90,000 Bad Punch Cards, Does Anyone Care?
Prior to Ohio ’04 election, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell predicted, based on previous elections, that from the counties using punch card ballots - more than half the 88 counties - there would be 90,000 spoiled punch card ballots statewide. This was reported in a very matter-of-fact manner, and did not seem to be of much concern to the SecState. This prediction proved to be true.
Did this help swing the election? I cannot say.
In Ohio, most of the locations using the punch cards were rural, which tend to be Republican, so maybe it did not make much difference to the presidential election outcome. However, this development may have impacted local or congressional races, school levies, and the like. I do not know the rules re: if one part of a ballot is spoiled, is the entire ballot thrown out, or only the race involved? This is another avenue of potential disenfranchisement that is never discussed.
Several questions come to mind concerning these "spoiled" ballots. How often are bad punch cards an issue in other elections? Is this a widespread problem? Will the media ever look into this?
QuestionItNow Blogs
Did this help swing the election? I cannot say.
In Ohio, most of the locations using the punch cards were rural, which tend to be Republican, so maybe it did not make much difference to the presidential election outcome. However, this development may have impacted local or congressional races, school levies, and the like. I do not know the rules re: if one part of a ballot is spoiled, is the entire ballot thrown out, or only the race involved? This is another avenue of potential disenfranchisement that is never discussed.
Several questions come to mind concerning these "spoiled" ballots. How often are bad punch cards an issue in other elections? Is this a widespread problem? Will the media ever look into this?
QuestionItNow Blogs
posted by Ohiodem1 at
6/21/2006 07:25:00 PM
2 Comments:
It truly amazes me that nearly 60 MILLION americans voted for that man. I can only think that either a) the election was rigged to begin with, b) people have been thoroughly brainwashed by the Nazi-esque propaganda campaign, or c) people are idiots. Complete and utter idiots.
By
misneach, at 5:35 PM, June 29, 2006
It seems that throughout history, executive and/or royal authority has been gained via a ruthless determination to reach out and take as much power as people allow.
Idealogs have risen to power in large part because too many people are too easily led. A "bandwagon effect" leads to almost a cult like following of "true believers." These true believers have two main rolls (besides being cheer-leaders). They recruit new members or intimidate the opposition. Still, this dedication is not enough to maintain long-term power.
Totalitarian movements grow because far too many citizens are uninvolved with politics and don’t ask questions. These citizens are the disconnected, silent majority. The key to positive change in America lies not with divisive partisan politics. The key is tapping into the pent-up hopes and dreams of the disaffected, uneducated, and uninformed Americans who don't even bother to vote.
On a positive note, I recently found a very interesting website LearnToQuestion.com. This site is one way a silent majority can learn how to question.
It's Propaganda Lessons section is good complementary reading to OhioDem1's How to Sell a War I’m glad I found this site while Googling "question." It is encouraging to find fellow Americans who are taking positive actions to help wake up America.
Defend America
ask questions
QuestionItNow
By
REB 84, at 11:31 PM, June 29, 2006
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