I've read all the local papers and studied the election results. We've got 331 write in votes. Two of the papers state that one of the write in candidates won. Our own newspaper says different. The registrar's office says different.
The registrar's office acknowledges that there were 331 write in votes, but assigns only 65 to Sonya, 55 to Tamera and 45 to Ken. This doesn't add up to 331. Does that means there are 160+ write in votes that are so messed up that they don't count? How is that possible? During the election two years ago there were 94 write in votes and they managed to count the votes correctly. So why can't they count these correctly? Why the big delay?
I feel that someone is keeping their finger on this because they don't want to lose a few yes votes on the council!
Friday, November 7, 2008
They must think we're stupid!
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14 comments:
Which papers state that a write in won? I saw the union star online and they say that Stacey Hailey was the only incumbant bumped off the council. He will be replaced by Mr. Sheppard. Just wondering which papers said different.
The Lynchburg Paper and the Alta Vista paper said that one of the write-ins won.
Okay, I just popped in over at the brooknealchat forum ( http://brooknealchat.proboards.com )and saw that there were a couple of articles posted from the news & advance. They say that the results are Nowlin, Adams, and Sheppard for council. The article also says that some of the numbers were originally called in wrong or something. Strange! How do you go from stating that you have over 300 write in votes to having only a little over 100? Just don't see how you get that wrong.
Brookneal Blogger said...
The Lynchburg Paper and the Alta Vista paper said that one of the write-ins won.
Thanks! I'll go try to find those.
*A personal observation from the 2006 election;
I was inside helping someone who was partially disabled get to the voting machine and signed in, etc. in the 2006 election and a girl was at one of the machines.
She seemed frustrated and turned towards the entrance door and said;
"I don't know how to spell his name", (referring to Lorenzo Rouff, who the Mayor and Mr. Nowlin had waged a mass phone calling to friends to try and oust either Mr. Jennings or Ms. Meisenbach from council.......and this is not speculation, because I heard several people walking by tell the Mayor that they got her message on the machine, or that they knew what to do).
The next thing I hear is a woman's voice telling the girl: "Don't worry, they'll know who you mean".
I turned around only to see the Mayor standing with the door to the polls open, telling the girl what to do.
Now, to start with, they must have counted votes that year no matter how the spelling was.
But, and most importantly, NOBODY is allowed within 40 feet of the entrance to the polls if they are running for office, and the Mayor was running for office that year.
(Mayor is up for re-election every 2 years.)
A complaint was given to the registrar's office and she said she guess she would have to go down and check on the violation of election law about being inside 40 feet.
You guessed it, nothing ever became of it. She never showed up.
I suggest that the State Board of Elections in Richmond be alerted to the seemingly confusing situation this year, then compare these write ins with the ones from 2 years ago. (they will be on file)
If they counted those misspelled votes then, they should count the ones this year.
Another thing, this year one of the machines broke down and they had to bring another to replace it.
I wonder if they counted the votes on the broken one they took out?
I wonder who was overseeing the vote count up in Rustburg?
The town needs answers and this needs to be checked out by someone at the state level to assure fairness.
As someone who was intimately involved in the polls that day in Brookneal, I can say that the tallies are correct. At the end of the voting day, Brookneal had 121 total write-in votes logged AT THE POLLING PLACE. Added to absentee ballots and out of town ballots by soldiers/etc., that tally changes. People who call the registrar's office to get totals early are misguided as they think that will insure a bottom line count. People who know better know that those numbers aren't offical until the state makes them "OFFICIAL", meaning in full, and all accounted for. Dedicated people work hard to insure that the voting process is fair and accurate. To imply anything less means you don't trust your neighbors who volunteer their time and attention, taking an oath to insure against voter fraud, and willing to uphold all that is fair and honest in the voting process. That is a real shame BUT...if you are so sure things are going awry, volunteer yourself to take the many hours of training, get up on the day of election at 4: and work until 10: P.M. that night with few breaks if any. The registrar will be happy to get YOU more involved in the election process. Once you find out what's involved, you may change your attitude about those who are dedicated to serve in this capacity to make sure this town, state and country gets the legitimate people in place...fairly and accurately. I Believe in Brookneal, AND its people.
Donnalyn,
I appreciate you stopping by.
My question is: If the tallies are now correct then why were the early figures so far off?
If it had been just one reporting place giving the high numbers of write-ins then I could concede that it was an error on there part. But several media outlets had high numbers, and the registrar herself gave high returns for write-ins. You can't blame people for being suspicious when the registrar's office gives out incorrect information.
Dear Brookneal Blogger,
First I find it difficult to understand why someone would be willing to spend a great deal of time typing their honest thoughts without identifying themselves. It seems to lessen the value of their responses. People who are willing to make their mind known should also be brave enough to make themselves known. Our country, thank GOD, wasn't built on Anonymouses, but rather by men and women who stood on their convictions, however right or wrong they may appear. This is just a first-time reaction to this whole "blog" thing. Of course, I am new to the Brookneal blogging scene. (getting off soapbox now)
To answer your questions...
The "121" I reported was the number given to the hotly contested Town Council seats, as they were the ones who seemed to have caused the most hubbub and were most in question in this area. That number did NOT include the write-in votes for any other offices. There were write-ins for the Mayor as well as the higher offices. We get tangled up in the local battles and forget those possibilties. When asked what the write-in vote totals were, the Registrar may have well given out the "accumulative" total of write-ins. They can't read our minds and know what selective info we are seeking.
Also, remember that the Registrar's office is extremely busy, to put it MILDLY. They answer hundreds of calls on that night from the outside "Joe, the Plumbers",as well as official calls from local polling places, and to say their hands are full is a gross understatement. They do a great job for what they are asked to handle.
Keep in mind that ANYONE that chooses to, may go to that office and view results, as the voting information is part of the public record(although I would NOT advice it DURING elections as you may be waiting for some time to get your questions answered).
And to address three comments I saw somewhere else, NOONE has any choice or chance to tamper with votes, outcomes, numbers or final counts, certainly NOT people who hold Town Council seats!
THEY have NOTHING to do with this vote/tally/reporting process AT ALL! They cannot work the polls due to their involvement in the races.
OUR current voting system is set up with checks and balances. In as much as it can be, you can be assured that we get what we vote as a local, a state and a country. Is there strange stuff going on in "some" places? hanging chads, votes bought, fraudulence, etc. as reported on our T.V. news around the country? Yep, people are people and Satan is busy everywhere. Where the machines/systems are falable, even more so sometimes, but the Patriot voting system (which we use) is a good one, it is more sure than paper ballots, as some have requested should be used. THAT would really give opportunity for fraud. It is more reliable than the old lever machines as the Patriot readouts are clearer and more concise. With the old lever machines, people had to read the printouts (many times very faint) and transfer the numbers to a tally sheet. With this new system, the numbers are tallied and recorded by the machine, not by a person.
AS far as the Registrar reporting in error, please don't judge too quickly or too harshly before walking a mile in her moccasins. I think I'm a fairly intelligent cookie but I wouldn't do her job for the deed to the whole town of Brookneal!
However, my offer still stands, YOU can train to be a poll worker. Try it, your view of the entire process will change, THAT I will bet on.
And finally, (whew) the voting machine that "went down" at the Brookneal polling location is only a peripheral. They are meerly a means of transmitting a vote to the CPU (Central Processing Unit). If you are computer savy, think of them as keyboards, so-to-speak. When the vote is cast, it's like hitting "save", your vote is immediatly sent to this unit (the memory/hard drive)and then cleared for the next voter. No votes are "lost in space!" They are all in a file of sorts.
THANKS for the opportunity to elaborate/answer, and thus HOPEFULLY make something more clear for someone.
I believe in Brookneal...and its people. God Bless.
Donnalynn ~
I can't speak for the Brookneal blogger, but I would like to comment since I seem to be the only other person who commented on this particular thread. (and I did not do so anonymously)
Let me first say that I think some of the confusion came into play as a result of what the media reported.
In an article in the news & advance dated Nov. 5 (the day after the election this was the quote from Karen...
"The Brookneal Town Council race was still undecided Wednesday night after a flood of write-in votes were cast Tuesday.
Campbell County registrar Karen Danos said at least one of the three seats could be decided in the 331 write-in votes, but election officials wouldn’t know until they completed the final canvassing process."
On Nov. 6 the news & advance ran an article with the following statement from Karen:
"Danos said some of the town election’s numbers were wrong in the results phoned in from one precinct Tuesday night. The outcome wasn’t resolved until the canvass was completed Thursday."
No where does Karen say that the total was right, just distributed wrong. She clearly said (according to the paper) that the totals were called in wrong from the precinct. I'm not saying that this was intentional, or even what she actually said as the media has been known to misquote. Just wanted you to know where I was coming from when I stated that the numbers were "strange."
Now, I know Karen, and I would not for one minute think that she would ever do anything unethical or illegal. She just isn't that kind of person. I know for a fact that she works very hard at her job and an often time goes above and beyond the call of duty, so to speak.
I just hope you can see how the numbers just didn't seem to add up. Add that to the fact that it was DAYS before any official write in numbers appeared on the state board of elections website and people start wondering, questioning what's going on.
Again, let me reiterate that Karen is one of the most upstanding, honest people I have ever met. But I would ask that you please refrain from lecturing us average "Joe the plumber" types about getting involved. With all due respect, we do that every time we go to the polls to vote, bring our neighbors to vote, or campaign for a candidate we believe in.
I would like to ask one question of you though. I read that the state legislature had voted to change back to paper ballots by the next election cycle. If/when this happens, are you the least bit concerned about voter fraud since you stated that it was much easier to commit using this method of voting?
Let me end by thanking you for the hard work you put into making sure that my vote counted on election day. I'm sure you put in a long day and I do want you to know that people appreciate it, even if we have questions about the results.
Thanks!
Laurie F.
I just went back and looked at this thread and realized that there was one other person that posted, (other than myself & BB) and they did post anonymously. For some odd reason when I read this thread earlier I thought that it was only myself and the BB who posted. Guess it's been a long, tiring day.
Donnalynn,
Thank you for answering my question.
As to your question about why I choose to remain anonymous, there are several reasons.
One) I fear retaliation if the powers that be in this town know who I am. I have already seen how the Mayor has treated other council members who displease her, as well as residents. I'm certainly not going to let Mr. Crews or Mr. Hailey take aim at me.
Two) I don't want my girlfriend or her children affected by my blog. They have family and friends here, and the children go to school here. Brookneal is hard on outsiders coming in as it is, no need to give it an excuse to be meaner.
Three) I want to be able to speak freely. And I want people who read the blog to be able to speak freely, which is why I don't require a google account to post here.
I'm glad you stopped by and hope you will continue to contribute.
lcf,
Thanks for writing your comments and questions. I understand the concern when people are chomping at the bit for bottom lines. I had people calling me the night of, after I had finished, and the morning after, for such figures pesonally at my home and on my cell. That is not illegal or unethicaI as people could have waited the night of, outside the door for such numbers. When election results are "called in" from precincts, yes, numbers I suppose can be misquoted... people are tired and eyes feel crossed sometimes looking over all the figures. There is much paperwork to be completed between the time the polls close and the time results/tapes/machines get hand-delivered to Rustburg. My husband and I got home from the evening at approximately 10:45. I'm not saying that that is what happened though as I TRULY don't know the reason things went the way they did. I only know what we did at the polls. I don't listen for the standings until they are reported on TV. Also, we work on cell phones and they aren't always clear or reliable.
However, I would like you to know that sometimes it takes a day or two to go over the tallies/statements of results from all precints and to call in various people a day or even two days later, who have not dotted every "i" and crossed every "t" (for example, signing correctly all paperwork). Until everything is as perfect as humanly possible, results cannot be offically given.
As for Karen, I too beleive that she is one hard and conscientious worker as well as a caring and nice individual.
We who work the polls also vote. As for me lecturing, I am sorry it came across as such. I just know that it is very hard to get people to work the polls and even harder to get good people to stay with it year after year. The hours are long and the pay is short. I ask people to get involved too, as so many have no idea about the process or the infinate details and doing so would help give some understanding, and yes, some compassion where there at times seems to be little. Please look on my efforts there as a plea and not a ploy.
To address the paper ballot issue, I go on record here saying if the state goes to paper ballots, I WILL NOT be a poll worker. The work load for such would be endless...the responsibility for that would more than I care to take on my shoulders. I wouldn't want to answer the multitude of questions that it would generate. Yes, I do believe that is NOT a good way to run a polling place although in an emergency, some places had to go to those. If it were the norm, I'd be a voter ONLY. Yes, I do believe in some cases there would be fraud with that method. The devil works hard. where he sees a inch, he'll grasp a yard and people who want to get over will find a way to do so. Greed and power is a terrible thing.
Lastly, reporting through the media is, well, not always reliable, have you noticed? 'nough said.
I believe Brookneal... and its people.
lcf,
About "anonymous", my previous comment concerning that was not aimed at any one person, just the process. I think if you say something, you should stand on it. Keepin' in real is all.
Brookneal Blogger,
I both understand and honor your decision to remain unknown, although I am truly sorry you feel those things toward some people. This is an eye-opener to me as I was unaware of these happenings in our community to the extent you voice them. How sad for a small town that these things are felt in the midst of and between God-fearing people. How far we need to go!
When I came here, I wasn't accepted at first. You know, that whole "Yanky go Home" thing! I was actually and seriously told that here early on. But I've been here 9 years now and I have made some true friends and for the most part, I like everyone I know here.
I will continue to blog here when I feel I have something to say. Thanks for your welcoming attitude.
Hey...Keep protecting those kids! No one worth anything would stoop so low as to take anything out on a child.
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