Certification Monday, Recount Tuesday...

Earlier today, we had ~400 protesters marching in front of the statehouse protesting an unfair election. I wonder how many were from out of state.

We are also going to certify our results on Monday with Bush winning by almost 119,000 votes and then we are going to start a recount that is "paid for" by the Green Party. Unfortunately, they are only paying a recount filing fee of $113,600 ($10 per precinct, a cost set in the 1950's) when the true cost estimated to run closer to $1.5M. No election is perfect, but there is no way there was 120,000 cases of fraud, voter suppression, and miscounted ballots. Somehow I can't help but think that this money could be better spent somewhere else. It's even more frustrating when we have out-of-staters like Jesse Jackson flocking to the state trying to stir up trouble. I guess if it wasn't my $1.5M, I might stir up more trouble too just for the fun of it.

It makes me remember back on election day. Everyone I talked to had waited in a minimum of a half an hour and many for an hour plus to vote. People of all races and backgrounds. And it felt good. I felt like we were doing something special to make a difference. Local TV and radio stations were looking for any sign of trouble and there weren't any. The stories on election night were how long the lines were but also how calm everyone was. Several of us made the comment that we could live with whoever won, because it was clear that everyone had a chance to vote and did so. The majority should rule.

Then the outsiders got involved, and here we are...

In a future post, I'll do a breakdown of the results by county to explain just where all of the votes came from.