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KNiVES

KNiVES

KNiVES

Soldato
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http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/779528,CST-NWS-magic06.article
When it comes to election shenanigans, Chicago has been accused of just about everything.

But invisible ink?

Twenty voters at a Far North Side precinct who found their ink pens not working were told by election judges not to worry.

It's invisible ink, officials said. The scanner will count it.

But their votes weren't recorded after all.

"Part of me was thinking it does sound stupid enough to be true,'' said Amy Carlton, who had serious doubts but went ahead and voted anyway.

As it turns out, Carlton was one of 20 voters at the precinct who were given the wrong pen to use. They were also then told, apparently by a misinformed judge, that the pens have invisible ink, elections officials said.

As a result, the votes were not counted. But officials insisted there were no dirty tricks involved.

"This one defies logic,'' said Jim Allen, a spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections. "You try to anticipate everything. But certain things just ... they go beyond any kind of planning you can perform.''

By late afternoon, five voters had been contacted and told to come back to the polling place to vote again. And elections staff had left messages at the homes of the rest, Allen said.

Carlton and Angela Burkhardt, another voter who was told the same invisible ink story, spent a good part of the day calling and e-mailing the Board of Elections to get answers.

"I am furious and devastated and I just feel stupid,'' Carlton said. "I feel so angry.''

Both women agreed that this election meant a lot. They had spent a good deal of time researching candidates.

"I have been voting since I was 18,'' said Carlton, 38. "This is the most important election of my life so far.''

Burkhardt planned to go back to vote late Tuesday. She worried about those who might not be able to return.

"I worry about the other people who were there,'' she said. "Maybe [they] can't get off work. I am a person of privilege. I can go back. What if you couldn't?"
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:rolleyes:
 
Invisible ink.
icon14.gif
 
Chicago has always had an impeccable reputation for excellence and honorable behavior on the parts of both its board of elections and its populace at large. Ask Jack Kennedy, he'll tell you.
 
BillytheImpaler said:
Chicago has always had an impeccable reputation for excellence and honorable behavior on the parts of both its board of elections and its populace at large. Ask Jack Kennedy, he'll tell you.
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didn't the term gerrymandering come from the exploits of one of their councillors?
 
Voting really needs to Advance from the 1800s style pen and paper and man power counting and actually move into to the Low tech of the 90s and use computers or mid tech and use touch screan:p
 
Biohazard said:
Our system isn't perfect, why don't you start here first instead of yank bashing?
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If I want to form an opinion and discussion on current affairs that just happen to occur off our shores, I will. Go away.

I am no fan of the political system here either.
 
Zip said:
Voting really needs to Advance from the 1800s style pen and paper and man power counting and actually move into to the Low tech of the 90s and use computers or mid tech and use touch screan:p
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I would much rather the 1800's method, and have some physical evidence of how the vote went than use the "advanced" voting methods so far put into use computer voting with no paper trail/proof that the vote has been recorded at all, let alone correctly, machines that require you to do something that isn't common practice and prone to serious flaws etc.:)

Pen and paper is old, but it's generally extremely reliable.
 
Werewolf said:
I would much rather the 1800's method, and have some physical evidence of how the vote went than use the "advanced" voting methods so far put into use computer voting with no paper trail/proof that the vote has been recorded at all, let alone correctly, machines that require you to do something that isn't common practice and prone to serious flaws etc.:)

Pen and paper is old, but it's generally extremely reliable.
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Exactly. I can't believe they've managed to get away with introducing computerised voting in parts of America.
 
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