A Florida Style Nightmare - North Carolina

[Clinton Crusader]

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/11/emw178812.htm

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A Florida Style Nightmare - North Carolina Citizens Demand Verified Voting Measures North Carolina "has the worst election problem in the country RIGHT NOW according to Dr. David Dill of Stanford University. Election Officials bamboozled by slick claims of voting machine salesmen, salesmen failed to warn of flaws and limitations that caused disaster on November 2

(PRWEB) November 17, 2004 -- "NC has the worst election problem in the country RIGHT NOW." - November 11, 2004 Computer scientist Dr. David L. Dill of Stanford University.

"A Florida-style nightmare has unfolded in North Carolina in the days since Election Day, with thousands of votes missing and the outcome of two statewide races still up in the air." Steve Hartsoe, AP Newswire, Nov 13, 2004

How can we trust our key decision-makers when they ignore the seriousness of the problem?

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[sweetladybug]

1. Why do they keep saying "statewide races" but nothing about the

presidential election?

[MarkusQ]

2. Think about it

If you start out talking about the presidential races and raise a hue and cry, the process will be instantly politicized beyond any hope of fair and measured response.

On the other hand, if you start out talking about the dog catcher, nobody tries very hard to stop you (generally), so you can "get to the bottom of it." If, in the process, you develop reason to doubt the outcome of a city council race, it's hard to object (assuming you've got data to back you up). If dealing with that leads you to the reasonable conclusion that, because the same brand of machines or whatever were used elsewhere, a county commissioner race should be re-examined, how could any reasonable person object? You are, after all, only trying to get to the truth. You are also for that very reason, unstoppable.

The secret to success is to start with what you can do and work from there, in a rational organized fashion. Start with bicycles in Kitty Hawk, not with the concord in your dreams.

--MarkusQ

[txindy]

3. Well said.

Excellent points. Thanks! :toast:

[bones_7672]

7. Maybe because GWB won with 56% of the vote

[Jane Eyre]

4. Presidential elections are ALL statewide races, not national

The electoral college does not provide for a direct national presidential election. Each state elects electors to the electoral college.

That said, there is a very real problem directly related to the 4000+ lost votes in Carteret County. To briefly review, the Carteret County BOE was informed by the voting machine company that the machines would hold up to 10,000 votes however the company forgot to update the software. Thus the machine in question could hold only 3000 votes, and the 4000+ votes cast after that went straight into oblivion. We have a statewide race for agricultural commissioner where the Republican candidate is currently ahead by only 2300 votes, which is less than the number of votes that went into thin air after being cast on a certain machine in Carteret County. North Carolina law seems to require an entire new STATEWIDE election to remedy such issues. There is considerable legal wrangling going on right now to avoid such a costly scenario. The best option would seem to be calling in the 4000+ voters whose votes disappeared to cast their votes again. But wait...are all those voters still available? Have any moved or died since Nov. 2? Will they all cast the same votes that they did on Nov 2, or will the expected concentrated campaign activity that is sure to be focused on these 4000+ souls change some hearts and minds?

On another topic, the author did not mention that our former BOE chair in Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) just finished serving jail time for accepting kickbacks from the voting machine company that he chose to supply our electronic voting machines. Chalk up another one.

[GingerSnaps]

5. I've been noising around for informations and guess what I found

Straight party ticket, electronic voting problems, BBV problems....Bush won.

That's not all someone knew that the problems were going to come up that the votes would be off by 20%.

Do searches through the older search engines ;) because so much information can be found but it seems that google is not one of them.

[texpatriot2004]

6. We cannot trust those who have ignored these problems.

Our government officials handed us an election system that is broken. They did it on purpose. Many of them have been fighting against fixing the system for at least four years and getting away with it. This election stinks to high heaven. It's a joke. It has no credibility. For those who say my vote counted as I intended it, I say, PROVE IT! I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU! :grr:

[leftchick]

8. The Election Officials in NC are in bed with the Vendors!

you can't fix that! :grr:

[marions ghost]

9. NC dirt coming out

And how about the story reported in the Raleigh News and Observer and also the Charlotte Observer ...seems like Gaston County, NC election official Sandra Page couldn't explain the screw-up involving 14,000 votes. When the state officials came to take a look, she got a bad case of the vapors and is now in seclusion until January...

Check it out:
http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/elections/ncraces/story/1842589p-8162812c.html

[texpatriot2004]

10. I remember reading that article.

"what you are sharing with me is very irritating." Sandra the election official said. Uh, yeah Sandra it is. I was put off by her remarks, she seemed to be annoyed about these things being brought to her attention. Perhaps I read into it. I don't know.

[paparush]

11. As an NC resident...

I can say that we have very odd voting patterns. We love to vote Repub for President. We kept Jesse Helms in office for ever. We've had John Edwards and Lizzie Dole as our Senators of late. Yet, we usually elect democratic governors..

[IndyOp]

12. Kick

:kick:

[texpatriot2004]

13. What's the latest from NC?

I like your quote, so true eh?

[texpatriot2004]

14. Kick