SHORT VERSION - An original Black Box Voting investigative report By Bev Harris
This report is dedicated to Dave Greenwell of Bullitt County, Kentucky, who ran for sheriff in 2006 with a pledge to clean up nepotism in Bullitt County government. He lost. Last time I met him, his thank-you-for-trying message consisted of three broken ribs. A powerful family now dominates Bullitt County, but if what we have learned will help to achieve reforms (see end of article), Dave's loss can result in a win for Kentucky and many other states.
HERE LAY THE 2 MOST FAMOUS MOONSHINE FAMILIES IN THE WORLD
West Virginia, Mingo County: The Hatfields Kentucky, Pike County: The McCoys
By my count, at least 14 people were murdered during the Hatfield-McCoy feud, not including the hangings of the criminally convicted. Despite their anger management problems, the Hatfields have managed to hold several public offices in West Virginia, and at least one direct descendant of both a Hatfield and McCoy hold office right now.
Let's go back in time, for illustrative purposes. Suppose you are a McCoy. Suppose you want to run for office. Would you like the Hatfields to count your vote in secret? Would it bother you to see various Hatfields wandering in and out of the back room while McCoy votes are being counted?
"Trust Me" elections are a bad idea whether or not the people who control the counting happen to be related to each other.
*Moonshine Election Territories: 4 or more of the following characteristics 1. Rural location 2. Family members hold multiple positions in the local government 3. Problems are noted in financial audits 4. Felony convictions of local officials 5. Questionable election situations 6. Obstructs or ignores Freedom of Information (public records) requests 7. Uses computerized voting systems serviced by small subcontractors
16 states, 210 electoral votes - Black Box Voting has identified of these kinds of election jurisdictions in Kentucky, West Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and parts of southern Illinois, Ohio and Indiana, as well as some of western Pennsylvania, eastern Missouri, and scattered locations in Texas.
ELECTION NIGHT, NOV. 2006, BULLITT COUNTY KENTUCKY
Two local public officials in each county have especially close proximity to elections and ballot chain of custody: the county elections director and the county sheriff.
In the 2006 election that installed Donnie Tinnell as the new sheriff, outgoing Bullitt County Sheriff Paul Parsley was in there helping with the Election Night e-vote tallying, and Parsley's granddaughter, whom nobody can recall being on the payroll or appointed to any official position, was seen handling the poll tapes - results from each individual voting machine - which by the way didn't match up to the official results, but nobody did anything about that. Paul Parsley had already announced that the new sheriff in town was going to be Donnie Tinnell - in fact, he announced that Tinnell would be chosen by the voters some months before the election.
Another person getting up close and personal to the e-vote counting was Linda Tinnell, the sister-in-law of Donnie Tinnell. No one could actually view the counting of the e-votes of course, other than noting that someone was doing something to computers. So here we have Donnie Tinnell running for sheriff, and we also had Donnie's cousin, Sherman Tinnell, running for mayor. Here a Tinnell, there a Tinnell, helping with the votes a Tinnell, and all the Tinnell people won, including relatives like Donnie's niece, a schoolteacher named Melanie Roberts who happened to land the most powerful position in the county.
The mantle was duly passed from Sheriff Parsley to new Sheriff Donnie Tinnell, who now also sits on the Bullitt County Board of Elections.
So what are you saying? That the Ozarks are cram full of stupid people who vote these cretins in? We already knew that. In a democracy you get the government you deserve so let them roost in their own offal!
by
Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1138 comments)
on Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 12:06:11 PM
Since Missouri is part of the Ozarks, you missed the point
The article holds the Missouri anti-nepotism laws up as a GOOD example, and shows the Kentucky laws as a dreadful example.
This article highlights amazing work done by Kentucky citizens and a courageous and important stand taken by a Kentucky deputy who ran for sheriff.
The two points above would indicate that the conclusion you have tried to make is incorrect. The "point" of the article is that first, computerized elections force citizens to trust government insiders, a peculiar concept indeed in a democratic system, and second, that this "trust-based" model falls apart altogether when you have family members and crooks running the system.
This article proves that there is a real issue with family members holding inside position. The next article in the series will prove that insiders have been found to be crooks.
Bev Harris
by
Bev Harris (78 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 21 comments)
on Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 1:14:05 PM
2 comments
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