# Hey...how do the pro-democrats on the SDMB feel about this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 13, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504 "2003-06-13T04:04:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/21 "2003-06-14T04:08:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blown & Injected \* > Montgomery County Maryland is one of the wealthiest counties in the country - Bethesda and Chevy Chase is way liberal Democrat. Good point. Although I must admit that Montgomery County (where I grew up, by the way) is a bit of an anomaly. I am not sure why; I think it has to do with the makeup of the occupations and employers (often the federal government) of the people in the county. Also, while it is wealthy, I think this is because it has a lot of upper middle class folks, not so much because it has so much extreme wealth. Because I grew up in Montgomery County, I think I did have the impression that fairly well-off (at least upper middle class) people tended to be more Democratic, even while also knowing that Republican policies favored the wealthy (even) more than Democratic policies. Once I moved to the wealthy suburbs of Philadelphia for college, I got a taste of what a more typical wealthy area’s political bent is (i.e., Republican). And, in the U.S. as a whole, there is a correlation between higher income and voting Republican vs. Democrat, and I didn’t mean to imply that there wasn’t in my post. Rather, I meant to point out that both parties are necessarily skewed toward the interests of the wealthy because those are the ones who have the strongest say in a democratic system such as ours, particularly one with the sort of non-public financing system for elections that we have. ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/22 "2003-06-14T04:54:13Z")
"I meant to point out that both parties " The real problem 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/23 "2003-06-14T05:01:54Z")
Well, I’m a Republican and it sounds pretty much like a bunch of oversimplified bullshit to me. I imagine it 'prolly sounds a little bit worse than that to Democrats/liberals. I hate this kind of crap when it’s directed at Republicans/Conservatives, and complain about its prejudicial nature and lack of good faith. It sucks worse when it’s guys on my side acting making such stupid generalizations, because it makes me look bad by extension. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/24 "2003-06-14T14:24:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jackmannii \* > \*\*Well, you’ve gotta admire someone who makes the effort to get the young folks involved. > > But seriously, which killer are you referring to here? \*\* Henry Lee Lucas (i.e. _Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer_) > **[Henry Lee Lucas - America’s most prolific serial killer](https://www.houseofhorrors.com/lucas.html)** > > Here you will find the details of Henry Lee Lucas - America’s most prolific serial killer or the bigges Lier Movie Rating, Synopsis, Review. > [@](#): > > On June 27, 1998 Governor George W. Bush spared Henry’s life because of overwhelming evidence proving that Henry was not in Texas when “Orange Socks” was murdered. Although Lucas confessed to killing her, work records and a cashed paycheck indicated he was in Florida at the time of the murder. Bush issued the reprieve on the recommendation of the state parole board. “I can only thank them for believing the truth and having guts enough for standing up for what’s right,” Lucas said from death row. > > “Henry Lee Lucas is unquestionably guilty of other despicable crimes which he has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison,” said Bush, in Brownsville for a conference of U.S.-Mexico border state governors. “However, I believe there is enough doubt about this particular crime that the state of Texas should not impose its ultimate penalty by executing him.” The bizarre thing about it is that, as I said, Bush rubberstamped the executions of a hell of a lot of people, including cases that were pretty clearly inappropriate. (Such as one of the [sleeping lawyer](http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A52193-2000May11¬Found=true) cases.) But for Lucas, Bush admits that Lucas is a serial killer, but lets him off on a technicality? ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/25 "2003-06-14T21:33:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ben \* > But for Lucas, Bush admits that Lucas is a serial killer, but lets him off on a technicality? Well, I am not sure that I’d classify “overwhelming evidence” that he was a thousand miles away from the location when the crime in question occurred as “a technicality”! And, Bush can’t very easily say, “Well, since he killed other people in other states, we’ll let this sentence for a crime he didn’t commit stand.” I agree though that there were other questionable cases in there. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/26 "2003-06-14T22:18:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ben \* > \*\*But for Lucas, Bush admits that Lucas is a serial killer, but lets him off on a technicality? \*\* Um, him not committing the crime is a “technicality”? Wow. Julie ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/27 "2003-06-14T22:40:04Z")
The technicality in question is that Lucas is the worst serial killer in history, but Bush lets him off the hook for the one murder that he didn’t commit- so he isn’t executed for all the ones he did commit. Considering that Bush quite literally feels that your lawyer is providing adequate counsel in a capital case if he _sleeps during the trial,_ then yeah, by Bush standards that’s a technicality. I do see how it might have been difficult, in this one case, for Bush _not_ to have commuted the sentence, though. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/28 "2003-06-15T04:16:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ben \* > \*\*But for Lucas, Bush admits that Lucas is a serial killer, but lets him off on a technicality? \*\* One of the essays in Russ Kick’s \* You Are Being Lied To \* posits the interesting theory that there was a subtle behind-the-scenes deal with Lucas. According to the article, Lucas confessed cheerfully to any case he was asked about. In later interviews, the semi-retarded Lucas said that the more he confessed, the better he was treated. He said he started feeling like a “big shot.” The article states that the good treatment extended to letting Lucas have free run of the jail and fancy meals. The implication is that Lucas, like a child, was reacting to positive re-inforcement by confessing. The author of the article believes that the deal made with Lucas would save him from the Death Penalty, and would “solve” a bunch of old cold-cases. However, the author claims, a lot of Lucas’ confessions can be tossed with a minor amount of investigation. In one, he was proven to be elsewhere at the time of the murder. In another, he incorrectly described the method of the murder. I haven’t read anything else in-depth about the Lucas case, so I don’t know if the author’s claims are bunk, but if true, they’re certainly enough to make you wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/29 "2003-06-15T15:22:21Z")
**Lissa** : > [@](#): > > Again, good! I sincerly hope that one of those new restrictions is that the school be accredited. I went to one of those private schools the vouchers would pay for. It was nothing more than religious indoctrination with a tiny bit of academics thrown in. My diploma will not allow me to enter a university. According to my state, I have been a drop-out since eighth grade, though I have a “diploma” to prove I graduated from this so-called school. Do I sound bitter? I am. What do your parents say? I feel for you-I also, like your husband, went to a Catholic grade school (as well as a Catholic college-us Mary-Worshippers are pretty big on education). Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/30 "2003-06-16T06:50:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\ ***Lissa** : > > What do your parents say? I feel for you-I also, like your husband, went to a Catholic grade school (as well as a Catholic college-us Mary-Worshippers are pretty big on education). > > Ouch. \*\* Ugh. It’s a long story, but the gist of it is that they were told by the school principal that the educational standards were the highest and that all of their graduates were \* sought \* after by colleges. My parents knew I wasn’t too keen about going there in the first place, so they dismissed my complaints about the “education” I was getting as exaggerated, especially since the principal always stepped in to reassure them. Turns out, only one graduate had ever gone to college, and that was a local “Bibe College” which also was not accredited. (That person is now shift manager at McDonalds.) They were the only college beating down my door after I graduated. Sad to say, but a lot of the parents who sent their kids to that school were fully aware that this was not recognized by the state. They did not want their kids to get a “secular” education. In this school, they could be confident that there would be no mention of evolution, except to ridicule it, Disney-style sanitized history, no literature other than books like “In His Steps,” and just enough mathematics to be able to calculate that weeks’ tithe. Were I not a voracious reader, I would be a complete ignoramus. ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/31 "2003-06-16T13:42:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MikeRochenelle \* > \*\*_The tried to hand the Florida election problems on Bush. No go._ > > Wrong Bush. It was Jeb Bush’s dirty tactics that swung that one. Go do your homework about how tons of eligible voters were turned away at black (predominantly democratic) precincts. Of course, the Demos tried that amazingly treasonous “we’re invalidating all mail-in (predominantly military, thus republican) votes.” Frankly there are a lot of politicans out there I’d like to introduce to a bullet… > \*\* Interesting that you blame Jeb Bush. Florida election officials are locally elected, consequently if a district was predominantly Democrat the local officials are also predominantly Democrat. As to the “tons of eligible voters were turned away”, cite please? Preferably one with numbers and hard facts behind it. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/32 "2003-06-16T15:34:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bayonet1976 \* > Interesting that you blame Jeb Bush. Florida election officials are locally elected, consequently if a district was predominantly Democrat the local officials are also predominantly Democrat. As to the “tons of eligible voters were turned away”, cite please? Preferably one with numbers and hard facts behind it. This is another amazing example of the supposedly “liberal media” being debated in another thread…Do you mean to tell me that you are completely unaware of the issue of the list of ineligible voters to be stricken from the registration roles that the State of Florida had a private company compile for them? A list that was woefully inaccurate and was not checked in the ways that it was supposed to be (despite the fact that the company was paid an incredibly large sum of money, by standards in the industry, for doing this work). A link to this story is provided by **Ben** in the 4th post of this thread. The name most associated with this is Greg Palast, the investigative reporter who has pursued it most doggedly. Well, I suppose I can’t blame you for not knowing about this since this story has gotten close to zero play in the major media outlets. ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/33 "2003-06-16T17:01:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jshore \* > \*\*This is another amazing example of the supposedly “liberal media” being debated in another thread…Do you mean to tell me that you are completely unaware of the issue of the list of ineligible voters to be stricken from the registration roles that the State of Florida had a private company compile for them? A list that was woefully inaccurate and was not checked in the ways that it was supposed to be (despite the fact that the company was paid an incredibly large sum of money, by standards in the industry, for doing this work). A link to this story is provided by **Ben** in the 4th post of this thread. The name most associated with this is Greg Palast, the investigative reporter who has pursued it most doggedly. > > Well, I suppose I can’t blame you for not knowing about this since this story has gotten close to zero play in the major media outlets. \*\* Like I said, it is amazing that for all the huffin and puffin of Greg Palast, and as big a blowhard as he is that’s a lot of huffin and puffin, there have been zero lawsuits, zero indictments, zero convictions from this so called “travesty of justice”. So once again, if you or anyone has a link to a site with hard numbers please post it. And Greg Palast’s website is not the kind of link I’m looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/34 "2003-06-16T17:46:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bayonet1976 \* > \*\*Like I said, it is amazing that for all the huffin and puffin of Greg Palast, and as big a blowhard as he is that’s a lot of huffin and puffin, there have been zero lawsuits, zero indictments, zero convictions from this so called “travesty of justice”. So once again, if you or anyone has a link to a site with hard numbers please post it. And Greg Palast’s website is not the kind of link I’m looking for. \*\* Have you even read Palast’s report? I mean, he has smoking-gun documents, a video of an official fleeing an interview, etc. And as for the absence of indictments, remember that Katherine Harris pulled off the scam, and she’s the only person in Florida empowered to bring indictments for voter fraud. Ultimately, the fact of the matter is that Palast presents evidence. So maybe no one has been sent to jail over this- but maybe there are other reasons for that. The fact is, the evidence is still there, and you haven’t addressed it. ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/35 "2003-06-16T18:07:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ben \* > \*\*Have you even read Palast’s report? I mean, he has smoking-gun documents, a video of an official fleeing an interview, etc. > > And as for the absence of indictments, remember that Katherine Harris pulled off the scam, and she’s the only person in Florida empowered to bring indictments for voter fraud. > > Ultimately, the fact of the matter is that Palast presents evidence. So maybe no one has been sent to jail over this- but maybe there are other reasons for that. The fact is, the evidence is still there, and you haven’t addressed it. \*\* My, my, we are behind the times and uninformed, aren’t we? Katherine Harris has not been the Secretary of State in Florida since before last November’s elections, and the SoS does not bring charges on behalf of the state, the Attorney General does. During the 2000 election, and until 2002 it was Bob Butterworth, who not only is a Democrat, he was the head of AL Gore’s Florida campaign. In other words, the one person who, if any of the charges Palast blabs about are true, was empowered to bring charges from the 2000 election was not only a Democrat, he was the one Democrat in the state with the most to gain from pursuing any charges. For the record, Butterworth is not the AG now, Charlie Crist was elected in 2002. As for evidence, Palast’s blabbing is not evidence, it is allegations. If the allegations are proven, by any reasonable standard, not necessarily through legal action, then they become evidence, until then they’re just hit air. Like I said before, if you have any links to **evidence** I’d be most appreciative. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/36 "2003-06-16T20:06:20Z")
While we’re remembering the 2000 election, [this](http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v10n1/peterson.html) and [this](http://www.manhattan-institute.org/Non-Voted_Ballots_and_Discrimination_in_Florida.pdf) should be mentioned. It must be wonderfully simple to adopt a partisan outlook wholly apart from reality or basis in fact. _Bush bad, steal election. Democrats innocent victims._ Right. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/37 "2003-06-16T20:12:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bayonet1976 \* > \*\*Like I said, it is amazing that for all the huffin and puffin of Greg Palast, and as big a blowhard as he is that’s a lot of huffin and puffin, there have been zero lawsuits, zero indictments, zero convictions from this so called “travesty of justice”. A press release at the NAACP webset ( [http://www.naacp.org/news/releases/florelecsettlement090302.shtml](http://www.naacp.org/news/releases/florelecsettlement090302.shtml) ) from September 3, 2002 reads: > [@](#): > > The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other civil rights groups today announced the settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed against the state of Florida and seven counties after many African American and other voters were disenfranchised during the presidential election on Nov. 7, 2000. > > … > > The NAACP filed the lawsuit following numerous complaints about election irregularities in Florida during the 2000 Presidential Election. At hearings held by the NAACP in Miami and other areas of the state, African American voters and others testified about being kept from the polls in some counties and having voting problems on Election Day. There were complaints that some voters were told their names were not on registration lists. Others had been erroneously removed from the lists of eligible voters because they were wrongfully believed to be felons who were not eligible to vote. Another common complaint was that poll workers were not adequately trained to assist voters. > > … > > Some of the provisions of the agreements include: > > Central Voter Database > > Eligible voters who were removed from the voter rolls in error will be identified and restored to the lists. New procedures will be implemented to help prevent mistakes, such as misidentifying voters as having been convicted of a felony, or incorrectly identifying voters as having registered elsewhere, from occurring in the future as the new statewide Central Voter Database is put in place. > > … [Here](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/politics/main520754.shtml) is CBS’s coverage of the story (kind of limited but at least they had something…which may well make them better than most since you down there in Florida itself didn’t even seem to know about it). ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/38 "2003-06-17T12:14:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jshore \* > \*\*[Here](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/politics/main520754.shtml) is CBS’s coverage of the story (kind of limited but at least they had something…which may well make them better than most since you down there in Florida itself didn’t even seem to know about it). \*\* Thanks **jshore** , your link says, in part: > [@](#): > > The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed the suit against elections supervisors in seven counties and then- Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris but settled it with her successor, Jim Smith. This, of course, only repeats my original post in which I told **MikeRochenelle** : > [@](#): > > Interesting that you blame Jeb Bush. Florida election officials are locally elected, consequently if a district was predominantly Democrat the local officials are also predominantly Democrat. As to the “tons of eligible voters were turned away”, cite please? Preferably one with numbers and hard facts behind it. As both of you may note, neither the lawsuit nor the article cited specific numbers or even individual voters who were wrongly turned away, nor did it name **Jeb Bush**. You see that’s the advantage of being down here in Florida, we get to hear every part of this debacle, not just the partisan excerpts that seem to make it to the rest of the country or world. ---
**Author:** ![OliverH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/278dde/32.png) [@OliverH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverH)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/39 "2003-06-17T12:30:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bayonet1976 \* > \*\* > As both of you may note, neither the lawsuit nor the article cited specific numbers or even individual voters who were wrongly turned away, nor did it name Jeb Bush. You see that’s the advantage of being down here in Florida, we get to hear every part of this debacle, not just the partisan excerpts that seem to make it to the rest of the country or world. \*\* You mean, the advantage is you get so many reports on the issue you get to pick and choose those you like? Heck, I was in Texas at the time (you know, the State where many Floridians had been charged with a misdemeanor only to be listed as felons back home) and the snafus made quite some headlines there. Do you also want to deny that the phone lines to elections officials were totally clogged, resulting to cases of doubt and protests not being submitted to them in time? (cf. eg. for the reverse, namely bad votes by ineligible voters in [http://www.sptimes.com/News/121400/Election2000/Checks\_reveal\_thousan.shtml](http://www.sptimes.com/News/121400/Election2000/Checks_reveal_thousan.shtml) ) As for people who were wrongly turned away, cf. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A99749-2001May30](http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A99749-2001May30) Cite: > [@](#): > > People wrongly tagged as felons because of the loose matching policy included judges and the father of a county election supervisor. Also on the list were at least 2,000 felons who moved to Florida from states that automatically restore voting rights. I submit that 2000 in an election with a suggested victory margin of a bit more than a quarter of that number is quite a bunch. ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504/40 "2003-06-17T12:47:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OliverH \* > \*\*You mean, the advantage is you get so many reports on the issue you get to pick and choose those you like? Heck, I was in Texas at the time (you know, the State where many Floridians had been charged with a misdemeanor only to be listed as felons back home) and the snafus made quite some headlines there. > > Do you also want to deny that the phone lines to elections officials were totally clogged, resulting to cases of doubt and protests not being submitted to them in time? (cf. eg. for the reverse, namely bad votes by ineligible voters in [http://www.sptimes.com/News/121400/Election2000/Checks\_reveal\_thousan.shtml](http://www.sptimes.com/News/121400/Election2000/Checks_reveal_thousan.shtml) )\*\* Say Oliver, did you read that linked article? To quote: > [@](#): > > Florida’s presidential election tally includes thousands of votes that apparently shouldn’t have counted. > [@](#): > > Like Carlsberg, many elections supervisors said Wednesday that most of the questionable ballots were cast by voters who were registered at one time but had been purged from voter rolls because they moved. Others voted legally, but their signatures weren’t picked up during the audit. And poll workers simply forgot to make some of them sign the books. > [@](#): > > Besides non-residents, ballots also were cast by felons who had lost their right to vote and people who were ineligible because they registered after the Oct. 10 registration cutoff. Or did you miss the whole point of my postings on this thread? Which was, not that Florida’s 2000 election did not have problems, but that to blame Jeb Bush, rather than the local and locally elected election supervisors, is just bullshit. Like I said, we get all the stories on this crap. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-how-do-the-pro-democrats-on-the-sdmb-feel-about-this/181504.md?page=3)