November 23, 2009

"Organized Crime Fighting"

By Nancy Tobi, OpEdNews.com, November 22, 2009:
. . . After the 2008 Primary, other national activists came to New Hampshire to observe the election recounts that had been requested by candidates of both major parties. I called them the Women's Brigades, because they were all women and they came to fight a democracy battle on the NH soil.

The Women's Brigade chased after state employees collecting paper ballots from cities and towns for the recounts. They staked out the state office buildings where the ballots were being stored prior to the recount. They filmed, videotaped, and documented everything they saw. And what they saw was shocking. “They're all dirty,” the Brigade Captain told me one evening. “You have to distance yourself from all of them.”

I had never heard her so rattled. I knew that whatever she'd uncovered, it was serious. . . .

When I finally reviewed all the evidence from the Brigade, there was only one conclusion I could reach: She was right. The whole election recount was a dirty and suspect operation. . . .

November 22, 2009

"NY-23 and the E-Voting 'Virus'"

By Brad Friedman, BradBlog.com, November 21, 2009: "Recent allegations from the Right of malware on voting machines in New York's November special election may be overblown, but the long-overdue general concerns are right on point. . . ."

November 18, 2009

November 14, 2009

"Did Doug Hoffman Actually Win the NY-23 Special Election? If So, Does It Actually Matter?"

By Brad Friedman, BradBlog.com, November 13, 2009.

"Pa. orders recount of Superior Court ballots"

AP/Inquirer, 11/13/2009:
Secretary of State Pedro Cortes is ordering a statewide recount of ballots cast for four open seats on the state Superior Court.

The recount may cost taxpayers as much as $1.3 million.

Cortes ordered the recount after one of three runners-up in a tight race for the last seat on the court , Pittsburgh lawyer Temp Smith , failed to waive his right to the recount. Cortes had given Smith extra time to make up his mind, but the 4 p.m. Friday deadline passed without any word from Smith.

The other two candidates had previously waived their right to a recount.

Cortes directed counties to begin the recount on Wednesday. The recount must be completed in a week and the results submitted to the state by Nov. 30.

November 8, 2009

"Solebury election result remains close"

By Jenna Portnoy, PhillyBurbs.com, November 8, 2009:
One is the loneliest number in Solebury, where a single provisional ballot could decide a supervisor's race.

Republican Ed McGahan bested incumbent Democrat Dennis Mankin by one vote, or 1,022 to 1,021, unofficial results show. Election workers on Friday reviewed the vote tallies from the township's four precincts, as Solebury officials and voting rights advocates watched.

The provisional ballot was cast in Solebury, although the voter is registered in New Hope, county elections director Deena Dean said. Commissioners, acting as the Board of Elections on Monday, will decide whether to take Dean's recommendation that the county should not count the voter's pick for supervisor. A public meeting is set for 2 p.m. at the courthouse in Doylestown.

But even after the provisional ballot matter is settled, Mankin could challenge an absentee ballot in which a voter checked his name, but then crossed it out in favor of the other candidate.