Just another f'd up election in Alaska.

[Blue_In_AK]

Last edited Wed Apr 4, 2012, 02:25 PM - Edit history (1)

This shit is getting OLD.

http://www.ktuu.com/news/anchorage-election-results-clouded-by-ballot-shortage-040312,0,6368562.story

Anchorage election results clouded by ballot shortage

ANCHORAGE, Alaska— Anchorage’s election results were left with clouded results and thousands of ballots waiting to be counted late Tuesday evening, in the wake of an erroneous message urging ineligible voters to the polls that caused ballot shortages and saw voters turned away from polling places.

In an email (PDF) and a Facebook post Tuesday, Jim Minnery with Proposition 5 opposition group Protect Your Rights urged supporters to visit the polls -- but gave them incorrect information about municipal voting procedures.

"Did you know that people can register and vote at the same location and it doesn't even have to be at their precinct location?" Minnery wrote in the email.

City law, however, requires voters to register for an election 30 days before it occurs -- a fact which makes Minnery's
claim false, according to Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein

"That's not true," Gruenstein said.

While Gruenstein said it wouldn't be accurate to claim people were trying to "crash" the election, she did say she had reason to believe that people from outside Anchorage were attempting to vote.

<snip>

Proposition 5 was a gay rights amendment which appeared to be leading in the polls but went down to a 60-40 defeat in the wake of all this ballot shortage confusion. Something's not right here.

[sudopod]

1. :/ nt

[pacalo]

2. That really looks suspicious, Blue.

We could use Jimmy Carter's services to monitor the elections in the U.S. -- seriously.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. Looking at the numbers this morning,

it looks even more suspicious. There were several bond issues on the ballot, which traditionally have a hard time passing here, and yet they all passed with a roughly 60-40 split, while prop 5 went down by approximately the same amount. By my reasoning, school bonds, park bonds, etc., are usually a "liberal" priority, so why would all these people vote for the bonds and against the equal rights? It doesn't make sense.

[ellisonz]

4. Maybe the ACLU can help...

[Blue_In_AK]

5. I'm sure there will be challenges.

Paul Honeman, the losing mayoral candidate, had 30 years on the Anchorage police force and he's not happy about this situation. He did not concede the election (despite the same 60-40 split) and mentioned attorneys and whatnot last night. This was just a debacle in a place that's known for "hinky" elections. I think they might have outdone themselves this time.

[ellisonz]

6. Excellent.

Hope he sticks it to them...

[Uncle Joe]

7. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Blue_In_AK.

[joeybee12]

8. If Minnery KNEW he was giving out false information,

wouldn't he be liable criminally?

hard to prove, but there might be an e-mail trail....

[Blue_In_AK]

9. Here is some excellent analysis from Mel Green at Bent Alaska,

our best local GLBT blog.

http://www.bentalaska.com/2012/04/another-few-laps/

Minnery’s misinformation

Yesterday, we reported that an administrator of Jim Minnery’s Protect Your Rights – Vote NO on 5 Facebook page posted the following notice:

Attention Young People or First Time Voters – YOU CAN REGISTER AND VOTE AT THE SAME LOCATION TODAY !! It is super easy. Take a few minutes TODAY and stop by a polling station, register to vote (all you need is your AK driver’s license) and cast a NO Vote on Prop. 5. We really need you to vote. Tell at least 3 of your friends how easy it is.

Click on the MyNeighborhood link below to find your polling place. Once in MyNeighborhood type in your address, then use the Political pull down menu. A map with your polling place location, street address, and Assembly representatives will be displayed.

http://neighborhood.muni.org/



The post has now apparently been removed from the Protect Your Rights Facebook wall. However, Bent Alaska took a screenshot of the post and all comments as of 10:42 AM on April 3, which can be read in this linked document.

The first comment on the post was a correction from a Proposition 5 supporter, Joseph A Connors, who wrote,

Umm – actually Jim – REGISTRATION CLOSED 30 DAYS AGO – see: http://www.muni.org/Departments/Assembly/Clerk/Elections/Pages/VoterRegistration.aspx – “you must register to vote or update your registration no later than 30 days before an election.” You really need to stop providing bad information to the public . .

A Prop 5 opponent retorted,

Hey Joe go to your pervert website and help them!

<snip>

There are some ugly, ugly religious fanatics in this town. They've been poisoning the politics here for far too long. Anchorage has been trying to bring equal rights to the GLBT community since 1975 and we keep running up against this wall of hate. In 2009 our assembly actually passed an equal rights ordinance after weeks of testimony, with religious bigots being brought in from the Mat-Su Valley (Sarah's territory) who were allowed to testify despite the fact that they aren't residents of the Municipality of Anchorage. Testimony was allowed to continue until after the election of Dan Sullivan, our current corrupt mayor, who promptly vetoed the ordinance.

Anchorage is basically being held hostage.

The city clerk stated publicly on TV last night :

"We don’t know how many of the questioned ballots will be invalid, but we suspect that there will be quite a few that are, and those would have taken ballots from people who could have voted, so it’s just a shame."
(Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein interviewed by KTUU Channel 2 News [video])


More than a shame, I would say -- more like a scandal.

[joeybee12]

10. Aha, so Minnery says he didn't speak with Gruenstein but with "someone else"

BULLSHIT...typical way to trya nd lie your way out of it!

[Blue_In_AK]

11. You no doubt noticed, too, that he earlier had sent out a missive

encouraging his minions to vote no, stating that people HAD to register 30 days before the election to be eligible to vote, so he obviously knew damn well what he was doing with these later e-mails and Facebook posts.

We're always saying that he and Jerry Pervo -- I mean, Prevo -- of the Anchorage Baptist Temple should just go get a room and get it over with. I've never seen such a hateful couple of anti-gay bigots. Ted Haggard comes to mind.