People all across California (and America) are anxious for information about the McClintock/Brown race. Today, Tom’s lead increased to 889 votes.
I spent the entire day at the Placer County Registrar of Voters, observing the ballot counting. It’s a slow, tedious process and can certainly be boring. But I will say that I’ve never been prouder of my local election officials. They take every precaution to ensure every vote is counted. Even in races that aren’t closely contested, each vote is considered extremely important. Until today, I had no idea that every absentee signature is scrutinized, the integrity of the ballots makes them untouchable by anyone other than a select few, and voter intent is paramount. Some voters are actually called if their signature is slightly off, or if there is any suspicion of fraud.
While I’m proud of my local elections officials, there are some in other areas that have been less impressive. I’ve heard some horror stories from other areas in the 4th CD—and in a close election like this one, tensions are high. As Assemblyman LaMalfa mentioned last night, the Democrat lawyers have descended upon the 4th CD and they are picking a fight.
Charlie Brown’s “observers” at the ballot counting are contentious and, I’ve heard, are being sent in from outside the district. I saw a lot of McNerney bumper stickers in the parking lot today. The Democrat Party refined their election-stealing skills in 2000, and now they have squads in the 4th CD, hassling elections officials as they try to quickly finish the counting. There’s even talk that this count and a recount could drag on until after Christmas.
I honestly believe that Tom McClintock has won this election fair and square; it’s only a matter of time before his win is finally certified. But the Democrats intend to steal any joy from this victory. Right now Team McClintock needs help with the ballot counting process. Brown has his squads watching the ballot counting and we need counterparts. California cannot afford to lose this seat so we cannot let the Democrats steal it from us. To keep this seat, we need volunteers representing McClintock as the ballots are counted. To volunteer, call the campaign HQ: (916) 783-4411.
November 8th, 2008 at 12:00 am
I was an observer during a recount for a Ventura County race back in 2000, and I can attest to how vital observers are. The employees at the county registrar’s office were very diligent and honest, but they were also human and made occasional mistakes. The observers from each side watched closely and generally caught those mistakes, but were not about to report a mistake if it went in favor of their candidate.
The mistakes tend to even out. But if only one side has observers there, those are the only mistakes which will be reported. So the errors will accumulate to that candidate’s advantage. As tedious as it may be to spend hours watching ballots being counted, it can easily make the difference in the final outcome.
For anybody who can take time off work to help out, being an observer is the most important thing you can do to protect Tom’s lead. All the money contributed, and all the speeches and advertising and telephoning precinct-walking and other campaign efforts, will go for naught if observers aren’t present during the ballot counting and recounting to make sure the result is honest and accurate.