Poking through the boxes of rejected unopened absentee ballots this week, I came across this shocker -- three dozen ballots from overseas, out-of-state and service voters that were impoperly rejected last November
The label says "29", there were actually 28, along with another bundle of 8 "RM" (registered military) ballots with a similar label.
State law [RCW 29A.40.110 and WAC 434-240-240] requires absentee ballots to be postmarked on or before election day, except for "service voters, overseas voters, and out-of-state voters", who merely have to date their signature no later than election day. 35 of these voters signed their ballot envelopes on time (one failed to sign his ballot). The actual postmarks appear to have been early enough to ensure arrival well before certification, so these ballots should have been counted. Nevertheless, the ballots have remained sealed in their envelopes for the last 10 months.
A complete list of the 35 disenfranchised voters is posted here . Among them are 4 "RM" (registered military) voters (one posted here), Erin Frost, whose return address suggests she's a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador, and Amir Cahn, who was on a student program in Israel. His ballot was postmarked at 8:23 am on November 3, Israel time, which was still election day here at home.
In another box of unopened ballots rejected for late postmark, I found this one, which was postmarked from New Zealand on October 29, and should have been counted under any circumstances.
None of these voters were credited with voting, except for Erin Frost, who if she or her family looked up her name on the county website would have been told incorrectly that her vote was counted.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at September 09, 2005 05:05 PM | Email ThisGood job Shark! Posted by: Reporterward on September 9, 2005 05:51 PM
Is there anyone we can hold accountable?
Obviously not Dean Logan, Ron Simms, Gregoire, SoS, or King County Elections. At some level of our government is there not someone who can be shown this information, who can take charge and say this is not acceptable?
Can't we find just one respectable mainstream journalist who can get this information out to the general public?
How about one lawyer who wants to make a name for themselves by suing government employees for some creative phrase relating to their failure to perform?
What can we do?
In all but the PC cases officials escape behind various veils provided by politicians from both parties. My take is that they provide these to shield themselves, when caught, from hostile witnesses. Remove the protections they enjoy against being held PERSONALLY responsible for fines and civil penalties and watch all hell break loose. By God this would go a long way toward cleaning the crooks out. At this juncture being 'held accountable means going on a paid holiday as long as you dont break omerta.
Posted by: JDH on September 9, 2005 06:30 PMThe Powers That Be just won't let it happen. Lady Justice left the region years ago.
Shouldn't the Feds be involved with this?
There are a few military websites I'm going to forward this to.....(It's time to kick the tires and light the fires......;)..)
Posted by: Deborah on September 9, 2005 07:42 PMHowever, when King County bungled the election under Logan, the media has been pretty quiet, making only the most polite criticisms of Logan and his gang.
Keep it up Shark. Eventually some politician or appointee is going to suffer the same fate as Brown.
Posted by: Jeff B. on September 9, 2005 08:01 PMBTW - Irons will get blasted for having a negative campaign, but really he isn't. He's just listing all of Ron's accomplishments....they just come across that way all by themselves
Posted by: Dengle on September 9, 2005 08:24 PMWould the ACLU support the suit? (no)
Will the MSM pick up the story? (at best 2 column inches on C-18)
So far there is enough solid evidence for the entire staff at KCE to summarily executed (err ah fired).
Posted by: JCM on September 9, 2005 08:24 PMNote that the "Post-It" note states that the person examining those 29 (or 28) envelopes recognized that the signatures indicated they were voted in time, having been "mailed to/from out of state too late postmark on time sig."
Someone seems to have recognized that the signatures indicated all 29/28 should be accepted as valid, if the signatures matched those on file.
But, that recognition seems not to have had the effect it should have.
Valid ballots were lost, invalid ballots were sent through vote tabulation, valid ballots were rejected, etc.
Rubbing salt into the wound, the personnel purportedly supervised by Way didn't accurately credit voters whose ballots had been accepted and included in the vote tabulation.
Voters who lost the crapshoot in King County's ballot processing had no way to know -- short of going to look at their own envelopes to see if their ballots were still sealed inside. Even then, they wouldn't know if their ballot actually went through vote tabulation once taken out of the envelope.
The question remaining is how many subordinates of Way should be fired. Logan is an incompetent ignoramus, but he's not the one who actually processes ballot envelopes and ballots. The people who receive the pay for processing them must be people who have the cognitive ability and willingness to do the work correctly.
It seems obvious that Logan's gang hasn't been playing dumb. They are incompetent.
Posted by: Micajah on September 9, 2005 08:26 PMMost citizens of King County will never hear this unless there is paid televised exposure to it.
Posted by: jaybo on September 9, 2005 08:49 PMThen again, you would think Queen Christine would be investigating. What happened to "count every vote?"
Posted by: dl on September 9, 2005 08:59 PMThe cry was COUNT EVERY (in soto) democrat VOTE!!
Headlice what we have here is prima fascia evidence of crimes committed.
We would have like to have the election overturned, but if you would review this blog for the last 10 months the over riding concern has been to clean up the election process in KC and WA state. Each little thing adds up and eventually the whole thing will come crashing down.
It will leave Gregoire in office till '08, but the intention is to have an election we can have faith in in '08. By that time Gregoire will be lucky to win the primary let alone the general.
Posted by: JCM on September 9, 2005 09:09 PMAl Gore helped airlift some 270 Katrina evacuees on two private charters from New Orleans, acting at the urging of a doctor who saved the life of the former vice president\'s son.
Gore criticized the Bush administration\'s slow response to Katrina in a speech Friday in San Francisco, but refused to be interviewed about the mercy missions he financed and flew on September 3 and 4.
However, Dr. Anderson Spickard, who is Gore\'s personal physician and accompanied him on the flights, said: \"Gore told me he wanted to do this because like all of us he wanted to seize the opportunity to do what one guy can do, given the assets that he has.\"
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/09/katrina.gore.ap/index.html
Posted by: jdb on September 9, 2005 10:00 PMIf the State Elections Director can sit on the witness stand and state that he doesn't know the various election laws, which he did, how can we expect for every election worker to know the actual law? They don't! They rely on their supervisor to keep them straight. KC has probably been doing it this way for years. Furthermore, Dean Logan probably doesn't the specific laws either.
Posted by: sgmmac on September 9, 2005 10:03 PMI'm glad that the bar on proper political discourse has been lowered enough on this post for me to hop over it. Posted by: Reporterward on September 9, 2005 10:18 PM
Is that proof of leadership, or of Gore's grandstanding to make a political point? Wouldn't a real leader spend more time and effort getting everyone out and solving other problems, or maybe even getting the Democratic leadership to work together down in N'Awlins? maybe he could spend the money to repair a levee rather than just getting 270 people out. Where are they living--with Gore? Is he feeding them, too?
Exactly who is Gore the leader of, anyway?
I think I have asked this question once a week for the last 7 months.
THE PEOPLE OF KING COUNTY DESERVE BETTER!!!
Posted by: Joe on September 9, 2005 11:28 PMIt is no surprise that Logan didn't want you to look at those envelopes!
Think if King County Staff had seen these while photocopying all those absentee envelopes to fulfill your request. I know you would have ever seen gotten those.
You should have opened all of them! All those uncounted ballots in your hand would have been a great front page photo for the newspapers.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
AND hey why didn't any of the independent investigations find these!
Stefan, next time you take a field trip to MBOS remember to get a big yellow bus and take All the council members, Keith Ervin, and the editorial board from the PI and the Times!
Just ban the IP already.....I'm sick of wading through their trash to get to the quality posts... The liberal trolls are petty, juvenile and ignorant!
The term "Fair and Balanced" is not inclusive of fools and trolls! Sheesh!
are you drunk, on drugs, or just another stupid f*cking liberal? excuse me, i meant a person of tolerance and diversity. so you stoop to name calling? you think "stefan" is a gay name? i would think you would want to give him special rights, heck, how about a handout from the government, i.e., my tax dollars, because gays are a suspect class (that's a legal term for you liberal idiots).
like all stupid f*cking liberals that read this site you miss the point. Mr. Sharkansky is bringing to public view violations of the law. of course, as a liberal, you don't believe in the rule of law. you want to substitute your own version of "fairness." as in, "it's only fair to count the votes of felons and illegial aliens" oops, excuse me, undocumented voters.
i'm sorry that the rule of law doesn't mean that much to you. i guess we should bow down to your personal sense of "fairness." only when my sense of "fairness" is substituted for the rule of law will you complain.
Posted by: joe on September 10, 2005 12:40 AMyou know, i think i'd really like to know you personally, but all we're going to do is spar on this blog.
i still don't understand why you persist on insisting that "Stefan" is a gay name. what's your point? name calling, even my juvenile calling you a f***ing liberal doesn't advance the course of discussion in our country. but i must admit it felt good. shame on me.
i respect your opinions and your right to disagree with every thing us moderates stand for. that's what makes this country great. but let's not stoop to name calling. disagree with stefan all you want, but what good does it do, how does it advance your cause, to say he has a "gay" name? if you're the liberal i think you are, i would expect that you would be a little bit more tolerant.
disagree with us all you wish. we love the debate. and unlike your fellow libs, we really do want to hear another opinion, we're glad you read this blog, we love to hear what you have to say. let's just raise the level of discourse.
joe
Posted by: joe on September 10, 2005 01:05 AMNo offense intended. But the "Negroes" of New Orleans are more American and have contributed much more to this country than this immigrant Jew computer programmer and his barely acceptable Imigrant Jew parents.
No offense intended!
Posted by: headless lucy on September 10, 2005 01:21 AM(Scene of soldier taking fire from an Islamic terrorist.)
His vote didn't count.
(Picture of medic tending to the wounds of a small Iraqi child.)
His vote didn't count either.
(Picture of soldier training Iraqi guardsmen.)
And his vote didn't count either.
They filled out their ballots and sent them in on time. They followed state law.
(Picture of Ron Sims smiling.)
But Ron Sims didn't count their vote.
(Picture of woman with sign that says: "Keep counting until socialists, liberals, or democrats win")
Apparently Democrats don't stand for democracy. Only those people who agree with them have their votes counted.
(Picture of soldier mourning near a white cross in the sand)
Not those who put their lives on the line everyday to defend democracy. They don't get a say in our county.
Vote Republican. Bring back honor and respect to our government. Vote republican and vote for democracy.
Posted by: Jonathan Gardner on September 10, 2005 01:35 AMWhat are the names of YOUR children who don't get a say in our country?
When the Bush twins sign up, come talk to me. 'Til then , it's UN_AMERICAN blather.
Posted by: headless lucy on September 10, 2005 02:11 AMIn addition I second Deborah's post to ban Lucy's IP. I think debate is healthy and those who write here with differing opinions is fine. BUT there is a huge difference between quality debate and name calling, bigotry, and hatred. Which is what Lucy's posts have eroded too.
Posted by: Joe on September 10, 2005 02:29 AMIt appears that Headlice had another psychotic episode last night and decided to decorate the "pages" of SoundPolitics in the same sh*t-flinging fashion that baboons do at the zoo.
Very nice there Headlice - you do your species (whatever that may be) proud.
And what contribution did he make to the discussion? Not much. Just a reinforcement of why liberalism has come to be known as a mental condition.
Even the mouth-breather troll biteme/jdb/dupe had a point (stupid, insipid, and simple minded, but a point nonetheless).
So thank you Headlice for the telling display of the superior intellectual prowess of the left.
Now, don't you have some urinal cakes to change?
Posted by: alphabet soup on September 10, 2005 08:01 AMPhew!
Posted by: JCM on September 10, 2005 08:34 AMWho do we blame, Whitman or Pierce County? I am inclined to believe Pierce County did not get the info to Whitman County in time to get her off the roll here, but... maybe not. I will get to the bottom of this.
I see first hand now, the totally screwed up mess this election system is here in this state.
BLAME BUSH!
WHY didn't I think of that? hehe
Posted by: cc on September 10, 2005 09:27 AMThe Senator from NY is very hawkish!
Posted by: sgmmac on September 10, 2005 10:02 AMI like your sketch for a campaign ad, but keeping in mind the anti-military posture of so many in Seattle, I think it would be essential to also include an on-site photo of the disenfranchised Peace Corps worker, too.
Just a note from a fellow Coug again...
When exactly did your daughter register in Pierce County? Not just August, but the specific date?
If she registered in Pierce County after August 12, then, given fair processing time of 5 days, there is no possibility that Whitman County would have been notified of the cancellation of your daughter's registration in their county prior to the 30 day lockdown of the registration files for the primary election.
At the 30 day point, the county auditor's office is no longer authorized to make official changes to the registration file (administrative changes to update the file may be made, but these are dictated by the date tht the data was postmarked and/or received in the election office by law). the only exception is people who register in person in the office during the 15-day window.
So if your daughter's cancellation in Whitman County was received after that 30-day point, the Whitman county folks are forbidden by law from cancelling her for this election, they would have to cancel her effective the General election. Thus she was sent her last ballot from Whitman.
I am one of the most vocal critics of elections offices on this board, but it's only fair to also point out when an election office may not be screwing up, but actually following the law.
Posted by: Susan B. Anthony on September 10, 2005 10:59 AMsome on the bus will be afraid and look away and clench their bags for their lives;
others, like me, will clench their walking sticks firmly and wait for that oh-so-perfect whap 'cross your noggin; keep it up, Goofball & see if we're kidding;
Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on September 10, 2005 11:31 AMI believe she said she did it Aug. 12. I hope she kept a copy, but I doubt it. I will be checking with her on this. I did think of that and am not going to jump to conclusions!
I will post somewhere here when I find out. I too am very critical, however, I am more than happy to clarify what might have been a legal requirement, instead of an election office screw up.
Go cougs! Posted by: cc on September 10, 2005 11:54 AM
It would be probable given that she is a "moonbat liberal".
I will never understand how the jewish community can support groups that inwardly despise them.
Posted by: jaybo on September 10, 2005 12:06 PM...after an all-too-brief summer hiatus.
I don't know if it has been established that she (he?) is a teacher, but teacher, admin, or custodian, it doesn't much matter.
With her blend of complete ignorance and utter lack of personal integrity, headlice is a toxic contaminant for any child unfortunate enough to be in the same facility.
Posted by: ewaggin on September 10, 2005 12:38 PMjaybo, i don't understand how any group can support a political party that _outwardly and openly_ despises them.
not much from headless lucy this morning. has she, 1)found her lithium? 2)been nursing a bad hangover? or 3)been out this morning registering felons to vote?
The ONLY other place citizens have for recourse is the coming elections and winning races with a sufficient margin so the results can't be changes with the shenanigans that were so apparent in King County this past year.
We need first and foremost to elect David Irons as King County Executive. It requires donations to his campaign effort NOW! Without both financial and doorbelling support and getting out the vote in November we will lose and have no other chance to provide true change in King County until 2010. Get it? 2010!!!
Second we need to elect capable and accountable leadership in the King County Council. That includes getting rid of those who are part of the problem. Re-elect Steve Hammond, oust Carolyn Edmonds, for starters.
Time is short folks, and we need to do what is possible within the next two months to change the course of elected leadership in King County. In three years we can make changes at the state level with Rossi and someone to remove Reed.
But do what you can now to elect David Irons. It can be done.
Posted by: bulldozer on September 10, 2005 02:40 PMAgreed, however I am predicting Ron Sims wins over Irons --
80% to 60% with an accuracy rate of 99.998%.
Did you take a hit from your crack pipe just before you read my comment and replied to me?
I do believe that you are the ONLY ONE that understands your response.
Posted by: jaybo on September 10, 2005 08:29 PMIf we use our votes "wisely", in some cases we can win no matter what.
I will vote all Democrat in the primary and place votes for the following:
1. 1st dist. King County; Bob Ferguson (not Carolyn "the dim wit" Edmonds).
2. Anyone but Sims.
3. The rest still undecided.
It is my opinion that the Republican candidates that I like will win without much trouble so I don't need to waste a vote on them.
I have also decided to be responsible for all of the Republican Candidate "signage" in my area. I regularly repost them after the "undemocratic" liberal left attempts to silence free speech by vandalizing them.
If the King County Republican Party would produce a campaign brochure that I could print from the web, I would do so also.
Is David Irons getting any public attention yet?
I really think that just discussing the facts of last years calamity election will be enough to swing independants away from Sims and to ANY OTHER CANDIDATE running against him.
He is really in a bad spot right now and you can infer that from the fact that we see little or nothing from him lately.
Posted by: jaybo on September 10, 2005 08:49 PMyou said, "I will never understand how the jewish community can support groups that inwardly despise them." i agree completely.
but the democrats don't just inwardly despise the jewish community, as evidenced by headless lucy's posts, (assuming she represents the liberals, which i think she does), truth be told, they openly despise the jewish community, but pander for their votes. her posts are so anti-semitic as to be on the verge of hate speech, but she and her party depend on the jewish (and other groups) vote to maintain what little federal power they command.
sorry i wasn't clear. i was trying to agree with you, but perhaps my words didn't convey that message.
"The report itself has identified a number of fraudulent activities. They follow:
I. 100 instances of double voting.
II. More than 200 felons voting.
III. Paid registrars listing false names as new registered voters.
IV. The number of votes counted exceeds the number of identified voters by 4,609.
V. And, what I consider the REAL problem – the original voter registration lists are in such poor condition it is impossible for even trained investigators to use them to verify activity on November 2, 2004."
Believe it or not they are talking about Wisconsin! ("Pull On Superman's Cape" website)
Some things you can always rely on democrats to do with consistency.
1. Stick to the party's talking points with a religious furvor.
2. Know how to successfully steal elections.
Apology accepted!
Please don't take what I said personally, I thought you were one of the moonbat trolls that frequent this site.
Posted by: jaybo on September 10, 2005 09:02 PMJimmy Carter says those types of elections are honest with out fraud. Look at every election he has monitored in Central and South America. He has yet to meet a Socialist society vote where the election was not honest and above board. They are show case elections.
The only honest election for the liberals is a socialist vote. Remember. GAS TAX to fix the roads means the viaduct carries 25% less traffic. I guess the gas tax money can only be used to make the traffic worse. That means they can tax us more. Bus service I dont know for sure but I think 60% to 70% of the total costs are paid by tax payers. Again another great deal by the democrats. Historically it looks like when the real honest people want something they will do the opposite. If we want an honest election they are going to corrupt the system to get there way. Watch them try to corrupt the election again not just KC executive but certain other votes that will affect the Gas Tax, Hurt the lawyers or affect the Unions. Watch them do some major monkey business so they can keep the status quo and no one will be the wiser.
What really gets me is that liberals in this state think it is the right thing to do. It is not the voice of the people they want to hear it is their corrupted idea of what society should look like. Most Democrats are sheep that dont know what the Democratic party has become. Just like in Germany. Nazi party took control by dividing the population. SO too do the Democratic party today. Then again the democrats believe in the same socialist values as the Nazi Party. We see their goons all the time destroying signs for Republicans. Rights only exist for them all others have no rights. You can tell that by the way Lucy talks. Posted by: David Anfinrud on September 11, 2005 01:33 AM
Also, any idea why 8 of the ballots were military according to the label, but only 4 according to your spreadsheet?
Jonathan -- You probably already know this, but your proposed ad is misleading given that only a small fraction of the uncounted ballots were military, and also that you assume that all military personnel vote Republican.
Posted by: Bruce on September 11, 2005 11:50 AMA friend of mine received his on Saturday, a week after his wife received hers, and his had a 60 cent stamp. Talk about wasting money. He has not moved since the last election.
Posted by: Bill B on September 12, 2005 10:55 AMI am outraged that even if they are misinformed voters, they deserve the right to vote even if they don't vote the way I want to. I am glad you are also outraged.
It just shows that our outrage at the election wasn't to get Rossi into the governorship by hook or by crook, but it was as stated- clean up the election process.
Posted by: swatter on September 12, 2005 11:24 AMIt is remarkable how uninterested the media is in these election problems. Don't they pride themselves on "speaking truth to power", and being the watchdog of those in charge? You know, they're always so sure those running the government are corrupt, conspiring to gain total power...oh yeah, only when it's a Republican administration. When it's Democrats in charge, well, their hearts were in the right place, they weren't trying to disenfranchise anyone....
Re: Headless, folks, s/he is convinced everyone on this site is a hopeless bigot, so she thinks the worst thing she can say about Stefan (to a bunch of conservatives) is to say his name is "gay-sounding", or to suggest his parents are immigrants, or Jewish. She is calling US bigots. She's also trying to derail the conversation.
Don't feed the trolls. But if you must, just firmly tell them that "having a gay name" and having "immigrant Jewish parents" are considered neither arguments nor insults on this website.
Yes, there is, it is Ron Sims and his puppets leading the King County Council.
You hold them accountable by beating the bushes with this information and getting people to vote for David Irons as Executive, and if they live in District 1 or 5, by voting for the Republican candidate for county council.
Only by taking control of the council away from Phillips and Gossett can you allow David to clean house at King County and stop this mess from continuing.
Posted by: Steven Pyeatt on September 12, 2005 02:06 PMPlease look at the facts. Not the facts as presented by the liberals, the “fact” facts before the liberal spin. Brown didn't bungle ANYTHING associated with any response to Katrina. He is another sacrificial lamb to the political games of the left hiding their specific and complete brazen disregard for anything but their own positions. Brown was courageous and had a lot of class to step down but I wish he would not have.