HorsesAss.Org

Some belated thoughts on vote-by-mail

by — ,

As King County Council President Larry Phillips predicted Sunday night on “The David Goldstein Show” (Newsradio 710-KIRO, Sundays 7PM-10PM), the council voted Monday to approve a move to all vote-by-mail elections once certain conditions are met.

I’ve found it difficult to muster up the enthusiasm to write about the council’s vote because it was totally expected, and really should not have been controversial, and as much as I’ll personally miss the civic ritual of going to the polling place, I simply cannot defend maintaining two distinct elections systems when 80 percent of voters (and climbing) routinely choose one over the other. Anybody who closely followed the controversy generated by the near-tie in the 2004 gubernatorial election understands the operational advantages of consolidation, and it is disingenuous of KCRE’s most vocal critics to advocate for reform, and then stand in its way.

It is particularly difficult to square the strenuous objections of Republicans with the party’s general apathy towards towards all vote-by-mail in 34 other, mostly rural (i.e. Republican) counties. Apparently, Republicans can be trusted to conduct vote-by-mail elections, but Democrats cannot… at least that’s the only logic I can come up with.

In the end, vote-by-mail passed along strict party lines. The GOP reaction?

Ordinance passes 5 Democrats, 4 Republicans. Oh well. Nothing partisan here.

A partisan vote? No shit, Sherlock.

But then, that’s what you get when you provoke a partisan battle in a jurisdiction in which your party is in the distinct minority.

Comments

  2. 2

    Nothing partisan here.

    He’s right. The Republicans on the King County Council should put partisanship aside and put the interests of their constituents first.

  3. 3

    How about all the Seattle waterfront businesses that will fold when the viaduct is shut down for six years to be rebuilt or replaced by a tunnel?

    http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....ct22m.html

    I don’t hear Gregoire, Sims or Phillips saying anything about them. And I think this happens to be in Phillips’ district for the King County Council.

    Of course, Phillips’ council district is so lopsidedly Democrat that he doesn’t have to worry about his constituents.

  4. 4

    Richard Pope: Are we changing the subject again?

    Anyway, the waterfront businesses are going to be affected no matter which option is selected. The viaduct is beyond a simple repair, it will have to be replaced with either (a) a new viaduct, (b) a tunnel, (c) a bridge, or (d) nothing – just discourge the traffic onto city streets. Regardless, businesses in the area will be affected.

    But if you make it a tunnel, you will actually improve buisiness on the waterfront in the future. As it is now it is often so loud that you have to shout to be heard. And it would also benefit businesses on the east side of Alaskan Way. Every transportation project in an urban area has a temporary disruption in order to bring longer-term improvements.

    I would like to see a tunnel because it would improve the waterfront. But I’m still concerned about how well it would stand up in an earthquake – I wouldn’t want to be in a flooding tunnel when that happens.

  5. 5

    “discourg” should be “disgorge”. I’m sure I had that right when I pressed “submit”. I noticed this softward changes the letter “c” in parentheses to a copyright symbol every time. I’m beginning to wonder what other changes it makes.

  6. 6

    here’s the deal about a partisan vote – if you’re in the majority you like it if you’re in the minority you don’t – so move someplace where you’re in the majority or shut the fuck up!

  7. 7

    Regarding vote by mail, I always have. But I was one of those who didn’t think it was a good idea to give up polling places. I’ve changed my mind. Given evidence most of us do it anyway, go for it. I’m cool.

    Gee, a liberal changing her mind. Ever heard of a conservative who did that? Wow!

  8. 8

    Actually, if King County had all-mail balloting in 2004, Dino Rossi would probably be Governor. Three major reasons for this.

    First, a lot of people voted twice. They mailed in their absentee ballot. Then they went to the polling place on election day and cast a provisional ballot, saying that they had never received their absentee ballot in the mail. King County Elections screwed up numerous times, and counted both ballots anyway.

    Second, a lot of ineligible voters cast provisional ballots at the polling place on election day. Some of them were fed directly into the counting machine, instead of being put into provisional ballot enevelopes. In many other cases, King County Elections counted provisional ballots of unregistered voters that were placed into provisional ballot envelopes, because of various mistakes.

    Third, King County Elections has a much higher signature rejection rate than other counties. Had every ballot gone through signature verification, this would have excluded several hundred more ballots.

  9. 9

    Anyway, the waterfront businesses are going to be affected no matter which option is selected. The viaduct is beyond a simple repair, it will have to be replaced with either (a) a new viaduct, (b) a tunnel, © a bridge, or (d) nothing – just discourge the traffic onto city streets. Regardless, businesses in the area will be affected.

    Commentby rhp6033— 6/22/06@ 10:05 am

    The other option is to repair the existing viaduct structure in place. This would cost a lot less than A, B or C, and would not require much closing of the existing structure — perhaps mostly on nights and weekends.

  10. 10

    8.

    Really, “a lot”? The ones we know of were Republicans, but please quantify “a lot”.

  11. 11

    9.

    Good God! I agree with you, Richard.

    I think replacing the viaduct is expensive overkill for the benefit of special interests.

    Unfortunately, Greg Nickels has promised the traditional Seattle lawsuit/revote campaign if he doesn’t get his way. And Paul has a lot of money.

  12. 12

    I have a PAV because I was missing elections due to work

    I thoght KCE was running elections properly, purging voter rolls of dead people, and removing duplicate registrations

    There were problems in 2000 with the US Senate Race

    Dean Logan was appointed in 2003 to fix the problems of his predecessor Julian Kemp? but he made the situation worse

    I feel sorry for Ron Sims, because firing a friend who’s incompetent is not fun

    Besides screwing up the election department, Dean Logan also mismanaged the 2 animal cruelty investigations this year

    If David Goldstein has evidence of voting irregularities in the “34 other, mostly rural (i.e. Republican) counties” he should post it on his blog

    Otherwise his comment is typical of the know it all educated city folks who think everyone who lives outside Seattle city limits is a hick and a rube

    Other more progressive states give employees paid time off to go to the poll and vote.

    Maybe Seattle City Council should consider enacting it into law here for Seattle and the whole state

  13. 13

    if we had all mail voting at the federal level, Gore or Kerry would be President since it would have made it harder for the GOP and the KKK to stop black voters from getting to the polls.

  14. 14

    Well, us barbarians in Pierce County can still go to the polls and vote or do the mail-in bit. But it sounds OK to me if King County wants to be all mail-in.

  15. 15

    I have to wonder at the nostalgia for the polling place.

    My memories of them are mostly about waiting in line. Starting with my first vote for Pat Brown and against Dick Nixon. When I discovered how easy it was to ask for an absentee ballot, I started doing that. When I came to Washington, permanent absentee was for me.

    Goldy’s story about going to the polls as a kid got me to thinking. When I was a kid, the polling place for the precinct we lived in was in our living room.

    It wasn’t so wonderful to have the neighborhood passing though the house from dawn to dusk.

  16. 16

    12.

    Dean Logan was appointed in 2003 to fix the problems of his predecessor Julian Kemp? but he made the situation worse

    I feel sorry for Ron Sims, because firing a friend who’s incompetent is not fun

    It just isn’t so that Logan made the situation worse. To expect a complete turnaround in an organization that brings in thousands of temporary workers to accomplish its task is unreasonable. No county in the country would have come out any better under the scrutiny KC experienced. The mail ballot operation is much better now.

    Sims didn’t fire Logan. He wanted him to stay.

  19. 19

    The Republican bullshitters who falsely claim they were cheated out of the governor’s office are never going to give up, are they? Like Republicans everywhere, on every issues, they believe repeating a lie endlessly will make it true.

  21. 21

    Democrats, the dead voters, and illegals like the vote by mail. Remember, “It’s who counts the votes”. Joe Stalin

  24. 24

    According to the Secretary of State, of the five counties that maintain poll sites, 61.31% of the votes were cast by absentee ballot in the 2004 General Election.

    Snohomish is now vote-by-mail, that’s not such a small county.

  26. 26

    24

    Snohomish County is one of two Washington counties that used Diebold touch screen voting machines in the 2004 election, and there were major irregularities in that county. Many voters reported the machines changed their votes for Gregoire into Rossi votes, and the tally of poll votes showed Rossi getting thousands of poll votes from precincts where the absentees went for Gregoire. http://www.votersunite.org/

  27. 27

    If it were possible to identify all the stolen votes for Rossi in Snohomish County and subtract them from the totals, Rossi lost the election by thousands, not 133 votes.

  28. 28

    I understand the partisan aspect of it. I dont care about that.

    My only frustration is that I am not convinced the signature validation process is any good. If that aspect were to be well and truly dealt with i would be ok.

  29. 29

    Vote by mail is apparently so full of fraud, security issues and error prone that 3 of the council’s 4 REPUBLICANS are registered as permanent absentee voters.

  30. 30

    A serious question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of eliminating the voting polls? I haven’t been keeping up on this so I really have no information to form an opinion.

    Thanks.

  31. 31

    It was unfortunate that the dem majority didn’t at least try to make this major of a change a bi-partisan effort. All efforts to address issues were shouted down, and then voted down.

    Surely, the dems think that there is an issue that there is no management at KCE right now, and that maybe this could have waited until at least a replacement for Logan was hired? Would it have been the end of the world to wait a couple of months? I can’t figure out what the big hurry was to implement this.

    I agree with Sven – I have no idea what my signature looks like that is on file. I would like to have some way to know if my vote is counted or rejected or stolen. But that isn’t in place, and the dems rushed to make sure it wasn’t in place. In the age of ATM’s and pins, why are we relying on subjective signature matching?

    I also am concerned about private voting. The elderly and infirm are manipulated to vote a certain way. If there is a poll, then at least they have an option. Now they have none, and we, the public, have no way to know if those votes were voluntarily made by the voter.

    Just because other counties have moved to mail in ballots doesn’t make it a good idea. It just means that they think it works for them. And they have county auditors that have to answer to the people.

  32. 32

    30

    “A serious question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of eliminating the voting polls? I haven’t been keeping up on this so I really have no information to form an opinion. Thanks.” Commentby Name— 6/22/06@ 1:21 pm

    1) Cost — each polling place must be staffed by 6 to 8 pollworkers who are each paid about $126, and keep in mind there usually are several elections a year. In addition, the voting machines that have to be stationed at every polling location are expensive to buy and maintain.

    2) Availability of poll workers — nationally, there’s a shortage of about 500,000 pollworkers, and in King County, many polling places are understaffed because the county can’t find enough people to work the polls.

    3) Duplication — the county has to maintain parallel systems of collecting and counting poll and absentee ballots, increasing complexity.

    4) Greater opportunities for lost ballots, equipment malfunctions, and errors — absentee ballots are handled and counted by professional staff, but at polling places, ballot handling and tallying is performed (in King County) by over 4,000 amateur poll workers.

    5) Convenience — it’s much easier to vote by absentee, and you have a couple of weeks to think about your voting decisions and fill out your ballot, whereas at a polling place you are under pressure to fill out your ballot in a hurry if there are people in line behind you.

    However, some people prefer voting at a polling place; and, of course, all-mail voting will eliminate part-time pollworker jobs for senior citizens, college students, and others who can use the extra income these jobs provide.

  33. 33

    31

    It’s a shame Republicans use forums like the County Council for grandstanding and political posturing instead of discussing serious issues.

  34. 34

    31

    “In the age of ATM’s and pins, why are we relying on subjective signature matching?”

    You DO want your vote stolen, don’t you? Along with your identity, bank account, credit, et al.

  35. 35

    We should go to all-paper-ballot voting and manual counting for every election. Mark an “X” in the box, and use the manual counting methods employed in the 2004 hand recount, which are foolproof. Yes, it costs a little more, but what’s our democracy worth? If we can spend hundreds of billions to “defend democracy” in Iraq, why can’t we spend a few million at home to ensure accurate elections?

  36. 36

    But then, if the public knew our election methods were foolproof, that would take the wind out of the GOP propaganda machine, wouldn’t it?

  37. 37

    31

    “The elderly and infirm are manipulated to vote a certain way. If there is a poll, then at least they have an option. Now they have none, and we, the public, have no way to know if those votes were voluntarily made by the voter.”

    What a load of crap! Do you have some proof for your allegations, Janet? No, I didn’t think so. It galls the shit out of you that people in nursing homes are allowed to vote, doesn’t it? Geez, they might even vote for Democrats after they find out Republicans want to eliminate Medicaid and throw them out on the curb.

  38. 38

    Janet, why do you think it’s more important to give another tax cut to billionaires than to take care of old people in nursing homes?

    What’s the matter, Janet, didn’t these people fight enough wars, work enough years, or pay enough taxes to deserve a home and nursing care in their old age?

    Why should they sit on a curb and die so some rich guy can buy a bigger yacht?

    You’re a horse’s ass.

  39. 39

    Save the “old people in nursing homes! More taxes!” Hillart Clinton and Karl Marx

  40. 40

    “No IDs to vote!! That would be racist!!” Hillary Clinton, President Fox and Al Sharpton

  41. 41

    What’s the matter, Janet, didn’t these people fight enough wars, work enough years, or pay enough taxes to deserve a home and nursing care in their old age? [……………………………………………………Janet, Can’t you see that the “guvment” is responsible for all people to have a home and food and health care and education and nursing care and a check every month and two cars and a cell phone and a 42 Sony plasma HDTV? And you must pay more! How much more? Just more!] Hillary Clinton and Karl Marx

  42. 42

    BOSTON – Liberal Harvard is still waiting for software billionaire Democrat Larry Ellison to make good on a $115 million pledge, a year after he announced what would have been the largest single contribution in the university’s history. Harvard said on Wednesday it hasn’t received a cent from the flamboyant founder and chief executive of software giant Oracle Corp.

    These liberral “progressive” Democrats make these huge pledges because the pledge gets the publicity, but nobody notices if it’s never paid. Witness Democrat Ted Turner’s big UN pledge that never happened. For Democrats It always more fun to spend someone else’s [taxpayer’s] money!

  43. 43

    Look, repbulicans here lose elections so they blame the process.

    What they need is a nice dose of (illegal???) Delay-orchestrated gerrymandering to get votes to go there way…

  44. 44

    The best bit of info here is that several of the republicans (on marching orders from GOP headquarters no doubt) voted no even though they themselves are registered as absentee voters. Once again, the ONLY word that can possibly be used to describe ANYTHING the GOP talks about is

    hypocrite

    !!!

  45. 45

    Remember when Republicans were cheerleading for term limits back when Democrats were in charge of Congress? With righteous indignation, they would scream that term limits were a matter of principle, that their own partisan interests had nothing to do with their advocacy for such limits. Their “prinicipled” defense of term limits, like all their principles, went up in smoke when they took over Congress. Now, we see Republicans taking “principled” stands against whatever the Democratic majority of the King County Council wants to do with regard to voting procedures. You guys are hopelessly transparent, but too damned dumb to recognize it. Acknowledge your partisanship and maybe you’d gain some credibility.

  46. 46

    The sentence in 30 should have said:
    “The elderly and infirm are CAN BE manipulated to vote a certain way.” There is lots of anecdotal evidence of people going to nursing homes and “helping” the elderly vote, or children “helping” their elderly parents out. They really have no protection from this help if we go to 100% mail.

    I’m not convinced that it is good to be able to vote weeks before election day. News is always coming out. So if you vote, and then find out that your congressman is a crook and passing along big money contracts to his brother and Nancy Pelosi’s brother, can you change your vote? How will goldy smear Dave Reichert the weekend before the vote, if everyone has already voted?

  47. 47

    30

    This is a good question and one I’ve discussed with a number of people on other forums. Let me add just a bit to Roger’s analysis.

    The principal perceived problem with voting by mail is that, to quote an old proverb, there’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. By which I mean there are several possible points of failure in the vote by mail process:

    – It is possible that a ballot could be lost or hijacked on its way to its intended destination, either when sent to the voter or when returned to the county. I think this would be fairly rare. In spite of anti-government propaganda the Post Office is remarkably good at delivering mail (at least they never seem to lose my bills) and mail tampering is a Federal offense that carries some hard jail time.

    – There’s the procrastination factor. If you have a ballot for three weeks, the temptation can be pretty strong to mail it when you get around to it. In my case this once turned into “never,” so I have to be careful to get the ballot in well ahead of the deadline.

    – The most prominent problem with voting by mail that I can see is that it allows the vote process to occur outside the relatively secure confines of a polling place. To use an extreme example, someone could come into your house, put a gun to your head, and tell you to vote Republican or else. OK, that’s facetious, but I do know of a case in Britain where local, ahem, community leaders went around to immigrants’ houses, confiscating their ballots, making sure they voted the “approved” way and the like. While I can’t discount the possibility that something like this would happen in King County, I have to say that I have a lot more faith in a vote-by-mail system than I do in a system using voting machines made by a company that won’t allow its software to be audited, doesn’t allow for a paper trail and is run by a Republican activist committed to getting Republicans elected.

  48. 48

    I do not trust voting by mail. If my fellow Republicans were the ones pushing this violation of my right to vote and the Democratics were fighting against it, I would still oppose it. I have been denied the right to vote because my ballot arrived late. No one, not Executive Sims, not Dean Logan, not the Councilmembers who support this and not ever the supporters on this page or other blog sites can promise me with a 100% guarantee that it will not happen again. Why, because everyone who supports this does not care about my right to vote.

  49. 49

    The best voting method is the most open one, with the fewest opportunties for mishaps and abuse. That means it needs to be observalble by both parties at every step possible, or that the unknown steps be truly neutral parties. I think the Post Office is truly neutral, but that doesn’t mean they can’t lose something. If votes cast are posted on the internet so you could verify that your vote made it, that would help that step.

    I was never a fan of voting machines that didn’t generate a paper record. I don’t care if they are run by repubs or dems, this is just poor process design. There should always be a backup, and there should be duplication in the results. Without a papertrail, you can’t verify it.

    If KCE opens up the counting and processing of the all-mail ballots to observation by both parties, I think there will be more confidence in the system. Having the ballots be collected in bins that get stored and lost, only to reappear after the vote counting is over does not engender confidence.

    But, the County Council just had to implement this without addressing legitimate concerns, and without proper management in place. What are they hiding? Why are they in a rush?

  50. 50

    So what happens when my ballot gets lost Janet S. Or of it gets placed in the wrong mailbox and someone else fills it out. I was wronged before, no one even said that they were sorry it happened, I WILL be wronged again. No one cares.

  51. 51

    Personally, who cares what KCE does? We know the GOP will attack them and make baseless allegations. That’s all they can do here in Washington. They have no legitimate shot on the issues. Washington is a progressive state. The people here vote Dem. That’s the way it is and the GOP will snivel no matter what.

    There’s NOTHING they could do to appease the taliban wing of the GOP! The GOP doesn’t want ANYONE to vote. They prefer a dictatorship.

    And we don’t need to wait until the last minute to know that the GOP Congressmen and women did something illegal. They do that every single day. We can assume it won’t change and vote to stop the culture of corruption.

  52. 52

    Renndawg – you are right. No one cares. Instead of voting being a special right of the people it has become a political toy. It might help to have the county auditor be elected, but that would mean one more dimbulb dem in an elected office in King County. People in this area don’t care if you are qualified, as long as you are a reliable dem vote. Most of you have said as much.

  54. 54

    So when my ballot arrives to late for me to vote what can I do about it NOTHING. My right to vote will be denyied again and it eill be just to bad. There will be no reprecussions. No one will be punished. It will be just oh well too bad.

  55. 55

    What happens if you get caught up in a traffic jam trying to get to the polls and you’re late and they close? Then your vote doesn’t count either. Life isn’t perfect.

  56. 56

    Ok LeftTurn, if I get caught in traffic, unlikely because I walk to the polls, it is my fault for not planning better. When my ballot arrives late it is the fault of those in charge of elections.

  57. 57

    Are you guys getting worried about Cantwell’s big slide? Geez, McGavick has closed the gap to 4 points and the race hasn’t really even started yet.

    You guys better start putting money into her fund so she can spread her lies. Here’s some advice from MTR: MOVE LEFT ! ! ! Differentiate yourself Sen Cantwell. Listen to the moonbats here… they know what you should do.

    LMAO…

  58. 58

    Tell you what Mark The Cowardly Redneck. When you start worrying about the fact that the Draft Dodger in Chief has some of the lowest poll numbers in history, I’ll start worrying about Senator Cantwell’s LEAD IN THE POLLS over Alaska’s Senatorial candidate Mikey McGavick.

  60. 60

    LT – Uhh… PRESIDENT BUSH isn’t running again. His poll numbers don’t matter. Did you know that?

    I would encourage you to support TSWITW for dem nomination so GOP can have 8 more years. You see, we move forward when libruls and their kooky ideas are defeated. That’s how it works.

    FUcking idiot…

  61. 61

    LT – What are YOU going to do to help Sen Cantwell? I suggest you go to her website RIGHT NOW and put in the $100 you (mistakenly) think I should have put in.

    Let us know how that goes…

  62. 62

    Mark The Cowardly Redneck. I just donated $100 to Senator Cantwell in your honor. Unfortunately, I am close to the limit with her. Of course if I were a republican, I’d just pull a Jack Abraamhoff and find a way around the campaign finance limits. But only you righties get to break the rules with impunity.

    Bush isn’t running again? Well tell that to all the GOP candidates who have a political future directly tied to the Pretender and Thief.

    And tell us Mark The Cowardly Redneck…you dicksucking punk, are you worried about all the polls that show America wants the Dems in charge of Congress? Of course not. You only look at the polls your daddy the drug dealing Lush Flimbaugh tells you to.

    By the way, your wife says hi!

  64. 64

    It’s a shame Republicans use forums like the County Council for grandstanding and political posturing instead of discussing serious issues.

    Commentby Roger Rabbit— 6/22/06@ 1:37 pm

    It’s a shame Dan Rabbit Pellet Rather wasn’t there to actually view his claim of political grandstanding. HE got it third hand. Was it faxed to you, written on a 1972 IBM Selectric III Typewriter?

  65. 65

    Besides Dan Roger Rabbit Pellet Rather (Sorry I left off the Roger last time), what serious issues has Don Ron Sims King discussed lately? Why hasn’t he or Greg Nickel Bag fixed the monorail yet? Why hasn’t he or Greg Nickel Bag fixed the Seattle traffic problem yet? Why hasn’t he or Greg Nickel Bag fixed the pothole problem yet? Why hasn’t he or Greg Nickel Bag fixed the Sonics problem yet? The Sonics are the only reason rich, snooty Democrats enter Seattle anyway! So many more WHY questions such dumb bunnies here?

    Dan Roger Rabbit Pellet Rather: Are these lefty bloggers here your offspring? Their commentary mirrors your on pomposity, stupidity, worthlessness, and grandstanding. You are a credit to your “children”!

  66. 66

    LeftTurd: Rush bought drugs. Your momma dealt them. How else did you enter into this world? Did you find your father yet?

  67. 67

    LT – If yer maxed out on Cantwell, I’m sure TSWITW would take your money. Please give generously. Also send an e-mail to Howard Dean and tell him to keep pulling to the left. The dems aren’t sufficiently differentiated… I think they should go WAAAAY left and reflect the “values” of HA.

    Let me know how that works out…

    LMAO…. you guys are the best thing ever happened to GOP. GO HAs ! ! ! !!

  68. 68

    RennDawg, I agree with you on your commentary above. Notice the moonbatty wing of the HorsesAss crowd either ignores you or respond with assinine as this:”

    What happens if you get caught up in a traffic jam trying to get to the polls and you’re late and they close? Then your vote doesn’t count either. Life isn’t perfect.

    Commentby LeftTurn— 6/22/06@ 4:39 pm” \

    Most definitely offspring of Dan Roger Rabbit Pellet Rather!

  69. 69

    Howard Dean: Has anyone checked to determine how many minorities work at the DNC? Did Howard find at least one to hire on his personal staff? One more than he found in Vermont?

  70. 70

    59

    “KC Elections: Vote early and often!” Commentby Jack Burton— 6/22/06@ 5:05 pm

    Rossi’s fans tried to, but they got caught.

  71. 71

    Stupid Man @64

    My claiming to be a rabbit is no more preposterous than Republicans claiming that Rossi won.

  75. 75

    46

    “There is lots of anecdotal evidence of people going to nursing homes and “helping” the elderly vote, or children “helping” their elderly parents out. They really have no protection from this help if we go to 100% mail.”

    Janet — where did you get this “anecdotal evidence,” from Propaganda Central?

  76. 76

    It’s pretty pathetic when Republicans even try to keep people in old folks’ homes from voting.

  77. 77

    RR Janet S gets her stuff from drug addict Lush Flimbaugh. The mastermind behind her failed a woman’s place is in the home strategy against Darcy.

  83. 83

    You see Dan Roger Rabbit Pellet Rather, two can play that game! Shall I continue Dan Roger Rabbit Pellet Rather?

  84. 84

    Just a reminder that today, like every day, hero of the right, drug addict Lush Flimbaugh is peeing into a cup in front of his probation officer. Another shining example for the republican youth!

  85. 85

    Just a reminder that today, like every day, hero of the right, drug addict Lush Flimbaugh is peeing into a cup in front of his probation officer. Another shining example for the republican youth!

  86. 86

    Just a reminder that today, like every day, hero of the right, drug addict Lush Flimbaugh is peeing into a cup in front of his probation officer. Another shining example for the republican youth!

  87. 87

    Just a reminder that today, like every day, hero of the right, drug addict Lush Flimbaugh is peeing into a cup in front of his probation officer. Another shining example for the republican youth!

  89. 89

    61

    “LT – What are YOU going to do to help Sen Cantwell? I suggest you go to her website RIGHT NOW and put in the $100 you (mistakenly) think I should have put in.” Commentby Mark The Redneck Kennedy— 6/22/06@ 5:08 pm

    Redneck Turd — what are YOU going to do to support the troops? I sent $99 to OPERATION HELMET because Donnie Rumsfeld is too cheap to buy equipment for the troops. We already know you’re too cheap to pay your gambling debts. Are you too cheap to support the troops, too?

  90. 90

    88 No. Why do you ask? Been practicing that bunny grind on one?

  91. 91

    well I see rather than help come up with real solutions to theproblem of getting ballots to voters without them getting lost or delayed so much that they do not count we are just gonna insult each other. Real mature folks. Good distraction from the issue though.

  92. 92

    Well, we could do this:

    We could mail the ballots three weeks before the election.

    Then we could put ads on half the busses in King County reminding people that if they don’t have their ballots by, say, two weeks before the election, to call the Elections Office for instructions. We could make sure those ads are in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese so 99.99% of the county could read them.

    Which, actually, is what they already do. PSAs on TV would help, but as I watch a minimal amount of TV and skip the commercials when I do I couldn’t tell you whether they air such PSAs.

  93. 93

    From the nit-picky committee:

    Larry Phillips is the CHAIR of the King County Council, not the PRESIDENT. A slight but important distinction.

Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?

Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!

Follow Goldy

[iire_social_icons]

HA Commenting Policy

It may be hard to believe from the vile nature of the threads, but yes, we have a commenting policy. Comments containing libel, copyright violations, spam, blatant sock puppetry, and deliberate off-topic trolling are all strictly prohibited, and may be deleted on an entirely arbitrary, sporadic, and selective basis. And repeat offenders may be banned! This is my blog. Life isn’t fair.