It looks like partisan bickering and in-fighting in NY has led to their being sued by the Feds:
The Justice Department sued New York State on Wednesday for failing to overhaul its election system and replace its aging voting machines. It is the first lawsuit the federal government has filed to force a state to comply with the voting guidelines enacted by Congress after the 2000 election debacle.
The new federal guidelines were designed to prevent the kind of electoral chaos that marred the 2000 presidential election in Florida, and to make casting ballots easier for disabled voters. But New York State’s efforts to modernize its election system have fallen far behind the rest of the nation, delayed by Albany’s chronic gridlock and partisan bickering.
New York was supposed to create a statewide database of registered voters by Jan. 1 to make it easier to register and to detect fraud. It has not even come close to doing so, the lawsuit contends.
And while New York has accepted more than $49 million in federal aid to replace its creaky mechanical voting machines by this fall’s elections, it has yet to tell localities what kinds of new voting machines will be acceptable. So most counties say it will be impossible to buy new machines and train poll workers in time.
Is New York shooting for the Florida gold standard? Will we be talking about NY in the aftermath of election 2008. Probably not, since it is so Democratic that the results will not be in question.
Don Surber
I’m hearing the crickets chirp instead of you posting on that teacher in Colorado who turned his classroom into an anti-Bush headquarters. Come on, we who oppose Intelligent Design being taught in the classroom must stand up to those who attempt political prostelyzing
Same captive audience. Same abuse of power
Davebo
Well, except for the Governor and the Mayor of the largest city. And of course 35 of the 62 state senators…..
Steve
Ha! How cute that they start with New York.
But there will be a Democratic governor after this November. The mayor of New York is the most liberal Republican you will find. And I’d bet on the Democrats taking over the Senate as well, to go with their ridiculous 105-45 majority in the State Assembly. So let’s not kid ourselves.
Pb
Welcome back, John!
See, this is just another reason why HAVA should reallly have been called the Diebold Corporate Welfare Act of 2002. Orwellian naming? What a shock. I’m also not surprised that you managed to reach the opposite conclusion so quickly. At least you seem to be your old self again!
Perry Como
If you look up RINO in the internets dictionary, you’ll see a picture of Bloomberg.
Lines
Hey Don, you nitwitted journalmalist:
Are you talking about the teacher that was suspended for comparing Bush’s “force the American way on the world” speech to something that would have been commonplace in Hitler’s Germany? The one where the majority of his students walked out and held a protest in front of the school?
Would it have been better to have compared him to Caesar or any of the other genocidal regimes that judged other civilizations unfit and put them to the sword?
Remember, just because there is a Godwin’s Law doesn’t automatically mean that there is nothing to be learned from Hitler.
zzyzx
Don – the difference of course is that in one case the school board was trying to force teachers to teach ID, and in the other the teacher was suspended.
DKNY
I have to admit, I’m dreading the replacement of NY voting machines. Yes, they’re incredibly old and creaky (though I’ll admit to a fondness for their big, metal, pull-the-giant-handle design), but they at least feel reliable. Considering how much evidence their is of Diebold jiggery-pokery, deliberate or negligent, I’m not crazy about a big, clunky all-mechanical system being replaced by a slick, modern, incredibly insecure system.
Lines
Did you guys know that Australian Citizens are legally required to vote in every election?
Can you imagine that? Instead of a 900 person turnout in an area with 17,000 registered voters, you might actually get a real consensus!
Crazy C
Yep, it’s a mess here in Albany – the county Board of Elections hasn’t come up with anything. Probably the only saving grace is that the primary isn’t held until september.
LITBMueller
Well, except for the Governor and the Mayor of the largest city. And of course 35 of the 62 state senators…..
That’s exactly right, Davebo. You nailed it. And just as in California, Diebold, as well as other e-voting companies, are working overtime to get their grubby hands on the election system.
A GOP conspiracy? Depends on the thickness of your tinfoil hat. We certainly know that e-voting machines are less-than-accurate and have all kinds of mechanical issues, and that other states and counties are decertifying them.
But the biggest reason why the e-voting companies wanted HAVA and want to get into NY?:
Yep, that’s right: cold hard cash.
This ain’t about the voters, its about the bucks.
The Other Steve
Might help if you had a link to a major news article about it so we could educate ourselves.
And no, links to scrutator.net and donsurberisgod.com don’t count. ;-)
Steve
Well, of course there’s not going to be a major news article about it, since the media actively suppresses stuff like this.
I don’t really know what Don Surber is referring to, but I’m sure we’re in for another Ward Churchill moment. Although, since he believes that liberals are the kind of people who smile and cheer when mosques are attacked and innocent Iraqis die, I’m not sure why he wastes his time cataloguing our lesser sins. It’s a bit like pointing out Hitler’s unpaid parking tickets, you know?
Marcus Wellby
And we who support Intellimegent Design also must support those who attempt political prostelyzing in classroomss! Yes!! In your face, Space Coyote!
Pooh
2 things:
1) Diebold, bitches.
2) Don, Hello, my name is non-sequitor. I believe we’ve met before. You have both your own blog and an open thread here. But by all means let’s talk about Cindy Sheehan, Harry Belafonte and Gary Busey appearing in that Turkish movie instead of, oh I don’t know, voting machines in NY. Good on you, I applaud you for your ability to think outside the box.
Mark
Well, at least we know what the potential excuse will be for an Elliot Spitzer loss. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but Democrats always prepare their excuses for losing in advance…
Mr Furious
What LITBMueller said…
jg
A link Don?
But if its true that students walked out and it was just a comparison of how two regimes used thier office whats the problem? Whats wrong with students (people who are in the process of learning) looking at current events? Just because a teacher presents a subject to the students doesn’t mean they have to believe it. Are you afraid of people hearing something that isn’t a furtherance of a preconceived notion? Its too bad the kids walked out, they may have learned something. Maybe not but whats the harm?
Whats the harm?!!!
Its spending all those years raising my kids to believe in the conservative cause only to see them go off to college and get exposed to all the information I kept from them and then come home and point out how “wrong” I am, how I don’t “understand how things really are”, all because some hippie professor with a pony tail and a goatee brainwashed my kid with liberal commie bullshit.
Yes I answered my own question. Sue me.
Evilbeard
I will never waste my vote by using an electronic voting machine. If that’s where this country is going then I will be an absentee ballot man for the rest of my life.
Shalimar
“The media actively suppresses stuff like this”? Maybe because it is a local story, sort of like all of the missing white women and car chases and burning buildings that dominate the television news channels. I saw video of it earlier on Foxnews, you might start looking for an article on their website.
Steve
Oh, yes, it’s a very high priority to come up with THAT particular contingency plan. I hope your blog offers a lot more insightful gems just like this one.
Jorge
Conjecture by a poster to back up conjecture by John instead of looking at the current facts. Neat trick.
Steve
Huh? I’m just saying, New York is an extremely blue state.
What conjecture am I backing up? The conjecture that no one will question the results when New York votes for a Democrat in 2008? Okay, I support that conjecture.
As my first comment above alluded to, my bullshit detector goes off when the Bush Justice Department decides that the first state they’re going to sue for HAVA violations is one of the bluest. That’s my point. Your point, I have no idea what it is.
Blue Shark
…after the Reform Ohio Now (RON) referendi went down to defeat in 2005’s election by 20-30% when pre-election polling by the Cleveland Plains-Dealer showed the reforms passing by 20-30% (and they have a 100 year history of accurately forcasting voting +/- 2-3%) go ahead…Kid yourselves!
The Other Steve
I’m assuming what John is talking about here, is that any margin of victory in New York is likely to be say 3-5%.
Only when things get down into the .25% range do the results get questioned.
Like Florida, like Ohio… and yes, like Washington…
Or did you guys forget all the whining the Republicans did in Washington?
jaime
Like when they complained about the felon vote, except the felons in Washington were overwhelmingly white and more likely to vote Republican?
Sherard
Typical comments at this roach infested comment section.
“Dysfunctional” is the word for NY State Government. The two leaders of the legislative bodies – Bruno and Silver – dictate completely what happens. If the two of them agree, legislation is passed. If not, it doesn’t. There is no need for debate and so, essentially, there is none. If not for this gridlock that prevents much from getting done, NY would be worse than CA by far.
As for the dark conspiracy theories ? You people are, sorry for the term, fucking morons. Why would they start with dark blue NY ?
Fucking morons.
Steve
Remember, liberals, you have to learn to be civil like the right, or you’ll never win elections.
AkaDad
The cheapest and least corrupt way is to ban all voting machines and go to paper ballots…
SeesThroughIt
Come on, The Other Steve. Anybody who suggests that voting in Florida or Ohio was even a tiny bit less than 100 percent clean is clearly some godless pinko commie Afro-Rican recreational abortionist. But it’s a proven right-wing fact that the Republicans absolutely, positively, 100 percent no question about it won in Washington and then had their totally pure victory snatched away by the Gollums of the Democratic party.
Hooray for truthiness. I need a drink.
jaime
What kind of name is Sherard?
Richard 23
Don Surber:
Hahahaha! Huh?
jg
Thats a pretty good description of how the federal gov’t is being run right now under these assclowns. Why would anyone not mainlining kool-aid think cleaning up corruption and makng the system more transparent is their intent?
Clap louder dude!
Pb
Heh. Washington, Florida, and Ohio all had close elections. They all had Republican Secretaries of State. The difference was, Washington actually had a fair-minded Secretary of State–hence, the Republican outrage when the fix wasn’t in.
John S.
Judging from the quality of his comments, I would say it is a reference to his alma mater.
Jorge
Steve,
Sorry man, I misunderstood what you were saying. My bad completely.
Veeshir
Heh. Washington, Florida, and Ohio all had close elections. They all had Republican Secretaries of State. The difference was, Washington actually had a fair-minded Secretary of State—hence, the Republican outrage when the fix wasn’t in.
Ummm no. The difference was that in Washington, even though proven false ballots tripled the difference in the election, the judge said it was hunky-dory after the third re-count.
They found new ballots in all recounts, in King county there were more ballots than registered voters. That means close to 100% turnout and a large election-day-registrant turnout.
I notice Missouri didn’t make your list. Typical. That’s actually pretty funny, include the one where Al Gore tried to steal an election and lost (Florida) and one where voter fraud didn’t affect the election (Ohio) and then compare one where voter fraud definitely did affect the outcome (Washington State gov election) and say the last one worked out the way it should have and ignore the other one where Dem voter fraud was rampant and proven (Missouri). Just too funny.
Yup. Dems love voter fraud when they’re doing it. They get all incensed when they can make us stories about GOP voter fraud though.
Whenever I bring up the Washington St or Missouri fraud with some nitwit lefty whining about Ohio they all get the same, smug smile on their faces. You see, because the right people were doing the voter fraud. Power at all costs with no hint of scruples or honesty.
And that my friends is why you nitwits keep losing elections. You don’t even bother to hide your hypocrisy and you always seem to assume that everybody has the same short attention span and proclivity towards willful ignorance that allows you to scream “Bush Lied” when every prominent Democrat was saying the same things from 1997 (when he was gov of Texas) until 2003.
I’m not so much a Republican as an anti-Dem so I’m a little scared. We need a credible opposition party and instead we have… nitwits, shout-out-loud-hypocrites, liars and racists.
Veeshir
Oh, and party affiliation doesn’t mean squat in NY as far as what type of politician a person is. They’re all crooks.
Silver, Bruno and Pataki are interchangable. I had high hopes for Pataki, I voted for him on his first run, but then he turned into just another NY pol.
DougJ
Veeshir, it pains me to say this, but I agree with you completely.