Clackamas County commissioners call emergency meeting Monday ... ballot tampering investigation
Source: Oregonian, Yuxing Zheng, Nov 04, 2012 9:27 PM
OREGON CITY -- Clackamas County commissioners will hold an emergency meeting 9 a.m. Monday to discuss the ongoing state investigation into allegations that a temporary county elections worker tampered with ballots to cast additional votes for Republicans.
Meanwhile, a recall effort is under way against County Clerk Sherry Hall, who oversees elections.
Chairwoman Charlotte Lehan, a Democrat who is in a heated race to retain her seat against former Wilsonville Mayor John Ludlow, requested the meeting on Sunday. She called on Hall, County Administrator Steve Wheeler and County Counsel Stephen Madkour to provide more details about the alleged incident, how many ballots were allegedly tampered with and what will happen to the ballots. Lehan also requested more information on the elections employee under investigation, including whether the employee worked in previous elections.
"Clackamas County voters need information on the potential extent of the problem now," Lehan wrote Sunday in her letter to Wheeler. "We all need information immediately about the safeguards in place to prevent ballot tampering and the methods used to hire election workers and volunteers."
It's unclear if any of her questions will be answered as the state continues its investigation ...
Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2012/11/clackamas_county_commissioners_7.html
Republican caught red-handed changing voting, felony election fraud investigation ongoing.
Early voting has lots of new implications, like exit polling a majority of voters before election day. Vote rigging might also occur to those piles and piles of awaiting ballots. In effect, what happened in 12 hours of voting is now extended and there is more time to observe what is really transpiring. In this case, someone was caught by security measures, and it has been discovered that the person was altering ballots to favor Republican candidates. Given those facts, this seems like a story meriting attention in the national news. Will the "Big News" break out? Maybe the 10 a.m. rally and protest at the Clackamas County Elections Office will bring the networks in via Portland T-V stations. Will you be there? If so, please report later here.
The impact of the alleged fraudulent voting, altering mail-in ballots to vote Republican, might resound in many races and locations, from the county courthouse, to the State Capital, to Congress in D.C. The House in Oregon was split 30-30 last session, so even control of the State Legislature enters the equation. The Congressional seat is a close contest because the district swings. This season, even the U.S. Congress could be in the balance, albeit that probability is far less. And, control of the County Commission impacts land development decisions, education, and county services.
Previous threads:
[div class="excerpt"]State increases Clackamas election oversight
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014291019
[div class="excerpt"]Clackamas County Election Office calls police on Democratic Party Canvassers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251209015
[div class="excerpt"]Oregon Department of Justice investigating potential ballot tampering at Clackamas County Elections
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014288197
[div class="excerpt"]U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader calls alleged ballot tampering in Clackamas County 'sneaky, underhanded'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014289124
[div class="excerpt"]Are Republicans rigging a U. S. Congressional Race?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251205010
= new reply since forum marked as read
The Republicans are systematically striving to f*ck over American integrity,
and to totally screw honest electoral democracy. Scuzzbaggery up the wazoo.
The hallmark of ugly, hateful totalitarianism (R).
Suspect ballots won't count in Clackamas County; others quarantined
Yuxing Zheng, The Oregonian By Yuxing Zheng
Nov 05, updated 1:20 PM - http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2012/11/clackamas_county_elections_emp.html
.... "There are two (ballots) that are highly suspect, is what we heard," Lehan said. "Attorney General) Ellen Rosenblum said they'd sequestered all the ballots handled by this individual and are examining all of them. We don't know if that's 20 or 200. She didn't disclose that."
The initial ballot suspected of being tampered with on Oct. 31 "is evidence" and is not expected to be counted in the Nov. 6 election, County Counsel Stephen Madkour said. Because the ballot was removed from the secrecy envelope, there is no way to identify or contact the original voter, he said.
The voter apparently used a pen, and the elections employee is alleged to have used a pencil, Madkour said. "There is only one individual checked by the initial hand of the voter and the rest were pencil marks," Madkour said.
A second suspect ballot was discovered Nov. 1, he said. Officials are now inspecting other ballots the employee processed ....
BREAKING: Ballot tampering suspect identified - and she's a right-wing activist
Kari Chisholm - http://www.blueoregon.com/2012/11/breaking-ballot-tampering-suspect-identified-and-shes-right-wing-activist/
Swenson confirmed her role to Willamette Week:
.....
If this was a one-time freak incident that was caught immediately, then that's a wonderful thing. But that seems too tidy. We need a comprehensive investigation that goes back a decade or more to understand what's been happening. There have been way too many razor-thin elections in Clackamas County to be sanguine about all this.
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