Voters were given a plastic stylus and told it would mark their ballot with "invisible ink"--obviously their blank votes wouldn't count.
A representative from the Chicago Board of Elections told the reporter, with a straight face, that there was not malicious intent, but rather, "we are convinced that it was just utter stupidity."
Of course it was. What we're not told, though, is the political party or race of the voters and precinct workers. Given that this occurred in Chicago, and working on my assumption that the "utter stupidity" rationale is, itself, utter stupidity, wouldn't those few tidbits of information seem to be rather important?
Update, 2/6/08: In case the video link goes away, here's a Chicago Tribune link (free registration required, hat tip to NewsAlert).
Well...
ReplyDeleteGiven that there is not a HUGE STINK in the national news, it must be that it was white Republican suburbanites who didn't have their votes counted.
Ok, but seriously, "utter stupidity" is not a good enough excuse no matter who was affected. The election workers AND the idiots who trained them should lose their jobs.
I don't see what the problem is. It's Chicago.
ReplyDeleteThey've had invisible voters for decades. Invisible ink seems pretty unremarkable comparatively.
I would certainly be interested to know the demographics of that precinct. Given the questionable Iowa caucus and the strange turn of events with the media boosting McCain to rockstar status despite his views being contrary to the Republican base.
ReplyDeleteRogers Park was once a thriving mostly Jewish community spreading north from Devon Avenue to the city limits where Evanston begins, and east to the Lake, hear Loyola, then west towards Skokie. It is still a very nice community, and students from both Loyola and Northwestern rent apartments in this area. Quite multi-ethnic including middle eastern varietieswith more immigrant 'newcomers' than in the old days.
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