Election Reform

Blue_In_AK

(46,436 posts) Sat Jul 14, 2012, 03:32 AM Jul 2012

Potentially uncounted ballots from municipal election found (Anchorage, AK)

As follow-up to this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1091242 more irregularities uncovered in Anchorage's municipal election. This just makes me sick.

http://www.adn.com/2012/07/13/2541676/potentially-uncounted-ballots.html

As if there weren't enough problems already with the April municipal election, city officials said Friday they discovered a cache of 141 "potentially" uncounted ballots.

In a joint prepared statement emailed to news outlets at 6:30 p.m. Friday, long after City Hall shut down for the weekend, Assembly Chair Ernie Hall and new Municipal Clerk Barbara Jones said the ballots were found in sealed bags on Wednesday.

In an interview Friday night, Hall said he didn't want to notify the media about the discovery Wednesday because there were still more sealed bags in the city's vault to inspect. That inspection was concluded Thursday.

<snip>

The April 3 election has proven to be a disaster. Officials failed to provide enough ballots at more than half the precincts, and then failed to realize how serious the problem had become. The deputy clerk who handled Election Day duties was fired and her boss, City Clerk Barbara Gruenstein, resigned, but the fallout hasn't stopped yet. In an independent investigation announced July 2, a retired Superior Court judge, Dan Hensley, said blame for the mess belonged to the City Clerk's office and the Anchorage Assembly.

The election featured a race for Anchorage mayor and a divisive gay rights measure.