Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Dean Logan - Close enough for government work

In an article in today's Seattle Times, during the King County Council meeting held yesterday, KC Elections head Dean Logan had some explaining to do regarding the fiasco that happened during the November election in KC. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Mr. Logan failed to properly explain anything, really.

In a previous post of mine, I said the Iraqi's were doing all they could to ensure the count was accurate, for the entire nation of Iraq, yet Dean Logan continues to assert that discrepancies are "normal", or at least, close enough for government work (my words, not his, but you get the idea). Not good enough, Mr. Logan. If your bank made an error with your checking account, causing one of your checks to bounce, and after you complained and demanded that they make it right, wouldn't you be even more upset if their response was to say, "Discrepancies happen, so live with it?" Close, as the saying goes, only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades.

In the article, Logan in response to a question, makes this statement, "I would love it if I could say, 'Heads will roll,' and that will make it better," Logan responded. "I don't believe that's the case. There have been cultural issues in the division for years." [Emphasis mine] Cultural issues, Mr. Logan? Whatever in the world are you talking about? And you say this has been going on for years? Why haven't you done anything about that? Have you even tried, or don't you care? Or, perhaps you were instructed by your boss, King Sims, to just go with the flow? That wouldn't surprise me in the least.

It is indisputable that many felons registered to vote, and then voted illegally (among many other types of illegal votes) in November. My question is, with all of the state's resources, how is it not possible to check those resources to ensure that someone coming in to register to vote has the right to register? Specifically in the case of felons, I see no reason why the counties cannot check the data base to determine if their voting rights have been restored, with two or maybe three possible exceptions - the data base is not properly maintained, and for that, someone needs to be fired; the data base doesn't contain that kind of information (and if not, why not?), and someone should be fired for that lapse in good sense; or, county elections personnel are too lazy to even be bothered to check the data base when registering a new voter, or even more ominous, county elections workers have been specifically instructed to not check any of the data bases. In either case, appropriate individuals should be fired, and if there are any laws in place, charges should be brought.

Mr. Logan has also made the ludricrous assertion that it is up to the voters to determine whether or not someone is eligible to vote, and it is not his job. If that is the case, then please tell us just exactly what is your job, Mr. Logan? Isn't it your job to ensure that only legally entitled individuals register to vote, and only properly registered voters are allowed to vote, and that there are no discrepancies in the vote totals?

Close enough for government work? I think not.

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