You are right on the money. You’re not alone, of course, but I am also continually surprised at the lack of outrage against the bigotry of lowered expectations.

If a critical mass of blacks ever figure out that the Democrats have sold out their kids’ futures in favor of teachers’ unions, condemning them to whatever life awaits the under-educated, the Democrats would either have to reverse their priorities, or they would never win another election anywhere outside of the Northeast.

DarkStar said: No it wasn’t, it was alleged but never proven.

SteveDinMD: Yes, it WAS proven. In the investigation following the election, the Democrat Attorney General of Maryland was proven to have voted TWICE. That’s FRAUD, plain and simple. Also, more DEAD people were proven to have voted than the total purported margin of victory for Democrat Parris Glendening. That’s FRAUD again. Case closed.

Now that we have conclusively established that there WAS willful fraud in the 1994 Maryland Gubernatorial election, lets examine its significance. First, I don’t personally believe that the MD Attorney General himself voted twice in the election. He actually moved his residence (and by implication his polling place) in the interval separating the 1994 election and the one preceding it. That said, SOMEONE cast his ballot for him, in his absense, at his old polling place. Understanding this point is the key to understanding just how massive the 1994 fraud was.

Now think of those several hundred (I forget exactly how many) dead voters. The Democrat Party news machine in Maryland argued that these PROVEN improper votes represented but a small (though their number exceeded the margin of victory in the election) anomaly. That’s simply not so. Think not of the several hundred dead voters, but rather think of what they REPRESENT. In actuality, they’re a perfect, statistical sample from which we can estimate the magnitude of the 1994 fraud. The number of votes cast by dead voters can be used as a proxy for estimating the total number of votes fraudulently cast on behalf of voters who never went to the polls on election day.

This is what we can surmise happened to the MD Attorney General. He properly cast his one vote at his new polling place. Back at his old polling place, however, he didn’t show up, yet his name was still on the register. When it came time to stuff the ballot box, the Party hacks back at the old polling place simply ascribed the additional, fraudulent ballots to whomever on the register didn’t show up to vote. Not recognizing the prominent name, and having no way of knowing that he’d voted elsewhere, the fools voted on behalf of the Attorney General. This is also presumably what happened to my friend Chris and many others, who were turned away from the polls when they attempted to cast their ballots near closing time. Unbeknownst to them, the Party hacks had already voted on their behalf, not expecting them to show up.

How massive was the fraud in 1994? One quick way to come up with an estimate is to determine what percentage of dead people on the register voted in the election. This is a proxy for the percentage of ALL voters who had ballots fraudulently cast on their behalf when they didn’t show up at the polls. Multiplying this number by the total number of registered voters who did NOT vote in the election yields a rough order of magnitude approximation of the total number of fraudulent votes. Though I offhand forget the precise numbers, the few attempts to scientifically analyze the returns that I read about all put the total number of fraudulent votes cast at over 100,000. Glendening not only lost the election in 1994, it wasn’t even close. He was nevertheless innaugurated Governor on the strength of perhaps the largest provable American election fraud of the 20th Century.

No it wasn’t, it was alleged but never proven.

As for specific allegations of vote buying, it’s widely acknowledged to be true in political circles.

It’s never proven. It would be a violation of eleciton laws if done. I keep hearing the allegations with the statements that it’s easily shown, but nothing is done.

A former co-worker’s spouse, who is extremely active in Democrat Party politics in Baltimore City, has admitted as much to me. She claims to be disgusted by endemic corruption in the Party, and is supposedly working internally for reform.

Then, she should drop the dime. But, again, since it doesn’t happen, it’s all alleged.

I’m dead serious here. If the allegations are that bad, they should be sent to the court system to be played out there.

I, myself, have voted in every MD election since 1986 in the following counties: Prince Georges, Anne Arundel, Howard, and Carroll. Op-Scan forms were used in every instance except the 2004 election at my polling place in Carroll County.

Montgomery County had “chad like” voting where you slip the card into a machine, align it with the ballot choices, make your selection, and push down on the lever, punching a hole in the card. If there were enough questions and positions, you turned the card over and did it again.

Everyone I know has cast his/her ballots via Op-Scan forms, exclusively, up until 2004.

Glad to meet you. Now you know someone who didn’t.

To me and my circle at least, your experience would seem to have been extremely unusual.

Yeah, me and the entire county before the last election.

Purported attempts to increase voter participation by diluting such assurances are misguided at best, and are mostly likely veiled schemes to undermine poll integrity. If a person is too lazy or stupid to cast his ballot, then the prospective benefit to society from his participation in the political process are too meager for us to pursue. Do we really want to aggressively introduce such random noise into what should be a thoughtful civic process? I think NOT! As a society, we have far more pressing concerns than the political whims of fools and layabouts.

We don’t need id to vote here, we just need more people to care and show up to vote. Maybe a lot of people don’t want to vote or get a free id. Get yours and do your thing, they will have to live with who ever we put in office.

We can’t help if people think blacks are too whatever to do whatever.

I have been told by a source I respect that party operatives in and around Baltimore have helped a number of these “homes” stay in business in exchange for participating in the absentee ballot scheme. That is to say, fraudulent votes are more valued than minimal care of an aged human being.

I often visit a particular nursing home, and the overwhelming majority of residents are obviously incompetent to cast a ballot. Some ARE competent, but, alas, most are not, and I don’t know what criteria exist for establishing/verifying voter competence. Suffice it to say that this is an area ripe for fraud.

What is your information on this?

I, myself, have voted in every MD election since 1986 in the following counties: Prince Georges, Anne Arundel, Howard, and Carroll. Op-Scan forms were used in every instance except the 2004 election at my polling place in Carroll County. Computerized voting was used this last time out as part of a controversial trial program — controversial because no paper record was returned to the voter. I don’t know how many precincts were so equipped. As for old-fashioned voting machines, which are less susceptible than Op-Scans to certain types of fraud, I don’t know a single person who has seen one in at least the last 20 years. Everyone I know has cast his/her ballots via Op-Scan forms, exclusively, up until 2004. To me and my circle at least, your experience would seem to have been extremely unusual.

Always asserted, never proven.
I’ve voted in Baltimore City, Montgomery County, Howard County, and Anne Arundel County.

The method used is known as “The Voting Chain.” In Maryland, ballots have for some time been cast using Op-Scan forms — filled out by making a dark mark on a page which is then read by an optical scanning machine.

Not true.
The last time I voted in Baltimore, it was using the old fashioned voting machines.

In Montgomery County, it was a “chan type” form.

In Howard County it was Op Scan form which was read on site.

In Anne Arundel it was Op Scan form read on site and “chad type” form.

How this relates to the issue you’ve brought up is that it seems to me that some people are simply more comfortable with having somebody else to blame for their troubles. And like pharmaceutical companies preying on the infirm and weak, politicians are more than happy to take advantage of this attitude.

Of course, there are reasons things are the way they are. Programs have been put into place to help those who seemingly couldn’t help themselves, but now the momentum seems to have carried the “Help” into a position of enablement, not empowerment. Depressives, for example, don’t want to be told they can learn to think differently to improve their outlook. And some blacks don’t want to be told they alone are responsible for their individual success. The problems are deep rooted and ingrained over decades. It will take quite a bit of education to reverse the damage.

Douglas Cootey
The Splintered Mind

When running a Voting Chain fraud, the Democrat Precinct Boss would enter the polling station when it first opens, get his blank OP-Scan form, and fill it out so as to vote for the Democrat ticket. Rather than turning the form in, however, the Precinct Boss would exit the polling station with the completed form tucked under his shirt. Working from a nearby house or apartment, the Precinct Boss would then have each of his Chain Voters sequentially enter the polling station, collect his blank ballot, cast the Democrat Pary Line ballot, then leave the polling station with the blank ballot tucked under his shirt. The Chain Voter would then get paid once he delivers the blank ballot to Precint Boss, who would fill it out for the Democrat ticket and repeat the process ad nauseum.

This mechanism works equally well with either legitimately registered voters or fraudulent voters, ensuring that the Democrats get the votes they pay for. New, computerized polling machine used on a trial basis, didn’t produce any paper record, thus jeopardizing the time-honored Voting Chain. What did the Democrats do? They went to court to compel the exclusive use of voting machines that produce permanent, paper records of whom each voter cast his ballot for, to be given to each voter as a receipt. Fraud is alive and well in the People’s Republic!

SteveDinMD: That’s the least of our problems regarding poll integrity in the “Peoples’ Republic of Maryland.” My friend Chris, in the 1994 Gubernatorial election, attempted to vote at his specified polling place 30 minutes before the polls closed. A registered Republican, he was DENIED the opportunity to vote. The poll workers claimed that he wasn’t registered, and that his name was probably removed because names are routinely purged when a registrant hasn’t voted in 2 election cycles.

For his part, Chris had voted in EVERY election since arriving in MD in 1986, and had the actual paper poll receipts (given to him after casting his vote in every election) to prove it. The next day, Chris called the MD Board of Elections to inquire whether someone had voted in his name. The person he spoke to insisted that such inquiry be made in writing, so the next day he sent a letter to the Board by registered mail. In their reply, the MD Board of Elections refused to specify whether or not anyone had voted in Chris’ name, claiming that such voter information was “privileged,” and illegal for them to divulge.

Suffice it to say that Democrat Parris Glendening was declared the winner over Republican Ellen Saurbrey. This was despite the fact that provably more DEAD people voted than the purported total margin of victory, and despite the fact that Maryland law required that the election be re-done under such circumstances. The fraud was MASSIVE — so bad in fact that the Maryland Attorney General (a Democrat, by the way) was himself proven to have voted TWICE — but it didn’t matter. More recently, the Democrat-controlled General Assembly has worked to eliminate what few poll integrity measures that had been in place, rendering elections in this State a complete joke. We might as well just specify that all ballots be filled out by workers at Democrat Party Headquarters and do away will any remaining veneer of integrity.