“Things are going a little better than last time”

I’ve had my disagreements with Republican Marion County Chairman, Tom John, but I have to give the guy credit. Matt Tully is reporting that John and Marion County Clerk Beth White had a chilly exchange this morning. Not so shocking there. But unlike the way that former Democrat County Chairman Ed Treacy used to treat former Clerk Doris Anne Sadler, with hate, vitriol and lies spewing from his mouth, Tom John uses sarcasm. As a fan of sarcasm, I can appreciate that.

Here’s the exchange that Tully witnessed:

The polls had been open for an hour when Marion County Clerk Beth White bumped into Marion County GOP Chairman Tom John at the City-County Building this morning.

The two aren’t the best of friends; part of John’s job is to toss sharp criticism at the Democratic clerk. It’s a part of the job at which John is particularly adept. So as the two crossed paths, they shared a greeting that was as chilly as this election morning’s air.

“Things are going a little better than last time,” John said to White, referring to this spring’s Primary Day meltdown.

“A lot better,” White said, walking away.

“It couldn’t be worse,” John said, taking an early morning dig at the clerk.

Yep, that pretty much sums up the day so far as compared White’s work in the primary; “It couldn’t be worse.”

Update: I guess we shouldn’t get our hopes up on this election running smoothly. Thanks to a comment by Joel Harris, I’m copying and pasting an update from Indy Undercover.

LEOs and CCs, Indyu just got an e-mail from inside the Clerk’s Office and part of the problem with voting machines is that Beth forgot to charge the batteries in the part of the voting machines that record the results operates on batteries and they have to be charged in order to work. Can you believe it? Your vote may not count because Beth White of all people forgetting to charge her batteries?!

Maybe Tom John should hold on his “It couldn’t be worse” line.

Update: So far the problems seem to be few except if you live in Vernon Brown’s district where he seems be making the rounds in and out of several voting precincts (not allowed). But so far, the problems have been nuisances rather than catastrophic like in the primary. The list includes:

– Paper ballots could not be scanned after they were filled out because the machines that scan them were not working. Thus, ballots will be kept locked inside the machines until the scanning issue is fixed.

– The precinct’s touch-screen machine was not working because of the battery issue.

– Election judges wore credentials provided by White’s office. The credentials declared they are valid for “Nov. 8, 2007.”

Wow, she couldn’t even get the date right! Your Marion County Clerk everyone! And this person is allowed to run elections?  Sheesh.