This just in from Alaska, where thousands of new ballots continue to be found each day, since it was first reported that turnout in 2008 was 11% lower than in 2004. Thousands of ballots, nearly a third of them, remain uncounted nearly a week after the election. Their numbers could explain the strange results so far in races — such as those of the felonious Sen. Ted Stevens (R) and the under-investigation Rep. Don Young (R) — for which pollsters had predicted decisive losses for the Republicans.
Even with the newly acknowledged ballots and even with Alaska’s once-popular Gov. Sarah Palin and popular Sen. Barack Obama both on the Presidential ballot this year, turnout numbers still remain slightly below those from 2004. The Anchorage Daily News, with numbers somewhat out of date from those now posted below, called it all “puzzling” over the weekend, and pointed out much of what we’ve detailed here in previous posts.
The following updated numbers come from the DNC’s Alaska Communications Director, Kay Brown late this afternoon [emphasis in the original]…
http://www.elections.alaska.gov/files/08GENR/remaining_absentee_early_question_numbers.pdf
The Division of Elections reports there are now 90,635 ballots remaining to be counted. This means nearly 29 percent (28.8%) of the total vote has not been counted yet.
With these new numbers the total vote is at 314,268, with turnout at 63.3% (registered voters = 495,731).
The new ballots posted today include about 4,000 additional Questioned ballots about 5,600 additional Absentees.
The Division of Elections (DOE) plans to count the majority of early vote and absentee ballots that were verified by Election Day on Wednesday. The DOE Plans to count the remaining ballots on Friday (but this is all obviously subject to change). However, there could be enough ballots left after Wednesdays count for the race to still go either way.
All overseas ballots have to be received by Wednesday, November 19th and the DOE plans to certify the election on Tuesday, November 25. A recount, should one be necessary, would occur after that. An automatic recount is only implemented if the final votes are within 0.5 percent.
Total turnout in 2004 was 314,502 with these new ballots posted today we are still slightly under the number who voted in 2004. Turnout in the 2004 General was 66.6%, with 314,502 voting and 472,160 registered voters statewide.
Previously related…
• 11/6/08: “SOMETHING SMELLS VERY FISHY IN ALASKA”
• 11/9/08: “Alaska Stinks & Minnesota’s on Edge, So Here’s What Parties and Citizens Can Do to Try and Ensure Election Results with Integrity There and Elsewhere”
UPDATE 10/11/08: Shannyn Moore, from Anchorage, offers more on these numbers this morning, including details on the enormous rate of absentee ballots returned this year, versus 2004, which further increases the oddity of the lower-than-expected over-all turnout as compared to four years ago. Her latest update is now here…
As an Alaskan I’m concerned about the integrity of the vote, in fact I’m concerned about my own vote counting. When I completed the ballot the official took and instead of scanning it, he put it in a side slot. The stated reason was the machine wasn’t printing. This didn’t make much sense and I questioned the head official who indicated that when the ‘new’ machine arrived all those in the side slot would be scanned at that time. So I don’t really know if my ballot was ever scanned. I have a call into the DOE. What I don’t see in the above article is what or where the ‘found’ ballots were from. Are these regular election day ballots or are these absentee?
and the number of uncounted ballots in California jumps from 1.6 million to way over 2 million over the weekend. HEY, election officials can’t even count BALLOTS, and institute appropriate accounting checks and balances and reporting for that, why should anyone believe they (or their secret vote counting computers) can count VOTES, when they can’t even count and report BALLOTS properly?
As a concerned citizen from Michigan and trally never wanting to hear your governor say, I know what I know what I know! I’m very concerned that this woman may be unvetted and run again for any public office. I am concerned that the total vote in Alaxka is at a little over 314,000 while you have a 670,000 Native Eskimo population. Does that mean that the majority of them dib not care to vote or just were excluded? You also have aminority of African Americans living in Alaska who seemingly have been barred from participation in the politics of Alaska, were their ballots just thrown in a box like the person’s above? This episode in ALaska history does not bear well. And that Palin recently made effort to enter the world on a national stage does not suggest Alaska has much to offer in world governance. Maybe ALazka should begin to look at impeachment proceedings! Don’t destroy youselves Alaska, you’re a state I once skated to across the tarmac on the way to Vietnam.
It is unbelievable. Count the ballots and move on. I am so sick of Democrats and their conspiracy theories. They need to be investigated for all of the corruption in that Party. They are responsible for the financial crisis, the negative mood in America, and for the new Socialist President we will have. It really is sad that the Democratic Party has become what it is. Very, very sad.
With so many stories like this of ballots being found how can we trust that the counts in any state are accurate? It makes you wonder what’s really going on.
The vote results in Palin’s State shows the country just how lucky we are she wasn’t elected. One shutters but for the Grace of God, she could have been…
Dear MegaWhy,
I’m always baffled when people dismissively invoke the notion of misguided, partisan conspiracy theories. I missed the part where conpiracy theories got a bad name. Was it the Bay of Pigs? Was it the Gulf of Tonkin Incident? Was it the Iran-Contra Scandal? Was it the Pentagon Papers? Was it the CIA’s involvement in the overthrow of Allende in Chile? Arbenz in Guatemala? or Mossadeqh in Iran? Was it the litany of lies and misinformation leading up to the Iraq War? or the lies told us about the FISA program? or the lies that we’re not torturing people around the world? or the lies about imminent societal collapse if we don’t sign on for the bailout?
Perspectives are funny things. I myself am sick and tired of ignorance, denial, and a failure to take responsibility for any aspect of the incredible mess we’re in after eight years of Rebulicans being in power.
I don’t see how any election in Alaska could be “called” for any candidate, when the day of the elections, the new commentators were saying that it would be at least 10 days before the total results from Alaska could be tallied.
How could this be considered voter fraud when the news media already knew in advance the results would be 10 days minimum forthcoming?
Time for Brad to visit Alaska!
Don’t let them swear Ted Stevens back in before the official counting is done, as they did with Brian Bilbrae in CD50 in 2006. Once he is sworn in, no matter what the final vote count comes in at, and no matter what any court should find, the Senate has the final say over which members of the Senate get to stay and who shall go.
I’m not sure what the swearing-in rules are, but the Repugs made a rapid jet trip to San Diego to pick up Brian Bilbrae (R) a week after the election took place with over 60,000 ballots to be counted, flew him to D.C. and swore him into the House of Representatives. The subsequent court encounter ended when House Speaker at the time, Dennis Hastert, informed the court that it had no jurisdiction, since the man had already been sworn in.
So we know this is not beyond the Repugs to do, so what does a simple 7-felony conviction have to do with holding a senate seat. Dems – better be on the lookout for this before the rest of the “newly discovered” ballots are counted.
Definition:
Rubulican noun.
An unfortunate creature suffering from Hearing AIDS, which is a disease acquired from listening, uncritically, to @ssholes such as Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly. They are easy to identify since they have two major traits: continuously spouting opinions which are in obvious conflict with reality and calling everyone else one of democrat|socialist|communist|left-winger. They also call the Democratic Party the Democrat Party (apparently this is considered clever, albeit ignorant).
Since the Rubulican is an extreme Right Winger (aka Fascist), all other parties appear leftist, so they almost always mistake Green party members (and even Libertarians) as Democrats.
Rubulicans are anti-science unless it further enhances their goal of transferring all remaining wealth of the poor and middle class to the top 0.1% of the wealthy. Rubulicans believe that saving the environment is a waste of time since the ‘End Of Days’ is REAL SOON NOW and since earth will be HELL after the Rapture it is our duty to f_ck it up as much as possible.
Rubulicans appear to have no ability to think on their own. They all appear to acquire their opinions from the same small number of sources. They will repeat the same, discredited nonsense over and over.
It’s nice of the Rubulicans to drop by. They have a lot in common with RonDroids.
On election day, 2008, maybe Alaskans were too busy to vote because they were shopping for kids designer silk underwear with their RNC/GOP credit cards?
So all these ballots suddenly turn up. How will anyone know that they’re legit when they’re counted? How does anyone know that they haven’t been changed to benefit Republicans?
For Christene – #8 – You are correct in saying they indicated it would take some time, in fact 21 days, not 10, as they must provide for ballots postmarked by the 4th to arrive by the 19th to be counted by the 25th. However, they also said they were dealing with about 50,000 in the reports you are alluding to including the expected mail-ins. Suddenly there are now over 90,000. That is the news. Somehow, about 40,000 votes just got discovered. As for the election outcome being called, that may happen by media outlets but they have no authority. The actual call is made by the chief electoral officer and in theory – Florida 2000 proving it is just that – the call is not made until all votes are counted.
SillyGit #11 – Hilarious & devastatingly accurate. 😛
Just for you – Dear John McCain Voters
Rubulicans also want Mandatory Voter Ideas, that must be some kind of litmus test that if you don’t have a clue who you are voting for, your vote is not allowed to count.
The only problem with that is that the Rubulican has their ideas formed by think tanks funded by the 1%ers, repeated by Wingnut radio and then think that the idea came out of thin air from their own wittle pea brain.
Instead of preventing the poor and minorities from voting, maybe the Rubulican should do us all a favor and just stay home on election day because they don’t have any idea.
#4
Both parties are responsible for the market crisis and looming depression. Congress was told by the people to cut this crap out, not to bail these thieves out, to force the bad bids into the light, lower the leveraging, ala the Denninger Genisis Plan (OR something like it) so that this junk could clear out and trust would be restored in the markets.
Instead they (that’s plural) PLANNED for this to happen. At this point we (that’s you and me) don’t know where the money is going. THEY WON’T FUCKING SAY!!! Congress, is feasic to whats up and yet is willfully refuses to stop it. Considering the amount of money (100 trillion) involved is more than in recorded history, I have to say BOTH parties are the worst socialists in world and recorded history.
To brow beat progressives for wanting things like the vote to be counted, healthcare, infrastructure, etc., is a mere pittance compared to the socialist (and criminal oath breaking) theft by credit, money/counterfeit and murder (from war) going on.
You need to turn off the Radio and Tube friend. Good thing you are in the right place (bradblog) to see past all that crap, if you dare look.
On the other hand if your part of the dead-enders (to steal back a figure of speech from Rumsfield) there’s not much we can do for you and eventually you’ll be exposed in this format.
Bright Light Shines Here.
When you vote you sign in. When your absentee ballot is received, it is added to the “voted” list. When you vote early, you sign in. So is there a discrepancy between the “voted” list and the number of ballots? Shouldn’t be that hard to verify. But then again, it’s Alaska.
Listen to the whining Democrats. You got your socialist president candidate elected, so what more do you have to whine about? I give it about 2 years, when you realize YOUR taxes are going up, you job is gone, interest rates on your home start to climb, and you listen for the latest level of terror alert and where the last strike was.
The democrats are resorting to voter fraud AGAIN. Look at MN. Exit polling had the republican up by 8 points. The democrats have stolen enough ballots to get it down to less then 300 votes. Maybe the democrats should change the name of their party to ACORN. Palin was the most qualified candidate. Palin 2012
[ed note: Exit polls had the DEMOCRAT up by 8 points. Knowing disinformation will get you banned here and there is almost no way to believe you don’t know this is disinformation. This is your warning. –99]
Whining Democrats? It’s you pompous Rupuglikkkans that are the whiners. At least Dems are prepared to pay some extra taxes in order to get our country back to where it should be (and would be if Rupubs hadn’t practically destroyed it in the ast 8 years, unlike you Rupubs who only thin of your selfish butts. Y’all lost get over it!
My son lives in Chicago and witnessed postal carriers opening absentee ballots and tearing them up. After they tossed them out the window of the vehicle, he looked at them, only those with a particular candidate were found.
“All things must come to pass” before our precious Christ returns. Woe to those who aren’t ready. This world is in a downward spiral as it is suppose to happen. Want to know what happens next? Open your bibles instead of turning to the brain wash of the media networks.
Palin for president in 2012!
[ed note: No personal attacks. –99]
It’s demonocracy baby, it so is.
[Comments temporarily disabled to allow server to better handle huge incoming traffic. — BF]
Dude! You like totally trolled Digg. Page views FTW!!!
You r teh roxor.
To be clear, they are just counting ballots as they find them-a bad count on top of previous bad counts- or are they going to put them together at some point and just do a new top-down statewide recount? Because they SHOULD do the 2nd.
And MegaWhy–Dems are responsible for the financial crisis? Really? After 8 years of a Republican Administration who always got their way, even from a bare majority Dem congress, and after 20 years prior to that where even Clinton followed the Republican financial deregulation? After Republican free-traders designed passed and controlled the entire financial system, it is DEMOCRATS fault it imploded?
Prison time! I want these people to go to prison for election fraud!
I contacted a reliable source in the Begich campaign.
“Ballots keep coming in and are allowed. We give longer than most states of overseas absentee ballots to arrive because it takes them longer to get here. Several thousand continue to arrive and will until around Nov. 17, which is around the cutoff date.
To all you conspriacy theorists out there, a simple good search would have informed you that these “missing ballots” are just the absentee ballots waiting to be counted.
Not that I expect a retraction from this blog, but way to NOT DO YOUR RESEARCH!