Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Post-election critiques

Bryan Eason complained in a Clarion-Ledger article about how long it took to obtain election results for each Jackson precinct last week. Jackson should have posted the results online within twenty-four hours of the polls closing but there were some reasons why it did not occur.

The Hinds County Election Commission handled Jackson municipal elections in the past. The city decided to operate the elections itself in 2013. However, there was one small problem. Remember that big fuss Robert Graham made over the purchase of new voting machines? The patting on the back he gave himself? Well, the county sold the old machines but has not yet obtained the new voting machines. He was so anxious to make a deal and look good before the cameras he didn't think about the upcoming municipal elections. The county had no voting machines to provide to the city. The city thus leased the voting machines used last week and did something it had not done before: operated an election with no supervision by the election commission. The primary is operated by the Democratic Party and it is the party's responsibility to submit the results to the city as well.

One major complaint by this correspondent. Thanks to the voting machine fiasco, voters were forced to use paper ballots last week.... WITH NO PRIVACY. I had to fill out my paper ballot last week in front of everyone and there was no curtain or privacy when I voted. I had an "assistant" (actually a nice old lady) help me vote. Good job, Democrats. Maybe I should go file a complaint. I'm sure the Democrats would take me seriously.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do I live in a third world country? Every decision people make around here is ass-backward. It is not even status quo. It is driving in reverse.

No voting machines...Excited about getting a movie theater...I swear the 21st century is coming soon. I promise. Wait for it. It will be exciting.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Jackson and Hinds county is a 3rd world country and getting worse each day..

Anonymous said...

What do you mean - no voting machines. Jackson has moved into the better process of optical scan ballots (which, btw, do involving a 'voting machine') and is what Hinds County is moving to beginning with next year's election.

Many other cities and counties have already moved to this better system. Others will as soon as they can get there.

I might not argue with the fact that they have made many bone-headed decisions, but your asshole statement that they don't have voting machines based on the decision to not rent the 'machines' from Hinds County but instead to utilize the better system is an indication of your asshole lack of knowledge.

Anonymous said...

What are 'optical scan' ballots???

Do those the ballots involve someone looking over your shoulder, scanning to see for whom you voted?

Anonymous said...

... but your asshole statement that they don't have voting machines based on the decision to not rent the 'machines' from Hinds County but instead to utilize the better system is an indication of your asshole lack of knowledge.

Get yourself in for a mental evaluation ASAP and watch out for the secret agents hiding outside in the bushes surrounding your dwelling.

Anonymous said...

So a regression in voting technology that is a debatable topic requires a belligerent response and name calling? Interesting. Very progressive.

Scantron voting is great. Takes me back to third grade. With either system, I would also prefer they update voter rolls on occasion and give me confidence that changes would be made accordingly. But if I am stuck with optical scan I will use it effectively. I appreciate vote of confidence. Sorry your feelings were hurt by my questioning our system.

Anonymous said...

The primary reason Hinds County moved to new machines is because many other jurisdictions around the nation have had problems with recounts using print-outs from touch-screen machines. Many candidates and election officials do not trust systems that do not create a paper record that can be used in a recount or ballot box examination. While touch screen machines can be retrofitted to print "voter receipts," those printers have been problematic -- printer jams, ink problems, etc. And when it comes down to it, if a person goes to vote, then has to wait for a printout that he/she can verify, THEN place that printout in a secure collection box, hasn't the whole convenience of touch screen voting kind of been wiped out?

I personally like the touch screen machines, but if I were a candidate challenging the results of a close election, I probably would rather have documents to have my people count rather than accept the totals produced by machines that gave numbers I found suspect in the first place.

Not saying it was a good idea or a bad idea for Hinds County to do, nor am I suggesting Graham was thinking all about election management itegrity when he proposed the new system (I think the Hinds County devices are ES&S machines, and that's a compnay that likes to spread wealth amongst local elected officials). But there are reasons for moving back to optical scan ballots that aren't necessarily about regression, and it's something a lot of jurisdictions around the country are doing.

Pete Perry said...

Agree 12:54. Graham was motivated by reasons other than having a better system. Kinda like maintaining the emergency siren systems. Also in the case of voting machines was the fact that Jamel Clark was crying about not knowing how to operate the touch screens, so the county is spending $1,5 million to purchase optical scans.

Frankly, for all the reasons above the optical scans are better systems than the touch screens. There have been too many instances nationwide of problems with touch screen technology. And the optical scan ballots allows the voter the assurance that his vote is put into the system as it was voted.

Interesting fact here - Robert Graham and Hinds County's purchasing the new system had nothing to do with the City of Jackson using optical scan. The City made that decision so that they wouldn't have to deal with the county in this election - Chairman (now former) Election Commissioner Jarmel Clark screwed up so bad last year when providing "assistance" for the special election, the city decided to conduct their election without the county's help. So instead of renting the county touch screens, the city rented the ES&S scanners.

TeamJackson Shoutout said...

... nor am I suggesting Graham was thinking all about election management itegrity when he proposed the new system ...

Get a clue Skippy. The concept of "election management integrity" NEVER has been part of Lt. Robert Graham's decision making. Integrity never even comes to his police impersonating mind. It is no mistake that JPD's former civilian employee dispatcher continues to travel the country referring to himself as Retired Lt. Robert Graham or Retired Commander Robert Graham. Graham is a fraud.

Pete Perry said...

Hey, Team Jackson, I agree with you. Graham wouldn't recognize integrity if it was in front of his face. Intent of my comment was that Graham had reasons other than trying to purchase a system that would give us better elections - but that in doing so, we got lucky and got a good system.

Anonymous said...

TeamJackson Shoutout -- uh, did you read the entire sentence? "NOR am I suggesting ..." means that the writer DOESN'T mean that Graham was interested in election integrity -- as does the comment in parenthesees right after it, about ESS giving money to local officials.

Complex sentences and the use of antithesis shouldn't confuse JJ readers ....

Anonymous said...

But, without Kangaroo to tell us what it means, how are we to proceed?

Anonymous said...

As written "nor" doesn't let the entire sentence off the hook 4:55 PM. Understand how you are sore because someone called you on it.

Anonymous said...

Regina Quinn has endorsed Chokeaway. I actually liked her at first. If she's that bloody foolish, I'm ashamed she got enough votes to hit fourth.

Anonymous said...

Is it a fact that Quinn has endorsed someone???

Anonymous said...

I actually liked her at first. If she's that bloody foolish, I'm ashamed she got enough votes to hit fourth.

John Horhn also hit fourth in 2009. For years and years he had no problem with adult men having sex with and impregnating girls under the age of 15. He was the mayoral favorite of the Creative Class that year.

KaptKangaroo said...

Kim? Quinn endorsing who?

Anonymous said...

She likes his position on infrastructure spending as economic stimulus particularly benefiting local Jackson businesses and workers. She likes his position on equal pay for equal work. Lumumba is influence by the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party more than the mainstream or corporate one and I'm certain that is a basis for her alignment with him. She made a good impression on that polity of hard-working females.

Anonymous said...

Should be easy to "follow the money" on this next election....all the way to Office Depot for #2 pencils and pencil sharpeners.

Anonymous said...

Quinn officially endorsed Lumumba this morning. I hear both that she's real pissed at Lee about something and that she had been promised a great job with the City(something I know Lee has the ethics not to do).


I, too, lost all respect for her. Lumumba has been found in contempt by various Judges in MS and elsewhere 4 times that I know of and has has serious discipline from the MS Bar(6 month suspension in one instance) for unethical conduct as an attorney. It baffles me that the media will write story after story about litigation Lee's company is in but basically gives Lumumba a pass on his sordid history of unethical conduct. Jerry Mitchell, whom I respect, was an apologist for him in last Sunday's C-L.


I was hoping that KF would write about this issue, but if he has, I haven't seen it. If he did, somebody please let me know.

Anonymous said...

In today's Clarion-Ledger, Brian Eason does cover 3 of Lumumba's past incidents of unethical conduct towards Judges. How about Lumumba's calling a federal Judge "a disgusting bigoted partial joke." He was later found guilty of criminal contempt of court. Can you imagine what it would be like with Lumumba as Mayor of our State's capital city?

Anonymous said...

So Quinn has been bought off and if most of her votes to Lumumba,the city of Jackson will the the deadest in the country.

No Lumboola Fan said...

Lumboola is a fool. He can no more affect 'women's pay' than he can affect pigeons under the stack flyover. Equal pay has been the law for decades. He's simply pandering to the 'girls' he intends to put in place at City Hall to replace the 'girls' Harvey has put there over the years. If he has examples of females who do not receive equal pay in city jobs, then he's either complicit or guilty of ignoring it. As to what goes on in the private sector, he has no friggin' clue.

Being the business-hating radical he is, you can bet he'd sue somebody if he had examples. He'd get more support if he came out in favor of head-shops and putting vibrators back in the porn shop on 80.

Anonymous said...

Any truth that ChokeMe's campaign is funded by Dave Bing to take Detroit out of the national news? :-)

Anonymous said...

9:16
You can call him a fool all day long and that won't change the fact that he knows how to play to his constituents, and they all love his showboating in front of judges and his sticking it to the man.
9:23 Lee can claim he's holding on to his ethics until the cows come home. Only problem is, if you don't get elected, you can't do ANYTHING. But, yeah buddy, he can say he was "too ethical". Loser.

Anonymous said...

10:46: Every loser played to his constituents. That doesn't mean they weren't fools. Unless you got magic numbers, you gotta play to your opponent's constituents. The candidates who don't know that wind up on the bench with Harvey and McMillin. Preachin' to the choir gets you one thing ~ fried chicken on Sunday.



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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

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In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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