Mary Francis Berry proposes mob-rule elections (Election reform must read)

BET.com ^ | 08/05/02 | vanity

[twas]

"This Sunday on "Lead Story" with guest host Amy Holmes:

This week: A one-on-one in-depth interview with Mary Francis Berry, chair of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, about the upcoming mid-term elections, election reform and other key civil rights issues. Cassandra Clayton hosts.

Tune in Sundays at 11 a.m. (ET) !"

[twas]

Last night, I watched the BET "Lead Story" interview with Mary Francis Berry.

One of the election reforms that Ms. Berry would like to see enacted it to allow anyone to vote on election day and then later, after the election, go back and check the legitimacy of the voter.

I can't think a dumber idea.

Can you imagine the nightmare scenario?

All you need is a few days of rumors and innuendos about stealing an election and you'll have mobs of people swarming the poles demanding the right to cast a vote.

Not only that, anyone could then use these faulty, questionable, illegitimate votes to claim that even if some are tainted, they represent the will of a greater majority.

This idea needs to be exposed for what it is. An attempt to steal an election with illegitimate votes.

[Clara Lou]

Ms. Berry keeps trying to make her dream world our reality. She apparently believes she has a special anointing to make the US what she knows it should be.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I can't think a dumber idea.

I can, but it's really tough, and unlike MFB I've got a real job that needs doing.

[lonestar]

Mary Francs Berry is a certifiable idiot.

Actually she is the "dumb" in "blonde" jokes; color changed to protect her identity.

[ClaireSolt]

Is this "provisional ballots"? They allow someone who thinks he is a registered voter to cast a ballot which will only be counted, if checking voter registration rolls verifies the voter's claim. This is designed to handle people who become irate at polls and cut down on need to call the registrar from polling places.

The only way I can think of to be sure that bogus votes are not cast is for us to become involved and make sure that voting and counting are carefully monitored.

[Blue Screen of Death]

How do you do an "in-depth" interview with someone who is only pond scum deep?

[monocle]

I can't think of a better scheme to eliminate the secrecy of the polling booth.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

It's barely worth pointing out that if you waited till after the election to check a voter's credentials, no meaningful remedy would be possible. Since the ballot is secret, you can't know how they voted. So at most you could punish the voter (though that would never happen), but their fraudulent vote would still count.

[YaYa123]

The next race-baiting meeting of MFB's commission meets on:

Friday, September 13, 2002
Unless otherwise announced, all Commission meetings begin at 9:30 a.m. at the following address:

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
624 Ninth Street, N.W.
Room 540
Washington, D.C. 20425

[Free the USA]

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