Local Government TV

Tuesday, November 09, 2021

A Story of Missing Flash Drives

On election night, all three Republicans were ahead in Lehigh County's judges' race. Though Democrat Zach Cohen has narrowed Dave Ritter's lead, he's still behind by 74 votes. What hurt him most was a misplaced thumb drive of nearly 400 in-person votes from Lower Milford Tp. That drive was discovered on Friday during the official canvass.  Obviously, this discovery was beneficial to Republicans. 

In Northampton County, as I've previously told you, five election judges simply forgot to place their thumb drives in the appropriate envelope. Fortunately, that mistake was uncovered during the unofficial count, and the thumb drives were located with the returns of each precinct. These votes, along with mail-in ballots that only arrived on election day, helped Democrats.   

What the general public should know, especially Republicans, is that the finding of a misplaced thumb drive with 300 votes is by no means unusual, nor is it indicative of nefarious intent. These were exactly the kinds of small errors on the part of election officials which Mr. Trump and his followers pointed to as evidence of fraud, corruption and theft. It’s just the way the ball bounces in politics, and sometimes those miscounts or late-added votes are going to go your way, and sometimes not. 

No Democrats are claiming fraud in Lehigh County, even though the 300 votes found went against them. 

Republican Steve Lynch, however, is claiming fraud and corruption in Northampton County.. He and several of his myrmidons attended today's canvass. Technically, only the candidate or his representative has a right to be there. But Voter Registrar Amy Cozze had no problem with the audience. She even stopped to explain things to Lynch. She explained to him that check marks are acceptable. There's even case law on this point. But Lynch wanted Democratic ballots with check marks tossed. 

During the canvass, he claimed that NorCo elections officials had "found" two misplaced thumb drives just that day. He began complaining loudly of corruption and fraud. The sheep who followed Lynch bleated in agreement. 

At some point during the day, what started as observation turned into Lynch's usual minatory behavior. On Facebook, he is exhorting his disciples to descend en masse to the canvass 

Executive Lamont McClure is staying as far away from the canvass as he can so that no one can accuse him of election rigging. But one thing he should do is request the Sheriff to provide an escort to both Amy Cozze and Amy Hess (our top elections officials) when they leave the courthouse. 

45 comments:

  1. As a former Republican it really is pathetically sad to see the Trumpian circus the GOP has turned into. The likes of William F Buckley, Jr and Ronald Reagan must be turning in their graves.

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  2. If necessary, could the president Judge order that these "observers" are not allowed to get within a certain distance of the election staff. Also, if requested could the judge find that these "observers" are actually impeding the tabulation and a fair and legal count? In which case he could limit the number of individuals allowed and offer protection?

    Lynch has been a sad and albeit funny distraction. However, now he is actually getting in the way of real election process and governing.

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  3. Thumb drives are bullshit, why are the votes not counted at the precinct level, by representatives of both parties. whenever we get into electronic storage, we will have questions. There is no reason that we cannot count 2000 ballots in each precinct by hand.

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    1. Just because you don’t understand technology, doesn’t mean it’s the safest and most efficient way to store votes. This is not the 1920s grandpa, the electronic election process is one of the most transparent procedures in modern times. Sure there are mistakes, but there is no grand conspiracy to commit fraud election fraud. If you think there is, the burden on proof is on YOU.

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    2. Spoken/typed like a true Luddite!

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  4. Is that why Rudy Guliani is hanging around the cafeteria?

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  5. Yep. You're always right Bernie.
    Incompetence.

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  6. Considering most of the Sheriffs in the courthouse voted for Lynch(They can’t stop talking about it), perhaps delivering the two Amys to them is not the best idea.

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    1. It's assholes like you that say shit like that which casts law enforcement in a sinister light and feeds your fringy friends. Fortunately for us, law enforcement has better ethics and professional conduct than you do.

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    2. Do they though?

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  7. I assume that's a male flash drive on the left and a Christian flash drive on the right?

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  8. Lynch is an extremely stupid narcissist, which is very attractive to Trumpists for obvious reasons. The weak, scared sheep need their big conservative daddy.

    His ego won't let him concede with dignity. There is a way for him to reasonably fight for the values he claims to believe in. He could be an advocate for conservative and accountable government in Northampton County by being engaged in local politics and learning how things work. But, this is about Lynch and his ego at the end of the day and it is way easier to just have idiots wave dumb flags and rile folks up with Facebook live videos.

    When you don't understand how anything works everything seems like a conspiracy.

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  9. Something is always missing in our elections.

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  10. Clearly, there are new opportunities to cheat. Those opportunities WILL be exploited somewhere in this nation. It is foolish to think not. The only questions are first, who is successful, and second, will the courts allow an evidentiary trial to take place. The current Supreme Court has left everything up to each state to deal with all of this independently.

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  11. This Lynch bullshit needs to be stopped and stomped out, if not by his own party then simply by law enforcement. His behavior is out of line at best and now venturing into threats and intimidation.

    Bring PROOF of large, wide scale fraud that shows you are the rightly elected Executive or FUCK OFF.

    Attempting to whittle off a few check marks here, pointing out an irregularity there, an error over there, etc., just shows you what a dimwit Lynch is. Even when you account for potential mistakes guess what - YOU STILL LOST!!!

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  12. Bernie, I agree with you that there was no intentional fraud. But I disagree that it should be acceptable that 5 (five!) election judges forgot one of their official duties.

    This just looks bad. These people can't fulfill their responsibilities, thank them for their service, show them the door, and get competent people in there.

    And besides, don't these maroons have written instructions as to what to do so that they don't forget?



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  13. Was there any hint of violence yesterday? Don't like Lynch. But really don't like overreaction for political theater, which would be the case in the absence of any hint of violence. I didn't read about any yesterday. I'll keep looking though.

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  14. MH In fairness to Scheller, she gave him about $3,000 early in the race. As he got nuttier and nuttier, the donations stopped. Aside from her, I know of no prominent RepublicAN who gave him a dime.

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  15. "This just looks bad. These people can't fulfill their responsibilities, thank them for their service, show them the door, and get competent people in there."

    Have you ever worked an election? I doubt it. This is a job that is done twice a year. It is a harrowing day that begins at 6 am and goes until about 9 pm. As someone who has worked as an elections judge, I can tell you that it is quite easy to make a mistake, and I often did. My biggest error was not catching people who walked away from the voting booth without actually casting a ballot. That is actually a voter error but we try to catch it. Although I never left a USB stick (flash drive) outside the return envelope, I can see it happening and it does happen. I agree that more competent people than me can be found, and I wish experts like you would volunteer to work that day as your civic duty. If unwilling, thank those who do. All elections workers get training and gave a handbook that spells things out in detail. But if you only do something twice a year, even an expert like you is gonna' make mistakes.

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  16. "Clearly, there are new opportunities to cheat. "

    Of course there are always cheaters. Such is human nature. There is, however, no evidence of systemic fraud. People forget that the reason we git away from paper ballots was to prevent voter fraud and make results a bit faster.

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  17. "Considering most of the Sheriffs in the courthouse voted for Lynch(They can’t stop talking about it), perhaps delivering the two Amys to them is not the best idea."

    Nobody likes the boss. An Exec is never popular with the workers until he leaves. Brown is still unpopular, and for good reason. I have no idea whether deputies backed Lynch, but believe they are professionals who would keep both Amys out of harm's way.

    Same with the COs. They may dislike McClure, but were very dedicated during the pandemic and saved lives.

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  18. I would imagine no matter who they voted for, the Deputies and Corrections Officers also enjoy earning a living and take their jobs seriously. If they're told - remove the whackos from the premises, the whackos are going to be leaving the premises toot sweet no matter whose pom poms their waving.

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  19. What I would like to know is what Lynch's core minions do for a living? They seem to follow him around on the leash day and night. I can see Lynch currently living short term off the merch sales and donations, that nobody really knows how it was all spent since his financial reports weren't properly filled out, but what about these people? I hope they weren't banking on Daddy hooking them up with county jobs if he had won the election. These people need to find some direction in their lives.

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  20. It is almost like he has a playbook for this fucknuttry.

    I just wish us republican patriots were smart enough to cheat. . . I figured out how to attach and dishonor our flag to my jacked up nut swingin' truck, this should be nuthin!

    Merica!

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  21. no results yet? come on Bernie it's 11 am already

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  22. Lynch's antics are an orchestrated scheme to keep the Trump wing of the LV GOP active through Lisa Scheller's election in less than 365 days. It's sad that Scheller would use such based tactics as race baiting and insurrectionist language just for a few votes.

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  23. The spoiled loser is ranting on his FB live page asking for wave 3 to show up and make a scene

    He even dresses like a loser

    does he have a job or something he needs to be at or is he on the socialist teet of society

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  24. You are understating Lisa Scheller's role in the recruitment of Steve Lynch for the Republican nomination. She was much more than just a campaign contributor. He worked for her campaign last year and came with her recommendation to Lee Snover. Once his candidacy went sideways and the Dellicker challenge arose Lisa distanced herself from his lunacy for fear of blow-back from the GOP mainstream voters she will face in the primary next year.

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  25. You are Lynch's biggest PR guy. Keep giving him a pedestal and an audience and before you know it, he'll have a following.
    Move on. He's old news.

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    1. I agree! But seriously what does this Lynch guy do for a living?

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  26. All in all, Politics is ONE BIG PARTYY, with 2 sub divisions to screw with the working class.

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  27. "Something is always missing in our elections."

    I agree. Fraud. Fraud is what's missing from our elections

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  28. Schellar may just as bad as Lynch, but just not quite as vocal about it. No better way then to hide in the void behind a crazy man.

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  29. Well, despite all of his deficiencies, Mr. Lynch is at least consistent. His entire campaign consisted of channeling Trump’s nonsense, and following his decisive defeat, he’s still channeling Trump’s nonsense. I hope the Norco Republican Committee is basking in this lunacy. More Steve Lynches, more Democrat victories.

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  30. 3:04 I agree so does J.F.K.

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  31. Comparing president Trump to lynch is insanity. Republicans who support the policy does not make us all in favor of campaigns run like Lynch. You may hate President Trump but he had great policy and vision.

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    1. Lmfao! Insanity is what Trump and Lynch have in lockstep common!

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  32. Trump had great policy compared to what we have now but Trump was not presidential enough. Lynch was not executive enough.

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  33. You people are priceless. You are continuing the platform of rebel rousing that Lynch wants and you are too dumb to see it. Nice work. Taking back a FREE America in 2022.

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  34. 6:36 are you f——— nuts.
    Trump had no policy, no game, just one pathetic loser.
    He is a great con man nothing more, never deserved to be in politics or the President of this great
    Country.
    The only people he helped out are the wealthy MOTHER F——— who hide their wealth and strive to get away from paying their fair share of taxes.

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  35. Lynch is a pig, a contemporary skinhead.

    Every time he cries I smile broadly.

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  36. @9:02

    How do you define the "wealthy?"

    What do you believe that group pays as a percentage of total taxes?

    How do you believe Trump "helped" them?

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    1. Because you sound so arrogant…

      Billionaires are wealthy. Corporations are wealthy. Just because you own a couple lots of properties doesn’t make you wealthy. No one in Northampton County is wealthy, most are upper lower class but continuously vote against their own interest.

      Most billionaires pay an average of 8 percent in taxes, compared to your 23 percent as upper/lower middle class.

      He did this with his Tax reform law that gave the lower class a TEMPORARY tax cut, but ensured billionaires got PERMANENT tax loopholes to exploit.

      The list goes on…

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  37. Why would any smart professional run for president considering if this blog represents the nation thought process no one is good enough. But certainly the comments an this blog are less than professional yet we expect perfection from our president

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  38. Why are you afraid of 9:02 you must know that he talks out of his ass.

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You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.