Way Outside The Box
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The commonwealth's voter regulations are clearly written in black and white, but here, in Fayette County, easy to read, clearly stated rules did not stop the county's election board from foolishly coloring way outside the box.
Today, the election board met again for four hours to discuss sitting absentee and provisional election ballots from the general election on 8 Nov11. While the commonwealth's regulations strictly state that absentee ballots must be returned to, or received in, the county election bureau by 4 Nov11 -- the Friday before the election -- Fayette's county election board allowed 31 absentee ballots received after 4 Nov11 to count.
Neither the flies on the walls nor news reports indicate that any of these absentee ballots were from persons in the military or were emergency-based absentee ballots, which would have been given special exception to the 4 Nov11 deadline.
It is disturbing that an election bureau worker did not go to the post office before closing its doors on 4Nov11 to pick up its mail. It is even more disturbing that the county solicitor today stated that the bureau and she were uncertain whether six absentee ballots postmarked 3 Nov11 were received at the bureau on 7 Nov11 or 8 Nov11. Why is this such a mystery? Shouldn't be.
Most businesses -- and certainly, efficient government offices -- use a common rubber stamp to date ALL incoming mail on the day it is received. Some, additionally, even keep a running written log and lists each piece of mail it receives or sends. Take a note: buy the election bureau a rubber stamp and make it common practice to use it so that we don't appear so stupid again in public.
At today's marathon meeting, the board also approved 10 absentee ballots postmarked 4 Nov11 that were received on 8 Nov11 and accepted 15 absentee ballots postmarked 4 Nov11 that were received on 7 Nov11.
The board's goofy interpretation of clearly written state election rules can only come back to bite us in the butt much harder -- and possibly way deeper in the pockets -- than any lawsuit that any or all of the 31 procrastinating absentee voters could possibly bring if their votes instead had been rejected.
The general public should never have known that mail sat at the post office, because it should have been picked up on 4 Nov11, stamped at the election bureau "received 4 Nov11" and been processed appropriately as per state regulations. All others, coming in after 4Nov11, should have been marked late. This mess should have never happened, in other words.
There is no acceptable excuse that mail sat at the post office, just as there is no acceptable reason why the board today got out its magic colors and changed the state's rules. Nobody in his right mind mails a letter today and expects it to be received today, to its intended destination without paying for pricey, same day, special delivery.
Try mailing in a last-minute property tax payment on the deadline day to avoid a sheriff's sale and see just how clearly the county's rules are written in black and white, with no coloring outside the box.
jt
18Nov11
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