Paper Ballots, etc.

[mikewrona]

Originally posted by Jim Ostrowski
An attorney for the State Board of Elections just confirmed my reading of the statute. Too late to go to court. The AG's office is apparently not going to act.

What do you mean it's too late?

Which attorney agreed with you?

Why is the attorney unnamed?

Why didn't he/she do something about it rather than be quiet? He/she would rather protect their job rather than expose a crime.

Are you saying a complaint was filed with the AG's office and Mr. Spitzer is going to do nothing about it?

Don't you think you should do anything and everything to correct and prevent the problem from happening again? If you don't, I sense you are playing a political "the fix is in game."

[speaker]

Originally posted by mikewrona

I believe there is a difference between counting ballots and counting votes.

This is true.

[Jim Ostrowski]

9-102(3)(b)--

Paper ballots and emergency ballots cast during voting machine breakdowns which have been voted shall then be canvassed and tallied, the vote thereon for each candidate and ballot proposal, announced and added to the vote as recorded on the return of canvass.

[Jim Ostrowski]

"Don't you think you should do anything and everything to correct and prevent the problem from happening again? If you don't, I sense you are playing a political "the fix is in game.""

What does this mean? I'm the one who first brought this issue forth, which led to phone calls to the AG, media interviews that night and the next day, calls to the local Board (by me), etc.

[mikewrona]

Originally posted by Jim Ostrowski
9-102(3)(b)--

Paper ballots and emergency ballots cast during voting machine breakdowns which have been voted shall then be canvassed and tallied, the vote thereon for each candidate and ballot proposal, announced and added to the vote as recorded on the return of canvass.

The paper ballots weren't used because of an emergency or machine breakdown. It was caused by money. This was announced well before the election.

Using your reasoning, you would think that absentee ballots would also have to be counted on the night of an election. And yet they never have been!

[mikewrona]

Originally posted by Jim Ostrowski
"Don't you think you should do anything and everything to correct and prevent the problem from happening again? If you don't, I sense you are playing a political "the fix is in game.""

What does this mean? I'm the one who first brought this issue forth, which led to phone calls to the AG, media interviews that night and the next day, calls to the local Board (by me), etc.

Did you file a formal complaint regarding alleged election irregularities with anyone?

If you did than we have a problem with the AG. If you didn't, then we have a problem with you.

[speaker]

Originally posted by mikewrona
The paper ballots weren't used because of an emergency or machine breakdown. It was caused by money. This was announced well before the election.

Using your reasoning, you would think that absentee ballots would also have to be counted on the night of an election. And yet they never have been!

Wrong. The sealed absentee ballots are counted and recorded, not the vote.

[Jim Ostrowski]

"The paper ballots weren't used because of an emergency or machine breakdown. It was caused by money. This was announced well before the election.

"Using your reasoning, you would think that absentee ballots would also have to be counted on the night of an election. And yet they never have been!"

First of all, "my reasoning" has nothing to do with it. I just read the law and reported what it said. It's clear and no one with expertise has contradicted my plain reading of it. The state board agreed with me, expliclitly.

The point of your first paraphraph eludes me. I believe paper ballots and emergency ballots are different things, but it doesn't make any difference. They must both be counted.

There's a lot of confusion about the money issue. Machines were not used becasue of an alleged lack of money. I have never gotten a straight answer as to why ballots were not counted on election night. That's a separate issue. They had the inspectors there or they could not have held an election.

[Jim Ostrowski]

I'm not at liberty to discuss all my activities in this regard but I'll tell you one thing. I did a lot more than you did.

[mikewrona]

Originally posted by Jim Ostrowski
I'm not at liberty to discuss all my activities in this regard but I'll tell you one thing. I did a lot more than you did.

Very proper bailout "I'm on a secret mission."

If you didn't file a formal complaint with the State Board of Elections or the Attorney General you didn't do much.

[mikewrona]

Originally posted by speaker
Wrong. The sealed absentee ballots are counted and recorded, not the vote.

If you've been following this debate you would see that there is a discrepancy here in the use of the words Ballot and Vote.

My original post said I believed that only the number of paper ballots needed to be counted.

Others are say all the votes cast on the ballots must be counted.

Now which side are you on?

[speaker]

Originally posted by mikewrona
If you've been following this debate you would see that there is a discrepancy here in the use of the words Ballot and Vote.

My original post said I believed that only the number of paper ballots needed to be counted.

Others are say all the votes cast on the ballots must be counted.

Now which side are you on?

Your side, Mike.

[mikewrona]

Originally posted by speaker
Your side, Mike.

It's nice to have "someone" on my side.

I've found that I've gotten into heated debates with people because our understanding of a term was different. All we ended up doing was go in circles.

[speaker]

but I'm not sure when the absentee ballots and affidavits of residency are opened and counted. I know that nobody is allowed to know how an individual votes, and that's the reason why inspectors at the voting stations can't count them.

[Usually Right]

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