Blatherwatch, legal division, received this moments ago:
‘Voting Service’
Monday, October 25, 2010 11:06AM
From Ammons, Dave
To: [email protected]
Cc: Blinn, Katie; Handy, Nick; Zylstra, Brian
Please take down your blog post on Voting Service. I assume this is satire, [emphasis ours] but our Elections Division reminds that you could be charged with a crime:
This is illegal:
RCW 29A.84.610 Deceptive, incorrect vote recording.
A person is guilty of a gross misdemeanor who knowingly: (1) Deceives any voter in recording his or her vote by providing incorrect or misleading recording information or by providing faulty election equipment or records; or (2) Records the vote of any voter in a manner other than as designated by the voter. Such a gross misdemeanor is punishable to the same extent as a gross misdemeanor that is punishable under RCW 9A.20.021.
We are pretty sensitive about talk of ballot selling, etc. And of course the ballot would never be counted, because the signature would not match the one on file for the voter. But attempted vote fraud can be penalized by a prison sentence and a big fine.
Wow.
We're not sure how we're responding to this quite yet, but it makes bigger points: State election officials are so sensitive about voter fraud, they're threatened even by what they admit is satire.
(And, of course, it is satire, and we always have to label our meager attempts at humor as such; but because they're so puerile, many of our sophisticated readers simply don't get the so-called jokes. If you haven't read the offending one, it's here, another in a long line of tepid and sad BW satires (here, here, here, and here) that miss the mark, keeps BlatherWatch in the farm leagues of punditry and makes sure no one really take us seriously).
But this really shows what total bullshit is the Republican rhetoric about voter fraud... especially in this state. We have clean elections, and one of the reason why we do is because the Secretary of State's office is so touchy about the subject. They don't tolerate even a joke they themselves acknowledge if it's about voter fraud.
Reality doesn't stifle meme-ification of the voter fraud myth. The complaint against us was sent in by a rightie blogger whose political agenda requires he not get the joke. (Or maybe it's the humor deficit disorder so many conservatives suffer).
Voter fraud is a McIssue Republicans invented some 20 years ago to help suppress Democratic votes. After the Washington State's problems with the 2004 gubernatorial election, (in which the Republican local federal prosecutor and a GOP-handpicked found no significant fraud) Secretary of State Reed (himself a Republican) has spent years improving the system.
That's how Blatherwatch ran afoul: The new reforms created the That's Not Funny Commission (TNFC) which weighs humor vs. the common good and brings down the awful boot of Reed consigliere, Dave Ammons when the jokes endanger the citizenry.
At this point, we're prayerful.
I'd appreciate well reasoned vote recommendations. I'm not satisfied with the arguments that have been presented for and against I-1098.
Posted by: Andrew | October 25, 2010 at 03:24 PM
My ballot would be on my its way to your voting service if I had not already mailed it.Talk about overkill. These pencil necks must have pretty tight pucker valves to motivate them to want to harass a comedian. You'll know be known as the Borat of the blogosphere to me.
Reminds me of when I set up my Father O'Brien's "virtual confessional" website a few years back. Oh the backlash. But it's a long story...
Posted by: Vashondogboy | October 25, 2010 at 03:27 PM
This is just indicative of how paranoid they are and with no reason. They don't apparently realize that Dino Rossi has no chance against Sen Murray, but they can't take a joke. Frankly I would have had no problem in sending my ballot to you as I believe you would have likely voted exactly as I did. We have them by the proverbial thin hairs and they know it. On a local level we will crush them (as coiler so eloquently points out from time to time).
It IS funny and you cons' need to lighten up lest you cause yourselves even greater stress. Let's continue with the crushing of the right!
Posted by: MstngSally | October 25, 2010 at 03:53 PM
I spotted the re-post of Bla'ms original on a couple of other blogs I participate and certainly shared that it was nothing more than Michael's perverted sense of humor (which I really enjoy no matter how fucking wrong he is about everything).
It is funny that The Sec of State felt obligated to write you about it.
Andrew, as far as 1098. It is the addition of a whole new kind of tax that, come be two years time, will be expanded to include more and more "income brackets). How much did you pay for your $30.00 tabs for your car? How many times has sales tax been raised? The rates for all taxes continue to climb. Let us not give those crooks a foot in the door for a whole new revenue stream.
Additionally, but I am not completely sure, is not our sales tax deductible on our federal 1040 because we do not have an income tax. Seems I remember that condition when the write-off was put in to law. If the rich pay income taxes, we common folks will pay more income taxes because we lose our sales tax write-off.
Posted by: Chucks | October 25, 2010 at 04:12 PM
AND IT WAS FUNNY!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Chucks | October 25, 2010 at 04:13 PM
And I called Sec Reeds office to axk if your linking to it in your post counted as it still being posted and they said the attorneys would have a look.
Posted by: Chucks | October 25, 2010 at 04:15 PM
Impressive that Olympia reads your blog! Wow! I bet you were the talk of the town down there.
Posted by: The Anti-Dori | October 25, 2010 at 04:21 PM
Some rightie kid in Everett called the gov't thugs. Orbusmax headlined it.
Posted by: Pasco | October 25, 2010 at 06:16 PM
I understood that it was a joke, but Sec. of State's office had a different view. King County has become notorious for illegal votes that smell a lot like voter fraud and I can see why they might be overly-sensitive about this.
Sharkansky would differ with your assessment of voter fraud in King County - just sayin'. I never heard or paid much attention about that occurrence until after the 2004 election. Yeah, the Republicans made a lame attempt to present their case in 2005 and did not sway the judge and lost their case.
However, the statistics about the votes indicated that there were at least several thousand illegal votes that did not match up - but it was shown they were not all for one candidate - as the Dems showed back then.
Posted by: KS | October 25, 2010 at 06:59 PM
True case of satire becoming stranger than life. If someone bothered to report the possibility of said ballots on their way to Empress Angelique, then this person has to be the stupidest person in the world. But for the government to be so touchy about it, wow. I’m so floored by this situation I can’t think of anything funnier than it’s occurrence.
Posted by: BlackRhino | October 25, 2010 at 07:39 PM
What utter bullshit, and what a coward the "snitch" is.
Posted by: sparky | October 25, 2010 at 07:57 PM
This is not funny, and it was not meant as a joke. I hope they lock you up.
Posted by: Bentley | October 25, 2010 at 08:11 PM
BlaM, given that you clearly tagged your post as "humor in a jugular vein," you're legally in the right on this one IMO. As any media lawyer will tell you, satire is protected free speech. Ammon, as a longtime reporter, knows this perfectly well, too. Whether it'd be worth your time to battle this is a separate issue.
But you're right, the more interesting part is that the SoS office cares in the first place.
It's been very useful for Republicans to scream voter fraud whenever they feel they stand to benefit by it, regardless of any actual evidence. But aside from some lame voter suppression efforts in 2004/6 by local R's, we've actually had pretty clean elections hereabouts compared to a lot of the country. And KS, I don't really care what Sharkansky (or BlaM) says about 2004. I cared what the judge in the case (which, as BlaM notes, was a Republican judge handpicked by the party) decided, and he basically laughed the case out of court.
Posted by: Pete | October 25, 2010 at 08:42 PM
future SCOTUS Roberts and John Bolton were screaming in Florida back in 2000 to supress the recount. Republicans are pure evil.
Posted by: Coiler | October 25, 2010 at 08:57 PM
To admit the wit then censor the content smacks of sour grapes. I wonder what would happen if this story got some traction in the media?
Posted by: BlackRhino | October 25, 2010 at 09:05 PM
And KS, I don't really care what Sharkansky (or BlaM) says about 2004. I cared what the judge in the case (which, as BlaM notes, was a Republican judge handpicked by the party) decided, and he basically laughed the case out of court.
Posted by: Pete | October 25, 2010 at 08:42 PM
And Pete, I really don't care how you try to twist what I said. What Sharkansky did was demonstrate that there were a large number of illegal votes from his detailed analysis of the 2004 Governor's election. That was not even part of the main argument and couldn't have been.
I challenge your assertion that we have had clean elections compared to the rest of the country. As much as I'd like to see that, it's not true and laughable. - Dean Logan as the Elections Director was a jackass and now he is a the chief elections jackass in LA. In 2006, an independent survey rated King County as the 4th most corrupt county in the US based on the election in 2004.
Voter suppression by the right is nothing more than a left-wing straw man that has been used for many years, which has not been proven and is basically unprovable, unless you believe that illegal aliens should vote and they are suppressed from submitting an illegal ballot.
Posted by: KS | October 25, 2010 at 09:09 PM
Voter suppression by the right is voter suppression...
Posted by: Coiler | October 25, 2010 at 09:15 PM
When did your number change KS? In 2005 KS posted;
King County the third most corrupt county in the US for elections.
Posted by: KS on October 22, 2005 10:18 PM (Over at SP)
So I have two questions, where did you get this survey and how in the world did a survey replace fact?
Posted by: BlackRhino | October 25, 2010 at 09:26 PM
You're asking KS for facts, now you're really messing with his two-sided civil service head. Don't fall into that trap.
Posted by: Coiler | October 25, 2010 at 09:35 PM
I might be stuck there like a Mexican miner…
Posted by: BlackRhino | October 25, 2010 at 09:41 PM
Het BlackRhino. I see in the post by KS that in 2006, an independent survey rated King County the forth most corrupt.......
Do you suppose that the information released in 2006 was available to KS on October 22, 2005?
Posted by: Chucks | October 25, 2010 at 09:51 PM
Het, Chuck S…I see KS seems to report many surveys but not the reporting agency. By the way, do you accept surveys as fact also?
Posted by: BlackRhino | October 25, 2010 at 10:02 PM
Voter suppression by the right is voter suppression...
Posted by: Coiler | October 25, 2010 at 09:15 PM
Can you demonstrate any tangible evidence of voter suppression in King County by the right ? Doubtful, only a subjective opinion and more whining by the left. A lie is a lie also.
BR - I remember that post, and I will search for that independent survey that appeared on that damn Orbusmax. It was 5 years ago and had not checked that post since then.
Posted by: KS | October 25, 2010 at 10:06 PM
To be clear, for Chuck S, when I say many surveys I mean on the same subject. Don’t you think it’s strange that the numbers have changed? Or could the reason for the change be due to…it’s a survey, Hello?
Posted by: BlackRhino | October 25, 2010 at 10:08 PM
Bentley, you are a hairless, humor-impaired twit. I would have posted that on your faux blog, but, unlike Michael, who lets even people like you write on here, you would have removed it.
Congratulations. You have just made yourself the laughing stock of the blogosphere. This ought to be good.
Posted by: sparky | October 25, 2010 at 10:10 PM
Heck (Yes, that was supposed to be Hey) no. Not without access to the data that helped determine the results.
In defense of KS, King County has proven it is corrupt. You are naive to believe anything different. But like most everybody that is ethically challenged, corruption is acceptable if the result favors your side.
Posted by: Chucks | October 25, 2010 at 10:10 PM
Don’t bother KS, I don’t take surveys as fact.
Posted by: BlackRhino | October 25, 2010 at 10:10 PM
opps
Posted by: BlackRhino | October 25, 2010 at 10:11 PM
Ok Chuck S, I get itYou don’t accept surveys as fact but you think I should? And I’m naïve to not believe there are no ethics problems in government? Apparently you have no understanding of the thread you are posting to. So let me spell it out to you, the office of the Secretary of State has censored satire in the name of voter fraud. If you don’t understand this is unethical, realize it can be used by a politician in the future.
Posted by: BlackRhino | October 25, 2010 at 10:29 PM
Where did I even slightly suggest that you should accept surveys at face value? Didn't happen. But well done scientific surveys can have huge value. You just need to know a lot more details than just the presented results.
I only pointed out, politely, that you were questioning KS's comment that he made in 2005 using additional survey information that only became available in 2006. In your haste to slam KS, you made a strange evidence presentation.
As to the original post being satire, those of us that have read Bla'M for years know that it is. Some new reader might not recognise that fact and conveniently mail it to Michael. You know that idiots exist, just look at how many times McDermott keeps getting re-elected to Congress.
If I were Mr Hood, I would take down the post. It really is pointless beyond its original intentions and I wouldn't want to spend thousands of dollars and hours to defend it. He would win, but why invest the energy.
Posted by: Chucks | October 25, 2010 at 10:49 PM
Freaky. Wonder if a KIRO suit turned you in. Same one who threatened you for asking someone to send you the ratings numbers? (badly written, but I'm tired, it's late and I just tried to mail my ballot and my post office is gone. Seriously. Not there.)
Posted by: Emile Flournoye | October 25, 2010 at 10:50 PM
Some new reader might not recognise that fact and conveniently mail it to Michael.
As you say, "idiots exist" and I for one do not want them voting. So send your ballot to Michael immediately, chuxie.
Could anyone but an ignorant rightwingers like chux have written such a post?
Posted by: joanie | October 25, 2010 at 10:57 PM
Put the box of wine back in the fridge and go to bed joanie.
You're "acting a fool" again. You know better than to post when you have been drinking.
Good night Rhino.
Posted by: Chucks | October 25, 2010 at 11:16 PM
Ah, the old "drinking" accusation. That's all right. Just proves my point: you have nothing to say.
BTW, what's a Rhino? I'm not familiar with the terms used by the lower classes. Or is this just another juvenile chuxism? If so, learn to talk like an adult, please.
Posted by: joanie | October 25, 2010 at 11:37 PM
KIng County makes Cook County in Illinois almost look clean.
Democrats try and suppress the votes of servicemen and let illegals and the dead vote.
When I see people defending the 2004 election here I remember there's people that defend NAMBLA. All who defend the 2004 election would also defend NAMBLA.
What's funny are the morons who think Obama who is from the same machine as Blagojevich is clean!
Posted by: Steph | October 26, 2010 at 04:54 AM
WRONG! Under the well-established law of Agency, anyone can appoint an Agent to do anything that the person can do for herself (except be born or die). You can get married through an Agent, appear in court through a Agent, and anything else. If I sign my ballot and appoint Mike as my Agent to cast my vote, then no laws have been violated.
If I were living overseas, I might ask Mike, who lives here and knows the issues, to cast my vote on my behalf. There is nothing wrong with this.
My Bride sometimes asks me how to vote on a particular race. It would be a short step for her to sign her ballot and hand it to me to fill out. And she and I would completely comply with the law.
In this case, Mike is merely offering to perform a valuable service on my behalf and I applaud his generosity.
Posted by: Ted Smith | October 26, 2010 at 09:45 AM
While this was probably obvious satire, with a liberal blogger, you can never be 100% sure. Kudos to the election board for making sure everyone knows that this is blatantly illegal, if done seriously
Posted by: TheLastBrainLeft | October 26, 2010 at 09:48 AM
The Secretary did not admint<\b> satire then assumed<\b> it. In other words, he was giving you the benefit of the doubt.
You were not censored<\i>. You were merely informed of the law. If you chose to keep the post up you were free to do so.
You are a yahoo of the highest order.
Posted by: Home of Joe Biden | October 26, 2010 at 10:04 AM
The Democratics need a lot of help this time, but another kind other than help by the Unions and the minions on the internet of George Soros- predicated on cheating and blathering half truths. Unfortunately, it looks like many of them do not care about preserving the integrity of the election system (which has nothing to do with this post, BTW) because to them, the end justifies the means. Does winning fair and square just too square today ? That doesn't mean not fighting like hell up until Nov. 2nd.
By their own choice of quasi-tyrannical Federal governmening tactics, they have dug a hole for themselves and like the GOP in 2006, they will suffer the consequences. How trying something new - like governing for the people they serve instead of themselves (what a unique concept) - for all candidates from all parties... someone turn off the bold...
Posted by: KS | October 26, 2010 at 01:01 PM
Do you ever have anything new to offer, KS?
Posted by: The Anti-Dori | October 26, 2010 at 06:37 PM
Something new - about a pathetic POS running for office..
The senate majority leader takes no back seat when it comes to electioneering...
Posted by: KS | October 26, 2010 at 07:34 PM
I think he meant "Original" thought.
Not cut and paste someone else's words.
Posted by: sparky | October 26, 2010 at 07:38 PM
Sharon Angle is a piece of shit running for office? VG
Posted by: Coiler | October 26, 2010 at 07:41 PM
Obama went on with bigtime, syndicated L.A. Spanish radio host Fiolene (himself once an illegal immigrant) and after Fiolene chided him for not passing amnesty yet, Obama blamed the Repugs and urged Mexican-Americans to cram the polls "and punish your enemies". His foolishness in talking like this in a non-closed meeting has led to the comments going viral all over the media. I guess the "enemies" are those of us who don't believe illegals should be rewarded for jumping in line, and that we are still a sovereign nation of laws. The good news is that folks liek Fiolene no doubt realize that he has squandered his best and probably only chance to pass amnesty as this two year window of Dem rule comes to a close. Fiolene knows even Hispanics are pissed at Obama let alone the rest of the voters. "Enemies" this week, last week it was "tribal". Obama is cynically trying to play the race card after promising ot bring us together. It isn't working.
Posted by: Tommy008 | October 26, 2010 at 07:49 PM
It is working because you suggested there is a race card, against you. See how simple that is?
Posted by: Coiler | October 26, 2010 at 08:33 PM
Jesse Jackson and Obama are one and the same when it comes to being a race hustler - Obama is some f**king uniter - trying to emulate Che Guavarra again - what a loser !! He's one and done...
It would be well-deserved if Harry Reid lost to Sharron Angle or almost anyone else, He is running for office and is a POS, IMO. It may shock the living daylights out of him if he loses - too bad.
Posted by: KS | October 26, 2010 at 09:07 PM
It may shock you if Jerry Brown wins, but your side has old testament prophecies against California if you don't get your way.
Posted by: Coiler | October 26, 2010 at 09:25 PM
What Old Testament prophecies do you mean ?
Brown will probably win - their problem.
Posted by: KS | October 26, 2010 at 09:36 PM
flood, famine and pestilence.
Posted by: sparky | October 26, 2010 at 09:49 PM
It's coming - along with the northward migration of killer bees.
Posted by: KS | October 26, 2010 at 09:53 PM