Sound Politics: Citizens Election Out-of-sight Committee

January 22, 2006

Citizens Election Out-of-sight Committee

When the King County Council reactivated the "Citizens’ Election Oversight Committee" last spring, the stated goal of the enabling legislation was:

The goals of the committee and this ordinance are to investigate and report on problems identified in the 2004 general election and the 2005 spring special election and to recommend improvements to the council that will help reduce any potential for these problems to reoccur.

[Legistar, search for 2005-0055]

Unfortunately, as someone close to the CEOC tells me, the Democrats and government insiders on the committee have worked together to ensure that the committee did not actuallly investigate the problems from the 2004 election and the CEOC's final report due next month will keep these problems safely buried out of sight, and out of mind.

UPDATE: CEOC member and spokesperson Randy Matheson, who works for the Renton School District, posted this comment:

The Citizens Election Oversight Committee, which is not a paid group, is chaired by a Republican. Your "insider" is wrong to suggest that Dems on the committee are working to hide problems with the county’s election system; in fact, the committee includes the political director for the state's GOP. I doubt he'd allow any burial of critical information. Sounds like your "insider" is inept.

I think the correct word here is not "inept", but "outnumbered". I'm also told that Matheson overstepped his authority as CEOC spokesman and misrepresented the views of the group when he told the media on the eve of the November 2005 election that the CEOC believed that Dean Logan was the "right guy" for the job.

If I reported incorrectly that the CEOC did not investigate the problems from the 2004 election, I invite spokesman Matheson to explain exactly what the CEOC did to investigate the 2004 election.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at January 22, 2006 02:56 PM | Email This

Comments

1. Oh brother. Here we go again. More phoney baloney from another "committee" designed to fool the people.

Posted by: Michele on January 22, 2006 05:13 PM

2. And out of mind!

Posted by: dcat on January 22, 2006 06:01 PM

3. Better title:

Citizens Didn't Elect Out-Of-Sight Committee.

Posted by: Hank Bradley on January 22, 2006 06:39 PM

4. "Iraqis find bodies of 23 executed police officers" 1/21/06

This headline has been repeated for at least two years now. If you were an Iraqi Police officer, would you not sleep with your effing rifle? WTF? What are we telling them? How can so many be captured alive only to be surely executed on video?

Posted by: CandrewB on January 22, 2006 07:55 PM

5. And how much did this (yet another) "DO NOTHING" King County Committee cost the taxpayers?

Posted by: GS on January 23, 2006 08:02 AM

6. The Citizens Election Oversight Committee, which is not a paid group, is chaired by a Republican. Your "insider" is wrong to suggest that Dems on the committee are working to hide problems with the county’s election system; in fact, the committee includes the political director for the state's GOP. I doubt he'd allow any burial of critical information. Sounds like your "insider" is inept.

Posted by: Randy on January 23, 2006 09:55 AM

7. To see how phoney this report is Stefan should list all the different areas he found problems and documented over the past year. Then do a check list.
With Four columns.
1. List of issues identified no matter how small. Add to the end of the list any problems Stefan did not identify but the committe found.
2. Check mark for each item in Column 1 that was identified and talked about in the report. An X if attempt to double talk the issue as human error or computer error.
3. What issues previous Committees and Oversighte groups have found in the past for election issues. Anything not identified in 1 and 2 added to the bottom of the list. Add in notes on recommmended fixes (If still happening how many votes/voters does it affect as an estimate)
4. A check mark for each item Stefan identified and explained. (Possibly list number of estimated votes that this issue represents.

At the bottom total all the makes. Determine difference in vote error rates. You can then see if there was a coverup espicially if previous issues identified and have not been fixed are glossed over. If a high number of errors or illegal votes were counted and it is never mentioned in the report You have proof the KC again is spinning lies. And there will be no accountability. Only stolen elections. The only recourse then is support splitting KC into two counties. If you can not trust the current body we need to find a way to remove them from affecting our vote.
Please note this committee which has access to all the data without requesting it should find dozens of problems more than Stefan or any other researcher has found. Corrective actions listed on how to prevent this from happening again. I am thinking that the fix is in to cover up everything and let it become even worse. SOme of these issues are over a decade old. And they have not been fixed.

Think of this committee running a Nuclear Reactor providing Power. Will it provide clean safe power or will the bandages cause a nuclear meltdown of the core. Being from the USN Nuclear Power field. I know what kind of standards were met for every repair job. The integrity of the system required at all times because it was a nuclear power plant and a Submarine that went underwater. Any error killed everyone. Here all they are doing is killing the voice of the people. No actual deaths but by falsifing records hiding data it would put any one in the Navy in Jail for a long time. Not that it would ever happen in KC, CHicago, Wisconsin or Philadelphia. Some of the highest questionable election results in 2004 election

Posted by: David Anfinrud on January 23, 2006 10:22 PM