Jackson Jambalaya

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.

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

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.

What are 'optical scan' ballots???

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

... 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.

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.

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.

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.

... 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.

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.

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 ....

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Kim? Quinn endorsing who?

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.

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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.