Sound Politics: Could Have Done Without that Jeopardy! Question

October 31, 2008

Could Have Done Without that Jeopardy! Question

I knew it was coming as soon as "Recounts" appeared as a cateogry in the Double Jeopardy round tonight. Sure enough, the $2000 question was on our 2004 Governor's race.

I could have done without yet another flashback to that one (since I was also on staff with Slade Gorton in 2000 I believe I have justifiable cause to really not like close elections in this state).

UPDATE: note to self, Mozilla provides a spell check. Use it.

Posted by Eric Earling at October 31, 2008 08:04 PM | Email This

Comments

1. That would be spelled Jeopardy!

(sorry, as a one-time Jeopardy! contestant I couldn't resist)

Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on October 31, 2008 08:15 PM

2. I saw that, and went to the computer to see if anybody else noticed!

Posted by: Jeremy on October 31, 2008 08:29 PM

3. That would be spelled "category" (also couldn't resist - sorry!).

Posted by: Patrick on November 1, 2008 12:20 PM

4. I cannot even imagine what my reaction would be had I experienced the 2004 election from your perspective.

Thank you Stefan, for all the hard work you did to show the fallacies and inadequacies in our voting process.

I remember in my youth that voting seemed much more deliberate, much more important, that it involved a strict registration process (not just a utility bill slip either), showing up to the correct polling place, providing your voter registration card and a form of picture ID, and then filling in the circles so that there was no question of hanging chads.

My how we have opened the gates to fraud and vote corruption since then.

We need more Stefan Sharkanskys. Each one of us needs to become a "Stefan" and by doing so we can turn this process and this state around.

Posted by: zapporo on November 1, 2008 12:29 PM

5. VOTE BY LOTTO MACHINE! Everybody trusts the Lotto system. There's more than 500 spots on a lotto card. A foolproof template with holes over the card, would be used to fill in spots to place one's vote. Can't have voters searching thru the tiny numbers to make their selections, even though they seem to be able to do it when they participate in Lotto. The voter card is issued by the Auditors office and has a bar code or uses some of the 500 spots for voter security. Possibly they could be coded so one could vote at any lotto machine in the state. Currently it costs more than a $1.00 to process votes thru the messy system now in use. Pay the Lotto merchants $.50 each. The card woud pass thru the lotto machine and into a lockbox. No verification required by the merchant.
RESULTS WOULD BE AVAILABLE WITHIN HOURS.

Posted by: dbaer on November 1, 2008 02:38 PM

6. Given an all mail system - there is no way to validate all the votes and voters. The contest won't be close. Hundreds of thousands of votes will be mailed back and KC will count them all. Yes there will be more votes then voters. Some may even have strange names and signatures. Paw prints. An echo from the past.

And perhaps a legal challenge may be mounted by the GOP. And when all is said and done Chris will win again. No surprise. As proved in past elections, corruption wins out receiving the support of the three branches of state government.

Why all of this corruption is nothing more than a cultural problem in KC.

Posted by: Snuffy on November 1, 2008 04:13 PM