Well, what do I see when I go over to Agent Ska's blog, The Ideas Bucket, but a video of my very own polling place showing a Koch Green Shirter going inside the polls!
According to Ska, the guy turned tail and went back out the door when, 'Suddenly, his buddy realized what was happening and yelled to him, "HEY! SHE'S TAKING PICTURES (name of friend goes here)!!!"'
In the comments section at The Bucket the guy yelling was described as "about 1000 years old" so I'm guessing it was my district's Committeeman who is a bit up there in years and was, as always, at the polls on election day.
You can view the video here:
You can read Ska's report on the taping here: http://agentska.blogspot.com/2007/05/agent-ska-reports.html and here: http://agentska.blogspot.com/2007/05/whatcha-doin-in-there.html.
I am sooo very happy that Koch lost and Kraus won. :-D
It is like the zapruder film of Pittsburgh political minutiae.
ReplyDeleteIf it keeps them honest it is worth it. Digi-cams at every pol, next time?
I saw what I assumed was an election official(sitting at table inside) wearing a Koch Shirt at the school.
ReplyDelete50 feet? Is this ever enforced? 50 feet from the door, table, or voting booth? Every time I have voted I have these vultures camped at the door trying to give me their campaign lit and yelling in my face things like, "Vote for (insert mustached yinzer candidate here)!". Like if I hadn't made up my mind by now, their lit and yells will make it up for me? Idea: next election, make up some of your own little cards that read, "I was going to vote for your candidate, but since your are here, now I'm not" and hand it to them as you are going in.
ReplyDeleteI'm wearing my 2 Political Monkeys t-shirt.
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ReplyDeleteYes, it's a big deal. While most people play games with the 50 foot rule outside the polls, going inside them IS another matter.
ReplyDeleteActually, guys, the rule is 10 feet; or at least that's what it says in the extensive poll watcher's info that the Dowd campaign gave me. Also it's legal for a voter to carry leaflets, wear a t-shirt or button or whatever, while she's in there voting --- but she has to carry them out again when leaving. Any form of political advertisement/ID on the people who are in the polling place for long periods, such as poll watchers, is a very big no-no. Whether that Koch person was doing anything illegal would thus depend on whether he was going in (just) to cast his own vote, or to do something else. But his reaction to getting filmed sure suggests he knew it was illegal.
ReplyDeleteMatt H:
ReplyDeleteYes its a big deal when a candidate's supporters/poll watchers are present inside the voting area with campaign attire, lit, etc. It's another form of intimidation. Voters should be free to cast their vote without a partisan presence in their immediate vicinity--its the law.
In the morning at the District 3 voting precinct at South High School, Koch supporters in green campaign shirts were sitting at the table with the election workers inside the voting area--not even 5 feet from the votong machines. That is a tactic of intimidation.
Once again, if the situation were reversed, and the candidate you were supporting faced the same tactics, your attitude and response would be completely different.