Turnout expected to be huge tomorrow

By all indications the polls will be overflowing with voters tomorrow. The Daily Journal reported yesterday that officials in northeast Mississippi are expecting a record turnout. Absentee ballot totals have already surpassed four years ago in most if not all counties.

"I feel like we'll have a huge turnout," said Lee County Circuit Clerk Joyce Loftin. "I know we ordered more ballots than ever - right at 100 percent."

Roughly 1.1 million Mississippians voted in the 2004 election. Over 190,000 new voters have been added to the rolls this year alone. Be prepared to wait it out in long lines.

Voters should expect longer-than-usual lines at polling precincts throughout the area but otherwise will have a normal experience, according to most circuit clerks across the district.

What races are you excited about?

Voter rolls must be complete by Thursday

Yesterday evening on Mississippi Edition on MPB, they reported that all voter rolls must be completed by Thursday.

Circuit clerks are urging residents to contact their offices directly if you have not received your voter card or if you're concerned that your registration form was not processed for some other reason.

Click here to find contact information for circuit clerks.

Supreme Court sides with law, sort of (updated x2)

Wow. I am shocked. Daily Kos is reporting that the Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the law and upheld the decision of Hinds County Circuit Cort Judge Tomie Green. The court voted 8-1.

We will get more information when it is made available.

From the Daily Kos:

No news articles yet, but the Mississippi Supreme Court has just ruled that placing the special Senate election at the bottom of the ballot was illegal. Not even Barbour's buddies on the court could justify such a gross violation of this law:

SEC. 23-15-367. Arrangement of names of candidates, order of titles of offices, and printing of official ballot generally; order in which titles of various offices are to be listed on the ballot; furnishing of sample of official ballot; alphabetical arrangement in primary elections.

... (2) The titles for the various offices shall be listed in the following order:

(a) Candidates for national office;
(b) Candidates for statewide office;
(c) Candidates for state district office;
(d) Candidates for legislative office;
(e) Candidates for countywide office;
(f) Candidates for county district office.

Well, most of them, anyway. The decision was 8-1. There was at least one Barbour shill on that court who is absolutely immune to the rule of law.

Update: Actually, the dissent is one of the good guys. He agrees with the overall decision, but mocks the court for 1) allowing Barbour to get away with scheduling the special this November instead of last March as state law required, and 2) attacks them for claiming, in the majority decision, that the trial court erred in demanding that Barbour adhere to state law.

UPDATE: I am not sure what this means. But the Clarion Ledger is reporting that even thought the ruled that the special election should go at the top of the ballot they are not upholding Tomie Green's decision.

Clarion Ledger:

“We find that the special election for U.S. Senator must be listed in the first category of the ballot, along with all other national elections, and the law assumes the governor and secretary of state will follow the law,” Justice Jess Dickinson wrote in a 10-page ruling.

“The Circuit Judge exceeded her authority, however, by ordering the Governor and Secretary of State to prepare the ballot in a particular manner, and to take other actions with respect to the upcoming election," he added.

The Governor and Secretary of State must be allowed to attend to their constitutional duties, free of interference by way of mandamus, injunction or instruction,” Dickinson wrote. “Of course, once the Governor and Secretary of State act, their decisions and actions are then subject to judicial review.”

Link to Decision pdf


UPDATE x 2:

Haley surrenders:

Barbour issued a brief statement: "The Supreme Court has spoken; so be it."

His spokesman, Pete Smith, elaborated by saying "the governor is going to comply with the ruling and the Senate race will go near the top."

Will the ballot flap hurt early voting efforts?

Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from lawyers representing both sides of the ballot dispute. Bobby Harrison in today's Daily Journal wrote that a decision will come in "due course." As we wait for the decision to be rendered there is one side issue that could quickly escalate into a major issue. State law requires that absentee ballots are available 45 days before election day, which is this coming Monday.

WJTV reported that our county election commissioners are having to wait for the decision before they can print the ballot. Hinds County Election Commissioner Connie Cochran expressed her concerns to WJTV.

Right now "It's impeding our progress in the election process," Cochran says.

Even so Cochran says it will take at least a week and a half to print the 8,000 absentee ballots Hinds County needs to cover the expected demand.

"When we ever find out how the court rules, if it means that they'll have to be reprogrammed and reprinted out and sent to the printers to be made into scannable ballots," she says.

Cochran says most of the state's 82 counties also use scannable ballots.

"So 79 counties are in the same situation that we are."

Supreme Court set to rule on ballot dispute

The Sun Herald just reported minutes ago that the Supreme Court has all the relevant paperwork necessary to render a decision on the ballot controversy.

The Mississippi Supreme Court has received all the paperwork it needs to settle a dispute over where a special election for Trent Lott's old U.S. Senate seat should appear on the ballot.

The court has given no indication of when it might rule.

The 2002 special election for Court of Appeals was not placed at the bottom of the ballot. This fact combined with the 2000 law, should be sufficient to render a decision in favor of placing the election near the top of the ballot where it belongs. We shall see.

Hinds County Judge blocks ballot decision

Judge Tommie Green has issued a temporary restraining order to stop the shipment of ballots until a a hearing can be conducted. The law is clear. Federal elections go at the TOP of the ballot. The Mississippi GOP is getting some awful press today, and here is to it getting worse.

From the Clarion Ledger minutes ago:

Pike County Election Commissioner Trudy Berger filed a lawsuit in Hinds County Circuit Court only hours after the commission meeting.

“My client's responsibilities are to the voters and the law is clear. Elections for federal office should be at the top of the ballot. The proposed ballot buries the most prominent election in the state and will cause confusion on Election Day,” said Jackson Attorney Sam Begley, who is representing Berger.

GOP attempts to hide Musgrove race at bottom of ballot

In a blatant attempt to suppress voter turnout, Secretary of State and Haley Barbour lackey Delbert Hoseman, has moved the Senate race to the BOTTOM of the ballot for November. This is a clear violation of state law, which we know means nothing to the Governor. He already bent state law into a pretzel to get this special election moved to November. History shows that the lower on a ballot a race is the less people who vote on it. Experts agree that voter turnout is key to a Musgrove victory. Now they have come up with an ingenious, although illegal, way to suppress turnout.

This move smacks of desperation. It also shows a severe lack of confidence in their candidate Roger Wicker. Apparently they don't feel too good about his chances. The Republicans are running scared after having Greg Davis blasted out of the water by Travis Childers in the MS-01 special election. With Barack Obama on the ticket, voter turnout is going to be huge. They know that in a straight election, the turnout should be enough to send Roger Wicker back to his home district and send Ronnie Musgrove to the Senate. When Wicker gets back to Tupelo maybe he can explain his free-trade votes, considering the 10% unemployment rate of Northeast Mississippi that has grown with each plant that has been shuttered and shipped to Mexico or China.

The Daily Journal had this to say last week:

If the law allows any latitude at all, the decision ought to be a no-brainer. The most important race other than the presidency to be voted on by Mississippians that day should be in the most prominent place possible on the ballot. The only plausible reason for anyone to want it near the bottom is the hope that some voters will overlook it or just not take the time to finish their ballot.

Musgrove has already made it clear that he wants it near the top. Wicker has not said to this point, but a campaign spokesman has downplayed the issue's importance and questioned why Musgrove is concerned about it. Surely the Wicker camp wants the race to be as prominently displayed as possible, given its historic nature.

Since it's a special election, neither candidate's party affiliation will be listed on the ballot, unlike the Cochran-Fleming race. The law is clear on that.

If the law is open-ended on the ballot location, any decision other than to give the special election high-on-the-ballot prominence will be hard to explain or defend.

Hat Tip to Daily Kos

Obama Unleashes 50 State Voter Drive

Barack Obama announced today the in early May the Obama nation will be involved in large scale 50 state voter drive, to help shore up his electability arguments. This is Barack being Barack, trying to rise above the fray and move forward in a positive manner. With this voter drive, Obama has a chance to make a huge statement about how the game is changing. A lot of pundits want to grade this primary process on the battlegrounds of the 90's, especially when talk gets to coalition building. Senator Obama is building a new Democratic coalition stronger than 50+1 of the Clinton years.

Our campaign's recent voter registration drives have registered more than 200,000 new Democrats in Pennsylvania, more than 115,000 new Democrats in North Carolina, and more than 150,000 new Democrats in Indiana. Those numbers just scratch the surface of what's possible.

The event in Jackson is scheduled for May 10. Here is a link and the details.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/voterregistrationdriveofficialevent/43cg


Time: Saturday, May 10 at 10:30 AM
Host: Menno Goedman
Location: Jamie Fowler Boyll Park (Jackson, MS)
Lakeland Drive
Jackson, MS 39216

Obama Picks Up a Two Delegate Gain in Mississippi

The final tally of the Mississippi Democratic Primary vote has been made official by the office of the Secretary of State. We thought on the initial numbers that Obama would garner a 19-14 delegate win in Mississippi. The actual split is going to be 20-13, which in effect is a two delegate gain for Obama.

The final popular vote tally:
Obama - 265,502
Clinton - 159,221

H/T to Kos and DU for pointing this out

When journalists are wrong...

I ran across "Voter Info: Who Can Vote April 1" today on the Meridian Star's website.

While generally correct, there is one glaring over-generalization:

That list of citizens who cannot vote is a lot shorter than the list of those who can. People who voted on a Democratic ballot in the March 11 primary cannot vote in the run-off, which is between two Republicans. People who were not registered to vote by the Feb. 9, 2008 deadline are also not allowed to vote in the run-off. There's still time to register to vote in the Nov. 4 general election, though. And of course anyone who is not eligible to vote in a regular election, such as a non-resident of Lauderdale County or a convicted felon, will not be able to vote in Lauderdale County April 1 either.

According to the Secretary of State, only the following felonies disenfranchise voters. People deserve their right to vote, and they deserve to have the news reported to them accurately!

Has never been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241 of the Mississippi Constitution (murder, rape, bribery, theft, arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, forgery, embezzlement, or bigamy).

More Numbers And Statistics For Political Junkies

Sen. Obama won the night, with 61% of the vote--roughly 253,441 of the total 417,428 votes cast in the Democratic primary were for him.

Only 458,094 votes cast total for the Kerry/Edwards ticket in the general election in 2004. There were almost that many Democratic primary voters Tuesday night.

Let's go back to 2000. Al Gore got 89.62%, with only 79,408 votes of the total 114,979 cast. The 2008 primary turnout is a 263% increase over 2000.

In the 2004 Democratic primary for president, John Kerry won at 78.4%, gaining 59,815 of the 76,298 votes cast. Better candidates, better ideas, and competition in 2008 combined to create a 447% increase in Democratic presidential primary voters over 2004.

The "loser" of last night's contest, Senator Clinton, alone got almost as many votes last night (154,852) then were cast total for Democrats in the 2004 or 2008 primaries combined (155,706). Note the way 2000 and 2004 track each other (2000-79k, 2004-76k). The Democrats have "found" 300,000 new voters in the primary.

Let's look back just one year in statewide politics. In the 2007 general gubernatorial election, Haley Barbour beat John Arthur Eaves, 430,807 to 313,232, with a total vote cast of 744,039. There were almost as many Democratic primary votes cast last night as it took to win the governorship last year.

In the 2000 presidential primary--the last time there was one for Republicans, as Pres. Bush ran uncontested in 2004--the surging popularity of the former Texas governor brought him 101,042 votes, 87.88% of the total 114,979 votes cast.

Contrast that last night with Sen. John McCain, who won 111,953 votes last night, 79% of the 141,814 cast. This is an increase over those folks claiming to be Republican and voting for then-Gov. Bush. This is a 23% increase (with help from a couple of competitive Congressional primaries). Even with these (comparably modest) gains, the Republicans are performing to their historical scale.

Total votes cast last night in both presidential primaries: 559,242
Total votes cast in 2000 in both presidential primaries: 203, 581
A 175% increase.

This people came from somewhere . . . they've never voted before . . . and they voted Democratic.

Thanks to Cotton Mouth research for this analysis.

Preliminary Mississippi Delegate Count (And Other Data)

OpenLeft:

Delegate Totals*:

MS-1: 3-2 Clinton
MS-2: 5-2 Obama
MS-3: 3-2 Obama
MS-4: 3-2 Obama

Statewide: 6-5 Obama

Total: 19-14 Obama

*These numbers are not set in stone or official yet (I do believe).

Clarion Ledger:

Mississippi - Summary Vote Results

March 12, 2008 - 02:07PM ET (i) = incumbent = winner = runoff
President - Dem Primary
1909 of 1912 Precincts Reporting - 99%
Name Party Votes Vote %
Obama, Barack Dem 253,441 61%
Clinton, Hillary Dem 154,852 37%
Edwards, John Dem 3,841 1%
Biden, Joe Dem 1,768 0%
Richardson, Bill Dem 1,339 0%
Kucinich, Dennis Dem 891 0%
Dodd, Chris Dem 718 0%
Gravel, Mike Dem 578 0%
President - GOP Primary
1894 of 1912 Precincts Reporting - 99%
Name Party Votes Vote %
McCain, John GOP 111,953 79%
Huckabee, Mike GOP 17,676 12%
Paul, Ron GOP 5,487 4%
Romney, Mitt GOP 2,154 2%
Thompson, Fred GOP 2,128 2%
Giuliani, Rudy GOP 935 1%
Keyes, Alan GOP 833 1%
Hunter, Duncan GOP 407 0%
Tancredo, Tom GOP 241 0%

Yes. Even though he wasn't running John Edwards came close to tying the #2 Republican in the race. Ron Paul still isn't going anywhere folks.

Delbert Hosemann: "It's Moron Ma'am."

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal:

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann expects a light to moderate turnout 125,000 to 150,000 voters for today primaries featuring congressional and presidential choices. Hosemann said 100,000 ballots were cast in the 2004 presidential primary, which came after President Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry had won their parties' nominations and included fewer contested congressional primaries than this year.

According to my counts from the Clarion Ledger website there will be more than 405,237 voters in the Democratic primary alone and more than 545,237 voters overall.

Would that make the total 363% of his HIGHEST estimate?

The following advertisement is what I played off of for the title:


"It's Moron Ma'am"

The Big Day! Voting For President (Primary) In Mississippi

I voted in a trailer as I have in every election since Hurricane Katrina.

We voted on touch-screen machines manufactured by Diebold.  I had some difficulty because the screen wasn't very sensitive and I had to poke at it about a dozen times to move onto the next page.  The person who came to assist said that it had been acting up all day.

At 1 when I voted in my overwelmingly Republican precinct 264 folks had voted in the Democratic Primary and 181 folks had voted in the Republican Primary. 

That stands in strong contrast to 2007 state primaries when by the end of the day 802 folks had voted in the competitive Republican primary for Lt. Governor while 153 voted for Jamie Franks in the Democratic Primary.

I wonder if these patterns will be the same statewide.

Please leave you voting experience in the comments:

MS-3: Republican Voting Shenanigans

Apparently the leading candidate in District 3, David Landrum, was taken off the voter rolls (I think, please clarify in the comments).

A voter purge that affects the powerful? You know there's going to be a lawsuit.

Harrison County Election Commission

As you approach:


Inside:


This was probably written by a person who runs elections and counts the votes:


"This door you are looking at is called the Harrison County Election Commission."

"You will see there sign clearly posted beside there doors."

Yep. That's a little bit scary.

When Republicans Attack Republicans / Look Out Landrum

Congressman Pickering's choice to replace him is getting feisty.

John Rounsaville sent out a press release yesterday stating that David Landrum (who is the apparent frontrunner) hasn't bothered to vote in any election between November, 2000 and November, 2007. That's a pretty serious charge.

I wouldn't vote for a Democrat who hadn't taken the effort to vote in recent elections and I suspect many Republicans will feel the same way.

From the release:

At a candidate forum on February 11th in Noxapater, Mr. Landrum was asked by Scott Boyd, editor of the Macon Beacon about his $1,000 contribution to Ronnie Musgrove in the 2003 gubernatorial election. Mr. Landrum responded that he did indeed contribute to Mr. Musgrove’s campaign and that he voted for Haley Barbour.

That is simply not true.

David Landrum did not vote for Haley Barbour. He did not even bother to vote at all.

Rounsaville accuses Landrum of "boldfaced deceit" and says that "(Landrum) has no business asking to be our vote in the U.S. House of Representatives."

That's tough stuff.

In addition this video has surfaced attacking Landrum from one of the debates:

The text added is a little unfair at points. One example is that when he states gave Musgrove a contribution it was because friends encouraged him to because of tort reform. They think this point is invalid because the law was passed prior to the contribution. I don't see that as a contradiction.

The claws have come out, but with so little time before the election I wonder if all of this only helps Ross and not Rounsaville (or his campaign really) who I suspect put this little video together.

Thanks to AnnEllisSimmons for both.

Justice Dept. Controversy

The controversies at the Department of Justice seem to be never-ending.

From McClatchy:

The Justice Department's voting rights chief stepped down Friday amid allegations that he'd used the position to aid a Republican strategy to suppress African-American votes.

John Tanner became the latest of about a dozen senior department officials, including former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who've resigned in recent months in a scandal over the politicization of the Justice Department in the Bush administration.

In recent months, McClatchy has reported on a pattern of decision-making within the department's Civil Rights Division, of which the Voting Rights Section is a part, that tended to narrow the voting rights of Democratic-leaning minorities.

Tanner has been enmeshed for months in congressional investigations over his stewardship of the unit that was established to protect minority-voting rights. He drew increased focus this fall after he told a Latino group: "African-Americans don't become elderly the way white people do. They die."

Delbert Hoseman Says He'd Like To "Explore" Early Voting

In the Commercial Dispatch:

Secretary of State-elect Delbert Hosemann also said during his campaign that he's interested in allowing early voting, but measures would be needed to ensure voting machines are tamper-free from fraud.

“It helps with absentee-voting issues and the security of the vote,” Hosemann said. “Early voting is something we need to explore.”

I hope he does make early voting a priority. It's been done elsewhere with few problems. Voter fraud does need attention, but access is a far more important issue. Hopefully we can tackle both.

The Sunday Funny #7

Leave voting up to the grownups, you know the folks who've done such a good job so far.