Michigan absentee ballot printing error: simple mistake or intentional? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

phredgreen · 10-01-2004, 10:45 AM

this is making the rounds on the interweb, so i thought i should post it here for you guys to dissect.

michigan voters are starting to receive their ballots by mail, and some of them are receiving a ballot that could be misleading.

have a look at this ballot and see if you can see what's wrong:

have a closer look:

<img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/juliandrago/Livejournal%20Random/ballot2.jpg></img>

do you see it? all of the arrows are shifted down a name. so the question is this... was it a simple printing error, or did someone intend to have george bush's arrow
pointing at john kerry's name? feel free to assume what you want, i just wanted to show you guys what real voters are receiving.

remember, keep it civil or we'll show you the door.

SecretMethod70 · 10-01-2004, 10:49 AM

One thing to keep in mind is that the absentee ballots are not being erad by machines. Based on how it appears people are to vote on these ballots, they will be read by people, making it pretty easy to see the intent of the voter.

Nonetheless, this is obviously a problem.

kutulu · 10-01-2004, 10:51 AM

I think it's way too obvious of a fuckup for it to be intentional. I mean, seriously, that is a huge mistake and nobody could pull that off.

What it shows is that the people running the elections have serious error checking issues.

Stompy · 10-01-2004, 10:52 AM

Is anything being done about this?

This is a HUGE problem...

They'll either ASSUME everyone knows to vote 1 down, or they'll just flat out not count Bush.

Journeyman · 10-01-2004, 10:53 AM

If they manage to fix it in due time, I'd have to say it's unintentional. Given the time between ballot distribution and the election, any malicious tinkerers had to have known that it just wouldn't fly.

kutulu · 10-01-2004, 11:11 AM

What they need to do is replace every one of those ballots. If left unchecked, this has the potential to be this election's Florida. We DON"T need that again. They should request that everyone who was sent one of those ballots needs to send it back and they will give a replacement ballot.

There are so many things that can go wrong because of this, people could get multiple ballots, people could vote wrong on accidents, etc.

mattevil · 10-01-2004, 11:22 AM

let's hope for some straight party voters i guess(they'll at least get the president right)

Lebell · 10-01-2004, 11:43 AM

Butterflygate, Vol 2.

Looks like a QC issue to me.

Much to obvious to be intentional fraud.

SecretMethod70 · 10-01-2004, 02:02 PM

I've read that it's already being fixed and it was a limited occurance.

Zubon · 10-01-2004, 05:57 PM

That's Gratiot County, Michigan. Assuming it just affects the one county, that is less than 0.5% of the population, and certainly less than half of voters will be using absentee ballots. If the election does come down to a >0.5% difference, then there might be an issue.

Skimming the news, it looks like the error ballots were only in the city of Alma, and I am guessing the number of absentee voters in Alma is within the margin of error for a state of 10,000,000.

But who knows, the problem might be pandemic. The current problem in Michigan is sorting out fake voter registrations, because some of the "get out the vote" drives were giving incentives to register more people. Clerks get to have fun sorting out that mess from when someone decided to meet his quota...

10-01-2004, 10:45 AM	#1 (permalink)
phredgreen who? Location: the phoenix metro	Michigan absentee ballot printing error: simple mistake or intentional? this is making the rounds on the interweb, so i thought i should post it here for you guys to dissect. michigan voters are starting to receive their ballots by mail, and some of them are receiving a ballot that could be misleading. have a look at this ballot and see if you can see what's wrong: have a closer look: <img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/juliandrago/Livejournal%20Random/ballot2.jpg></img> do you see it? all of the arrows are shifted down a name. so the question is this... was it a simple printing error, or did someone intend to have george bush's arrow pointing at john kerry's name? feel free to assume what you want, i just wanted to show you guys what real voters are receiving. remember, keep it civil or we'll show you the door. __________________ My country is the world, and my religion is to do good. - Thomas Paine Last edited by phredgreen; 10-01-2004 at 10:47 AM..

10-01-2004, 10:49 AM	#2 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	One thing to keep in mind is that the absentee ballots are not being erad by machines. Based on how it appears people are to vote on these ballots, they will be read by people, making it pretty easy to see the intent of the voter. Nonetheless, this is obviously a problem. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

10-01-2004, 10:52 AM	#4 (permalink)
Stompy Banned from being Banned Location: Donkey	Is anything being done about this? This is a HUGE problem... They'll either ASSUME everyone knows to vote 1 down, or they'll just flat out not count Bush. __________________ I love lamp.

10-01-2004, 11:43 AM	#8 (permalink)
Lebell Cracking the Whip Location: Sexymama's arms...	Butterflygate, Vol 2. Looks like a QC issue to me. Much to obvious to be intentional fraud. __________________ "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU! Please Donate!

10-01-2004, 02:02 PM	#9 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	I've read that it's already being fixed and it was a limited occurance. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

10-01-2004, 10:51 AM	#3 (permalink)
kutulu Junkie	I think it's way too obvious of a fuckup for it to be intentional. I mean, seriously, that is a huge mistake and nobody could pull that off. What it shows is that the people running the elections have serious error checking issues.

10-01-2004, 10:53 AM	#5 (permalink)
Journeyman Like John Goodman, but not. Location: SFBA, California	If they manage to fix it in due time, I'd have to say it's unintentional. Given the time between ballot distribution and the election, any malicious tinkerers had to have known that it just wouldn't fly.

10-01-2004, 11:11 AM	#6 (permalink)
kutulu Junkie	What they need to do is replace every one of those ballots. If left unchecked, this has the potential to be this election's Florida. We DON"T need that again. They should request that everyone who was sent one of those ballots needs to send it back and they will give a replacement ballot. There are so many things that can go wrong because of this, people could get multiple ballots, people could vote wrong on accidents, etc.

10-01-2004, 11:22 AM	#7 (permalink)
mattevil Addict Location: Virginia	let's hope for some straight party voters i guess(they'll at least get the president right)

10-01-2004, 05:57 PM	#10 (permalink)
Zubon Upright	That's Gratiot County, Michigan. Assuming it just affects the one county, that is less than 0.5% of the population, and certainly less than half of voters will be using absentee ballots. If the election does come down to a >0.5% difference, then there might be an issue. Skimming the news, it looks like the error ballots were only in the city of Alma, and I am guessing the number of absentee voters in Alma is within the margin of error for a state of 10,000,000. But who knows, the problem might be pandemic. The current problem in Michigan is sorting out fake voter registrations, because some of the "get out the vote" drives were giving incentives to register more people. Clerks get to have fun sorting out that mess from when someone decided to meet his quota...