Read my earlier post from this evening, "Mail Ballot Horror Show (VI): "Witnessed" ballots " for context and then come back and see this example that Bob Edelman just e-mailed me: copies of two mail ballots cast in Pierce County in November 2004 under two different registrations with the name Thaddeus Gaddy (same address, born on the same date, one in 1921, the other in 1922). One of the ballots appears to have been signed by the voter, the other ballot was "witnessed" on the pretext that the voter is unable to sign his name. Edelman's comments follow in the extended entry.

No-excuses absentee voting is bad enough, but If we're all forced to vote by mail we might as well dispense with the pretense of elections as we know them and admit that they're little more than contests to stuff the ballot boxes with the likes of votes from mailbox residents and out-of-state friends and witnessed ballots. Any public official who tries to tell you that the current regime of voting by mail is a secure and legitimate way to choose our government deserves to be tarred and feathered.

Edelman: The attached illustrates a major problem with our absentee ballot laws. Two Thaddeus Gaddys are registered at the same Tacoma address. They share the same birthday but the years of birth are 1921 and 1922. Both cast ballots in the 2004 General Election. One signed his envelope but the older Thaddeus was unable to sign so he marked an 'X' that was witnessed by two people.

Our laws do not require witnesses to identify themselves so it is next to impossible to locate them from just their signatures. Even if they could be found, the act of witnessing gives no validity to the voter's identity -- all they need witness is that someone put an 'X' on the ballot envelope.

Here is a multiple choice quiz. Pick one of the following:

1. The two Thaddeus Gaddy’s are brothers, coincidently born exactly one year apart (the “George Foreman” syndrome). The younger Thaddeus registered in 1968 but the older didn’t register until 2004. He is disabled or illiterate.
2. There is only one Thaddeus Gaddy. He changed his registration in 2004 to correct the year of birth but the auditor gave him a second registration instead. (Auditors try to err on the side of inclusion – thus we had tens of thousands of duplicate registrations.) He had an injury so he couldn’t sign his ballot on October 18^th. Nine days later he recovered but he forgot that that he had already voted so he voted the second ballot.
3. Same as (b) except that Thaddeus deliberately voted twice, knowing that nobody has ever been prosecuted for it in our state.
4. Same as (b) except that Thaddeus mistakenly voted twice, thinking that he is supposed to if he gets two ballots.
5. Thaddeus’ wife (or daughter or sister), Maria, was last credited with voting in 1999. She is unable to sign her name and voted Thaddeus’ second ballot by mistake. The witnesses thought that her name was Thaddeus.
6. Thaddeus gave his extra ballot to his PCO. The PCO told two ladies that he was Thaddeus and got them to witness his “X”.
7. Same as (f) except that the real Thaddeus signed with an “X” and the PCO forged the signature. (He didn’t want any witnesses.)
8. None of the above

How many other ballots were returned without signatures but accepted because two unidentifiable people signed as witnesses?