South Dakota Suspicions

The National Review ^ | 11-07-02 | Byron York

[DK Zimmerman]

Interesting piece...

Officials: Ballots only altered to make them readable
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SIOUX FALLS - It is not uncommon for election workers to make duplicate ballots if the original cannot be read by machines, said elections supervisor and Secretary of State-elect Chris Nelson.

His comments came amid reports that election workers in Shannon County darkened marks on ballots because voters wrote too lightly in Tuesday's election.

But Nelson said there is a procedure for dealing with cases where ballots were not adequately marked by voters. In such cases, a resolution board creates a duplicate ballot that was marked the same way as the original, but done in a way that it can be scanned by machines, Nelson said.

Nelson said he did not know specifically what happened in Shannon County, but it would only be a problem if workers were not making duplicate ballots.

''If they were darkening the marks on existing ballots and not making a duplicate, that's greatly troublesome,'' he said. ''We want to preserve that original in the exact fashion that the voter marked it so if there's any question ... it can be reviewed.''

Renee Dross, election clerk for Fall River County, which handles elections for Shannon County, said there was nothing unusual about what election workers did and that duplicate ballots were made. Such cases come up in all elections, she said.

''It really wasn't a big deal,'' Dross said.

from: http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/4459206.htm

[kittymyrib]

Can you say Sanchez and Dornan? Or Landrieu and Foster? How many of these fradulent elections are we going to put up with just to look like good sports? It devalues honest votes everywhere.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Let's string up some exemplars as a warning.

Amen!

[Quilla]

This is an execellently researched article - thanks for posting it. I wonder if Bon Homme County is near Shannon and the area suspected of fraud. Did you see this thread yesterday?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/783850/posts

Here's the gist of it:

I read in an earlier thread that, as of the March 2002 primaries, Bon Homme County had some 2,200 registered republicans and some 1,900 registered democrats. CNN shows that Johnson received 1,858 votes (nearly 100% dem turnout) versus Thune's 144 votes (only 7% republican turnout). How could the republican turnout be so low? Just a 50% republican turnout would have put Thune way over the top.

[Quilla]

Hey, that's supposed to say excellent!

[Pippin]

GLendening vs. Saurbray!

lIKE THAT?

[Uncle George]

Every absentee ballot should be traced to a LIVE VOTER WHO VOTED THIS ELECTION. then declare a winner.

[DWPittelli]

He doesn't mention the apparent fact that every man and woman in the county, save approximately two, are registered to vote. This blatant fraud MUST be prosecuted, or our entire system of government is a sham.

I agree that Shannon County merits investigation, but given that the county has a 2001 census estimated population of 12,783 it is certainly not impossible that 3,118 people voted.

We don't want to look like Sore-Loserman 2000 by going off half-cocked on this. It should be done professionally and without shrillness, especially since there is a special election in Louisiana on Dec. 7th that the Republicans will likely win if they can avoid turning off the middle with such tactics.

In short, let the investigation proceed, and perhaps we'll see the Dems hang themselves on this. (I'm about to post a related article if it isn't here already.)

[DWPittelli]

While Shannon and Bon Homme counties are both on the sourthern border of S. Dakota, Shannon is near the western edge, while Bon Homme is near the eastern edge. Also, while Bon Homme is 95.5% white, Shannon is 94.2% American Indian.

(see http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/46/46009.html)

[Steven W.]

you should send this analysis to Byron York and to 'info@johnthune.com'

[Steven W.]

PS - Americans will not be turned off by a request for a recount in such a close race, particularly given Thunes' gracious stance thus far and the prior reports of fraud. SERIOUSLY - the margin here is so small as to be reversed by simple recount alone. The further potential for excluding fraud could make a change in margin significant.

[DWPittelli]

as of the March 2002 primaries, Bon Homme County had some 2,200 registered republicans and some 1,900 registered democrats. CNN shows that Johnson received 1,858 votes (nearly 100% dem turnout) versus Thune's 144 votes (only 7% republican turnout). How could the republican turnout be so low?

CNN has a typo. See the official site at:

http://www.state.sd.us/sos/results/allraces.shtml

Thune had 1,444 votes, not 144 in Bon Homme County

[Taiwan Bocks]

Someone needs to ask some questions here.

I agree with you 100%. And in Kalifornia too.

Someone with a bigger shovel might work on the cr@p done there.

[sissyjane]

Bump

[jdogbearhunter]

PING


...for great justice

[AFPhys]

We don't want to look like Sore-Loserman 2000 by going off half-cocked on this. It should be done professionally and without shrillness, especially since there is a special election in Louisiana on Dec. 7th that the Republicans will likely win if they can avoid turning off the middle with such tactics.

I agree, and I hope and pray that is the way we all can proceed on this. So far, it appears that is the approach Thune and the Republicans (and the media so far) are taking.

[dfwgator]

McCain isn't going anywhere.

[DWPittelli]

Americans will not be turned off by a request for a recount in such a close race

I agree, go for the almost-automatic recount -- as long as it's done in a low-key, routine manner. But even apart from raising the fraud issue (a major double-edged sword) sounding too much like you're haunted by a "grievance" when going for a recount is apt to injure one's future prospects (e.g., B-1 Bob Dornan, if I remember correctly, as well as Sore Loserman).

[politeia]

The constitution guarantees every state (and by implication its citizens who comprise the state) a "republican" form of government. This means at minimum fair elections untarnished by blatant fraud. The fourteenth amendment guarantees "equal protection" of the laws. Allowing or facilitating election fraud certainly violates this provision since the truly elected candidate may be fraudulently denied office.

While I do not like the Florida example of using the courts to try to overturn elections I don't know where else a citizen can go to get a hearing and redress when they belileve their votes are being cancelled by fraud. It seems to me that legal voters in S. Dakota who suspect fraud would therefore have standing to sue the corrupt election or party officials who knowingly participated in a fraudulent election. If there is evidense of fraud, I would hope that thousands of S. Dakota citizens (not the political parties or the candidate but the actual citizens!) would file a class action suit demanding immediate action to investigate and correct the vote. It would be refreshing for honest citizens who just want a fair election to use the courts and the laws to protect their civil rights for a change!

[ninenot]

Precisely what happened in Milwaukee in the Presidential election (Bush "lost" Wisconsin by 5,000 votes---easy to manufacture in Milwaukee's precincts)

Precisely what most likely happened this year in Wisconsin's Attorney General race, where the Dim won, pulling MORE VOTES than the Dim Governor nominee--and many suspect that votes from 3 counties (Sheboygan, Milwaukee(?) and EauClaire) were, ah, tainted.