Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Sticker Vote to Recount?

Short of punched paper butterfly ballots, you'd have to work real hard to come up with a vote that can be as confusing. In the Dianne Wilkerson/Sonia Chang-Diaz run for State Senator, we managed to do just that.

Word on the Second Suffolk vote
is that 48% to 46% loser Change-Diaz wants a recount. What, do you suppose, might make her think this was not the cleanest, clearest victory for the seven-term incumbent Wilkerson?

How about:
  • Wilkerson didn't bother getting the 300 signatures to get on the ballot for re-election.
  • Thus, she had to run a sticker campaign.
  • Voters have to write in the name or take an adhesive sticker the candidate provides, mark the write-in box, and apply the sticker in the right place on the ballot.
  • Chang-Diaz thinks Wilkerson is too ethically challenged for office; she joined the sticker campaign for it.
  • Boston police officer John Kelleher join in the campaign, also saying Wilkerson was no longer fit for office.
  • Republican Samiyah Diaz ran on both Republican and Democratic primary slates, apparently to knock Chang-Diaz off and improve her chances to win in November.
  • Nothing prohibits running on two slates for the same office.
The sticker thing is stinky enough. Voters were confused and the ballots must be hand recorded, lending itself to errors or worse.

The resulting tally with 100% reporting came in at:

Candidate Votes Pct.
Dianne Wilkerson 5,466 48%
Sonia Chang-Diaz 5,325 46%
John Kelleher 393 3%
Samiyah Diaz 275 2%

Given the hand tallies and bad feelings, a recount seems reasonable.

Well, that's not all that easy either. The Secretary of State has the steps and forms.

For Boston wards:
  • A candidate filing for recount has six days from the election to file the forms for a recount.
  • Then the candidate has four more days to gather enough voters signatures supporting the request.
  • In this case it is 500 verifiable signatures of voters.
  • The signatures must be at least 50 in each ward.
  • The 10 wards are spread from parts of Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, Dorechester, Fenway, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Mission Hill, Roxbury and the South End.
Wilkerson has declared victory. TBD.

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hanging Chad or "Hanging Wilkerson" - what's the diff?

Ron Newman said...

Somehow this blog entry fell off your main page. I'm not sure why.

Anonymous said...

I understand why Change-Diaz would want a recount...because something shady has obviously occurred..however common sense should tell her that it's no coincidence that Wilkerson's primary areas (Roxbury, Dorchester) were accidentally not counted...someone was obviously trying to help her to win...and even with that she still finished behind Wilkerson....Here's another note...Wilkerson's woes have long been an issue...however Chang-Diaz didn't bother to take her to moral court until Wilkerson didn't make the ballot.....If she is so sure that Wikerson is unfit for office then she should have made a bid for office long before Wilkerson failed to make the ballot...point is...she can't win over Wilkerson because she is not as qualified as Wilkerson.....Hey Bill was getting a blow job in the oval office...does that mean that he did less of a job as President? Samiyah doesn't have a chance against Wilkerson but at least she had the balls to go after Wilkerson from the beginning...I feel bad for Chang -Diaz because once she loses this...she'll be forgotten about...

massmarrier said...

I don't think Sonia's going anywhere. This was likely her trial balloon, and made her get off the dime. I bet she was thinking about running for office for some time. It must be tough being around legislators and knowing you're savvier and have clear visions than they. I'll try to chat with her after this finishes.

Anonymous said...

If "Sonia" can't win over a tax cheater that was once on house arrest, campaign fund violater (alleged), alleged perjurer who failed to get her name on the ballot....I think her time to shine in politics is pretty far off.....Who can she beat...probably no one who matters....All of Chang-Diaz's supporters who jumped on the band wagon when they thought Wilkerson was going down....will be back on Wilkerson's wagon

massmarrier said...

We have a general court full of folk who failed on their first races. Let's watch.