# Whoo hoo! Start the Kerry/Edwards Victory Dance!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 10, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoo-hoo-start-the-kerry-edwards-victory-dance/254418 "2004-07-10T05:45:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoo-hoo-start-the-kerry-edwards-victory-dance/254418/41 "2004-07-11T19:59:50Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > In that case, I’m pretty sure Monroe County was breaking New York State election law. All properly prepared ballots have to be counted, and those votes have to be contributed to the totals. You may be right. It’s been a while since I actually checked the legalities of it, however, in many municipalities absentee ballots are only counted if the election may be affected. If you’ll recall that’s one reason there was such attention to the absentee ballots in Florida in 2000. As it’s the weekend, I can’t exactly call up the Board of Elections, but I will follow up tomorrow morning. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoo-hoo-start-the-kerry-edwards-victory-dance/254418/42 "2004-07-11T20:21:50Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I’m worried too. > > I don’t think there is anything this administration wouldn’t too to stay in power. I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but they are sure to have more dirty tricks to pull (look for an orange alert during the Democratic national convention). Have you seen [this?](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040711/ts_nm/politics_election_terror_dc_2) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoo-hoo-start-the-kerry-edwards-victory-dance/254418/43 "2004-07-12T05:55:56Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > You may be right. It’s been a while since I actually checked the legalities of it, however, in many municipalities absentee ballots are only counted if the election may be affected. If you’ll recall that’s one reason there was such attention to the absentee ballots in Florida in 2000. Here’s 9.102 (3)(c) of New York election law, dealing with counting ballots, and it says that, after the machine ballots and paper ballots are counted: [http://www.elections.state.ny.us/download/law/elaw2002.pdf](http://www.elections.state.ny.us/download/law/elaw2002.pdf) > [@](#): > > Absentee and military, special federal, and special presidential ballots shall then be canvassed and tallied, the vote thereon for each candidate announced and added to the vote as recorded on the statement of canvass and a final proclamation made as to the total vote received by each candidate and ballot proposal. It doesn’t say anything there, at least, about absentee ballots being conditional. Of course, by the time the absentee ballots are counted, there’s usually no doubt who won the election, and if there are only 100 absentee ballots, for example, and one candidate is winning by 200 votes before their counted, those ballots aren’t going to change the ultimate results. This isn’t because they’re absentee ballots, but just because they’re some of the last to be counted, and each absentee vote counts as much as a vote made in person. The reason the absentee ballots in Florida had gotten so much attention was just because the election was so close. Some of the early results showed Gore winning in vote tallies, and, since most of the absentee ballots were from servicemembers, and since the military tends to vote Republican, there was a chance that those ballots could have given Bush enough votes to win. Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand what the BOE guy said to you? He might have just meant that they knew the winner before the absentee votes were counted, and therefore they didn’t need to count the absentee votes to know who won. (but they did count them) ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoo-hoo-start-the-kerry-edwards-victory-dance/254418/44 "2004-07-12T06:15:56Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > Here’s 9.102 (3)(c) of New York election law, dealing with counting ballots, and it says that, after the machine ballots and paper ballots are counted: > > [http://www.elections.state.ny.us/download/law/elaw2002.pdf](http://www.elections.state.ny.us/download/law/elaw2002.pdf) > > It doesn’t say anything there, at least, about absentee ballots being conditional. Looks good, I tried to follow the link, but my computer balked at a 500 page pdf document, so I’ll take your word for it. 🙂 What I do find important about your link is that it’s the new, revised election code, as of 2002. I’d wanted to see if they mentioned things that had been changed from previous codes. > [@](#): > > The reason the absentee ballots in Florida had gotten so much attention was just because the election was so close. I never said that there weren’t other reasons for the attention to absentee ballots. Just meant that was one reason the ‘those poor voters couldn’t understand a butterfly ballot’ folks were so determined to throw out any military absentee ballot that didn’t have every i dotted and t crossed to perfection, because ‘if they’re too stupid to fill out an absentee ballot, they’re too stupid to vote.’ (Yes, that second IS a direct quote. And yes, the woman who said it was simultaneously arguing that the butterfly ballot was too hard for people to use.) You can imagine what that whole mess did for my faith in the Democrats. > [@](#): > > Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand what the BOE guy said to you? He might have just meant that they knew the winner before the absentee votes were counted, and therefore they didn’t need to count the absentee votes to know who won. (but they did count them) It is possible. I _think_ it’s unlikely 'cause I tend to remember things that piss me off, but you may be right. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoo-hoo-start-the-kerry-edwards-victory-dance/254418/45 "2004-07-12T14:00:41Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > You can imagine what that whole mess did for my faith in the Democrats. Both parties support every vote being counted, in the abstact. That just doesn’t always apply to specific cases… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoo-hoo-start-the-kerry-edwards-victory-dance/254418/46 "2004-07-12T21:49:48Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I’m worried too. > > I don’t think there is anything this administration wouldn’t too to stay in power. I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but they are sure to have more dirty tricks to pull (look for an orange alert during the Democratic national convention). And if it was lowered to green or blue, then another conspiracy (inviting terrorist acts to take place during the convention by reducing security) would take its place… or hey, let’s just leave it at yellow and not change it all and act like nothing around us is changing…damned if you do damned it you don’t. Let’s just ignore the whole damn thing. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoo-hoo-start-the-kerry-edwards-victory-dance/254418/47 "2004-07-12T22:55:38Z")
> [@Yeticus Rex](#): > > And if it was lowered to green or blue, then another conspiracy (inviting terrorist acts to take place during the convention by reducing security) would take its place… or hey, let’s just leave it at yellow and not change it all and act like nothing around us is changing…damned if you do damned it you don’t. Let’s just ignore the whole damn thing. :rolleyes: EXACTLY! PARTY! PARTY! So long as Kerry & Co stay away from altar boys, they have a lock. Really, they should take one idea from Cris Rock’s Prez movie – highly trained, loyal “super-whores”, to be there if the boys can’t keep their pants zipped. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoo-hoo-start-the-kerry-edwards-victory-dance/254418/48 "2004-07-13T05:46:01Z")
New poll results on [cnn.com](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/12/presidential/index.html) show Kerry inching ahead, though still within the margin of error. But there’s one intriguing angle: > [@](#): > > Although Democrats have expressed concerns that independent candidate Ralph Nader could spoil the election for Kerry, the poll showed the Nader-Peter Camejo ticket having little effect. > > Given all three options, 50 percent of likely voters still said they would vote for Kerry-Edwards, while Bush-Cheney dropped from 46 percent to 45 percent. Only 2 percent of likely voters said they would pick Nader-Camejo. Is it possible? That Nader could siphon off more votes from Bush than from Kerry? What an ironic twist, if true, eh? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoo-hoo-start-the-kerry-edwards-victory-dance/254418.md?page=2)