Mrs. Gregoire1 is holding an online election where you can vote for your favorite design for the Washington State Quarter. Unfortunately, like all other Washington elections, this one is on the honor system and appears to be hijacked by those who do not follow the rules. Mrs. Gregoire's instructions say "Please only vote one time per person". But the system appears to allow people to vote as many times as they want to, or even run scripts that automatically vote repeatedly.
The three candidate designs are:
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I personally prefer the leftmost one above with Mt. Rainier, salmon and apples, but #2 is nice too. #3 is neither representative of Washington nor all that attractive. #3 is winning, with an implausible 574,896 votes out of 952,884 cast at this writing. The number of votes appears to be increasing by more than 20 per second, strongly suggesting that one or more robots are stacking the vote.
1 The number of people who voted twice in November 2004 greatly exceeds Mrs. Gregoire's so-called margin of "victory".
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at April 09, 2006 12:51 PM | Email ThisThat's a direct quote from Mrs. Gregoire, when her 'victory' was still in doubt, in a State where such picturesque customs trump election law.
Posted by: Hank Bradley on April 9, 2006 03:21 PMI personally do not like the third one- it doesn't represent Washington well at all. Number 1 and 2 are very similar while #3 is unique.
Is this just a primary election? o_O. Number 1 or 2 alone would win easily against #3.
If they take this seriously it will be very upsetting.
Posted by: Gerald on April 9, 2006 03:21 PMThere's gotta be bots voting for #3.
Posted by: Gerald on April 9, 2006 03:25 PMMaybe they should have stuck to those highly accurate, highly secure (but oh-so-convenient) mail-in ballots. Then we wouldn't be having these problems--except for all those ballots that came from somebody named Xerox, or Canon, or Knonica..:-) Posted by: pseudotsuga on April 9, 2006 03:33 PM
I prefer Number Three. It has an Orca, our official marine mammal (known the world over) done in the very popular style of local native art. It's nifty.
It's also a unique design, compared to the insomnia-relieving designs most of the other states chose. (Who can forget Indiana's race car plastered awkwardly on a map of Indiana? Or Georgia's Giant freakin' Peach?)
I truly think we missed the boat in not offering a quarter with our state seal on the reverse. With Washington's profile, naturally, on the obverse, and his profile repeated in the state seal on the reverse, we could have provided America the nation's first legal two headed coin!
(Apparently, and this is not a joke, humor is disallowed in the state designs, by order of the US Mint, and thus an early suggestion of just this idea was scrapped.)
Out of dozens of people with whom the subject has come up, I have yet to discuss the state quarter with anyone who doesn't think that number three, the Orca, is the best choice - you would be the very first person I know in the anti-Orca category. So the proportion of the votes skewed toward number three doesn't really surprise me at all.
I do agree, it will be interesting to see how many votes are cast as compared to the population. What a tribute to Christine's ongoing election legacy to have yet another election with more votes than voters!
But, NO-O-O-O-O-O!
Public Law 105-124 provides for designs to be submitted in accordance with the design selection and approval process developed by the Treasury Secretary in the sole discretion of the Secretary. The law further requires that, "because it is important that the Nation’s coinage and currency bear dignified designs of which the citizens of the United States can be proud, the Secretary shall not select any frivolous or inappropriate design" and "no head and shoulders portrait or bust of any person, living or dead, and no portrait of a living person may be included in the design."
Criteria
Designs shall maintain a dignity befitting the Nation’s coinage.
Designs shall have broad appeal to the citizens of the State and avoid controversial subjects or symbols that are likely to offend.
Suitable subject matter for design concepts include State landmarks (natural and man-made), landscapes, historically significant buildings, symbols of State resources or industries, official State flora and fauna, State icons (eg.. Texas Lone Star, Wyoming bronco, etc.), and outlines of the State.
State flags and State seals are not considered suitable for designs.
Designs limited to one or two concepts, as opposed to multiple concepts, translate best as designs on the small template of the quarter.
Consistent with the authorizing legislation, the States are encouraged to submit concepts that promote the diffusion of knowledge among the youth of the United States about the State, its history and geography, and the rich diversity of our national heritage.
Priority consideration will be given to designs and concepts that are enduring representations of the State. Coins have a commercial lifespan of at least 30 years and are collected for generations.
Inappropriate design concepts include, but are not limited to the following: logos or depictions of specific commercial, private, educational, civic, religious, sports, or other organizations whose membership or ownership is not universal.
Concepts or background materials submitted to the Mint which are covered by copyright, trademark, or other rights (such as privacy and publicity rights) must include a release acceptable to the Mint from the rights owner that allows the concept or materials to be used on the coin, in marketing and promotional materials, and on the Mint’s website for unlimited worldwide distribution without charge or restriction. (Please Note: Any artwork submitted without proper releases will not be considered.)
Posted by: FT on April 9, 2006 04:11 PMIn the time it took me to type this post, the score went up tp 590,594.
Posted by: Steve_dog on April 9, 2006 04:14 PM#3 now up to 590,872.
Posted by: Steve_dog on April 9, 2006 04:17 PMShark Fan - I am one of the ones that does not like number 3. I feel that it is exclusionary of non-native americans (my family has been in this country since the late 1600's, when can I be native to this country?), it is exclusionary to our state's residents that do not live near the Sound, and I also think that it is exclusionary to native american tribes in eastern washington that have no traditions based on the Orca. I feel that a coin representing our state and its residents should have a much wider breadth of expression, such as number 2.
IN fact, they have links to each State's Governor's site -- for those who were doing on-line polling and news announcements, an on-site on-line polling of each of the designs to date, pending designs, resident-submitted (but informal) designs (those submitted for Arizona are FUNNY!), and some of the final designs prior to the selection for the previous states.
And, a comment section.
Posted by: FT on April 9, 2006 04:35 PM(LOL)
#1 seems too jumbled and it includes the state outline, which has been done numerous times already on previous quarters (PA, GA, MI, NY, TX, IL, MN, IN, SC, MA, OH
#3 looks like a second grader created it. They couldn't find a competent artist to do that one? The state will be a laughingstock if that design is adopted. Not as much as for the '04 gubernatorial election fiasco, but people nationwide will consider our state a joke.
Too bad the salmon on #2 couldn't have been competently rendered in Native American form, because I think it would have helped gain approval from more people.
Posted by: MES on April 9, 2006 04:40 PMI can't imagine what forces would want the third design so badly to set up a voting robot, but that sure seems to be the only explanation! Unlike Sharkfan, I have yet to meet one person who can even understand how that design made the finals!
Posted by: kimmrz on April 9, 2006 04:47 PMThose Red States know how to prevent over-votes (even in trivial matters), I guess.
By the way, as a regular visitor to quarterdesigns.com, I recommend visiting it. Like FT said, it has the winning designs, along with designs that didn't make the cut, and those under consideration. Interesting to see what's to come and what might have been for the quarters.
Posted by: MES on April 9, 2006 05:19 PMWonder if they will take it down when it hits 6mil. Since that is greater than the states population.
Posted by: BV on April 9, 2006 05:29 PMI was really shocked when I saw the results after voting. Now it makes sense if someone is using a bot to pump up the numbers.
Posted by: ItTakesAVillageToConveneAGrandJury on April 9, 2006 05:30 PMWhat a careless and amazingly revealing disconnect from reality.
Just like a cheerfully retarded child.
Ever hear of the concept known as 'projection'?
(LMAO)
There we have Exhibit A, ladies and gentlemen: why we conservatives will continue to lose statewide elections here in WA -- even if we resolve Records and Elections' problems in the "County formerly known for a Vice President".
Oh well. Time to wrap up the housework, and get ready for the next week's segment of the $95K/year job.
Posted by: FT on April 9, 2006 07:30 PMHey! Maybe it's the "felon" boys! They love to play with numbers....
Posted by: Debprah on April 9, 2006 07:44 PMStill doesn't explain the massive votes for #3. That one looks more like something out of Juneau.
Posted by: Hindu on April 9, 2006 07:48 PMPlease tell me what, on design two, was also
not already here before statehood?
Design one has apples, brought by those evil white folk.
But this coin is suppose to refect the "state" or in other words the "Statehood" as decided by the population.
Posted by: Mike P on April 9, 2006 08:09 PMYes ft, you're employing it (badly).....
Posted by: alphabet soup on April 9, 2006 08:15 PMThe downside to Montana's system is that my wife and kids can't vote after I voted, but I don't know how you work around that.
Mike P - I am NOT JDB, just an unfortunate coincidence. Before settlers came to Western Washington, we indeed had the native culture along with their symbols. As of statehood in 1889, we had additional cultural influences. IMHO, #3 only expresses one part of our culture and regional history. I personally would prefer to see something that reflects more of the state as a whole. The Orca reflects Western Washington, but nothing of Eastern Washington. Salmon reflects our heritage and was (is) important to all regions of the state. Washington Apples are known the world over and reflects a large portion of our history. Yes, the mountains have been here since before statehood, but they are also an important and world recognized symbol of Washington. Having the mountains in the picture also reflect on our belief that we live in "God's Country" and it also represents the forests we have that give way to our name of "The Evergreen State".
Posted by: SouthernRoots on April 9, 2006 08:41 PMWe agree on two points: this polling is being freeped and that design 1 is the best of the three.
Posted by: Daniel K on April 9, 2006 09:11 PMThere are 49 other states doing state outlines, mountains, agricultural products, etc---and most of the coin designs so far are cluttered advertisement discs. It's called "keep it simple"---it's a coin and not a billboard--and it needs a coin-sized design. #3 fits that bill.
Have you ever noticed how well Washington's state flag stands out from the other 49 states? The others mainly are dark blue or white backgrounds----ours is the only green one. Again, a distinctive standout.
Coin deisgn #3 would follow is the same tradition and is my handsdown choice. Let's set our coin apart from all the others.
Posted by: LeoR on April 9, 2006 10:05 PMI agree, but instead lets have a purple toad smoking a cigar and blowing smoke rings.
That'd be distinctive.
Posted by: Gerald on April 9, 2006 10:22 PMhttp://www.quarterdesigns.com/proposed/washing.html
It's ridiculous that automated voting on this scale would be allowed to influence the choice of state quarters design. And it's going to be very embarassing for Gregoire. She never stops putting her foot in her mouth.
Of course, she will probably blame this on "those talk show radios."
Sorry for the mistaken identity. As for voting in Washington. This state has taken the Mayor Daly (chicago) approach to voting. So vote early and often, after all it is the result that matters. Not how you got to it. Posted by: Mike P on April 10, 2006 07:06 AM
6:41 AM 138,205 310,157 685,439 1,133,801
6:51 AM 138,328 310,498 686,504 1,133,801
7:02 AM 138,537 310,927 687,804 1,137,268
That's a increase of 5,560 Total Votes in 30 minutes. It's hard to believe that there would be this many people voting this early in the AM.
Posted by: Janet on April 10, 2006 07:36 AMThat's a increase of 9,596 Total Votes in 60 minutes. Unbelievable!
Posted by: Janet on April 10, 2006 07:52 AMBut I do have a problem with this excercise being exploited, because it will be impossible for Gregoire to get an accurate assessment of the design she picks in terms of her representation of the entire state if, the results are all skewed by robotic voting. Afterall, this will probably be by far and away the greatest source of votes for the quarters designs in our modern world. I don't see that many folks sending a postcard given that we have the Internet. It's sad and a good example of why government is consistently a failure that they don't have more technology savvy folks in Olympia.
There have been many blog award voting events conducted over the past few years. Bloggers and other corporate IT personnel have more than learned how to to conduct an online poll by limiting votes by IP, or by IP per day, etc. And many very accurate, yet cheap assessments have been made of public opinion.
It's testament to the lame government of this state, and to their lack of concern with or ignorance of technology that this happened in the first place. Given such disregard, I hardly expect Gregoire to do a decent job of selecting the final design, with or without accurate public input.
Posted by: Jeff B. on April 10, 2006 08:15 AMI heard that Queen Christine’s pimp…err… I mean her “Campaign Manager,” sent her out to solicit funds from the fans at the “SAFE” the udder nite. When she came back, she gave her “Campaign Manager” a bag with $25.25 in it. He asked her, “Who gave you a quarter?” She answered, “They all did.”
Forgetaboutit.
Posted by: Joey bag of doughnuts on April 10, 2006 08:29 AM"The public opinion poll has been temporarily suspended. SQAC (State Quarter Advisory Commission) still wants your assistance in making its final recommendation to the Governor and we hope to have the poll operational again as soon as possible. Please check back tomorrow Tuesday, April 11. "
Posted by: Randy on April 10, 2006 09:16 AMBut when I went to fire up my vote bots to stack #1 but the online voting has been suspended. Guess someone took notice.
I wonder how those without computers vote for this? Oh wait, I will vote for them as well. I do have a couple of servers that I can recruit. :)
Posted by: Bryan on April 10, 2006 09:21 AM#1 - 48505, 19.68% of the total
#2 - 43080, 17.48% of the total
#3 - 154848, 62.84% of the total.
On the states site, #1 is running at 10% and early yesterday it was running at a 5% rate. To end up as over 19% is incredible, but so were the earlier numbers for #3.
Design #1 actually had the largest percentage increase - 52.52%; with #2 at 15.86% and #3 at 28.63%. This was due to a large surge for #1 starting around 3:30 pm.
I hope this wasn't a test run for internet voting technology....
Posted by: SouthernRoots on April 10, 2006 09:40 AMThanks to my modern stalag 13'ers for slamming their face in it!
Almost fell out of my chair at the thought of coin #3 being linked to the nickel slots great thought.
If so, a fitting design for Washington -- given our enormous public investments in giveaways sports stadiums for these teams' billionaire owners.
Posted by: Richard Pope on April 10, 2006 10:20 AMThen I wondered how long before the tribes got interested in the outcome.
Now I wonder if the goverment powers that be will announce who is rigging the vote in favor of a tribal pattern. I guess it depends on who the discover is responsible (if they dare look).
Finally, you can also see how shallow the interest in public opinion can be (not that I find public opinion to be an intrinsic source of wisdom). But so much of what is done by government is symbolic, and they are getting worse at covering the fact that it doesn't really matter.
Lazy pandering...trend of the new millenium?
Posted by: GentleRant on April 10, 2006 10:54 AMPosted by: Lucky777 on April 10, 2006 07:40 AM
I laughed out loud (along with Col Hogan) at this one! Kudose Lucky7s!
Posted by: GentleRant on April 10, 2006 11:01 AMPosted by: Wells on April 10, 2006 11:23 AM
design 3, the uglyest one, gets the most votes cause of some malcontent coder that thinks the worst winning one would be amusing.
Then it comes out he's a republican, cause most coders I know are pretty conservative and tend to think in terms of only themselves.
Unless said coder proxied the votes off many third party computers, it should be trivially easy to determine where the fraud originated and take appropriate action.
Trivially easy doesnt necessarily mean that
1) the state will do it
2) if the state does it, anyone will believe the results, especially here, where the state could say the sky is blue and it would be debated loudly and accused of fraudulent reporting.
Well you started strong there dave, but then the paint you sniffed took hold and you lost contact with mother Earth.
So what color is the sky in your universe?
Posted by: alphabet soup on April 10, 2006 05:03 PMIn your comments about state quarter design you said:
"Montana's quarter website is up, and when you try to vote more than once you get this message: "You have already voted for your favorite, thank you."
Those Red States know how to prevent over-votes (even in trivial matters), I guess."
Montana's governor is Brian Schweitzer (D), The Secretary of State is Brad Johnson (R), The AG is Mike McGrath (D), the state auditor is John Morrison (D), the Superintendent of Public Instruction is Lind McCulloch (D). Both houses of the state legislature are also controlled by the democrats. Two of the three members of the Montana delegation to the US congress are republicans Sen. Burns and rep. Rehberg, and one, sen. Baucus, is a democrat.
Stefan:
Do the words "dismissed with prejudice" mean anything to you? I didn't think so.
Posted by: Critical THINKER on April 12, 2006 01:19 AMGood Work Stefan
Posted by: Garet on April 13, 2006 11:19 AM