It's Official: Obenshain certified loser -- but wait, there's more!

A law championed by Democrat Creigh Deeds could give Republican Mark Obenshain the tools to erase Mark Herring’s 165-vote margin in Virgina’s attorney general’s race.

Deeds, who lost the AG contest to Bob McDonnell in 2005 by 360 votes, subsequently authored legislation requiring all optical scan ballots be re-run in the event of a recount, and that ballots containing write-in votes, undervotes or overvotes be hand-counted.

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Chesterfield County’s refusal to clean up its voter rolls before the Nov. 5 Virginia election threatens to turn the populous Richmond suburb into a legal battleground in the still-undecided attorney general’s race.

True the Vote, a national election-watch group, warned Chesterfield last month to scrub out ineligible voters, or be sued. The State Board of Elections had given the county a list of 2,200 names to review.

But Chesterfield General Registrar Lawrence Haake declined to purge any voters, saying it was too close to the election.

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davidmcbeth said:

Well, the law is terrible IMO. Only scanners to look at most ballots?

Terrible terrible .... if it bites the demorats in the butt, good !

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skidmark said:

Listen, Chad - we don't like your kind hanging aound down here.

So, to date we know that the winner may or may not be the winner. The big question is whether or not Haake will suffer for his deeds.

stay safe.

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skidmark said:

The big question is whether or not Haake will suffer for his [strike]d[/strike]Deeds.

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Grapeshot said:

Let no good deed go unpunished, but really does that include Miss Deeds?

Her father has provided the nuclear option - let the games continue.

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A firestorm has erupted over voter ballots in Chesterfield. Some are challenging that a portion of the votes may be faulty. This unfolding saga would have the biggest effect on the race for attorney general. Candidates Democrat Mark Herring and Republican Senator Mark Obenshain are separated by just 165 votes.

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However, an attorney from the American Civil Rights Union is citing a Virginia law. Attorney J. Christian Adams says that registrars have only 30 days to get rid of invalid voters.

"Haake had 30 days, from the time the State Board of Elections told him about these people, to clean up the rolls, and he broke the law. It's that simple," said Adams.

Legal action has been threatened against the Chesterfield Registrar, for not completing the voting "purge" before the election.

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Remember the 2000 election debacle in Florida? The next year (in a big overreaction) the Virginia General Assembly tightened recount law in the Commonwealth. The legislators who passed this bill essentially turned recounts into a second canvass rather than an examination of ballots.

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To his credit, after the 2005 recount disaster Senator Deeds worked to change Virginia's recount law back to something worthwhile and a few years later he was successful. Now the law requires a hand count of ballots that machines don't pick up votes for.

How many ballots are we talking about?

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Total Fairfax County undervotes to be hand examined: 5,359 (not including absentee undervotes).

Figuring in absentee ballots, Fairfax probably has around 6,500 votes left to hand examine.

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Each locality has different systems, but with 1 in 7 voters in Virginia voting in Fairfax, 45,500 would be the approximate number of statewide undervotes to be examined if other counties reported the same rates -- which can widely vary by voting system.

With that in mind- if you are calling for Mark Obenshain to concede this election -- please stop. Every one of these ballots need to be counted -- and the only then can we say who "won" or "lost".

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peter nap said:

Getting Real interesting and I still don't understand why they can't get an accurate count the first time.

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Grapeshot said:

Heard a response to that very question the other day, Peter.

The reply was, "Well first they have to want to."

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peter nap said:

At last....an honest answer:lol:

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skidmark said:

So you are saying Diogones can finally go home? I'm not so sure about that.

stay safe.

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peter nap said:

Getting Real interesting and I still don't understand why they can't get an accurate count the first time.

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va_tazdad said:

With idiots like Larry Haake making up the rules as he goes along, and the Commonwealth allowing him to get away with it, what other result could happen?

This is the same fool that says it is illegal to OC at a polling place unless you are a LEO.

He needs to be charged, arrested and prosecuted!

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Grapeshot said:

If being a stupid [strike]Haake[/strike] hack (political) were a crime, then we could fill the new Richmond city jail over night.

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Repeater said:

Ah, the GrapeShot Doctrine: Problem is, Common Sense ain't popular.

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Grapeshot said:

Thomas Paine had something to say on the subject - a mite bit strong for this forum, but his introductory sentence applies in so many ways.

http://www.constitution.org/tp/comsense.htm

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skidmark said:

Recount has been requested.

Paging Chad. Chad to the white courtesy phone, please.

stay safe.

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Grapeshot said:

There is also the consideration that a large number of ballots may be challanged in Chesterfield county I hear, as the Registrar is said to have refused to purge the voter rolls of those not eligible to vote.

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