On purple thumbs
AP Wide World Photo/John Moore
What area’s name is four letters, starts with I, and dips the fingers of voters in purple ink? If you said Iraq, you would be correct but I was looking for Iowa.
There is a ruckus in Iowa over the Diebold machines to be used in this weekend’s Ames Straw Poll. From KCCI.com:
Paul campaign staffers acknowledge asking Iowa Republican leaders to count paper ballots in the straw poll as well as using voting machines.
They said the Diebold machines to be used have been decertified in other states.
On Jan Mickelson’s show on WHO radio, the leader of a group called Voterfraud.org., who is also a Paul supporter, threatened to file a lawsuit over the machines.
Paul said he doesn’t know anything about a possible lawsuit and would not want one if it’s frivolous.
“Everyone wants an honest election. So if there’s a question, this is the time the question should be asked,” Paul said.
The Republican Party of Iowa says votes will be accurately counted.
In a statement, the Republican Party of Iowa said the straw poll will be fraud-proof, honest and secure.
Everyone must provide a photo identification and will be issued credentials. They will also have to dip their thumbs in purple ink to indicate that they have voted.
Could they have planned anything more insulting than purple ink? Iowa is not Iraq. And, to complicate matters, there’s a little conflict of interest in the Diebold certification. A member of Mitt Romney’s Leadership Team is the auditor.
Some are saying that it isn’t a big deal because it’s not a “real” election; it is a basically an opinion poll. That’s a crock of horseshit. We all know that Ames is a decider of who moves forward in the race. If it is flawed, it will affect what happens next.
If you really want to certify the Diebold machines, use them in Iowa while also using a paper ballot system as Ron Paul’s team suggested. Then count the paper ballots under the watchful eyes of all candidates. Compare the end totals. It would certainly be an easier test this weekend than November ‘08. If the numbers add up, fabulous. If they don’t, we might have a shot at fixing the problem without screwing up another real election.
Hat Tip: This Ron Paul ‘08 blog
I’m in Iowa and am a Ron Paul supporter who will be attending the Straw Poll, came over here because I frequent Dan’s blog.
I understand that the purple ink has been a regular thing at the Iowa Straw Polls. I don’t think it has anything to do with Iraq.
As for the Diebold machines and refusal to hand count the ballots, it stinks. We have volunteers to do exit polling so we can hopefully try to match numbers that way.
I have heard that the state election auditor is going to be involved in the Straw Poll, so it’s even more stupid that they’re saying it doesn’t matter and is not a real election. It can be construed as such and as such we should not have to pay $35 to vote. Oh well. I’m getting a free ticket anyway for volunteering to help out. Maybe I can keep an eye on the Diebold machines this way.
Oh, and it really is just Ron Paul’s supporters who have made a fuss over this. His campaign and staff have nothing to do with that although I am sure they are aware of the situation. As some of his supporters have been a little annoying, I would not want him to lose credibility because of that.
Thank you for the education on Iowa’s inking process. After your comment, I did what I should have done before my post; I looked it up. I learned that hand stamping came seriously into the process in 1999 and that was only after widespread accusations of fraud. The thumb in ink still reminds me of Iraq, but I have a better understanding of why that process is. For anyone else sucked into my uninformed rant, some Ames info can be found here.
After the impromptu education on Ames poll inking, I stand corrected on one point, but maintain my position on the value of Ames to candidates and vote accuracy.
I totally agree that it is important. I just don’t want Dr. Paul to get any bad press from us making too much noise before anything happens.
I must say, the local media seems pretty set on Romney winning the Straw Poll. A week ago at the debates here we had more than 100 Ron Paul supporters turn out for our candidate as opposed to about 8 to 12 Romney (*cough* paid staffers *cough*) people. At least we’re a motivated crowd! Anyway, so the media put up pictures of all the Romney people packed into this one tiny space and then a photo of a single Ron Paul guy with a sign and an umbrella. There was one news station that found us newsworthy, however. It’s one of the smaller ones.
I think Ron Paul and his staff handled the response perfectly; his frivolous lawsuit comment being an example.
I’m a Ron Paul supporter for the R nom, but will not be voting for him in the TX primary because I will be participating in my party’s convention process. One of the things I like about Dr. Paul is that he always seems to choose his words carefully. Media can spin all they like, but to anybody actually listening, the spin is clear.