tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post116477440233275510..comments2020-04-11T03:30:02.282-05:00Gary R. Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1164905762018747532006-11-30T11:56:00.000-05:002006-11-30T11:56:00.000-05:00"Given a break" ? <BR/><BR/>Work, school, or other personal business foten draws people out of town on the provided Election Day. <BR/><BR/>No one is giving them a break, when they exercise their duty and vote, by absentee. They should do so promptly and return the ballot promptly.<BR/><BR/>My daughter in college, who's voted solid D three times, requested an absentee Sept.20. She got it the Friday before the election. I drove to get it, to be sure it would count. But the delay was not her fault. Not even close.<BR/><BR/>Her friend at IU, from a longtime Marion County Republican family, submitted her applilcation for absentee Oct.28 and got the ballot in three days.<BR/><BR/>It's a dirty little secret that's been festering in this clerk's office for years. Second time it's happened in my family--and I could give you many more similar examples. We Democrats have had to birddog these applications for years. It's not right.<BR/><BR/>And you wonder why many of us screamed for a new clerk?<BR/><BR/>What a provincial attitude "give em a break" is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1164894972769592532006-11-30T08:56:00.000-05:002006-11-30T08:56:00.000-05:00I disagree, anon. If you're going to vote absentee, you should not wait until the last minute to mail in your ballot. You're already being given a break by not being required to vote in person; the least you could do is mail in your ballot in a timely fashion.Gary R. Welshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1164894111911542952006-11-30T08:41:00.000-05:002006-11-30T08:41:00.000-05:00Postmarked ballots, whose postal insignia is Election Day or before, should count, everywhere, Gary.<BR/><BR/>With a reasonable cutoff, of course.<BR/><BR/>Why should absentee voters risk their vote not being counted, because of USPS, or, worse, Clerk's Office screwups?<BR/><BR/>When in college, I always paid the extra postage and sent mine back registered.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1164834778008109862006-11-29T16:12:00.000-05:002006-11-29T16:12:00.000-05:00anon, 2:43, I previously explained that Bright's recount arose out of concern that as many as 30% of the votes cast in Jennings County were by absentee ballot--more than 3 times the normal rate. Bright won Jennings County by more than 1,600 votes 2 years ago; he lost it by about that same margin this year--the difference in this election. A recount may draw scrutiny to absentee ballots.<BR/><BR/>anon, 3:30, what was an even more stupid law was the Florida law that allowed absentee ballots that arrived in the mail after election day to be counted.Gary R. Welshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1164832258661461762006-11-29T15:30:00.000-05:002006-11-29T15:30:00.000-05:002:43 is right.<BR/><BR/>Technically, absentees that are not sent to the originating precinct on election day cannot be counted. That's Indiana law. It's stupid, but that's the law.<BR/><BR/>I imagine the other voter law, which mandates Voter Intent be the determining factor, will win out here, and those absentees will be counted.<BR/><BR/>It's a lesson for all of us to get our absentees in early. But it shouldn't have come to this. I have no idea what those uncounted absentees say...they could be all Republican, all Dem...who knows? But to fail to get them to the precincts, in this case, caused a monumental problem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1164829405587705382006-11-29T14:43:00.000-05:002006-11-29T14:43:00.000-05:00didn't know you were an election law expert there AI...<BR/><BR/>What's the point in Billy "not-so" Bright's recount down in Southern Indiana? Outrage there?<BR/><BR/>It's okay to throw out 19 votes because the Clerk screwed up? How's that better than only asking for a recount in some precincts???Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1164820214423864732006-11-29T12:10:00.000-05:002006-11-29T12:10:00.000-05:00When the margin is this close, state law allows for a recount with minimal additional charge to the party petitioning for the recount. It's like $10 for each precinct in excess of 10 precincts. That money is refunded if the vote difference is at least halved as a result of the recount.Gary R. Welshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1164819210219290792006-11-29T11:53:00.000-05:002006-11-29T11:53:00.000-05:00Recounting only ome precincts, was Gore's biggest mistake in 2000. He'd have won if he had asked for all to be recounted. Jim Baker, instead, artfully cast Gore as a "selective recounter."<BR/><BR/>But, in Indiana, there is a fee for those requesting a recount. I don't know what it is, but it's per-precinct. <BR/><BR/>The petitioner has the right to request recounts wherever (s)he wishes. <BR/><BR/>Don't look for boogeymen here...just count the freaking votes, which should've been done already.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1164807831115064162006-11-29T08:43:00.000-05:002006-11-29T08:43:00.000-05:00*crosses fingers*<BR/><BR/>I wasn't aware one could ask for a recount in just certain precincts. Good on Jon Elrod to insist in counting *ALL* of them. After all its the Democratic mantra to count *ALL* the votes. Not just ones from "democratic" wards & precinctsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com