Election 2012

[Lamplighter]

Remember that post about John Ludlow

Now look at the crap going on in that election...


Times Union.com
STEVEN DUBOIS, Associated Press
November 2, 2012

Ballot tampering reported in Clackamas County

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Authorities said Friday they were investigating suspected ballot tampering
by an election worker in one of Oregon's most populous counties.

Clackamas County Clerk Sherry Hall said a criminal violation of election law was uncovered
by her office Wednesday and reported to the secretary of state's Elections Division.
Hall declined to identify the worker or describe the specific nature of theviolation.<snip>

[Skuttle-butt says a female, temporary, employee in the Sec of State's office
was illegally marking ballots for John Ludlow when the original voter had not voted for either candidate.]

Oregon was the first state to conduct elections exclusively by mail,
and this is the fourth presidential election in which the system has been used.
Despite initial fears that the method would lead to fraud, allegations have been rare.

Because it's a criminal matter, the Elections Division referred the case to the state Department of Justice.

"We can confirm we are currently investigating criminal felony violations of Oregon's election laws,
which allegedly took place in Clackamas County and allegedly involved a
temporary county elections employee tampering with cast ballots," said Jeff Manning,
a department spokesman.
<snip>

Officials wouldn't say how extensive they suspect the tampering might have been.
About 95,500 of the county's 228,000 registered voters had returned their ballots as of Thursday.

Clackamas County is home to 10 percent of Oregon's registered voters,
and is almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats,
It's considered a swing county that is pivotal in deciding close statewide races.
Three neck-and-neck legislative races could be decisive in determining
which party controls the state House.

Republicans party officials are already denying everything,
and demanding an apology from Ludlow's opponent, Charlette Lehan,
after her campaign chairman made the following statement:

“It throws the entire election result in doubt at this point,”
said Chris Edmonds, campaign manager for Lehan
“We don’t whether this was part of a larger and more coordinated effort in the elections office.”