As a Chicago native, I am often faced with references to dead people voting and rigged elections. Unfortunately, having grown up under the original Daley machine, they are largely true. My parents helped found the Independent Voter movement and documented some unbelievable cases of fraud. I recall on precinct where the captain actually produced more votes than registered voters. In one percent where I was an observer, a voter discovered that her dead husband had voted before her. For that reason, the controversy with voting machines this week could not have come at a worse time or place — particularly with polls showing the Democrats approaching what could be a disaster. When Republican state representative candidate Jim Moynihan went to cast his vote Monday at the Schaumburg Public Library, he experienced a Homer Simpson moment when every time he tried to pick his name, the machine registered the vote for his Democratic opponent.
As Homer said, “this type of thing doesn’t happen in America . . . maybe Ohio but not America.”
Moynihan issued a warning for Republicans not to trust the machines and “Be careful when you vote in Illinois. Make sure you take the time to check your votes before submitting.”
Cook County Board of Elections Deputy Communications Director Jim Scalzitti insisted that this is not a return to “Cooked County” and that this was merely “a calibration error of the touch-screen on the machine.”
Source: The Week
Maybe if we stopped calling them e-voting machines and instead referred to them as (e)bola-voting machines then perhaps we would cease this partisan bickering about which political party the machines prefer.
The entire voting process is of concern because it’s the People’s voice into our republican system of government. Should we unite in defense of all eligible voters from a system that might disenfranchise them? YES. Should we unite in defense of all eligible voters from a system that might defraud their elections? YES. Should we unite in rejecting a system that permits ineligible voters participation in the franchise? YES.
If you find your reaction to this problem is to defend a political party INSTEAD of joining in the condemnation of the system then you have completely lost all objectivity with our voting process. To defend this on any level is no different than defending an abuser instead of the victim. A flawed voting process creates victims…period!
“I was shocked by the bad public schools, the number of wealthy people that lived in grotesque mansions, the amount of very very poor people , lack of health care, and the baptist hatred of the catholics, and much much more.”
Just like Minneapolis and St. Paul, except for the baptists.
Here, it’s the liberals that hate the catholics.
” I hate the conservative bashing by comedians, but I can look past it if they are funny on other topics.”
I figure they don’t need me anyway.
Keillor went to Dallas and got in trouble with some Bush supporters. I lived in Chicago before Mpls. I could not relate to Keillor. I was shocked when I moved to Texas. I was shocked by the bad public schools, the number of wealthy people that lived in grotesque mansions, the amount of very very poor people , lack of health care, and the baptist hatred of the catholics, and much much more.
Pogo, As you know, St. Paul pales in size to its Twin.
The Top 10 most dangerous cities are all Dem monopolies. Minneapolis tied w/ Cleveland for 10th. St. Paul cops probably dump dead bodies over the line into Minneapolis. Easiest way to cook the stat books.
Years: 2000-2012
St. Paul
Murders 8-24 (avg. 17)
Crime rate = 432.5 (higher means more crime; U.S. average = 301.1)
source
SWM, a few years back Jenna Bush came to speak to a meeting of The League of Women Voters, she is an insightful and intelligent beautiful, tall young woman according to my daughter.
Democrats lie about crime state. NOBODY does it better than Rahm. He has the murder rate declining in Chicago!! Those dead bodies w/ 14 bullet holes are suicides. Watch The Wire, maybe the best crime show ever, written by a great Baltimore Police reporter.
I remember the good old days when republican women were active in the League of Women voters. The league encouraged voting. Nothing like this new crowd of harsh punishing republican women………
Pogo, He’s funny when he’s not ranting. We went to see Nick Offerman in Madison. He is from a man’s man farm household and a libertarian like he plays on TV. But, he threw a few bones to the liberal Madison audience. I’m different than many, Pogo. I hate the conservative bashing by comedians, but I can look past it if they are funny on other topics. I’m a minority and accept that.
There are about 8 to 12 murders in St Paul a year.
Karen, SWM believes MN. is Lake Wobegon, “Where all the women are strong, all the women good looking, and all the children above average.” What a shock is must have been to move from the great white north to TEXAS! I don’t know if SWM will ever shake that PTSD.
I went to PHC twice. The second time, about 2006, Keillor went on a tangential rant about Republicans about halfway through, to the delight of its audience of utter pallor.
I left, have never gone back, and never listened again.
Darren:
No computer system is safe from hacking, in my opinion. Not a good platform for voting.
In this St. Paul neighborhood, campaigning door to door w/o heat would be stupid.
Wait, does SWM just KNOW there is no fraud? It doesn’t matter if there is any account of it happens, it’s just too clean in Minnesota?
Well, thank goodness. My mind is now at rest.
🙂
Pogo, Never been to Prairie Home but I always figured it was as white as a KKK rally. I think Keillor is intelligent and funny. We have dear liberal friends who spend San Diego winters w/ us. They live near UM on the river. As liberal as you get. But, tolerant, a rarity nowadays. Keillor performed @ a small college on Point Loma in San Diego a couple years ago and we went. Funny as hell and not only were there no black people, there were NO MEXICANS! IN SAN DIEGO,
Oh, but wait, voter fraud NEVER happens. It’s completely impossible. Any effort to root out fraud, purge the roles of dead people and illegal aliens, or accurately identify voters is racist.
There is also a measure where people can print out ballots and turn them in to collectors. What could go wrong?
St. Paul has changed…. great progressive mayor.