Petty Irregularities

It seems that every time I cast a vote at a consolidated polling place--not Tucson Precinct 69, but a single polling district at the "Fine Arts Auditorium" covering much of mid-town--I encounter irregularities, stemming more from poll-worker incompetence than from outright malice or Chicago-style corruption.

We vote on paper ballots which are in turn fed to an optical scanner. Wasteful, but until and unless computerized voting machines go open-source and are open to voter inspection, the paper trail is necessary. It didn't stop County staff from flipping the result of the 2006 RTA election (or creating the appearance of having done so), but it is, at least, a safeguard. The polling place often has a worker looking on at the optical scanner to make sure that the same sort of dingbat that couldn't figure out punchcard ballot doesn't screw up putting a piece of paper in the only slot available. (I'm serious: that's all that needs to be done. Orientation doesn't matter.) The worker sometimes seems as though he's reading the ballots as they go in.

Hence paper "privacy sleeves" are available to ensure a secret ballot. But when I took one today, I was admonished: those were not for me. I voted, fed my ballot to the machine (with the old man looking on), then asked at the original table, in a somewhat heated fashion when we got rid of the secret ballot in Tucson.

Told to take it up with an equally old lady at the next table, the matter was resolved: I was reassured that not only were the sleeves available, but that the poll workers were supposed to offer them. She set them straight.

That isn't as bad as what happened back in 2008, when I had to raise a fuss and get on the phone with the County Recorder's office to get poll workers to give me a primary ballot. "Your party isn't having a primary," I was told. Of course they were, and there were write-ins to nominate, as well.

I understand that poll workers are largely retired, that their brains are in slow decline, and that it isn't a well-paying job. But getting it right isn't very difficult. We should at least adopt some minimum qualifications, or better still, an "If we forgot to give you a receipt"/"30 minutes or it's free" policy. If the doddering old folks screw up and you catch them, you should get ten bonus votes, a pizza, dinner at Cafe Poca Cosa, a contribution to the charity of your choice, or something similar. On them, not on the taxpayer.

Pima County election integrity update: Dems drop fight for cynical reasons; Libs soldier on.

Two weeks ago--I'm more behind than I thought, but nobody else is following this story!--David Euchner delivered a report at the Pima County Libertarian Party's monthly meeting on recent developments in the possibly "flipped" 2006 Regional Transportation Plan election.

The Democratic and Libertarian Parties both desired a hand-count to be performed; Pima County Superior Court Judge Charles Harrington ruled that challenges to election results are not allowed beginning five days from the announcement of the results.

As a result of the Osmolski Affadavit, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard conducted his own investigation. It was less than thorough and the best election integrity watchdogs were not allowed to observe. The AG's office permitted the county's political parties to name several observers, and one of its choosing would observe. The Pima County Libertarian Party, for example, nominated election integrity guru Jim March, and the request was denied. Goddard could have settled the question once and for all, but by keeping the experts out of the room and failing to do obvious things like inspect the poll tapes, Goddard's affirmation of the election's results only called them further into question.

Destruction of the ballots has been stayed pending the outcome of the Libertarian Party's appeal. Ralph Ellinwood, working on the case pro bono, was said by Euchner to contend that Harrington had equitable jurisdiction and his hands were not tied by statute as he claimed. Bill Risner, the Democrats' counsel, is said to like to continue working on the case, and has sources of funding, but needs a client. The Democrats backed out.

Pima Association of Taxpayers vice-president Dick Bayse, a longtime Democrat, was in the room during Euchner's presentation. His explanation for the Democrats' sudden loss of interest: the matter became an embarrassment to Terry Goddard, a possible gubernatorial candidate. Willingness to pursue the matter was always less than unanimous, and when it became a question of supporting Goddard, it tipped the balance.

I can't speak to Goddard's chances or whether or not the Dems' support is rational behavior. I find him tremendously crass--not only for flaunting economic ignorance but also for his perpetual campaigning. For example, as the featured speaker at the ACLU-AZ Southern Chapter's Independence Day event a few years ago, Goddard had the nerve to spend his whole speaking time talking up populist efforts to sue tobacco companies or protect senior citizens from deceptive (and non-deceptive) business practices, devoting not a single minute to civil liberties. But I also find Sheriff Joe crass, and he's a perennial winner.

Let's hope the Pima County Democrats are right and this matter could hurt Goddard's chances. A man who conducts such a banana-republican "investigation" shouldn't be Governor or dogcatcher.

But enough with that digression. There was unanimous support in the room for the Pima County Libertarian Party to become Risner's client and continue the fight for fair and properly conducted elections. Former Pima LP chairman David Euchner deserves much of the credit for this; the LP's continued involvement in the case has been largely due to his efforts. I could write pages about how the Pima LP and the Arizona LP more generally acts like the sectarian, self-defeating third party that it is, but Euchner's involvement in the election integrity matter has been nothing short of professional.

The Libertarian Party is standing up for election integrity; the Democrats chose cynical loyalty to a born-privileged elected official over fighting for the right of the people to lawful, open government and fair procedures. If you had to consider sending a contribution to one of these groups, or registering as a member of one or the other, which would you choose?

Fatally Flawed, a documentary about the RTA election, to premiere at the Loft, Wednesday, 16 Sept.

Fatally Flawed, a documentary about the possible election fraud in the RTA transportation plan election, will premiere at the Loft this Wednesday. An announcement of what has been discovered after the end of the film--the last covered event is Terry Goddard's press conference--and a question-and-answer session with Bill Risner, John Brakey, Jim March and Mickey Duniho will follow.

It's unlikely that I will be able to attend, but guest posts about the announcement are very welcome.

Event details are below.

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RTA Documentary Fatally Flawed premieres in Tucson. Discussion that follows will have new details from an analysis of the Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard's RTA ballot examination.


Wednesday, September 16, at 7 pm at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E Speedway Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85716

Admission: $8.00 general; $6.00 Loft members

Contact: J.T. Waldron

Office: 520-624-9710

e-mail: jt@soundandfury.tv

Pima County Election Integrity Update

Remember the 2006 RTA election, with the upset victory in favor of the Pima Association of Governments' sweeping transportation plan? Earlier, I reported on an affidavit of Zbigniew Osmolski stating that one of the head IT guys at elections told him the election was flipped. If you don't know what I'm talking about, this article on Associated Content and links therein should bring you up to speed.

David Saifer of Blog for Arizona gives an update on the matter so I don't have to. I'm no longer an officer of any political party in the County, which means I no longer get word of these things directly, but I'll post any details I receive, when I receive them.

The Osmolski Affidavit

A previous (and admittedly cursory) investigation by Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard's office into Pima County's 2006 special "Regional Transportation" election found evidence of inappropriate access to mail-ballot vote totals but nothing suggesting that vote totals were manipulated.

An affidavit sworn by former county employee Zbigniew Oslomski before the Democratic Party's attorney, Bill Risner, earlier this month blows the matter wide open. Oslomski, who was not a county employee at the time of the election, alleges that Bryan Crane, the county elections division's computer operator, admitted in a social setting to "fixing" the transportation election on orders of his bosses.

Does this mean that the County Supes, the development lobby, "public artist" turned State Rep. Steve Farley, and company stole the election? More to follow.