Monday, July 5, 2010

Does Anyone Recall the Issue with the 2006 Pima County RTA Election?

Why bring this up now, one may ask?

Well, we happened upon a local blog, The Intercept which had a posting discussing the Poll Tapes missing in the 2006 RTA (Pima County Regional Transportation Authority) Election, and wondered how that could happen.

That led us to a great blog put out by John Brakey,(audit-az.blogspot.com). John has done extensive work on how Arizona elections are held, and more specifically, how votes can be tampered with.

We must remember that our recent Oro Valley Mayoral election went from Mike Zinkin being ahead by 600 votes after the mail ballots,(approximately 67% of the total vote), to ultimately losing the election by 30 votes, out of over 15,000 votes cast.

Might there have been any "irregularities" in this election? We don't know, but perhaps it would be worth looking into as John Brakey did with the 2006 RTA election.


Please take the time to read the Intercept article here.
http://weeklyintercept.blogspot.com/2010/07/poll-tapes-missing-in-rta-election.html

Also, I'm sure it would be worth your time to log on to AuditAz blog here.
http://audit-az.blogspot.com/


Who knows? It might be some "food for thought."

15 comments:

OV Objective Thinker said...

Well we have hit upon another topic for which I may be able to provide some sound, reliable experience.

I believe that I hold the dubious honor of coming out on the wrong end of the most closely contested Town Council race in Oro Valley history. It was one in which a recount was mandated by state law.

Having gone through that experience first hand I can tell you that the Department of Elections runs a pretty tight ship. Some argue, too tight. That is one of the reasons the results of this election were so late in coming.

There are those who will contest any election especially if their candidate loses but in most cases, while there may be some sound basis for discussion of ways to strengthen the process, our laws do not provide for a perfect election.

OV Objective Thinker said...

I failed to point out that the state mandated recount made a difference of one vote from the original tally.

Victorian Cowgirl said...

Thinker,

On July 1st you said...

"I will never post again......as long as what Art or others post is accurate and factual. If it is simply a different opinion than mine, I frankly don't give a damn."

So why did you do THIS posting just 5 days later on July 6th? Art didn't state anything inaccurate.

artmarth said...

The point is this: In the 2006 election on the RTA Bond,with no help from the "bureaucracy," it was proved in a court of law that there were "anomalies" in the election process. (Read the audit-az web site)

The question is simply this: Might "similar anomalies" have occurred in the recent Oro Valley Mayoral election?

There are those that are familiar with elections that will tell you it is not probable that a 9% lead by one candidate with the mail ballots accounting for 67% of the total votes,to fall behind and then loss days later by a total of 30 votes as the late ballots are counted.

We believe there are questions that deserve answers---and hopefully those that are familiar with the process will get the answers.

Nombe Watanabe said...

Whilst reading - endlessly - about the RTA election in the AZ Star, I wondered why anyone could possible care so much about said election (backwater town, minor organization) to protest, whine, cry, recount, sue and cause general unease among the shuffling, heat blasted, meth infused, city center challenged population down south in Tucson.

Still don't know. Just like the posters to this blog, many who have gone on to other things, who attempted to frame the OV election in terms of Red v. Blue.

Get over it! This is not the center of the known world. This is Fresno with nicer views.

Victorian Cowgirl said...

Besides the blogs that Art refers to, some people in OV (the politically well-connected) have been discussing the fact that there was a 9% difference between the mail-in vote tally and the in-person vote tally which apparently is unheard of. Statistics show that the difference between mail-in votes and in-person votes tends to be between 1-3%.

An e-mail going around town (which I received) contains DETAILS about the differences as they pertained to the OV Mayoral election. The information certainly raises an eyebrow.

Nombe Watanabe said...

We wuz robbed!

James said...

It seems like we are beating around the proverbial bush with the blog post and with the comments. Are you suggesting that the outcome of the recent OV election was falsified?
Taking this thought further, if you are suggesting this, what proof exists other than those who are "politically well-connected"?
Finally, if these accusations are correct, now that the votes have been officially canvassed by the Town Council what can be done?

artmarth said...

James--- Yes. I am suggesting that statistical data suggests that our mayoral election may have been ---using your word---"falsified."

The election is over with and the results have been certified, and nothing will change that.

There are, however other means to correct a situation if a "wrong" has been done.

OV Objective Thinker said...

One might point out that the person quoted in the original post, John Brakey, have also been arrested for interfering with the Pima County Department of Elections. I am not making any inference here but it is worth noting.

I am also curious what the following really means:

"There are, however other means to correct a situation if a "wrong" has been done."

What are the "other means" that are available? Short of a lawsuit to have the results overturned, and I doubt that anyone would fund such an effort, I don't see any way "to correct".

artmarth said...

Why cox felt compelled to denigrate John Brakey is not surprising.

However, anyone can log on to John's blog to read the details he proudly posted on that situation.

As for "other means,"---let me assure our readers, there are "other means."

OV Objective Thinker said...

Art....

Once again I am only pointing out fact that is readily available if you simply Google "Brakey".

I know you probably didn't want that fact brought forth, buty I want the readers of this blog to have as accurate picture of to source of the information that you represented as:

"That led us to a great blog put out by John Brakey,"

I know John Brakey from my election recount days and I have an opinion, which will remain my opinion of him.

I would hope that you can accept the fact that pointing out someone's background/history is not denegration.

I am not opposed to 'conspiracy theories' but we should know from where they grow roots.

And lastly what are those other means? Is it a secret? Please be forthcoming with your followers.

artmarth said...

I encourage all our readers to watch the video "Fatally Flawed."
It is readily available on John's blog AuditAz. Link is on posting and noted below.
***********************************
John Brakey Arrested While Officially Observing Count

While monitoring a hand count of ballots from the September 3rd Arizona primary, in his capacity as an official election observer for the Democratic and Libertarian parties, EDA Investigations Co-Coordinator John Brakey was arrested and ejected from the Pima County election headquarters on orders of Pima County Elections Director Brad Nelson.

Brakey had noticed that several of the incoming bags containing ballots from the precincts had unsecured or missing seals. The seal failures appeared to be the result of poll workers not knowing how to properly lock them.

Brakey then wondered whether the serial numbers on the bag seals matched the serial numbers recorded by the precinct poll workers when they sealed the ballots. One question led to another, and Brakey ended up in handcuffs.

http://fatallyflawedthemovie.com/pages/brakeyarrested.html

Victorian Cowgirl said...

As for John Brakey's arrest for merely asking questions...

"They sentenced me to 20 years of boredom for trying to change the system from within."

Nombe is probably the only one who will get that reference.

artmarth said...

Het Cowgirl--- Does the name Leonard Cohen ring a bell?

And you thought you were only addressing Nombe W.