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Posted on 11/17/2012 7:45:01 AM PST by smoothsailing
November 17, 2012
FORT PIERCE, Fla. - About 100 people milled around Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker's office Saturday morning while workers set up batteries of machines to recount eight days of early voting ballots that could effect the tight District 18 congressional race between Patrick Murphy and Allen West.
As of 9:40 a.m. on Saturday, the recount had not begun. Five Sheriff's patrol cars were parked at the entrance to the building on Okeechobee Road, where security was tight.
Saturday morning, Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker was nowhere to be seen. Friday night it was reported she had been taken to a hospital.
The decision to recount the ballots came after a state elections auditor on Friday found a box of 306 early ballots that never were counted.
The decision came hours after a St. Lucie County judge denied a request by U.S. Rep. Allen West for a full recount of early votes in the race for the 18th Congressional district.
The recount of every early vote cast for every race was expected to begin on Saturday morning and would include the three days of early voting that were retabulated earlier this week.
Tod Mowery, a member of the Canvassing Board, said the ballots -- which were found in a box -- had not been counted.
"We are pleased the Canvassing Board has done the right thing for the voters of St Lucie County by agreeing to a retabulation of early votes," said West. "All we have been fighting for since the very beginning is to ensure the citizens of this county have their votes accurately and fairly counted."
Earlier on Friday, attorneys for West argued that discrepancies in vote totals and reported equipment malfunctions warranted a recount to ensure the integrity of the race.
Attorneys for Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker and Patrick Murphy, the projected winner of the race, countered that Judge Dan Vaughn would have invited error and chaos if he had sided with West.
Vaughn said the elements for a temporary injunction had not been met.
West, the Tea Party favorite who appeared to be headed for defeat, has refused to concede.
After a partial recount of ballots cast during the final three days of early voting in St. Lucie County, Murphy, a Democrat, led West by 1,907 votes or a margin of more than 0.5% — more than what would trigger an automatic recount.
“It stands to reason that if the remaining early votes were to be recounted, additional errors would be uncovered and the tabulation of votes revised accordingly,” Allen West for Congress said in a statement.
The campaign called the recount a “sham” and said all eight days of early voting in St. Lucie County should be have been recounted.
Late Thursday, West's attorneys said they had discovered possible discrepancies in St. Lucie County after a review of early and absentee ballot information.
Nearly 1,000 votes may be in question, according to Tim Edson, Allen West for Congress campaign manager.
In a letter to Secretary of State Ken Detzner, attorneys said 110 early votes were cast in a precinct that didn’t have enough early voters to support the number of votes cast.
Four hundred eighty-eight people cast early votes in precinct 28, they said, but election returns showed 499 early votes were counted.
Attorneys also raised concerns about 121 voters they said had returned absentee ballots but did not appear to have been assigned precinct.
Earlier, volunteer attorneys for West had petitioned Detzner to conduct a preliminary investigation into the election and for a machine recount in three counties. Attorneys Mark Young and Jeffrey Scott Shapiro said 809 votes disappeared when the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections retabulated the final three days of early votes on Sunday.
Young and Shapiro said the missing votes, which accounted for 3.2% of the retabulated votes, amounted to an irregularity.
After the retabulation, West received a net increase of 535 votes over Murphy.
“On faith and belief, if this trend continues, for the remaining votes, the final outcome of the Congressional election could change,” Yound and Shapiro said.
David Drury, a Florida Division of Elections bureau chief, arrived in St. Lucie County on Wednesday to begin an audit of how the county’s canvassing board ran the election.
A spokesperson for Detzner said he expected Drury and two others from the state’s Bureau of Voting Systems Certification to remain in St. Lucie County through the weekend.
Last week, a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge denied a request by West to impound voting machines and recount ballots.
West has less than one week left to contest the election.
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"More Ballots via Gary Angelo Galiano
Note: I do not know if these are more boxes found which were never counted or what. I know one box was found in a High School Gym and another box somewhere else.."
She’s a real piece of work, isn’t she.
Is it any surprise that she is also a “triple dipper”...
http://potterwilliamsreport.com/2012/11/11/allen-west-vs-florida-election-boards-big-dipper-.aspx
obambi don like dis
The electoral votes ain’t been officially counted yet.
The trail of fraud points right back at odumbi’s butt.
These trust fund regressives don’t wanna go share a cell with hungry Bubba! They will rat the White House Out.
It sounds lIke they use paper ballots, but the ballots are not tabulated at the polling place. Once the ballot is run through the counting machine, is it automatically marked so it can’t be counted again? This system sounds worse than the Palm Beach hanging-chad punch cards. Plus, I heard some ballots were mangled by the tabulating machines.
This fiasco gets more weird as each day passes. I truly don’t think they can verify an iron clad ‘chain of custody’ for the ballot boxes at this date.
From Facebook Page: Two guys bringing in two boxes to add to the count. Pictures at Facebook page: "More Ballots via Gary Angelo Galiano Note: I do not know if these are more boxes found which were never counted or what. I know one box was found in a High School Gym and another box somewhere else.."
GOOD GRIEF, it is time for WAR. Immediately after the polls close there needs to be ARMED guards stationed around those boxes, every step of the way from precinct to Election HQ.
Republicans should also be there. lock those boxes down, using two locks. One for Republicans and one for the Thieving Democrats.
I know there are poll watchers there, but what are they really doing if not to see where those boxes are going? Please I don't mean to undermine any of those hard workers trying to do the best they can under Democrat RULES.
Am I going mad.......(don't answer that)
Someone had to know that ballots were still not accounted for.
“one box was found in a High School Gym and another box somewhere else”
One guess who those votes are for.
The republicans down there really need to start taking control, we are in war.
I am not in Florida, but every election across the states affects me and you.
Don't let those boxes get out of your view.
When a box is full......SEAL IT with TAPE, WAX, LOCK BOX and NUMBER those boxes with initials of who sealed them. Whatever it takes.
Each Poll Watcher must be present in the sealing and initial off on the number of the box.
DO NOT LET THOSE BOXES OUT OF SIGHT... escort them to the election board.....make them INITIAL off on each box as they receive it.
I sold Real Estate for many years, and I made everyone SIGN off on every document that was transferred to someone else. DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT.
All good advice, but do not be surprised if we learn that we just had our last presidential election.
ALLEN WEST RECOUNT UPDATE via Dale Davis: Just by the numbers:
Our winning number is 3,308
Our winning magic number is 1,907 (still a recount)
Our mandatory recount number is 1,654
254 more votes needed to kick in a three county
mandatory recount of every ballot cast.
If there is a vote swing of just 127 ballots
then we will recount the whole Congressional District 18.
(vote swing means if Murphy lost a vote, and West gained a vote
that is a two vote swing, hence double 127= 254)
So in St. Lucie County:
West......... 52,672
Murphy....... 65,567
difference....(12,895) if this number drops below 12,641
there will be a mandatory recount.
If the (12,895) drops to 9,587 Allen West is the winner, no recount.
Allen West Republic · 13,350 like this
about an hour ago ·
ALLEN WEST RECOUNT UPDATE via Dale Davis: Just by the numbers:
Our winning number is 3,308
Our winning magic number is 1,907 (still a recount)
Our mandatory recount number is 1,654
254 more votes needed to kick in a three county
mandatory recount of every ballot cast.
If there is a vote swing of just 127 ballots
then we will recount the whole Congressional District 18.
(vote swing means if Murphy lost a vote, and West gained a vote
that is a two vote swing, hence double 127= 254)
So in St. Lucie County:
West......... 52,672
Murphy....... 65,567
difference....(12,895) if this number drops below 12,641
there will be a mandatory recount.
If the (12,895) drops to 9,587 Allen West is the winner, no recount.
https://www.facebook.com/AllenWestRepublic/posts/387148831361351
LOL
LOL
*****ATTENTION ALL SOUTH FLORIDA PATRIOTS****** The Allen West recount is still going on in Ft Pierce. The report from the Boots on the Ground is that some folks are getting tired, and there is more work to do. IF YOU LIVE WITHIN AN HOUR AND WERE THINKING ABOUT JOINING THE CAUSE...PLEASE STEP UP TO THE PLATE! WE NEED SOME RELIEF FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN STANDING & STARING AT BALLOTS FOR 6 HOURS NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some folks may not be aware that the St. Lucie County numbers are only part of the election total. LTC West doesn’t have to win St. Lucie to prevail in the overall race.
That was funny! Boom-Boom!
Allen West Republic
11 minutes ago
UPDATE ALLEN WEST RETABULATION: Via @Gary_Galiano
It’s official folks the injunction has been turned down turn down turn down!!!!!!we are home free!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was funny. And now it’s gone off his facebook page.
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