Mayor Bloomberg alleges voter fraud in NY

[Tom McNamara]

Obama received zero votes in 80 districts. His spokesman states (http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0208/Bloombergs_allegation.html):



There are plenty of people arguing that the same error could have been made by mistake more than 80 times (and counting!), but the mayor is less sanguine. Certainly, if the system for administering elections was based on competence (and if the special-interest induced gridlock in Albany hadn’t prevented the State from certifying new machines some time in the last 40 or more years), someone might have noticed that there’s a problem where Sen. Obama apparently got no votes in areas where he clearly had a lot of support.


At the very least, the appearance of fraud undermines Bloomberg's professional credibility. So one could understand why he would say this, no matter who he prefers.

[Dave Markell]

Fraud? In a Democratic primary? Inconceivable!

[Adam B]

Markos, who is by all accounts a fairly entrenched Obama supporter, actually penned up a big editorial asking people not to get too worked up about this story when it broke last week because it's awfully damn unlikely for a variety of reasons that this is a case of malicious election tampering.

The most compelling, I thought, was that putting a big fat 0 in your opponent's column is a pretty goddamn big red flag.

[JeffL]

I raised this a week or so ago, and no one seemed to think much about it. I thought it was kind of amazing that 80 or so districts, many those which would traditionally have gone heavy Obama, had results of ZERO for Obama was kinda shady.

I heard Markos taking the high road - but in following it for a week or so, I haven't yet heard a plausible explanation for how this happened in 80 different districts.

[notatiger]

If they are electronic voting machines, I'd be just as like to blame incompetence as malicious intent. I've seen some pretty bad bugs make it out the door. If it was malfeasance, I hope the people responsible are brought to justice.

[Funkula]

It probably won't be too hard, considering they were so goddamn stupid they rigged it to be zero for Obama.

[MyNameIsWill]

So, recount?

[PeterGinsberg]

If they are electronic voting machines, I'd be just as like to blame incompetence as malicious intent. I've seen some pretty bad bugs make it out the door. If it was malfeasance, I hope the people responsible are brought to justice.

Haha! Electronic voting machines. Funny.

We use these:

Levers to pick who you vote for:
http://krissa.org/photos/d/1350-2/P1000597.JPG

Big lever you pull to register your vote:
http://www.wnyc.org/blog/lehrer/archives/archive/voting%20machine-thumb.jpg

These operate on essentially the same design as has been used since 1892. I really wouldn't be surprised if the machines themselves were all over 60 years old.

In truth, they are totally awesome to use. There's a sort of steampunk vibe to the whole thing, and the big lever makes a satisfying ka-THUNK sound.

Anyway, here's a way better article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/nyregion/16vote.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

There's no need for a "recount" because the official tallies always come later anyway, it was the preliminary counts that got screwed up. A couple more delegates are likely to end up with Obama.

Worth mentioning there were a few districts were Clinton got 0 votes too.

It might be a conspiracy, but if so it was a pretty dumb one. I'm inclined to blame incompetance and some quirk of the preliminary counting process.

[Machfive]

Hey, wasn't this a Law & Order episode? An investigation will show that Hillary had someone killed, and lead to discovering the ballots in the hideout of a mob figure.

[Johan O]

pictures of voting Moloch.
If we had voting machines like that I would never stop voting. ka-ThUNK.

[Funkula]

No kidding. Texas voting is just like taking a Scantron-based exam.

At least we don't have those godawful touchscreens.

[Ben Sones]

Haha! Electronic voting machines. Funny.

We use these:

Hey, we use those, too. Oh, wait--you are from NY as well. So that makes sense.

Yeah, I think those machines are great. There is indeed something immensely satisfying about the giant red CAST VOTE lever.

[RobF]

I'm so jealous now. In IL we have to mark circles with a stupid marker. That lever looks kick ass.

[Adam B]

I'm so jealous now. In IL we have to mark circles with a stupid marker. That lever looks kick ass.

Totally. Minnesota uses SAT-style bubble action, which is far lamer.

[Stroker Ace]

I use Diebold touch-screens :(

[Aeon221]

Assume the position! For voting!

[Unicorn McGriddle]

My old precinct just gave people a big felt-tip marker and instructed us to mark the relevant boxes. So lame. Hoping my new precinct has BIG RED LEVERS.