Man they are going crazy over at GD and GDP

[WCGreen]

Accusations of fraud and ballot stuffing.....

Jessss The guy is within striking distance of a republican state rep in a district that is predominatly republican....

I hate to say this but I never expected the guy to win....

That he is this close amazes me...

[LoZoccolo]

1. The worst part of the whole fraud thing...

...was when you'd ask the people who've been cordoned off in the one message board what the evidence was, you'd get pointed to one of those grids of numbers, or they'd say "if you don't see it, you're not looking" or something. That pretty much convinced me not to go back there anymore.

It's like these people don't see that if I were to go on try to convince someone else, arrogance would not be so effective, you know?

[WCGreen]

2. The guy lost in a distrcit that is heavily suburban

and heavily republican....

But he almost beat her.....

People forget that 20% of her district is in the congressonal district.....

[RoyGBiv]

3. Here's the thing ...

I am not one your average hardcore conspiracy theorists. I'm actually pretty cynical about such things, including a great deal of what is alleged regarding 2004.

BUT ...

When strange coincidences start to mount, the inquisitive, intelligent individual starts asking questions about those coincidences. Why, for example, is the most heavily Republican county, the one the Republican candidate calls home, the one that has the "voting irregularities"? Why does humidity affect voting machines in only that area? Why, in fact, and in what way does humidity affect a voting machine placed in an air conditioned building at all? These are reasonable questions regarding clearly strange circumstances.

I was not asking these kinds of questions on Nov. 2nd. In fact I wanted everyone who was asking them just to shut up. I have increasingly started to believe I was wrong. The events of this evening are intensifying that belief.

Yes, that he got that close is amazing, and he should be proud, and of that fact in and of itself, we should find something from which we can build. Had it all come down exactly like this without these odd circumstances, I wouldn't question it at all and would in fact be hailing this night as a huge success, which in a way, it still is. But, I believe these questions need to be asked, and they must be answered in some rational way.

BTW, who is "they"? I've seen a lot of comments in the Lounge this evening about this whole election watch in general, comments that pretty much belittle those who bothered to care so much. I'm not saying that's what you're doing here, but it seems a part of the pattern. My question is, what is really important to those who were genuinely complaining (some of it was obviously tongue-in-cheek) about features being offline or were wondering what was going on that would cause DU to slow down? What's up with that?

[WCGreen]

4. I see your point on all of this......

And I was just making a comment that the people were going nuts about fraud....

Emotions are running high....

But I have been in this game for almost thirty tears now, active in almost every aspect of the process from sitting on the Cuyahoga County Board of Election to running for the State Senate in Ohio...

Is Ohio corrupt....

Probably, but not anymore or less than other states.....

Do fuck-ups happen...

You bet. Especially since most of the workers on election day are temporary, elderly and exhausted after a 16-17 hour day...

Are there irregularities in reporting times....

For any number of reasons that have nothing at all to do with voter fraud....

Traffic, stalled vehicles, someone losing their keys...

It happens...

I wasn't aware of the humidity problem... That's a new one on me....

And anyway, I was out working for several democratic candidates here in Cuyahoga County, municipal elections are right around the corner...

One thing everyone can't forget is that in Ohio, the board of elections in each county has two democrats and two repbulicans....

For every democratic worker there is a republican worker....

People are always looking at what someone else is doing....

Just because a county is overwhelmingly republican doesn't mean the Board is republican leaning just as in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), the overwhelming democratic majority doesn't mean the Board slants toward the democrats.....