juddling Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 Where else but here in Chicago..... When it comes to election shenanigans, Chicago has been accused of just about everything. But invisible ink? Twenty voters at a Far North Side precinct who found their ink pens not working were told by election judges not to worry. It's invisible ink, officials said. The scanner will count it. But their votes weren't recorded after all. "Part of me was thinking it does sound stupid enough to be true,'' said Amy Carlton, who had serious doubts but went ahead and voted anyway. As it turns out, Carlton was one of 20 voters at the precinct who were given the wrong pen to use. They were also then told, apparently by a misinformed judge, that the pens have invisible ink, elections officials said. As a result, the votes were not counted. But officials insisted there were no dirty tricks involved. "This one defies logic,'' said Jim Allen, a spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections. "You try to anticipate everything. But certain things just ... they go beyond any kind of planning you can perform.'' By late afternoon, five voters had been contacted and told to come back to the polling place to vote again. And elections staff had left messages at the homes of the rest, Allen said. Carlton and Angela Burkhardt, another voter who was told the same invisible ink story, spent a good part of the day calling and e-mailing the Board of Elections to get answers. "I am furious and devastated and I just feel stupid,'' Carlton said. "I feel so angry.'' Both women agreed that this election meant a lot. They had spent a good deal of time researching candidates. "I have been voting since I was 18,'' said Carlton, 38. "This is the most important election of my life so far.'' Burkhardt planned to go back to vote late Tuesday. She worried about those who might not be able to return. "I worry about the other people who were there,'' she said. "Maybe [they] can't get off work. I am a person of privilege. I can go back. What if you couldn't?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OUt of those 20....i wonder how many were voting Dem and how many Rep. ?????? Honestly...I'm surprised the article didn't mention it either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 Eh, its a primary, and no one knows who comes in and will vote for whom, so I fail to see how bias enters into it. Sounds more like laziness and stupidity to me. By the way the Illinois ballots were just as irritating as can be. Draw a line to connect two arrows with an ink pen? WTF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskyCaucasian Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 11:23 AM) By the way the Illinois ballots were just as irritating as can be. Draw a line to connect two arrows with an ink pen? WTF? I loved the electronic machine I used. VERY easy to use and fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juddling Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 05:23 PM) Eh, its a primary, and no one knows who comes in and will vote for whom, so I fail to see how bias enters into it. Sounds more like laziness and stupidity to me. By the way the Illinois ballots were just as irritating as can be. Draw a line to connect two arrows with an ink pen? WTF? I never said bias entered into it..i was just wondering which side the 20 fell on because if the majority of them fell on either side...you know the local party would be throwing a fit. Then again...it was only 20 voters and not 200 or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Best voter story ever. But image if this was another state, say Florida, and it was say the 2000 election. Wow! That would be very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Controlled Chaos Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 11:29 AM) I loved the electronic machine I used. VERY easy to use and fast. I used that last year...it was very simple. I think they just randomly pick people to use it. This year I had paper ballot...I didn't have to draw any lines though. Was that for cook county or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ Feb 7, 2008 -> 11:30 AM) I used that last year...it was very simple. I think they just randomly pick people to use it. This year I had paper ballot...I didn't have to draw any lines though. Was that for cook county or something? City of Chicago, which has a seperate election commission from Cook County. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 I saw this on tuesday. Hilarious. People like that got a job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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