Calling Bullshit: Election Shenanigans in 27th Ward, 12th District
For the second election in a row, I personally experienced election shenanigans, mild ones, in the 27th Ward, 12th District. My housemate was with me this time and witnessed the misbehavior.
Our polling place is the school located at 51st and Greenway Avenue in the Kingsessing neighborhood. As we entered the school, a little old woman at a table provided us with directions to the room where the machines were located. As we turned to leave, she called out to us, “We sure could use a vote for Lynn Swann!”
“I’m sure you could,” I replied.
“Yeah, I’m gonna vote for him… for Football Hall of Fame!”
We walked down the hall laughing. “I’m pretty sure that’s illegal,” I remarked to Tim.
“Oh yeah it is,” he said, laughing. “Ya like that line about the Hall of Fame?”
This isn’t as egregious as last year. I had signed in to vote, and a heavy set woman led me to the voting machine. It was one of the new ones, where you push buttons to select your candidate. Because they were new, she was guiding me through the way they worked.
“This is the column for Democrats, this one is for Republicans, and this is for all the other parties. Ballot initiatives are here. Here’s how you vote straight ticket.” She pointed to a series of names at the bottom of the ballot. “These are local candidates for smaller offices,” she continued. “And see this name?” It was the Republican candidate for election judge. “That’s me, and I sure hope I’ll get your vote.” She said this IN THE BOOTH.
Luckily, I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, and the notion of me ever voting for a Republican in the first place is laughable, so I ignored her. However, that’s just blatant electioneering, and it’s illegal. And while I’m a damn loyal Democrat, if a Democratic candidate had pulled that shit on me, he or she would have lost my vote immediately.
At the behest of my girlfriend, I just reported this to the Election Protection people, at 1-866-OUR VOTE.
Much is made, and rightly so, of the corrupt nature of the Democratic machine in Philadelphia. I watched that machine fuck over my friend Anne Dicker when she ran for office. And they went after my friend Albert Yee as well. And don’t get me started on that corrupt tub of guts Carol Campbell, installed by fiat on City Council. It’s disgraceful.
But don’t ever tell me the Republicans aren’t just as corrupt in our city, because they are as scummy and filthy as any Philadelphia Democrat. Given the opportunity to sieze the levers of power, the Republicans in this City (I’m looking at YOU Perzel, this ain’t your personal fucking fiefdom anymore than it’s Vince Fumo’s) would jump into the hogwaller of pay-to-play quicker than you could say “hey where’d my wallet go?”
Dirtbags all.
November 9th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
I can’t believe this… it has been keeping me up at nights that people we be so bold as to do something like this. It is highly illegal, and to think we have people like this working IN THE POLLS! It got me thinking though what would I do if something like this happened to me. If I didn’t read what happened to you I would probably do nothing and get pissed off later. Thanks to you I am prepared now to call attention to it immediately if it should ever happen. Shenanigans!