VA05

Goode Riddance

davidswanson — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:06:11 -0500

A Darfur-supporting, time-tithing, self-deprecating newcomer becomes Virginia's big electoral surprise.
By Dahlia Lithwick

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—It's been more than 72 hours since the polls opened on Tuesday, and Tom Perriello is only 19 minutes away from the official declaration that he has won—in one of the most dramatic upsets of the 2008 election—the congressional seat for the 5th District in Virginia. Perriello is sitting outside a coffee shop in Charlottesville, besieged by voters dying to know whether they've stopped the ballot-counting marathon yet. "Can I say congratulations yet?" asks a woman. "What's the final count?" A man says he is getting tired of hitting "refresh" on the Virginia State Board of Elections Web site. Perriello grins, explaining that after days of what he calls "cinematic" vote counting, the official count now gives him a 747-vote lead. This after the AP prematurely called the election for incumbent Virgil Goode on Tuesday night, then called it for Perriello on Wednesday. Vote totals seesawed back and forth as military ballots, paper ballots, and write-in ballots were counted and recounted.

Read the rest at Slate.

Recount Fictions in Virginia's Fifth

davidswanson — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:22:28 -0500

By David Swanson

As of about 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, 316,476 votes had been counted in Virginia's Fifth District congressional race between incumbent bigotted xenophobe Virgil Goode and challenger Tom Perriello, with 158,562 going to Perriello and 157,914 to Goode, for a difference of 648 votes or 0.2 percent of the total.

According to a report on Charlottesville's NBC-29:

"There is no 'automatic' or 'mandatory' recount. If the results differ by one percent or less, the losing candidate can formally request a recount in court. If the difference is less than half of a percentage point, the same candidate still has to make a request and the state will pay for it."

Two years ago Mr. Macaca, George Allen, lost a close senate race in Virginia, the last great Virginian rejection of racism before the defeat of McCain-Palin and the possible defeat of Goode. Allen chose not to request a recount. His campaign or supporters of it had engaged in widespread suppression tactics, including misleading calls and flyers and intimidation. It's possible that he preferred to avoid close scrutiny of the election because of how deep his dirty tricks ran. Or maybe he just decided he couldn't win. If Goode loses the initial count this time and chooses not to recount, the same question will haunt us. If Perriello loses the initial count, only requesting a recount would fit with the statements he has recently made about the importance of taking the time to be sure every vote is counted. But then, he is working with the Democratic Party which absolutely loves to concede, so anything's possible.

The interesting question is, if they do a recount, what in the world will the recounters do in order to maintain the charade that they are "recounting" something? I ask this not because I distrust the people doing the recount in any way, but because there simply isn't anything to recount. Most of the votes were cast on DRE machines, electronic machines. Unlike voting on a paper ballot, voting on a DRE does not leave behind any item that can be counted or recounted. The same NBC-29 story explains:

"If and when a recount occurs, it's different every time. According to Iachetta, electronic ballots can be 're-counted' by re-reading the cards that hold the results or just by going over the statement of results again."

Even NBC was forced to put "re-counted" in quotes. The votes exist, if they exist, inside a machine. The machine spits out a number, and we all simply have to trust it. If the machine can be made to spit out a different number, that would be interesting, but it wouldn't help anything, because we'd have no basis on which to guess whether the first or second number was closer to an accurate count.

Now it could be discovered that some of the counts are impossible or improbable (machines have sometimes given candidates in various parts of the country more votes than there were voters, or reported that huge numbers of voters chose to vote in a local race and ignore a national one, etc.) Or it could be shown that a machine had been suspiciously tampered with, or that the data had been altered by an interested party. Or some innocent human error in processing the totals could be found. But aside from those possibilities, assuming everything seems to have worked perfectly, we actually have no possible way of knowing whether a machine count is accurate or not. As far as I know we have no exit polls here to help us either.

This probably means a couple of things. First, it probably means that a "recount" is not going to change the results dramatically, since most of the votes can't be recounted. Second, it might just mean that more people in Virginia come to grips with the need to replace our misguided techno-fetish for dysfunctional machines with paper ballots publicly counted at every polling place. In fact the Virginia Constitution requires the public counting of ballots, and DREs can't do that.

Now, some of the ballots in this contested race are paper. I voted early on a paper absentee ballot, as did a lot of other people, and others voted on provisional ballots on election day. All of those ballots could be carefully recounted by hand and the totals made public for each polling place. In most places, paper ballots are counted on optical scan machines, which are notoriously as unreliable as DREs, even when they aren't being jammed by wet ballots as happened in some parts of Virginia on Tuesday. The advantage of optical scan counting is that it leaves behind the paper ballots, which can be counted by hand if needed. But check out this report from the same NBC-29 story:

"Paper ballots will most likely go through a tabulating machine again."

Are they serious? If the ballots are counted by hand in small numbers locally, and the totals posted publicly and added together, a count can be extremely reliable. If the ballots are counted by a machine, and the total comes out different from last time, which total do you use?

Other factors could come into play here, including late arriving absentee ballots or attempts by Goode's team to disqualify various people's provisional ballots. There is some chance, I think, that this will help wake us up to the need for universal registration. If we didn't make everyone jump through so many hoops in order to vote, and simply let everyone vote in the same way that we let everyone have a Social Security number, then scary tales about Mickey Mouse showing up at the polls wouldn't be taken seriously even on Fox News.

When the first count is finished, if either the winner or the loser has any suspicion that a recount could come closer to the truth, then they have a duty to insist on it, and to insist that it be taken seriously and done with the extreme care that we put into counting money or sports scores. Sadly, we just don't have an electoral system that will allow any of us to be sure of the outcome no matter how many times they "recount" it.

Tom Perriello Up By 814

davidswanson — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:55:29 -0500

By David Swanson

In Virginia's undecided Fifth District congressional race, Tom Perriello is now up 814 votes with possibly more still to be added, and a recount likely. But most of the over 300,000 votes cast cannot be recounted, since they were made on electronic machines.

Good bye, Virgil Goode, You left us all worse off and more hateful. May you become a nicer person in a line of work where you don't think bigotry is your key to success.

Welcome to Congress, Tom Perriello. May you actually represent us and be patient with us as we experience the shock of it.

Goode-Perriello Recount Required?

davidswanson — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:27:21 -0500

WINA reports:
"State law calls for a mandatory recount when the separation in the vote total is less than one-half of one percent."

But here's a citation of state law stating that a recount must be requested by apparently losing candidate.

Check the official results.

Be glad if you voted on paper because for most voters in Virginia's Fifth District there simply ain't nothing to recount.

AUDIO OF A PERRIELLO INTERVIEW TODAY.

And an encouraging statement from Perriello.

And a call for help:
"Remember the friends that I told you about who are working on a state campaign in Virginia? Well, it came down to within a few hundred votes and they need help getting the word out to election lawyers/political operatives who can help with a re-count. Would you mind forwarding this info to your list? The campaign is Tom Perriello's run for Representative in VA's 5th. David Madden is the contact person. His number is (202) 550-6461 and his e-mail is david_madden@post.harvard.edu "

And an analysis of Perriello's success, and a prediction the recount will take till Christmas, and something very strange: votes oddly eliminated and added:

VERIS is the new (and controversial) state voter registration database system. I just did an analysis of the changes due to the VERIS malfunction (?). In Danville, Tom Perriello’s vote totals (”original value”) were REDUCED by 308, while Virgil Goode’s vote totals were INCREASED by 1819. I do not understand why vote totals would have been affected by VERIS “going down after midnight,” as the VBE update page states. It seems the system is used to report vote totals. So precincts were able to report vote totals before midnight (presumably, these are the “original values”), but were prevented from finishing until this morning, when (it seems) the system was rebooted. Why, then, would vote totals have been decreased as well as increased? Also, the data from the missing precinct in Lunenberg were just added (9:58am): 351 Goode, 207 Perriello.

Possible explanation here.

And another mystery.

ACORN Myths in District With No ACORN

davidswanson — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:56:28 -0500

By David Swanson

Virginia's Fifth District Congressional race has become a battle over whether or not to count provisional ballots, with the Democratic candidate in favor and the Republican opposed, in general, to counting them. The Republicans can be expected to regurgitate myths promoted by the RNC, McCain campaign, and national corporate media about "voter fraud." Ideas matter, and if these insidious ideas are not rejected, decisive votes in this election might be.

Goode v Perriello: Recount?

davidswanson — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:12:19 -0500

By David Swanson

There is still hope that Virginia's Fifth District can be rid of Virgil Goode, but the final count has him in the lead. A recount is possible, and if there is any basis for it, I hope that Democratic candidate Tom Perriello will request it. Even if he loses a recount, Perriello would earn our respect as someone who stands up to see that every vote is counted, rather than someone who runs in fear of being called names like "sore loser."

The many complaints of polling place problems recorded yesterday by Election Protection in Virginia do not appear to be concentrated in the Fifth District. But there are serious complaints there, which if verified would throw the election in a very bad light. I've pasted some of the reports below.

It's important to remember, however, that even if every election machine worked perfectly, there is absolutely no way to recount the votes made on them. I voted early and on paper, so my vote can be recounted. Most people voted on DRE machines, which arguably violate the Virginia Constitution's requirement of public vote counting. These machines count votes inside a black box. It cannot be made public. It cannot be verified. We simply have to hope that the machines got it right, which -- of course -- such machines quite often do not. Sometimes, as documented below, their failures are even visible to voters.

While Virginia has cut off funding for these machines, it has not yet banned their use. Paper ballots can be counted with optical scan machines. Those machines are just as unreliable as DREs, but leave a paper trail that can be recounted. Most reliable of all, and least expensive, would be paper ballots placed in a locked transparent box, publicly opened and counted at each polling place with witnesses from all interested parties, and the results publicly posted at each polling place. Registration issues would be solved by instituting universal registration. Regardless of the outcome of this particular election, it should point us toward such necessary reforms. Here are some of the reported (not verified) problems from counties that are in part or in whole within Virginia's Fifth District:

This is from Campbell County:

"Voting machine is jamming. Asking voter to hit "McCain" to clear the machine, instead of using override to clear and to let the voters properly register the vote. Local NAACP has been called about the problem."

From Charlottesville:

"Voter from Charlottesville, VA requested an absentee ballot which only arrived on Election Day."

"Student voters were not able to cast a regular ballot because they registered with student groups that did not turn in the forms on time."

"Unsubstantiated rumor from Clark that machines broke down at Tonsler. As a result paper ballots were being used. Some were not being counted due to boxes not being completely filled in (they were checked instead). However, instruction wasn't being provided to completely fill-in ballots."

From Bedford:

"concerned whether the machine properly recorded her vote. the machine jammed when the voter in front of her tried to vote."

"machine stalled on voter before this voter - would not go forward or backward - voter had to vote on machine after they got it going again and is concerned about whether her vote counted because there was no papertrail"

From Fluvanna:

"Tried to vote. The candidate for senator came up, voted, but the candidates for president never came up on the voting screen. Also happened to the person that came before her."

From Cumberland:

"Family members have same name. One member of family committed felony. Other member denied ability to vote."

From Greene:

"Poll worker pressed wrong button on voting machine (hit countrywide and not enter) as a result voter was not able to vote in statewide races. Thinks that this may be happening to other voters as a result of poll worker error. Left polls crying. Poll worker said would file an incident reprot but was told by superiors that this "could not happen" with the electronic machines. Voters thinks that it may signfiy other problems with machines."

From Appomatox:

"Touch screen voting machine did not allow the voter the opportunity to vote for the Presidential candidates. Talked to voter registration people for their county and they said there was nothing they could do after the ballot was submitted. Voter registration officials told the voter that there had been similar problems in Appamattox, VA."

From Prince Edward:

"Caller learned that others had entered a nursing home and filled out patients' ballots without them knowing who they were voting for."

From Franklin:

"Voter mailed registration form in, is listed as registered in our database, but was told he was not registered when he went to his polling place."

"Voter selected Obama and McCain showed as indicated. Voter corrected her ballot and machine then recorded her selected choice after voter talked w/election official"

From Henry:

"saw a man with republican campaign buttons approach 4 elderly african american voters and he told them to vote the bible; voter's husband reported this to the supervisor in the elections office in Henry County"

"Went vote early. They told him that because he works for a campaign, he cannot vote early except for presiden. He did not vote at all as a consequence. Went to vote at the Henry County Administration Building, 3300 Kings Mountain Road, Collinsville. Approximately at 1:15 pm on October 31, 2008."

"attempted to register son on line. Not in Va. database"

From Mecklenburg:

"Caller was turned away from proper polling place because told he was not on the registration list. Caller has a registration card and voted in the primaries, so it is surprising that voter does not appear in any of the registration databases. Voter has not moved since the primary election this year."

"Voter was told she is not registered, although she is showing up on our database as registered."

"She is 53 and voted a lot fo different ways and today they looked at IDs. She is used to electronic way and the woman handed her a paper ballot and she said that the machine is broken. She didn't tell and didn't say anything. Explained it to the person previously and never tells her where to put it. Folded ballot and put in the box. She called the voting registrar but he said that the machine had been fixed at 6:30. Worried that her ballot would not be counted. No one was watching the box. Thinks that these voted won't be counted. Thinks that the machines are fixed but doesn't know."

"Touch screens difficult to register answer. He got help from poll worker, but is concerned that others are not able to make their selections properly because it is difficult to press. Mecklenburg County. Precinct 701"

"Daughter and son in law moved to Georgia in early October and faxed absentee ballot to Virginia. Daughter called local board; said not received."

From Brunswick:

"She asked to help her. The poll worker got an attitude with her. They got into an argument and the poll worker would not allow her to vote and asked her to leave."

Perriello Victory Rally

davidswanson — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:48:38 -0500

"Tom Tom Tom!" chants by huge crowd at the Gravity Lounge in Charlottesville VA right across the street from Virgil Goode's office, where we have so often marched, protested, and sat-in, but never been represented. Perriello is talking "change" and "a new kind of politics," and the applause is ecstatic. People are commenting to each other about how long they've been losing. They're still scared to believe they've won something. Perriello is talking "unity." Huge applause. Very brief remarks. Now he's doing more interviews. I'm not sure he'll be a progressive leader. I am sure that the worst member of the United States Congress must now seek other employment.

Virgil Goode Claims to Represent Real Virginia

davidswanson — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:06:09 -0400

By David Swanson

Watch this offensive clip from a recent Virgil Goode rally with remarks by Virginia State Delegate Don Merricks and Congressman Virgil Goode:

I grew up in Fairfax County, in Northern Virginia, and I've lived for several years in the Fifth District, currently misrepresented by Virgil Goode, who I would think would be the last person to want to bring up discussions of real and fake. His solution to disastrous economic policies is to support them and bash immigrants. That's a fake solution. His solution to the related disaster of foreign occupations is to support and fund them but bash Muslims. That's a fake solution. I didn't cease to be a fake person when I moved down here. I just acquired a fake representative in Congress who should be shown a real door on November 4th.

Virgil Goode Shames Virginia's Fifth District

davidswanson — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:20:03 -0400

Rep. Virgil Goode Gives His Opponent a Beard and Dark Skin on Top of Lying About His Positions

davidswanson — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:54:05 -0400