Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Why Was the Rangel Race the Only Count That Had Problems

NYT Says Cut the cut-and-add routine and let the computers do their job
Elections and its staff seem more interested in protecting their jobs than avoiding errors. Poll workers print out the paper record from the scanning machines, which often include ballots from several election districts, so the workers cut the paper into sections and reorganize the pieces by district.



NYT does not question or answer why 79 precincts when uncounted. In other races the BOE ran Tuesday all the votes were counted. Something when on in the Rangel district that did not happen in the other district.  Why? 




The NYT Editorial Said Nothing About the Corruption Going On At the BOE  Bloomberg said “It’s about as corruptible a system as anybody could design” 
NYT Report Powell did go into the Board's corrupt and incompetent past. He pointed out that most of the problems happen in neighborhoods where Espaillat was expected to do well.Election Board Sets New High in Dysfunction (NYT)


The Board Covers Says Baseless Lawsuit is Over
“The board has acted in accordance with the law and its duly adopted procedures throughout this process,” she said, adding, “We believe that the withdrawal of this proceeding today indicates the baseless nature of the unsupported allegations contained in the papers that were filed in court.”  Mr. Espaillat’s lawyer, Martin Connor, told the judge that the campaign was withdrawing a petition seeking court intervention, in order to file a new petition including a challenge under a different section of the election law. Sen. Adriano Espaillat’s team will file a new legal challenge to the NY-13 primary results today and reserve the right to call for a do-over election.

 Nobody is Looking for the Truth
Why Can’t New York City Count Votes?(NYT Ed) The city’s Board of Elections still uses a counting system by hand that is prone to embarrassing errors on election night. On June 26, the board announced that Representative Charles Rangel had won the Democratic primary in his newly drawn district by 1,900 votes. But, in 79 of 506 precincts, the vote count was recorded as zero. Most of these flat-lined precincts fell in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, in the Dominican neighborhoods that are at the heart of Mr. Espaillat’s political base. Then the board recounted, and Mr. Rangel led his nearest competitor, State Senator Adriano Espaillat, by 802 votes — with 2,000 absentee ballots or affidavits still to be. Acknowledging the increasingly contested results of the election in NY-13, Charlie Rangel e-mailed his supporters, asking them to send him money to help him defend his victory in court counted.
Dominicains Don't Count
Where are the Reformers, Goo Goos, the DA Demanding BOE Reforms and An Investigation How the Bad Count Happen Primary Night? 

* Rangel's Lead Disputed(WSJ) * Espaillat Challenges House Primary Election Results In Court(NY1) * Election Board Sets New High in Dysfunction (NYT) "There is broken, and maddening, and politically wired, not to mention patronage-encrusted. Then there is the New York City Board of Elections, which manages to ball all of those into a wildly dysfunctional planet," writes The Times’ Michael Powell: * Board of Elections dodging accountability in vote-counting fiasco in race between Rep. Charles Rangel and Adriano Espaillat  (Aronson, NYDN) Board has let the process go haywire since adoption of electronic vote scanners,  It has been widely reported that Rangel’s advantage narrowed in the vote-counting process. This is false. The board is also blaming the police for the botched Election Night results. This, too, is false. *Kenneth Sherrill on Charlie Rangel:“A narrow escape leaves him wounded in the eyes of many people in the political class…I think that the number of people looking to succeed him is going to expand.”* When's the last time anyone got a do-over election? [@DKelections] * The Board of Elections is trying to dodge accountability for the fiasco.* Much Ado About A Do-Over(YNN) * Election Math: Ballots + New York = @#&*?!(NYT)
* Baruch professor says a Rangel-district poll worker asked for ID(Capital) * Espaillat Petition Against BOE Gives A Glimpse at How Primary Night Vote Count Sausage is Made(City anbd sTATE) * Absentee ballots are still coming in. * While the Board of Elections refused to accept any responsibility for Election Day troubles.

Update Inside a Possible Rangel-Espaillat Rematch(WSJ) * Amid Vote Count Drama, Calm in Rangel's District(NYT) * Board Of Elections Defends Its Work In Disputed Congressional Primary(NY1)







“I have received hundreds of complaints of voter suppression and voters’ being turned away”  Espaillat
Mr. Espaillat says his family members arrived at the polls to find their names not in the election books. “My family members, we call them ‘prime voters,’ right?” Mr. Espaillat said. “Don’t you think it’s likely that they’re registered?”  The board did not respond Monday to an inquiry about the election.
Hey, not so fast, Charlie!(NYP) * Slow Count and Rival’s Doubts Cloud Rangel’s Primary Victory(NYT)


Campaign 2012  Dems target 3 NY House GOPers(NYP)
* $3M in funds for securing synagogues (NYDN) * Dems target 3 NY House GOPers(NYP) *The Green Party’s Colia Clark is making her second run for Senate, this time against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Republican candidate Wendy Long. * Jason Otaño Launching Campaign Against Martin Dilan Next Week(NYO) * City Councilman Jumaane Williams endorsed Josue Pierre for District Leader.*
Betsy Gotbaum’s Step-Son (And Victor Gotbaum’s Son) Mulling NYC Public Advocate Run
Betsy Gotbaum's Step-Son (And Victor Gotbaum's Son) Mulling NYC Public Advocate Run(City and State)
Going After Vito By Hitting Him At Home and When He is Down

Jason Otaño Launching Campaign Against Martin Dilan Next Week(NYO) Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez and Councilwoman Diana Reyna lead the attack








 Sen. Marty Golden Channels Don Draper(City and State)Sen. Marty Golden Holding Event Teaching The “Feminine Presence” Not surprisingly, some women find this 1950′s-era mindset offensive.* The Middletown Times Herald-Record slams state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long for keeping a married lesbian Senate candidate off Row C.* GOP US Senate hopeful Wendy Long’s stump speech now includes a line about how military men and women didn’t die overseas protecting contraception coverage or access to health care. Women in attendance will be taught to, “Sit, stand and walk like a model,” how to, “Walk up and down a stair elegantly” and “Differences in American and Continental rules governing handshakes and introductions


Boyland No Work and All Per-Diem Payments
Pol’s only bills are ones taxpayers get(NYP) Indicted state Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. didn’t introduce a single bill last year while billing taxpayers for more per-diem travel expenses than most of his colleagues. The Brooklyn Democrat also missed 280 legislative votes this year, more than all but four of his Assembly colleagues — three of whom were running for Congress — and more than a quarter of all votes, the New York Public Interest Research Group report found. Meanwhile Boyland claimed $17,606 in taxpayer-financed per-diem payments, on top of his $79,500 salary, for attending legislative sessions and for trips outside his district — more than that claimed by 131 of the Assembly’s 150 members, state Comptroller’s Office records show. 

Boylandism is Catching on in Albany  Just 571 bills passed both the Senate and Assembly in 2012 — fewer than in any year since 1914 when Martin Glynn was governor, the Times Union reports
For 3 Men in the Room Albany Its All About Follow Your Leader
Albany pols:  If you lead,  we’ll follow! (NYDN)







4
NYP Tell Liu To Pay Up, City Should Garnish his Wages, But What About Thompson 
Martin Connors Was Liu Lawyer
Pay up, John(NYP Ed) For a guy whose job is to make sure that everybody else in government plays by the rules, Liu sure has a lot of trouble following them himself. Liu, of course, has been the poster boy for unfit public officials since taking office 2 1/2 years ago. The city Environmental Control Board yesterday upheld a decision ordering Liu to pay $527,400 in fines for papering 7,032 illegal posters during the 2009 campaign.Liu initially got most of his summonses dismissed by claiming they’d been served on the wrong staffer, or because the Sanitation Department couldn’t supply the summons number. Controller Liu smacked with $527G sign fine (NYDN)The News editorializes that John Liu must finally pay his $527,400 in fines for illegal campaign posters, writing “Mr. Controller. It’s time to start acting more like the city’s duly elected fiscal watchdog and less like a, well, you know” * Controller John Liu should stop trying to weasel out of paying fines(NYDN ED) He owes city a half-million dollars for illegally posted campaign signs * Bill Thompson's campaign ordered to pay $594000 in election * Bill Thompson weasels out of $619125 in fines for putting up illegal ... * Liu is considering whether to appeal the fine. [Erin Dunkin] *Liu could raise the $527,400 needed to pay the fine separately from his campaign account. [David Seifman]



Claire Shulman and Parkside Get Away With Illegal Lobbying for City Projects
City Agency Admits Illegal Lobby Effort(WSJ) New York City's economic-development agency and two related organizations admitted in a settlement that they illegally lobbied the City Council on behalf of projects at the heart of Bloomberg's redevelopment agenda. The concessions came after a three-year probe by the state attorney general's office. Investigators found that the Economic Development Corp. worked behind the scenes with the groups—called local development corporations—to nudge lawmakers to support projects in Willets Point in Queens and Coney Island in Brooklyn. * Groups Admit to Lobbying Illegally to Aid Mayor’s Plans(MYT)
Bloomberg "I Am In Control"
Mayor Rejects 9/11 Proposal(WSJ)Bloomberg dismissed efforts by the governors of New York and New Jersey to wrest more control of events and other decisions at the 9/11 memorial, saying such a move would improperly inject politics into the site.

 

Will Bloomberg Demand Nathans Use Only Small Soda Cups for Its Contest?
NY's healthy mayor to vet hot dog weigh-in(WSJ) Mayor Bloomberg, who yesterday joked his favorite vegetable is steak (and then amended that to say iceberg lettuce, radishes and cucumber), will preside over the annual weigh-in ceremony for hot dog-eating champions today.* The Daily News counted no fewer than 12 hot dog puns from Mayor Bloomberg at the  Coney Island hot dog eating contest kickoff.






Food Stamps to Go For Healty Food
Leafy keen at City Hall (NYDN) Mayor Bloomberg announced that all city farmers markets will now take food-stamp-backed “Health Bucks”* As part of the food stamp-backed “Health Bucks” program, low-income participants get an extra $2 worth of free produce at all NYC farmers markets for every $5 spent.

Bark Off

As the Sun Bears Down, Christie Growls, and Bloomberg Barks a Little, Too(NYT) * The heat is causing NYC metro-area pols to get snappish with reporters. (More so than usual, that is).* The mayor seems to be coping with the heat by getting angry with reporters; Chris Christie meanwhile is content to just call one of them an “idiot.”




Shot to Hell: 46% Increase in Gun Victims




City Appeals Bad Teacher and Schools
NYC went back to court to overturn an arbitrator's decision that blocked it from closing 24 failing public schools and laying off its teachers
City ‘class’ warfare(NYP) The city went to court yesterday to try and overturn a stunning arbitrator’s decision that blocked it from closing 24 failing schools and signing up new teachers when it reopens them. * Arbitration capitulation(NYP Ed) Bloomberg has nothing to gain by closing good schools, so it’s fair to assume that the 24 he hoped to shut and reopen with new staff were losers. Yet an “arbitrator” last week blocke.  The Post slams an arbitrator, and the teachers union, who won't let Bloomberg close and reopen two dozen schools in the way he sees fit * City appeals ruling blocking bid to close 24 schools(NYDN) * Hard cell for fones in schools (NYDN)


Con Ed Still Out



  Court Says Release the OWS Twitter Files
Judge Orders Twitter to Release Protester's Messages(NYT) * DA Gets to See Occupy Tweets(WSJ)  *Judge Orders Twitter to Release Protester’s Messages (NYT)  A Criminal Court judge in Manhattan ruled that Twitter must turn over to prosecutors messages sent by a Brooklyn writer during the Occupy Wall Street protests, indicated that although private speech was protected, the same did not apply to public comments on Twitter

 

Where the Piss Could Hit the Fan

NY1 Exclusive: Giant Tunnel Fans Could Cool Down Sweltering Subway Platforms(NY1)


Albany Bill Would Add Family to Special Education Factors(NYT) Gov. Andrew Cuomo is weighing whether to sign a bill on special education that opponents argue would give families more power to send their children to religious schools at taxpayers’ expense, reports 








Bronx churches celebrate; court rules they can meet in public(NYDN)










Firefighters Set Buildings Ablaze, to Determine How to Extinguish Them Better(NYT) * FDNY to conduct 'live burn' fire experiments(WSJ)

The number of New York’s authorities-- independent agencies that can issue bonds and raise revenue–continues to grow.




The Making of A President 2012
Wall Street Is Still Giving to Obama(WSJ) * John Roberts is not very popular right now. * The Mormon influence in the key battleground state of Nevada is still a factor, but is fading.  * New Hampshire Senator and VP shortlister Kelly Ayotte will meet with Mitt Romney today.  * Vanity Fair ventures into Mitt Romney’s offshore tax havens.  * Obama Camp Unleashes Bain Outsourcing Ad(Huff Post) * A political shift in America’s Rust belt, amid the decline of the US auto industry (by ): * At least two possible veep picks will be in the vicinity of Romney’s vacation compound. 
 

Law and Order

Suspect In Fatal Bodega Beating At Large(NY1)


Cops hurt in pool fight(NYP)* Suspect identified in Bronx bodega murder(WABC) * Bonanno thug to ’fess up(NYP)* Health aide accused of abusing elderly woman(WABC) * Cop Punched in Face at McCarren Pool: Police(NBC) * Child, 2 Adults Found Dead in Bed-Stuy(NBC) * High Security After Pool Attack(NBC) * Child among 3 found dead in Brooklyn apartment(NYP) * Three Fatally Shot in Brooklyn(NYT) * NY rabbi sentenced in NJ for laundering scheme(NYP) * McCarren Pool Incidents Raise Question Of Pool Security(NY1)


RIP

Remember any of these? A look back at Andy Griffith's political moments:  (politico)