Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Wrong Judicial Decision in Hamblen Election

I just can't keep quiet on a local problem, despite the weight of personal issues here at the home front.

A razor thin two-vote difference in the race for a Hamblen County Commission seat has slowly moved through the courts and a judge has decided there should be a recount of the votes.

A recount is a useless and pointless action.

The local election commission has already stated the two vote difference was made via absentee ballots - so recounting all the votes will accomplish nothing to resolve the situation.

The critical questions are whether or not those ballots were cast by valid, registered voters and when they were cast.

Currently only the Knoxville media has bothered to report the judicial decision. Even the local paper's website has, as of 7 pm today, no report of the decision.

Given that the alleged victor in the race is a former employee of the newspaper, it's clear there is a desire for no change in the vote tally. The previous incumbent office holder deserves better from the election commission office and the judicial review. The vote count made on election day itself resulted in a tie -- so reviewing the status of the two votes cast via absentee ballots should be the only focus of judicial review.

More on the numerous problems election day and the judge's opinion here.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:03 AM

    Joe, Good to see you back in action.

    No surprise about the Hamblen Co election mess though, or the fact that the validity of those 2 ballots will probably not be examined.

    But we all want a Co Commission that plays nice together, right?
    /sarcasm

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  2. Anonymous2:12 PM

    Yeah, we here in Anderson County had a similar situation, where a commission seat was won with 1 vote, in shady and contested circumstances, but didn't even get the courtesy of a recount.

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  3. The nonsensical judicial ruling states that while numerous and notable confusion and problems surrounded the election, there was no evidence of fraud -- and to refuse to review the validy of registration insures there will be NO CHANCE to discover fraud,

    This is simply shameful.

    Recent laws enacted statewide and nationwaide following the problems of the 2000 presidential voting fiasco are intetionally vague and likewise prevent investigation.

    Now, we have a pending federal law which will require voters all have new IDs in order to vote -- a form of ID which is NOT required if one seeks to run for office.

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