Archive for the ‘Local Elections’ Category

Joel Harris first mentioned it in the comments, but it looks like Bruce Schumacher in District 2 just lost his seat before he even got a chance to enjoy it. Democrat Angela Mansfield retained possession when, according to the Star:

The results were based on votes that had gone uncounted Election Day after voting machine memory cards were inadvertently left untabulated.

“I got a call today, and apparently it (the vote memory card) had been left in the machine,” she said. “I was kind of getting used to the idea I would have more time.”

I’m not going to don the tin foil hat, but that seems like an awfully fortunate coincidence for Mansfield.

So the majority is down to 16-13 and things just got a little tighter for Ballard before he even steps foot in the Mayor’s office.

I’m really just a numbers guy who likes politics.

I have been looking at the amazing Indianapolis election to start understanding what happened. Clearly this was a protest vote, but it is still amazing that Ballard was able to pull this out. So here is what the numbers tell me:

One of the contentions in the recent Indianapolis Star poll was that the Star should have used 2004 turnout information rather than 2003.

2003: 150,440 votes cast (26.8%)
2004: 323,673 votes cast (53.7%)
2007: 160,857 votes cast (25.8%)

I guess 2007 looked like….a municipal election! Though a bit down on turnout which I find VERY interesting. It was assumed that the turnout would be high, even during election day, but it did not turn out that way. There was a lot of talk about what the turnout numbers would mean. Predominantly what I heard was that high turnout favored Ballard (large protest) and low turnout favored Peterson (the “base” voting). What we had was a low turnout and Ballard winning–so much for conventional wisdom.

So what happened (below the fold)
(more…)

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.

Here’s a little ditty for you to sing on your way to the polls with lyrics courtesy of Indy Undercover and put to music by Sir Hailstone of the Digital Farmers Blog.

 

 Monroe Mash: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Looks like you can vote early and often…legally.

From WANE TV
LAFAYETTE - AP) — In a quirk of Indiana election law, absentee voters who have second thoughts about the ballots they’ve cast can have a do-over and vote again.

Debbie Ingersoll, the Republican co-director of the Tippecanoe County Board of Election and Registration, says the law allows those who have voted absentee to vote as many times as they want through the afternoon of Election Day on Tuesday.  Only the last ballot cast will be counted.

So if you know anybody who has already cast their vote for Bart Peterson and is regretting it, let them know there is still time to change it!

Hat Tip - Fort Wayne News

I can appreciate what Blue Indiana and Taking Down Words do.  No, really, I do.  I hardly, if ever agree with anything they say, but it’s good to have (what is usually) a civil discourse on the internet about what’s going in Indiana politically.  Sometimes, though, comment threads can degenerate into needless and sometimes harmful personal attacks.

Such is the case with one of TDW’s most recent threads concerning some poorly placed Ballard signs in front of the Indy East Motel.  As the post goes, it’s funny to Bart supporters to see Ballard signs there since the Indy East is a cesspool of crime and depravity that deserves to be shut down.  In the heat of battle, that’s something minor and I can understand why they would find that funny.  But the comments quickly start dragging in Greg’s wife Winnie and her business into the equation.  And a post that is to spoof a picture turns into dragging a good lady’s name through the mud.

It’s one thing to go after the candidate.  They’re fair game since they’re running for public office.  It’s another to bring his family into it.  That’s low grade, despicable aside from the fact that it’s hard enough for a spouse to see their significant other dragged through the mud.  Mrs. Ballard deserves an apology.

Here are Greg Ballard’s other two ads as we approach the final weekend before the November 6th election.

Just yesterday the Star was giving a verbal and editorial tongue-lashing to former editorialist and blogger RiShawn Biddle for “racially insensitive remarks”. I can understand doing that, but the way they did it shouted political grandstanding for even those with the faintest of hearing to hear.

Today, however, they are eating crow for endorsing Democrat Carey Hamilton for Marion County City-County Council without even meeting with her opponent, Christine Scales. (Listen to an interview with Christine discussing that very matter here.) Of course, the blogosphere was the first to break this story earlier this week and finally on Friday, the Star is forced to issue, yet another apology.

On Monday, we endorsed Democrat Carey Hamilton in the District 4 City-County Council campaign.
Hamilton impressed board members with her thoughtful approach to issues, her professional background and her history of work in the community.

But I learned after the endorsement was published that the other candidate in the District 4 race, Republican Christine Scales, had not received an invitation to meet with the board.

The oversight occurred, as best as I can determine, because of a personnel change on the Editorial Board that took place during the interview process. Scales said she tried to reach a former board member when she realized an invitation wasn’t forthcoming, but was unable to make direct contact.

At least the Star had the common sense to retract the original endorsement.

Dan Turkette of Fort Wayne News breaks down a recent ad put out by the Tom Henry campaign for Mayor up in Fort Wayne. It’s supposed to be a “Republicans for Henry” ad, but what Dan was able to find out is that these people rarely vote or don’t vote at all! So the question becomes, are these people really Republicans at all?

Tom Henry must have taken a lesson in truth distortion from Bart Peterson! Check out the evidence.

Gina Zimmerman - no registration found

Sarah Osselaer - has no voting record

See Dan’s checklist for the rest of these “so-called’ Republicans.

Matt Tully of the Indianapolis Star writes in today’s edition:

Coming from Bart Peterson, a Boy Scout of a man if ever there was one, a guy with a more consistent smile than Donny Osmond, the negative TV ad is a stunner. Coming from a politician who has raised quite a few taxes recently, the claim from Peterson that a Ballard administration would mean “higher taxes” is a laugher.

I couldn’t agree more.

Marion County Democrats just don’t get it do they? First it was BartPeterson.com. Then, it was MonroeGray.com. Now, ThePetersonPlan.com has sprouted up.

This would seem to be common sense, but the first thing you do in the internet era in politics, is register every possible web domain so your opponents don’t take advantage of the situation. What’s could possibly come next?

Here are Greg Ballard’s ads….just in case you don’t see them.