At Monday's meeting of Northampton County's Elections Commission, nine people objected to a 24/7 drop box at the 911 Center. This decision was made, not by the Elections Commission, but the county administration. But Comm'r Frank DeVito summed up the dissenting views succinctly when he stated the benefits of a 24/7 dropbox are minimal in comparison to the suspicions aroused. "The appearance of corruption is just as important as corruption itself," he warned. Fortunately, someone was listening to DeVito and the nine voters who attended the meeting. That person was Executive Lamont McClure. And in response to the concerns raised, he dropped the 24/7 dropbox at the 911 Center. It will instead be open from 8:30 am until 8 pm.
The reason for the dropbox is to provide secure locations where voters can drop off ballots without having to worry whether a mailed ballot was received. The reason for the extended hours is to accommodate voters who are unable drop off a ballot during regular business hours.
At yesterday's meeting, Comm'r Maude Hornick complained there should be a drop box in the Slate Belt. The County has placed them in each of the four county council districts. The drop box at the 911 Center is in Region Four, which does include the Slate Belt.
The larger question, and one that still needs to be answered, is whether this is the province of the Elections Commission. Since this relates to the conduct of an election, I believe the Elections Commission should decide whether they are needed as well as the hours of operation. I nevertheless commend Executive McClure for listening to the public's concerns and doing something that is very difficult for an elected official to do - change his mind.
The dropboxes will be available on October 4.
11 comments:
Thank you for the information Bernie. The law is the law and it should be followed by everyone. It is not a suggestion. One cannot pick and choose what parts to follow, further integrity must be maintained to assure compliance. These dropboxes should receive the same security as the Elections Office and we should be assured all ballots, however collected, receive the same scrutiny as though they were received at the Elections Office or designated poll on election day. Ballot harvesting would not be allowed in the office and neither should they be allowed at the dropbox. Security measures must be in place to assure this is completed. Perception is reality.
But now the authorities are going to have to deny that they installed an invisible box anyway and are using it to steal the election. Nothing is too batshit crazy for the MAGA crowd.
Catch me if you can between 8 and 8. They can't. We're still kidding ourselves. Nobody's paying attention.
Actually quite clever to make a big deal of the 24/7 box so we all ignore the Dropbox issue overall. Brilliant typical strategy. It worked too
But, with the existing procedural protections, how could fake ballots come in this way and be counted?
The danger is not fake ballots. There is a danger of ballot harvesting.
I just had a BRAIN storm. They should put voting machines in a truck like a food truck and drive around so people can vote. Thumb print and video them as they enter to vote. Solves the ID issue. Solve the drop box issue, Solves the excuse people cannot get there to vote. Solves the problem of political scum standing outside polling places to harass would be voters. YOu could even put a law enforcement officer in each vehicle.
So if real voters are voting, who cares how they got turned in? Those voters would've first needed to request a MIB, right?
Commend Mclure for changing his mind? What if he changes his mind again when no one's there to correct him?
Thank you Lamont for thinking of people and trying to make life easier for us all. Sincerely A Republican who is Voting for Lamont McClure!
Good Job. I am glad on person had the guts to publicly call out authoritarian McClure. The guy said it and you published it Bernie. Without the main stream media you deserve credit for shinning a light on the McClure excess. He knew this could hurt him in the election and backed off.
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