HEADS UP: John Thune Press Conference At 2:00EST

MSNBC ^ | 11/06/02 | TonyInOhio

[TonyInOhio]

MSNBC lists a press conference by John Thune on their Live Video page. I expect MSNBC cable to carry it as well.

[coramdeo]

Hypothetical question: what happens to the voter fraud investigation if Thune concedes or asks for a recount? Won't it continue?

Whatever Thune does will have no impact on the voter fraud investigation. It is a separate criminal matter, brought by the State or the Feds. Its purpose is to punish criminals, not to adjust the final result. It might be parallel to whatever Thune does, and use some of the same evidence, but the two are completely independent.

[Wphile]

I don't know but my guess would be older style machines.

[YaYa123]

I really appreciate clear, concise, correct information like this:

"Thanking contributors and campaign workers. Thune said earlier that the campaign is over, but that the process of deciding the winner of the race is not."

Thank you

[AmishDude]

From SoS website, Shannon county results:

Year	Office	R	D	Others
1988	President	256	1206	17
	US House	250	1167	N/A	Tim Johnson (D)
1990	US Senate	433	579	69
	US House	304	720	N/A	Tim Johnson (D)
	Gov./Lt. Gov.	630	430	N/A
1992	President	225	1267	159
	US Senate	165	1416	52
	US House	130	1373	102	Tim Johnson (D)
1994	US House	159	973	102	Tim Johnson (D)
	Gov./Lt. Gov.	46	985	102
1996	President	253	1926	105
	US Senate	348	1949	N/A	Tim Johnson (D)
	US House	364	1843	96	John Thune (R)
1998	US Senate	239	1228	92
	US House	623	912	96	John Thune (R)
	Gov./Lt. Gov	182	1137	99
2000	President	252	1667	34
	US House	619	1285	55	John Thune (R)
2002	US Senate	248	2856	14	Tim Johnson (D) John Thune (R)
	US House	208	2857	46

By numbers alone, I'd suspect at least 800 illegal votes.

[ScholarWarrior]

I say we
SUE the SIOUX

[AmishDude]

#70 was a misreading. BTW, Shannon has 6990 registered voters and 3120 showed up -- lower than most of the state.

[EnquiringMind]

Holy smoke - that is an incredible turnaround from 2000... fishy alright. Good detective work.

[Fred Mertz]

Man, you ain't kidding, something looks fishy in 2002.

[GAGOPSWEEPTOVICTORY]

6990 voters are REGISTERED out of a possible 6,992 eligible voters. Apparently everyone registered. If you believe that, pass the peace pipe kemosabe.

[Paraclete]

Shannon County is basically the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The local Sioux FAlls station reported that some (I believe I heard this correctly) counties with sparse population have another county do their administrative duties ie. vote counting.

So, be careful that you assume the total reported is just Shannon County. I would doubt there is much Republican support there. Let's see -- who was President when Wounded Knee took place?

[ScholarWarrior]

But actual voting is up by an average 1,000 votes, or 50%.
If there is widespread fraudulent registration in this as well as Todd, Buffalo, and Dewey counties, it would cause the turnout numbers to be lower.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

"a bit curious" - that is an understatement. Let the process continue - and not concede. The Dems will attack from all fronts on this - Mr. Thune and all the Republicans MUST STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH! Please, all, contact the Thune campaign and the GOP - for encouragement to them to not concede and to not let Fraud STAND!

[Blood of Tyrants]

Something stinks in Shannon County.

[luv2ndamend]

Check the local dumps for ballots.

[Puddleglum]

Votes are missing!!!!!!

Maybe they are the ones found burned in the garbage cans!

Did they really find this?

[GAGOPSWEEPTOVICTORY]

Problem is the Democrats probably commmited just enough fraud to make the lead hold up. It will be hard to whittle down 500-plus votes because of fraud. I have a feeling they hoodwinked us.

[Cosmo]

O, I certainly agree it's all suspicious. Thank god we actually have real documentation instead of a bunch of unsubstantiated accusations ala Florida

[johnb838]

Since there was already an investigation going on there may be more documentation than there otherwise would be.

[alancarp]

To save some effort, I had posted a bunch of background data on this thread. In short, the reservation suddenly got a 1750 voter increase in registration between 2000 and 2002 -- which apparently registered virtually every eligible adult. Very unusual in a place averaging only 40% turnout over the past several years.

[AmishDude]

Voter registration in Shannon county, from here:

Year	R registrants	D registrants	Other	% voted
1988	679	3073	328	36%
1990	663	2936	476	27%
1992	680	3142	582	37%
1994	461	2613	514	35%
1996	623	3817	783	43%
1998	526	3731	705	31%
2000	563	3909	866	37%
2002	505	5556	929	44%

Note that the abberrant numbers occur during years when Johnson is running for Senate. Hmmm...