April 12, 2005
Voted Twice?

I found this provisional ballot page in the stack of documents about the "348" (actually it was more than 348) unverified provisional ballots that went through the AccuVote.

It appears that the voter listed at the top of the page voted at his home precinct polling place (Northridge House in Shoreline) and also asked for a provisional ballot at the Lake Forest Park School. His provisional ballot went into the AccuVote. (Note: I say appears only in the sense that this is what the documentation seems to show. I am not accusing this man of voting twice. It is entirely possible that somebody else cast one or both of these ballots in his name).

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at April 12, 2005 06:04 PM | Email This
Comments
1. Why are lines 6 and 10 identical? Does this indicate duplicate provisional ballots?

Posted by: OrangeB on April 12, 2005 06:15 PM
2. It will be interesting to see what comes of all this.

Posted by: headless lucy on April 12, 2005 06:32 PM
3. Not to assume anything, but the first voter apparently lives in subsidized housing... My guess says a vote for Gregoire... twice!

http://www.kcha.org/lookingforhousing/propertyfactsheet.aspx?pfid=76

Posted by: Tom on April 12, 2005 06:42 PM
4. Way to rub it in, Stefan!

The Demwits will never permit a change in the law to require photo ID at the polling places -- even when a person shows up at a polling place far from his supposed residence (and therefore couldn't conceivably be recognized by anyone at that polling place).

You just had to go and say: "It is entirely possible that somebody else cast one or both of these ballots in his name."

It certainly is entirely possible. No ID required. Scribble a signature and see if it flies -- or just stuff the ballot into the Accuvote and disappear.

How much easier could it be? Give them time, and the Demwits will find a way to make it even easier.

Posted by: Micajah on April 12, 2005 07:16 PM
5. This should not be! If he just flagrantly committed fraud then he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent. I only got to vote once! I hope the proper authorities are looking into this!

Posted by: Michele on April 12, 2005 07:55 PM
6. Stefan, be very careful with information shared by people who want you to move-on. They would love nothing more than to feed you a poison pill. Mark my words, creating an opportunity to discredit you is in the playbook.

Posted by: Splatter on April 12, 2005 08:21 PM
7. Why do Line # 6 and Line #10 contain information on the same person?

Posted by: Larry T on April 12, 2005 08:26 PM
8. naaah--this is nuttin; (I'm from Chicago); my precinct captain and ward committeeman said it's o.k.--just vote; my only question is why do I have to show a picture i.d. to rent a movie in Edmonds and not in order to vote? Maybe a $20 DVD is worth guarding more in WA State than my voting rights? ahh faa-gettit;

Posted by: Jimmie--howya-doin on April 12, 2005 08:27 PM
9. Oops! Sorry for repeating the question of another. When it came up, my page cut his post off.

Posted by: Larry T on April 12, 2005 08:29 PM
10. Splatter--
Excellent reminder about the set-up. No doubt these dorks have publicly relished every time they find even a little flaw in Stefan's analysis.

Remember Stefan--
YOU AREN'T PARANOID WHEN THEY'RE REALLY AFTER YOU!

Posted by: Mr. Cynical on April 12, 2005 08:34 PM
11. I attend Paranoids Anonymous meetings.
Sorry I can't tell anyone where we hold our meetings.

Posted by: who's that behind you on April 12, 2005 09:11 PM
12. Entries number 6 and 10 are almost exactly the same - except the DOB/Sex column.

The first entry shows a male born on 1/01 (no year given). Gee, that doesn't seem suspicious.

The second entry shows no notation for DOB or Sex whatsoever.

I like the notation in the signature box for entry number 8 (Mr. Fazli): "sig on PB - maybe". Gotta love the exacting standards of those King County poll workers.

Posted by: Larry on April 12, 2005 09:40 PM
13. Headless: You finally said something credible. Congraulations.

Stefan, I agree with Splatter and Cynical. This may be a ruse to get you. But then again this may not. Can't trust them Dems. Not even worth my nuff said moniker!!!

Pudster.

Posted by: Puddybud on April 12, 2005 10:06 PM
14. "This is not a PB." "Regular ballot issued."

What in the dickens did the person who wrote those notes on the line for #1 mean?

If this is a page from a poll book used at the Lake Forest School, surely the person wasn't issued a regular ballot when his name wasn't in the poll book as a registered voter. He supposedly was registered in another precinct that voted at a different polling place.

On lines 3,4,5,6 and 10, there are no signatures. They each say either "from absentee roster" or "f.a.r." which probably means the same thing. But, what does "from absentee roster" mean? Are those voters people who registered after the deadline for voting at the polls -- and so showed up on a roster prepared shortly before election to list people who could only vote by absentee?

If that's what "f.a.r." means, then why are their names on the page for people who were issued provisional ballots? There is no indication that they were issued provisional ballots -- no signature, no slash mark in the blocks in the column headed "mark when issued," and no ballot numbers in the column provided for them.

Why put anyone's name and identifying information on this page unless a provisional ballot is being issued?

Even if "from absentee roster" means they weren't eligible to vote a regular ballot at the polls, where is any indication that they were issued provisional ballots? People could show up and say that their requested absentee ballots didn't arrive -- so they could be issued provisional ballots. But where is any notation in this poll book saying that they were issued a ballot of any kind at the polls?

Strange.

Posted by: Micajah on April 12, 2005 10:07 PM
15. Just because I'm a nosy sob, I looked up Abera Damtew on the voter list. It appears that an Abera M. Damtew attempted to vote twice in Shoreline, and successfully voted absentee twice, once in Seattle and once in Seatac. Now it's entirely possible that there are 2 Abera M. Damtew's, on senior and one junior, but if I was an Abera M. Damtew, I'm not absolutely positive that I'd foist the name off on an offspring.

Actually the name is unusual enough so it should be checked by birth-date, ete, and the fact that someone with the same name attempted to vote provisional (twice) would make me look twice as hard at the date. It should be noted that the Seattle phone book lists an Abera Damtew in Seatac, and a Zeru Damtew in Seattle, but neither address matches that in the poll book.

Posted by: MIMike on April 12, 2005 10:08 PM
16. A voting system flawed by design!
A voting system exploited by design!
A voting system allowed to remain flawed by design!
To do less than re-register and require photo ID is a crime against all citizens of WA State.

Posted by: Keith on April 12, 2005 10:11 PM
17. Albera M. Demtew is registered to vote PAV in both Seattle (1972) and Seatac (2003). In both cases Stefans's (KingCo's) database shows him (them?) as a "-" in the vote type column, which according to the metadata Stefan supplies means nether vote was counted.

Gary Lin of Shoreline (2003) is recorded in the database as having voted at the polls.

Wow, a bnank would be envious!

Posted by: DeadWood on April 12, 2005 10:17 PM
18. It also appears that Var M. Fazli, who was issued a provisional ballot at the polling place shown, was credited with voting absentee at the same address as that listed on the provisional ballot roll, and there is no f.a.r. notation. Is there any way to determine whether the provisional ballot was counted?

By the way, Stefan, can you post some more pages. This kind of on-line detective work is kind of fun at 10 pm after a couple of glasses of wine.

Posted by: MIMike on April 12, 2005 10:17 PM
19. Right you are, Deadwood, I missed that.

Posted by: MIMike on April 12, 2005 10:19 PM
20. Hey Headless, you're alright today!

Posted by: Michele on April 12, 2005 10:27 PM
21. Oh my God....
If Stefan's few samplings from King County are any indication of what went on with the November election......

This is going to require a thorough audit...I mean paper by paper reenactment of all precincts data in King County....OK - maybe the entire state!

I can't believe the incredible lack of detail and vital information these poll workers collected from what appears to be illegal and ineligible voters!

This is going to take a big agency to coordinate such an audit. Because of the sensitive nature of the documents and the data - it would hardly be a volunteers job. It's going to require the Feds...

I'm just shaking my head....

Posted by: Deborah on April 12, 2005 10:38 PM
22. Stefan,

You wouldn't happen to have the poll book cover sheet that goes with the provisional ballot page you've posted, would you?

I'm curious about the number of "no label" missing provisional ballots identified by the "canvassing crew" for the precincts in this polling place (Lake Forest Park School?).

The reconciliation summary shows only 3 extra ballots in the box at Lake Forest Park School. And, the notes summary doesn't show any mention of "no labels." (It does show 1 "pb through accuvote", alias PBAV, which I suppose is the one noted on line #1.)

The image you've posted shows "no label" written for line 1. Lines 2,7,8,9 and 11 have the word "NO" written over the slash marks that indicated provisional ballots were issued to those voters. Did "NO" mean "no label"?

I'm wondering if Lake Forest Park School is sort of like the "reconciliation" of Denny Terrace -- in which 7 provisional ballots that the canvassing crew figured out went through the Accuvote didn't show up in the "big binder" or the reconciliation summary released on March 11.

Those "NO" notations are puzzling.

Posted by: Micajah on April 12, 2005 10:42 PM
23. Stefan,

I happen to know Gary Lin (and his parents, and his older sister) personally, and I seriously doubt that he voted twice. They were my next door neighbors (well almost -- they lived on the cul-de-sac behind my house) from 1993 to 2003. The Lins are all strong Christians and very honest people.

Gary was probably confused about his polling place, since he had recently registered to vote. His parents are absentee voters, while he is not. So he probably went to the Lake Forest Park School by mistake, and they let him cast a provisional ballot.

Of course, I could be wrong. But you need to get a copy of the appropriate poll book page from SHL 32-0462 and see what it says by Gary's name.

By the way, Gary and his family don't live at Northridge House, of course. They own their own home, and it is fairly nice.

Northridge House is simply where the polling place is located for SHL 32-0462 and several other precincts. Northridge House does happen to be King County owned subsidized housing for senior citizens and the disabled. However, it doesn't affect the property values in the neighborhood that much.

Posted by: Richard Pope on April 13, 2005 03:38 AM
24. Please forgive me if this topic has been covered in one of the many other threads I have not read on this busy blog, but I've been trying to figure out how we would prove citizenship for folks who were born here! Ironically, I think it would be easier for a naturalized citizen. I don't know how I would do it. It's not like I carry around a citizenship card. Would a SSN card and driver's license be sufficient?

Problem is, if we are going to require proof it needs to be legal proof; anything less leaves another hole for more ballot-stuffing, and we've had enough of that.

Posted by: Dale Mirenda on April 13, 2005 09:20 AM
25. Dale - Your birth certificate is your proof. Once upon a time it was required as a condition to obtain a drivers license (Yes, we used to have to be a citizen in order to drive!).

It's not perfect, (democrats will still find a way to cheat) but it's a damn site better than what we have now!

Posted by: alphabet soup on April 13, 2005 09:40 AM
26. I watched the K.C. Council meeting regarding election reforms. When the subject of proof of citizenship came up, the Democrats were arguing that: 1.) no need to reform this since voting by non-citizens was not a problem (Larry Phillips), 2.) Not all of us have a birth certificate on hand, and to obtain it ($70) it would be a burden on poor people (Goss? or whatever his name is). Republican council member (I think is was Hammond?) argued that most people already have it somewhere in their drawers, since it is required to enroll in public schools. But what about those poor people that were born and educated in different states? - argued Democrats. The bill was voted on by voice only and killed by Larry Phillips.
It was blood boiling experience to watch it.

Posted by: E.W. on April 13, 2005 10:24 AM
27. --Lets hit the obvious here--

Do we have a new category of fraud. Minors voting?

Paula N. Shore... birthdate: 11/30/95
Either she is 8 years old or 108?
If she is 108... she just moved here in the past years OR never voted in the last 107, but she is spry enough to come down and vote provisional. Kudos for filling everything out correctly... however that signature leaves me with little confidence. P N Blech...

--AND--

Abera M. Damtew seems to be Male (albeit still waiting to be 'born' like a few of these signatores)

--as for the not so obvious..--

He doesn't seem to have voted twice (at least here) as the Registration No. is the same on both entries. I take it to mean that they only got one ______ Ballot (at least here)... but for some reason signed the book twice.

--and for the fever swamp...--

Where are the signatures for Hong, Anderson, Callahan (Damtew)?
Where are the year born for Hong, Anderson, Callahan (Damtew)?

and why or why or why..

Are these names all together and all from the Absentee Roster (f.a.r.).
Does it appear that these 3 names with the same consistent errors seem to have consistent handwriting? There are a few minor inconsistencies (some of those can be explained away by being constrained by small box space)... but doesn't that look like the same handwriting to you?

Note: While Damtew looks suspicious I'm taking it out of the equation. Too many handwriting differences.

Posted by: Troll on April 13, 2005 01:25 PM
28. MDamtew is shown as to have not voted on either of his mail in addresses. (Vote type '-' on the SP Voter Database)

Posted by: Troll on April 13, 2005 02:44 PM
29. Paula Shore was registered somewhere else which explains the Provisional. She last registered in 1992... when she was 96 years old, since she was born in '95.

Yar M Fazli voted provisionally (according to this sheet) and absentee in Seattle. How nice for him if that's true.

Bogdon wasn't in the database at all.

Callahan's vote didn't get in the database.

Kelly M Anderson (if they are the same one) voted Absentee in Seatac and Provisional in Shoreline. Registrations in 2000 and 2004.

Hong was just a provisional.

Rim was a provisional. There was also a Linda (not Lina) Rim that voted in person as well from the same exact address. Could be a relative or a nice typo that lets you vote twice.

Lin was just a provisional.

Posted by: Troll on April 13, 2005 03:15 PM
30. Paula Shore's year of birth is "45" not "95." If you save and enlarge the image, it's clear.

The handwriting may be the same on this page, because the poll worker was doing the writing -- in several cases apparently transcribing information "from absentee roster."

The absence of signatures, slash marks and ballot numbers for those "from absentee roster" may mean they signed whatever the roster was.

There were no signatures, slash marks or ballot numbers written for Hong T. All and Kelly M. Anderson, yet they were both credited with voting by provisional ballots. It seems clear they were issued ballots, so I'm thinking the info missing from this page is on whatever the roster was -- if anywhere.

Without knowing the birth dates claimed by Lina and Linda Rim, it can't be determined whether they are different people living at the same address. Lina reg'd 2002 and Linda reg'd 2003. Lina's reg'n may have been cancelled by someone who thought Linda was the same person -- thus her provisional ballot may have been accepted once they recognized the mistake. There's enough info on this page to raise some questions about a possible double-voter, but nothing that can answer the questions, so far as I can tell.

Gary Lin's vote was credited as a "poll" not a "prov," so if he did cast a provisional at this polling place it apparently wasn't treated as a valid ballot.

Since the provisional ballots of "Lina" Rim, Corinna Sarah Sinclair and Paula N. Shore were accepted as valid and counted according to the database, it's odd that "NO" was written over the slash mark in the column that was marked when their ballots were issued. They got ballots, and those ballots were included in the vote count -- so what is "NO" supposed to mean?

Posted by: Micajah on April 13, 2005 04:41 PM
31. Gary Lin could have gone to the Lake Forest Park Elementary School by mistake early on Tuesday morning, asked them a few questions, and been instructed to cast a provisional ballot.

Then maybe he was home later in the day and drove by the Northridge House and saw that it was also a polling place. Or maybe he talked with mom or dad, and they told him he went to the wrong polling place.

So he was probably worried that his ballot wouldn't get counted, and dropped by the Northridge House. He probably told the poll workers what had happened, and cast a regular ballot there.

I wouldn't be surprised if he went back to Lake Forest Park Elementary School, and told them not to count his provisional ballot. Since there is a lot of writing by his name in the precinct poll book at the school, I would be surprised if this is exactly what happened. They probably took his provisional ballot envelope, and either tore it up, or marked it so that it would certainly not get processed any further.

We should be very careful before pointing fingers at anyone, and accusing them of voting twice.

I might have a different opinion if Gary had voted at Northridge House before coming to Lake Forest Park Elementary. But it looks like he was the very first person voting at the Lake Forest Park School, based on the ballot number (101) that he was given.

Posted by: Richard Pope on April 13, 2005 05:13 PM
32. Could someone please enlighten me as to the process whereby a voter with a provisional ballot was able to put it in a voting machine and have it counted immediately? Why wasn't a provisional ballot a different color or had some kind of code on it to show it was provisional? Why don't provisionals have to be inserted into an inner envelope then signed, before going into an outer envelope that is either another color or has a special code to indicate it is a provisonal?

Posted by: Clean House on April 13, 2005 06:48 PM
33. The answer to your question about processing of provisional ballots unfortunately appears more & more to be "because it is easier for the LEFTISTS to cheat".

Posted by: Mr. Cynical on April 13, 2005 07:20 PM
34. Clean House,

The provisional ballots in King County were identical to regular ballots because Logan's gang wanted it that way. The citizen's oversight committee had recommended that they be printed on different colored paper or bear some mark which would make it possible to recognize them and thus remove them from the ballot box if need be. Logan's gang ignored that recommendation.

What you've described about putting provisional ballots into envelopes and signing the outer envelope -- rather than putting them into the ballot box via the Accuvote machine -- is the law already. The law doesn't have to be changed in that regard, but it does need to be enforced.

Posted by: Micajah on April 13, 2005 07:41 PM
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