Wednesday, September 17, 2008

DC Primary Wrap-up & My YouTube debut

After a little hiatus for the ServiceNation Summit, I'm back at it.  More on the summit later, including pictures. While I was in NYC,  the post-election drama continued.   I will try to provide with a time line from the articles that have been written in the Post and the City Paper.   First,  the Board of Election & Ethics (BOEE) went on a communication blackout. This was actually not a bad idea, since their attempt to provide an explanation on election night was pathetic.  No offense to Dan Murphy, BOEE spokesperson.  When the BOEE came out of its self-imposed blackout, it provided some clarifications on the election night debacle but mostly blamed the irregularities on the equipment. However, California-based Sequoia Voting systems asserted that "there is absolutely no problem with the machines in polling places." Instead, the company brought up possibility of  human error.  Despite the assertion by Sequoia, BOEE stood by the results on primary night. As it now become the tradition in DC after a scandal,  Mayor Fenty fired someone and launched an investigation but not before the Ward 2 ANC  passed a  resolution calling for an investigation.  Maybe something will come out of this one.  In the middle of all the all this, Cary conceded. He thanked his supporters and staff.  He also called on BOEE "take all steps necessary to restore trust in the election results."  Cary concession essential ended the post-election drama.  However as the post put it,

SO ELEMENTAL to government is the conduct of elections that there can be no excuse for failure. It's important, then, that D.C. officials not minimize the problems with Tuesday's primary. The chaos surrounding the results suggests that there may be bigger issues that need fixing and that, if left unresolved, could undermine voter confidence.

The only good thing that came out of this drama is my debut on YouTube thanks to LooseLips Columnist Mike DeBonis.


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