahoga County/Cleveland.
It was sweet revenge to watch Brunner cast the deciding vote in the 3-2 decision to get rid of Cleveland’s touch screen voting machines, which have helped the Republicans cheat their way to victory in the last several elections. But no more.
As goes Ohio, so goes the nation. We hope.
Photo of Ohio flag by DRB62
Related posts:
- Blue America Welcomes Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Candidate For U.S. Senate
- Please Welcome Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Candidate for US Senate
- Online Health Care Townhalls Sunday at FDL: Ohio Democratic Senate Candidates
- Election 2009: What Happened in Virginia?
- Please Welcome Ohio Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher, Candidate for US Senate
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Hi egregious!
hello, McFly?
Good for Ohio! How many states is that now?
Egreegious!
Count every vote.
-G
What? ALL of them?
lahoma and i have decided that in the interest of this nation, and Mother Earth, that she (lahoma) should become president
hi e,
given the “voting” machines, i’m curious how the democrats actually got elected.
Revenge of the voters!
geez! no touchscreens?!? there’s a cryin’ shame…
/s
Massive, unprecedented get out the vote efforts, including people begging everyone they knew to please, just this once, vote for the Democrats. I mean we had 80 year olds out there making the phone calls.
Hi, egregious! That is good news for Ohio voters.
i assume this means she doesn’t wear magic underwear.
Was up in Tahlequah the other night. ‘The people’ are restless. They want change. This, I am advised, is a very good sign.
amenhoorayIt was sweet revenge to watch Brunner cast the deciding vote in the 3-2 decision to get rid of Cleveland’s touch screen voting machines, which have helped the Republicans cheat their way to victory in the last several elections. But no more.
As goes Ohio, so goes the nation. We hope.
Bravo to Brunner! I would love it if Brunner said one day that she has another ax to grind and proceeded to smash the everliving daylights out of the RNC logo. Hey! I can dream.
Awright!! “We’re singin’ You’re doin’fine, OK & Lahoma, OK&Lahoma, OK!!”
Get out the vote was also critically important in the 2007 Virginia elections, where we Democrats took back the State Senate and—especially sweet—kicked Tom Davis’ wife out of office. The end of another mediocre dynasty.
Everything about lahoma is magic. ;0)
Good question. If so in one election, why not the next election? Anyone want to shed some shiny light on this?
actually, it’s a nice pastime thinking about which pups could be president lahoma’s cabinet. anyone want to throw names into the mix?
This could be a very good thing.
Would make you the First Kiddo, or would you like to be Press Secretary?
Short, honest, to-the-point answers.
I think we could leave with that scenario.
werez newt!? i got lotsa opengl Qs 4 em.
lahoma has read your comment. She tells me to tell you she likes your rhythm.
I am Secretary of Snack.
Second that.
lahoma says she wants me to be around when she needs me. She’ll think of job ’script later.
Kiddo – so sorry, meant LIVE with that scenario.
As in it would be a very good thing for us right now.
(Hi Lahoma)
Good for Ohio and Kudos to Brunner! :)
Write A Caption for This Photo Requested By Izzy Forman On Behalf of Comedy Central
Happy Holidays Everyone!
I want to be Minister of Inflammation.
-G
Amazing what a difference a honest state official can make. California also has a newly elected Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, who is slashing thru the corruption there:
Life is good! Ok, other states please take note? Elect clean officials who will carry out their freakin responsibilities.
LOL! Show us your stuff, Miz Secretary. I just had THE most delicious most huge pear, but hey, any kind of decadence would certainly be most appreciated.
Can I be the Minister of Silly Walks? Pleeeze!?!?!?
Well thank heavens.
No voting machine without a paper trail.
Ever.
Is that so hard to understand?
Ahem, writers are on strike & we are not scabs.
From your lips/typing fingers to God’s ears. We still have them here in Savannah, and probably all over Georgia. Greenwarrior asked:
As I understand it, if you fiddle more than about 4% to 6% of the vote it becomes VERY obvious. That’s actually a lot of fiddling. We’ve got to keep on keeping on and getting out the vote, and watching at the polls, and getting rid of those infernal machines.
Does anyone know whether absentee paper ballots are considered to be more reliably counted than election day ballots?
Um…..contests are fun, but would this request have anything to do with the Writers Strike?
Were you around last night when I served this?
JINXY
The point is, to tamper with the vote statewide, you have to have the cooperation of a LOT of people. It’s one thing for a local Repub to tweak the results a little for the sake of Family Values and a little cash under the table, it’s another thing to watch your democracy go down in flames. I think some of the precinct workers got an attack of conscience.
Hello demi…
Lahoma
Well, if you saw the poll watchers/election officials in Georgia I’m amazed they can count to 11 without taking off their shoes… But maybe that’s just here. That’s also assuming that they don’t get “lost” or “damaged” somehow…
Absentee ballots are considered very important in Ca because of the huge numbers of people who vote that way, including me.
GW, I gave this one to NewtonUsr on his birthday.
But do we have a sense that the absentee ballots are actually counted, as opposed to accidentally “lost”? I have no data, it’s just a question.
No, it’s so sweet! It’s just making me grin all over. Thank God they didn’t eat it all up last night.
Did you see my email about the firepup february gathering of the clans?
Glenn Greenwald
I believe in Ca they are accurately counted because there are times when they are still being counted for several days after the election and we wait for the results.
EPU’ed in the last thread so I will put it here
In response to your friends’ Hillary talking points, I would answer:
1. They don’t see any other candidate any better (all have pros and cons)
While true, not all candidates have the same pros and cons. Hillary’s high negatives show that she has a lot of cons. Edwards, Dodd, Kucinich, and Richardson have more positive Democratic positions than she does.
2. She is a strong leader and stands her ground
If she is a strong leader, then why hasn’t she shown it in the Senate? She hasn’t led on Iraq and her support of the war and failure to break entirely with the Bush policy toward it show that while she may hold her ground, this is not a good thing if she is wrong.
3. She’s been there and this is not time for novices (if Bush Administration had been any other this may not be a necessity but it is now)
What does this mean? She is only starting her second Senate term. All of the Democrats running are veteran politicians. Saying that you have experience is not the same as actually having experience. Edwards by the way was a better lawyer. Biden has far more experience than she does.
4. She has the intelligence
So do Obama, Kucinich, Edwards, Dodd, and Richardson
5. She has the ability to convince
If she does, then why is she so unpopular around here. This goes back also to the question of her high negatives.
6. Would a man get as much criticism as she does?
No, but any man with her views should.
7. They believe she will listen to the people (already proven by her accomplishments as Senator of NY)
Actually this is more of a good argument for her to stay a Senator. It says nothing about her capacity to lead as President. Ted Kennedy is a great Senator too but a great President? No, but yes he would have been better than Bush but so would many species of bacteria.
8. She will refocus issues to the domestic front instead of the war front
And the evidence for this is? Her hawkish views toward Iraq and foreign relations contradict this. Will she lead the charge on healthcare? I don’t think so.
9. She has not abused the Constitution
Neither have any of the other Democratic candidates, but she has not stood up for it either. Where was she when Dodd stood up against Harry Reid and for the Constitution in the recent FISA debate? Where will she be in February when it comes up again?
that looks perfect for him. did he like it?
On the lighter side, my mother sent me a Time magazine today and let me know she had gotten me a subscription for the entire year!
Now I will never have to miss the Jokeline!
Merry Christmas.
May I just say…
Your name is so soothing to pronounce.
We could use that as a campaign thread.
Healing. Just say it…Lahoma…..
GW, Newt loved the cake.
Yes, I got the invite. Too far away for me to RSVP.
sorry smgumby
As a resident of NYS I’d like to know a single thing that either Clinton or Schumer has ever done for the state.
Oh! My sister gave me a $10 gift certificate for Walmart.
PS….Pears are good, but haven’t we had enough left-overs. No! I’m making turkey soup right now. :)
A more perfect point-by-point explanation of why I’m not a Hillary supporter I couldn’t ask for. However, if she by some chance gets the nomination one will do one’s duty…
Well, I really appreciate this article, egregious. In terms of my priorites for the order in which to fix things here in our country, fair elections has been third, right after restoring habeas corpus and deconglomerating the media.
11-29-07: MOONSHINE AMERICA – Collapse of the “Trust Me” model
In 2007, Black Box Voting embarked on a year-long investigative series examining elections in what we call the Moonshine territories – reputedly the most corrupt local governments in America….What follows begins with our examination of the “Trust Me” election model as it is implemented in locations like Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. What we found in these locations quickly unravels into an indictment of faith-based elections in all 50 states.
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
Quiz question: do you know the party affiliation of *your* Secretary of State? Are there voting integrity issues in your state? The night is young, and the internet is there before you for searching.
Excellent post. I can’t say with the same certainty that the 2004 election was stolen in Ohio as it absolutely was in 2000 in Florida, but there was a lot of funny stuff that did go on in Ohio in 2004 when its state government was controlled by some very corrupt Republican politicians. So it is good to see that they are trying to improve things there.
But what I would like to know is what state will be the next Ohio or Florida, and what can we do to preempt another stolen election?
Well, on the bright side you won’t have to read Charles Cabbage-mallot(Krauthammer) or Bloddy Bill Kristol.
On the downside is the ever repellent ruminatings of Ramesh “Culture of Death” Ponnoru.
-G
Ya know, greenwarrior, there are just so many inviting targets it’s hard to know how to prioritize. I’m gonna go with restoring Constitutional democracy and specifically, stop permitting the refs to be corrupted [Department of Justice and appointed judges across the country].
And the war! And global warming! And…etc. There is plenty to do. I wake up every morning with new energy to fight these criminals.
ao what do yo do with a $10 walmart gift certificate? hmm. give it to someone less fortunate? buy something you need? hmmm.
This one’s easy. We have a new Secretary of State in Georgia. (Gag.)
Georgia Secretary of State
Something tells me we’re going to have touch screen voting for a while.
Drive by comment for Hugh because he is such a fan of Michael R. Gordon’s journalism:
Question: What do you do if you’re President of The USA, you want to start a war, and you have an increasingly demented chimpanzee sitting in your office?
Answer: You get your flunkeys to ‘ phone the New York Times and speak to their Cheney Presidency Resident ShillChief Military Correspondent Michael Gordon.
“Gulp”
Good night.
*poof*
Dubhaltach
Yeah it was hard to figure out 2004. However 2005, when the 2:1 margin in favor of the election reforms suddenly reversed polarization [did the earth change its magnetism already? I thot that was a few years away] and lo and behold the referenda LOST by 2:1, people began to investigate.
I’m still pondering that question.
I could drive over to the nearest one, which is about half-hour away, and give it to a homeless person in the parking lot.
Really! After the fam left, that was my first question!
And such a thoughful gift too.
Gotta love family. ARG
i started out in my activism with the environment and stayed in that camp for a long time. then moved a bit into political activism so as to have leaders that did right by the environment. but, sad to say, our fundamental rights have been being undermined so seriously that my efforts now pretty much go in that direction.
fingerwhole body in the dike and all that.Yesterday, lahoma and I lost one of our people (Glenna). She had cancer in her head. She died in Montana. She will be coming back to be with the rest of our family in the Navajo Cemetery at the foot of the Navajo Mountains in a couple of days. She was born and raised here. She is an Oklahoman, and a Democrat. One day my lady and me will be there too. It’s a very Democratic cemetery. Goodnight.
Jennifer Brunner has impressed me. Not a lot of flash, just a hard worker.
‘08 won’t be a success unless Boehner and Mean Jean are voted out.
Or, you could simply send quick, short signals to a voting machine that received wireless commands (the signals could interfere with tallies).
Or you could own the servers on which the electronic ballots are counted. If the vote marginias <3%, it would probably be pretty tough to tell that random numbers were added at odd intervals in order to switch the outcome in your favor.
So apart from the actual voting machines, has the Ohio Sec of State moved onto the issue of server ownership yet?
(IIRC, the voting electroning data in Ohio was totalled on servers owned, or rented, by the RNC. Jeepers! )
Goodnight, goodluck.
-G
Give it back to the gifter on his/her birthday.
We used to get them from the hospital. It’s absurdly easy to find someone for whom $10 is the difference between just getting by and being able to afford a tiny bit extra. They need it, and will appreciate it. (Me, simply because I’m a bitch, I’d probably give them the name and address of who to really thank for it…) But I don’t have family, so I don’t have to worry about pi$$ing them off!
ActBlue for Victoria Wulsin, running for Mean Jean’s seat in Cincinnati. She came pretty close last time, let’s put her over the top.
BTW, we still have the 40 or 50 year old lever machines in NYC. You can “reprogram” them by sticking a toothpick in the gears in the back.
(((((Kiddo, Lahoma, and Glenna’s people)))))
kiddo – All love and blessings to you, Lahoma and all of Glenna’s people.
funny…her’s is next week. Oh, man…but that would be so…
you know.
Ditto, ditto and Amen.
Really? I used to vote on them! I still trust them more than the touch screen machines.
I think Sam Reed is still the Secretary of State here is WA. He is a Republican but was vilified by his own party after refusing to declare our current Gov had stolen her very close election against Dino Rossi.
hugs to Kiddo Lahoma and Glenna’s family
Texas Secretary of State is Phil Wilson, used to be Republican Governor Perry’s deputy chief of staff and was nominated by Perry. In the great state of Texas, Secy of State is appointed.
I think you would be surprised at the number of people who are with you there. Folks are making sacrifices in their careers and personal lives to step up.
NYC is so blue, they might as well not have voting at all. And, as far a national offices are concerned, incumbants keep getting reelected. My rep, Maloney, doesn’t do anything either.
egregious, the news about the end of touchscreens in Ohio is heartening! Thank you.
Yay!
Yep, he is WA Secty of State I hope he’s good for you.
LOL, that’s a good article by the way and look forward to the second installment.
Damn. That truly sucks.
Great State of TX, which has 60% of all U.S. executions & will soon have a monopoly.
heh, heh.
digg this post to spread the good news!
Other similarities to authoritarian regimes include poor environmental laws and a fast track to the execution mills.
Sorry.
-G
FWIW, I believe Colorado has also banned most if not all touch screen voting machines.
To have much impact these days requires more advocacy around corporate ownership models, accounting practices, and tax laws. Currently, they enable and reward polluting by externalizing the full costs of products. But electeds control those laws, so voting still matters.
The campaign system needs to be less reliant on large donors, and the election process needs to be cleaned up.
(Digression: It would be interesting to know how much of the Bush family CIA involvment and ‘investment activity’ has occurred in so many corrupt countries, wrought with voting fraud, that the notion of ’stealing’ a US election wasn’t much of a stretch for them. Hey, if it worked in Bolivia, why not Florida…?)
Anyway, systems of good corporate governance require clean procedures.
Same with government.
Good businesses need clean government; the two are Siamese twins.
Dugg.
Wow, I surprised that nobody remarked about the fact that Ohio’s SoS official web site was hosted by the very same RNC servers that Turd Blossom/etal… utilized…
Sorry about Glenna, Kiddo and Lahoma. I’m glad she’s coming home.
Select something from Walmart as a gift for her? Actually, I like the idea of giving it to someone it could make a difference for.
Done Elliott – ten diggs thus far.
thanks egregious!
“People I know who have been lifelong Republicans cast their first ever vote for Democrats, probably crying as they went into the voting booth.”
LOL, yes there are still some moral American Republicans out there. probably the ones smart enough Not listening to biased Fox News, or the wingnut, bigoted, blabber mouthing talking Heads.
yes there is hope!
Alas not the end of touch screens all over Ohio, but it is the end in Cleveland/Cuyahoga County, where the most egregious stealing was done.
They can’t win honestly, so they have to cheat. We can do better.
My mother for one, lifelong Republican, who wishes she could vote for “the party of the reasonable.”
Greg Palast says that courtesy of voting machine rigging & other R voting fraud, the Ds start prez elections 6 million votes in the hole.
Actually, it’s not really an “LOL” moment. I work with people who are “classic” Republicans who are horrified by what has been done to their party and their country. What’s going on now is not really anything that anyone can laugh at. /rant /tantrum
“Yes”, she said *hanging her head in shame*.
wow! what a cheating head start the Repubs give themselves
Well, if you can’t win honestly, with good ideas, and you have to win, I mean absolutely positive have to win, at any cost, this is how it’s done.
TX executions have not actually increased; the rest of the country has decreased. It would help greatly if one of the options juries here had was “life without parole”. Does not currently exist.
They made the bed they lie in now, choosing for the last 30 years to exploit the sickest most atavistic impulses in American society for partisan electoral gain. Now, surprise, surprise, the whole fucking thing has blown up in their faces.
I have no sympathy for those greedy assholes who hitched their “low-taxes, small-gubmint” U-Haul trailer to the batshit-crazy right-wing authoritarian racist hate-filled vestiges of the Confederacy. None.
Why does the option of “life without parole” not exist?
No idea.
Palast is a good site to follow….
gregpalast.com
I mean, what could go wrong?
Oh, and the worst thing about Palast’s work is that the Ds are not doing anything to reverse the R cheating.
I hope that the protection of voter’s rights will be put back on the table with the better Democrats we’re looking for as candidates.
You might also want to look at his book Armed Madhouse. It’s a barn-burner.
Republican Motto
“If You Are Not Cheating, You Are Not Trying Hard Enough.”
Too true. Truer than I’d really like to think about much…
So they can keeeeeeel people.
-G
IIRC from the article that the NY Times did on this the other day, the option for Life w/o Parole HAS finally been added in Texas within the last year or so.
Sam Reed worked for Ralph Munro, a legendary Sec. of State. Munro is now retired, but spoke out publicly about the ‘overtaking’ of the Republican party by religious zealots.
Reed and Munro were Republicans, but of the old, sane, get-outta-my-personal-life, Main Street wing of the party. This was overtaken (beginning in about 1984) by Pat Robertson and the wingnuts, who view everything through a lens so partisan that they’ll happily demolish good government in order to obtain ‘control’. Very self-defeating and Rovian.
The Sam Reed and Munro Republicans are kind of like those folks over in the NE states who believed that Republicans supported fiscal responsibility. Those NE states are now Dem as Republicans felt ‘abandoned’ by Rovian tactics and the Moral Majority creeps.
Errata:
Wa State Sec of State Sam Reed was villified by the wingnuts wing of the Repub Party after following the law and counting the ballots in favor of Dem Gov Gregoire in 2004.
We need a new term: “Information Stewardship“. Sam Reed has shown outstanding Information Stewardship. He’s been a tireless, extremely effective advocate for the state’s archives and also for the state’s library (which is a depository of all kinds of odd, but essential, data and info — much of which is irreplaceable).
The wingnuts didn’t get Sam Reed’s ass on a platter (yet). Instead, they got USAG John McKay ’s. Evidently, the Wa state wingnuts were chewing up the phone lines to K-k-k-arl Rove’s WH office and they wanted a head to roll. Sam Reed is an elected, so the Rovian creeps couldn’t oust him; they got McKay instead, b/c he was an apppointee.
The wingnuts still blame McKay for ‘failing to investigate and prosecute vote fraud’. Ironically, USAG McKay had made his decision not to prosecute in conjunction with FBI, but apparently that wasn’t good enough for the uber-partisan wingnuts. (One of McKay’s siblings was a leader in the Bush for Pres statewide organization. Guess Rover forgot that in a weak moment. Whoopsie…)
That whole episode reveals just how bizarre and delusional some of those wingnut crazies really are. Scary.
That would be my guess, but thought there might be a real answer.
Not really OT, but what does anyone think would happen if “None Of The Above” was available to be voted for?
Right you are!
(I went to school with Greg and remain a big fan.
Did some PR work for him on his previous book.
He nice boy.
NY Times article on executions
It was a sad moment when Russia decided to take “None of the Above” off their ballots. I thought this could be used around the world. Still can tho, right?
It would win. I was just at a Boxing Day get together and 12 people were sitting around, and only one was happy with a candidate, and it was Ron Paul.
And what would happen if “none of the above” got elected?
demi is he single and available?
It might arguably be better than the Bush/Cheney maladministration.
Well, we’d have to have something in place to allow for a “snap” election like they have in the UK. Gawd, what a blessing it would be — only a month of campaigning… Obviously it can’t happen now, but the threat of it might make for a more coherent campaign. Pray God…
Not a chance, doll.
Married with children.
Trust me, I’d know.
:)
i know what you mean though the lol moment was from picturing egregious’ comment,
“ (Republicans) probably crying as they went into the voting booth.”
they have great courage, i can only imagine hard it must have been for them!
married.
Well, they may be giggling at me if I have to bring a barf bag into the polling place to vote for a Dem I’m not really fond of!
Was it really “blood, barf, and tears”?
Thanks for this, egregious, and more like posts on this subject, please? This is the number one priority. Nothing else on our wish lists can come true until this insidious e-voting crap is gone. (EPU’d m’self by reading all the comments first.)
So many corrupt areas to attack simultaneously, hard to know where to start. But I agree it will be difficult to accomplish our goals while they have a stranglehold on the voting mechanisms. The good news is people are starting to realize there is election fraud [NOT “voter fraud”] on a scale that is truly large enough to sway entire elections. Glass half full here.
“My mother for one, lifelong Republican, who wishes she could vote for “the party of the reasonable.”
tell your mom thanks, she did a noble deed!
“BLOGGED BY Brad Friedman ON 10/21/2007 5:04PM
Will the GOP Election Theft Machine Do It Again in 2008?
From DREs to the ACVR to the DOJ, The Republican Alphabet Soup Blueprint for Disenfranchisement and Miscounting in Next Year’s Election Has Been a Well-Crafted and Well-Funded Work, Long in the Planning…”
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5185#more-5185
.
I agree completely. The real fraud is being carried out by Republicans.
Brad Friedman at Bradblog and also Bev Harris at blackboxvoting.org have been all over the election fraud issue. Highly recommend both.
A lot has been happening ‘below the radar’ on the election fraud front. BradBlog.com has been focusing on it and is a great source of information.
BradBlog.com
Even paper trails are meaningless. We never know what’s really going on in the machine’s software or chips.
The only ‘cure’ is to toss ‘em in the river with concrete shoes and turn to good old paper ballots which we humans can read and reread.
BTW, not many people know, the goofy butterfly ballot in Florida 2000 was designed by a Dem election official who only shortly before was a Repub and only about a year after that fracas reverted to Repub. Also, the ballots were made incorrectly by an Irish firm friendly to Gov. JEB Bush. It wasn’t computer fraud, but fraud nonetheless.
The Repubs have used a lot of different techniques to ‘win’.
This would be very late in the game to start working on fixing things. But, thankfully, many people have already been working on it.
I’d expect Arizona, probably Texas and maybe Georgia could be major battle zones.
They were counting on manipulating US Attorneys to help with warping the vote in ‘08. Too bad they got busted.
Think Tim Griffin.
Old news.
All the Ohio election data was routed through those servers in Tennessee. Those servers were owned by the same company which handled RNC e-mail and which has now supposedly lost about 1/2 million e-mails (if I recall correctly).
It’s a good question though. Has Brunner severed that tie or are Repubs still going to have their hands on election numbers? She’s been doing well so far, so I’d guess that was one of the first things she’s done.
In 2004 it might be said that the election of Debra Bowen to be SoS in California was THE most important election in the country, save the presidential race. She too is doing great and is throwing out the machines.
There are pockets of resistance to getting rid of the machines and it might surprise you that they’re not all Repubs. Yep. Some Dems like the machines too.
NC SoS = Elaine Marshall (D) :-)
Interesting to learn:
1) first female SoS in state
2) we share same age and university degree (weird, that)
I don’t know about states, but I know Cook County, Illinois. We in Chicago take our elections and our politics real serious . . . we KNOW stolen elections in our bones. Our elections are now done on optical readers with hand filled out PAPER ballots. David Orr, who runs our elections, had the good sense to stay away from the Diebold fiasco.
Watch for California, where the Cons are trying to push for splitting electoral votes by Congressional district.