Free Republic

Republican Bill Brady holds an eight-point lead over Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn in the four-way race for governor of Illinois. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds Brady, a state senator, earning 45% of the vote to Quinn’s 37%. Democrat-turned-independent Scott Lee Cohen gets six percent (6%) support, and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney has the backing of two percent (2%). Another one percent (1%) favors another candidate, and eight percent (8%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) also see this crock http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2010/10/illinois-gov-1-point-race.html

The last name of Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney is misspelled as "Whitey" on electronic-voting machines in nearly two dozen wards -- about half in predominantly African-American areas -- and election officials said Wednesday the problem cannot be corrected by Election Day. The misspelling turned up on touch-screen machines in 23 wards overall. Whitney's name is spelled correctly on the machines' initial screens showing all of the candidates' names, but it is misspelled on review screens that later show a voter his or her choices, said Jim Allen, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections. "This is a difficult...

Chicago election officials say crews will work overtime to reprogram thousands of electronic voting machines that mistakenly list a gubernatorial candidate's name as "Rich Whitey" instead of Rich Whitney. Chicago elections board chairman Langdon Neal said 530 machines being used for early voting and an additional 4,200 destined for the Nov. 2 election will be reprogrammed and retested. The mistake in the Green Party candidate's name appears on a review screen that allows voters to double-check their selections and not on the screen where the vote is registered. It also is not on paper ballots, Neal said. He said the...

There are typos and then there are complete and utter catastrophes. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the name of Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney is misspelled "Rich Whitey" on electronic-voting machines in 23 wards -- "about half in predominantly African-American areas." The error only occurs on screens voters would see when they are reviewing their choices (Whitney's name appears correctly on the initial screens), but officials say the error cannot be corrected before election day. Jim Allen, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections, told the Sun-Times he expects 90% of votes on election day to be cast on...