LeDuff: The vote is in - incompetence wins by a landslide!

myfoxdetroit.com ^ | Aug 29, 2013 | Charlie LeDuff

[cripplecreek]

DETROIT – When the government cannot guarantee something as elemental as a person's vote, that government becomes illegitimate.

That's where we're at in Detroit after the spectacle perpetrated by the office of the City Clerk Janice Winfrey and by extension the Board of Elections. A banana republic.

Missing hash marks, tardy absentee ballots, candidates left off the ballots. 108 percent of the adult population registered to vote and the mysterious retirement of the director of the board of elections.

The aftermath of the Detroit primary this month devolved into such a sitcom that the write-in ballots had to be sent to Lansing for a proper counting, and now a judge up there is thinking of kicking the whole thing to the feds. Sheesh.

It's enough to launch a thousand conspiracy theories – see Tom Barrow. And conspiracy theories – like military juntas - do little to encourage democracy.

Instead of theories, I like to deal in facts. So along with veteran pollster and politico Steve Hood, I obtained the city's 2013 registered voters list, the state of Michigan's 2013 registered voter list and the city's absentee voter file from the 2013 mayoral primary. We ran the lists through a computer program and cross referenced the names, address and dates of birth. Then I got in my car and knocked on some random doors.

[cripplecreek]

Right off the top I say this should not be kicked up to the feds because nothing will happen. 108% registration, 45 people over 100 years old, city names don't match state's lists.

[cripplecreek]

Detroit voter mess.



Michigan legislative action thread

[slouper]

Long since gone nation wide.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

107.5% vote democrat.

[bigheadfred]

this voting thing its like so yesterday

[onyx]

Where's the discussion about black voter disenfranchisement?

[upchuck]

Reading this article, one could get the idea there are actually a few people still living in Detroit and they all practice voter fraud.

"There is an obvious lack of quality control," Hood said. "It just reeks of incompetence at the very least."

Except that sometimes incompetence is very carefully contrived.

[TurkeyLurkey]

Talk about utter chaos...a small picture of what may come upon the whole country sooner than we think.

[clearcarbon]

Detroit 2012 Election Results:

Obama 98%
Romney 2%

Election results won’t be questioned until
demRats start eating each other.

[Cyber Liberty]

FTA: I agree with Mr. Stephen -- 108 percent. We need an outsider to monitor the general election in November since the clerk seems to be asleep at the wheel, counting sheep.

Send Jimmy Carter. He's not doing much these days, it seems time is sitting pretty heavily on his hands. He could teach Detroit how things can indeed get far worse.

[Cyber Liberty]

Yes, it’s odd that errors attributed to “incompetence” always seem to favor the Rats.

[cripplecreek]

The Chaldeans and Copts appear to be solid GOP voters but the bulk of them live in the surrounding cities.

[cripplecreek]

Also out of Detroit today.

LANSING - Attorney General Bill Schuette today announced felony charges against seven current and former City of Detroit building, plumbing and electrical inspectors for allegedly accepting bribes to look the other way when construction projects endangered public safety, building code violations were found, and when the proper building, electrical, and plumbing permits were not obtained. The case originated from an investigation by the FBI-Led Detroit Area Public Corruption Task Force in collaboration with the Michigan Attorney General’s Public Integrity Unit.

[Cyber Liberty]

Building Inspectors taking bribes?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks cripplecreek.

108 percent of the adult population registered to vote

"We are the 108 percent".

[Popman]

LANSING - Attorney General Bill Schuette today announced felony charges against seven current and former City of Detroit building, plumbing and electrical inspectors for allegedly accepting bribes to look the other way when construction projects endangered public safety, building code violations were found, and when the proper building, electrical, and plumbing permits were not obtained. The case originated from an investigation by the FBI-Led Detroit Area Public Corruption Task Force in collaboration with the Michigan Attorney General’s Public Integrity Unit.

Friday...I was talking with one of my customers and he mentioned he worked in the electrical union in Detroit years ago...he told me two stories:

1. Electrical inspectors commonly would visit sites to inspect the work would wait in their cars to receive their "envelope" and then drive off, not even walking into the building...

2. Once a Electrical inspector actually walked into the site and give them a clean bill, without doing even a cursive inspection...when questioned, the guy said he was just transferred from the sanitation dept picking up trash and given this job...