Posted on 11/12/2009 6:18:26 AM PST by EternalVigilance
Word in from NY 23 that Conservative Doug Hoffman now trails by just 3000 votes as the official tabulation process continues. "The new vote totals mean the race will be decided by absentee ballots, of which about 10,200 were distributed." Among the absentee ballots that remain uncounted are "military and overseas ballots received by this coming Monday (and postmarked by Nov. 2)..."
But Bill Owens "was quickly sworn into office on Friday, a day before the rare weekend vote in the House of Representatives. His support sealed his party's narrow victory on the health care legislation."
By what right does anyone declare and act on an election outcome before all the votes are counted? Whatever candidates do to declare or concede victory, elections are decided by what the people do with their votes, not what the candidates do with their speeches. Or at least that's the way its supposed to be when government of, by and for the people still functions.
Sad on this day after veterans day, to reflect on the fact that among the votes still uncounted when Owens was being sworn in are many cast by people who are right now risking their lives in service to their country. Yet we let ambitious political parties hijack the electoral process in a fashion that sends the clear signal- your votes don't matter.
By such carelessness does a free people discard the respect for their sovereignty that is the essence of liberty. I assume that if the vote turns out to favor Doug Hoffman, Owens will have to give up the seat he would thus prematurely have assumed. But maybe not. After all, once the candidates and the Parties agree to an election outcome, why should the voters matter?
It's ironic that when it comes to ignoring the Constitution's eligibility requirements for the Presidency, the politicos want us to accept the notion that all that matters is the electoral majority. Now when it comes to deciding who's sworn in after an election, the people's votes remain uncounted, and all that matters is the candidates' declarations of victory or concession. For those willing to understand, this little episode reveals the truth. Once respect for the Constitution and its principles has been discarded, we'll quickly discover that the notion of majority rule has been thrown away as well. The American people will find themselves cast down, to languish as other peoples have historically done, under the boot heel of arrogant elites who will resume their accustomed place as the dictators of human destiny.
Owens never had a majority of the votes.
Owens ain’t going to be around long in any case; he’s got to run for reelection next year as do all representatives. Word is that in his first day in Congress he broke four campaign promises. Gotta establish a new record for a two-faced politician saying one thing and doing another once he’s voted in by less than a majority of the people!
Problem is that alot of the absentees would have been cast before Hoffman burst onto the scene and before Scuzz’s liberalism became well known, so many of the would-be Hoffman votes will instead be Scuzz votes.
It is the Chicago way. Democrats count votes till they are ahead then they stop the count.
Did the NY Secretary of State certify the election results, or does Nancy Pelosi swear in members based on exit polling?
Then why did Hoffman concede? What a fool for doing so before all the votes were counted, and on top of that he allowed the dems to use Owens to help pass deathcare. When are conservatives going to stop giving away their lunch money to bullies?
No.
I agree.
I personally don’t agree with news organizations “calling” elections before all states have voted. To me the whole “exit polling” is an infringement on peoples votes. Nothing should be “called” or “decided” until all votes have been tallied even if it’s a few days/weeks especially where our military is concerned, those men and womens votes should be counted first.
Just my opinion :O)
Agreed.
I hope some FReeper follows this to it’s conclusion and reports on it even if Owens wins the count. As someone said up thread how many ballots were cast before Scuzzymama dropped out on the weekend before the election...
I completely agree with you. As a matter of fact, I think it’s a form of vote tampering because their coverage has an effect on the voters who haven’t voted yet.
I wonder if anyone’s ever done a study on the number of people actually don’t go vote in the West (Alaska, Hawaii) because the news stations “call” the vote?
It would be very interesting to see those numbers if compared to years gone by when the instantaneous news wasn’t broadcast with exit polling on election night.
There is no question Hoffman conceded too soon.
We all know what happens to military absentee ballots if democrats get their hands on them.
What happens if the official count shows he is NOT the winner.
I thought Pols couldn’t be sworn in until the State certified results.
Hoffman’s big surge unfortunately, probably came after most of the absentee ballots were already filled out and mailed.
"I don’t know if we would have conceded on election night," Rob Ryan, Hoffman’s campaign spokesman, said Wednesday while discussing the latest results of the recanvassing. "I’m someone who doesn’t like to look back. But would we have taken longer to make a decision on election night? Probably, if we knew it was only 3,000 votes making the difference.". . . Ryan said the absentee ballots are likely to favor Hoffman because most were likely mailed before Republican Dede Scozzafava suspended her campaign three days before the election."For Doug to win, we needed a three-way race," Ryan said, adding that the campaign’s internal polls showed Hoffman would win with all three candidates.
Mathematically, I just don’t see this happening.
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