If a candidate is endorsed by more then one party then they can appear on the ballot more then once. This is not the first time it has happened. There have even been times where a candidate has been on both the Republican and Democrat lines, most recently Donna Loglisi for Town Clerk last year. It really doesn’t matter though how many lines a candidate is on, you can only give that person one vote.
John, it is not only legal, it is common. It has happened in CT before; you just never noticed it. And it happens every year in NY, where there is an active Liberal Party and an active Conservative Party that commonly cross endorse Democratic and Republican candidates.
Apparently you want to change the rules when you lose.
How is it legal to have a candidate’s name more than once on the ballot? If this were an election for kindergarten class leader, 5 and 6 year olds would most certainly notice-and object. This ballot nonsense is ludicrous. When you combine this with the shenanigans in Bridgeport and at the state capitol with Bysewicz-what you have is a made for TV script for the Dukes of Hazzard with Boss Hogg in charge.
As i understand it, the bag of ballots were not “found” at JFK. Their existence was known and announced to both parties and the SOS. They just had not been counted. AND…the “bag” was presumably locked with a registered lock and number, as were all the bags of votes.
It seems the poll workers refused to count the ballots election night. Keep in mind, poll workers start at 5:00 am and work straight through with very few breaks until about 8:30 pm, or later, depending on their job. They still should have done their job completely and counted the ballots, but i can understand that they were exhausted and wanted to go home. The local registrars should not use them again. For that matter, the local registrars should really resign in embarrassment.
All this about “previous elections” is bogus. The last election in Bridgeport, in 2008, there were about 40,000 votes cast. The Secy of State recommends each district order at least one ballot for every registered voter.
If you look at the results by town/city, you will see that Malloy won this election in the towns of Fairfield County. Malloy was supposed to win big in the cities, but Folley did not win big in the towns like he should have. So much for the theory that he would lose Stamford, he won it by 5,637 votes and held his own in the towns that surround it.
No corruption involved you say, what about the bag of ballots found at JFK that were not counted, Hmmmm? It is very suspect that Bridgeport got two more hours to vote.
There must be a state wide recount as the people have no faith in the results and no faith in an incompetant Secretary of State.The results will be the results but we have no choice now but to demand the recount
1. Yes, the MEDIA call elections based on preliminary results. The Secretary of State does not.
2. Although the SOS may not have the OFFICIAL results, she does have access to unofficial results which may indicate that Malloy will win. (Still really dumb for her to announce an unofficial winner)
3. Bysiewicz should not have made the unofficial “call”, but that doesnt have an effect whatever, so there is no “corruption” involved.
4. As previously noted, why in the world would the Democrats deliberately reduce the number of voters in a city they usually win by 3-1. That is not corruption; it’s stupidity.
5. Also, as noted, there is a Republican registrar in Bridgeport with equal power.
6. yes, the machines are programmed to catch more than one vote in a column and reject the ballot, whether the votes are for the same candidate or different candidates. Many ballots were rejected for that reason. The reader (machine) spits them back out with a message “OVERVOTE”
7. Whenever there is a holdup in voting for any reason, it is common practice to provide additional hours if necessary.
8. Net, Malloy probably lost many more votes due to the lack of ballots than he made up in the extended hours.
9. Newspaper reports are not official ballot counts.
9. Foley has no need to concede until he is satisfied he has lost. His concession doesn’t change anything. The votes still have to be counted anyway. And as close as it is, why should he concede?
For poster # 32: The tabulators were programmed to ACCEPT ballots that were marked twice for the same candidate. It was not an error. The candidate only received one vote even if the ballot was marked twice for the same candidate. In the results report issued from the machine, the total of votes from twice-marked ballots was on a separate line, so Dan Malloy had 3 totals: a total of votes from the Democratic line, a total of votes from the Working Families line, and a total of votes from ballots that were marked twice. These 3 totals were added to give him his final vote count. The Registrar of Voters in each district decided how to apportion the “twice-marked” ballots to either the Democratic party or the Working Families party, so that each party got a portion of the twice-marked ballots.
A judge granted the additional 2 hours in Bridgeport because they had an undue hardship in Bridgeport. No other districts had the same hardship. If you want to contest that, you may, by suing the State of CT. In any case, it was only 500 additional votes, so it’s unlikely that it will change the election results.
1. how many ballots were rejected because the elector marked for malloy on both the democratic line and the working parties line?
2. were the voting machines even programmed to catch this error?
3. when will the rest of the state have equal rights to 2 extra hours to vote?
4. Has an arrest warrant been issued to the moderator of elections of Bridgeport for violations of Sec 9-314 and Sec 9-351, 353, and 355 of the Ct state election laws? “
Frank is right, his whole family is trash. From his drug-dealing son, to his crooked brothers, one of which pleaded guilty to one count of Bank Fraud in exchange for ratting on his partner in crime, to his other brother who GC’d his home renovation in Shippan, gaining volunteer labor in exchange for no-bid city contracts.
Dan Malloy is a piece of garbage. He screwed up Stamford and now he gets a chance to destroy the whole state. He is a liar and thief, the perfect politician. CT residents need to wake up !!
I hope she retires in disgrace- seems like corruption to me- how and why could she declare an “unofficial” winner without even having results? what does that accomplish? There’s no way that many voters voted democrat in Bridgeport according to Bysiewicz
And this woman wabted to be Attorney General? How dumb is this secretary of state. How can any official make such an announcement without the final number!
So wait, the plot was to short the ballots in the area you’re most likely to do well, and then try to add fraudulent votes under much increased scrutiny? Are you guys serious, or is it just “fraud” because the Dems might win? I think calling it on provisional data was a bit premature, but at least she’s actually letting the votes be counted, rather than shutting it down a la Katherine Harris (or can’t you remember that far back?). And, unlike the Republicans at that time, no “spontaneous” angry (partisan) mobs are disrupting the process. And, sure, fire Bysciewicz as of January 1, 2011. She shouldn’t be in that office any more.
Actually, each town/city has TWO registrars: one from each party. Bport included. Don’t let that mess up your narrative, though.
The SecState should not have declared an “unofficial” winner. That was wrong, and reflects poorly on her. She was too eager to announce her party won.
That doesn’t mean she cooked the books, though. This will be sorted out and I strongly suspect that when it is, Malloy will have won. If not, so be it.
Yes it is over, but Foley is going to drag this out for as long as possible because he is not s good loser. Oh and BTW, for those of you posers who think you know something about politics – projecting a winner before all the results are in is common practice in every state in the US.
It has been over 20 years since a democratic govenor was in office. Who’s fault is it that we are the 5th highest taxed, one of 7 states to tax social security, and the 13th most corrupt state in the US? And if it is still the democrats fault then why did none of our republican govenors not do anything? Maybe we should ask Govenor Rowland. Or maybe he was too busy being corrupt to do anything about our rank as the 13th most corrupt state in the US. Nobody can blame one party over the other. WE allow it to happen because of the people WE vote into office. WE will not get anywhere until WE work together to find a solution. Instead of complaining and spewing out data without any resources so that it can be checked do something about it. If you can do a better job run for office next time. Does anyone know how elections are run?
Has anyone thought about the Presidental Election in 2000???
Dave Moore- It is not over until there are official results. Both the registrar in Bridgeport and Bysweicz are Democrats. By is probably trying to get on Malloys good side so she can get a job in the administration. But you seem to think Foley should just trust Bysweicz word that he lost? No way. Foley should wait for the offical results and then aks for them to be triple checked and have the media do it too. Trusting Democrats at any level is foolish.
While I agree that the Secretary of State should have handled the matter better, I am amused by the dimwitted buffoons who have posted their same old political rhetoric here as they cry over Foley’s loss. Waaaaa……need your diaper changed?
If anyone thinks this was not orchestrated by Bridgeport to get in more Democratic votes to put Himes and Malloy over the top, then you are all smoking dope.
How many of those “copied” ballots where filled out without voters? Has anyone looked at the number of names crossed of the voting list in Bridgeport and compared that number to the number of ballots filled out? I will bet there are many more ballots than names.
What about the fact that Malloy was listed on the ballot twice. If a voter filled in both spots on the ballot for Malloey, did one voter’s ballot count twice?
Heads should roll and a new election should be called or an entire state recount, including absentee ballots should be conducted.
The Registrars should have ordered enough ballots for the amount of registered voters, not based on previous elections. If you plan for a summer cook out , do you not buy a bun for every hotdog? They both earn a huge FAIL!!!! And should tender their resignations ASAP.
Bysiewicz is also the one who tried to stop our constitutional right to wear WWE logo clothing (if we wanted to) at the polls…and that was judged as illegal… she needs to pay attention to the laws, our constitution and doing her job accurately and fully and get out of the political limelight and stop the cronyism! She has struck out numerous times in the last month or so… shows that she has no clue as to what she is doing. I hope she waits to announce the winner of the Governor’s race until all the votes are in and we are sure of the tally! I’m getting really sick of her.
Well said, Publius, as usual. Bysiewicz’s judgment on releasing numbers early is certainly questionable, but as to the blame on not ordering enough ballots, the fault lies solely with the registrars from both parties (one of which did not even have the guts to face the music). Is the rush by many of you to pin this on Susie B. because she’s a Dem? Sometimes, a mistake is just a mistake. Would you have the SOS (regardless of party) babysit the town officials across our state every step of the way? Oh wait! That’s big, interfering government.
Recount is the only way to ensure that all the state elections & the Himes election are accurate. Include the absentee ballots too. Get the count right. This is an abomination. How can anyone feel confident about any of the result numbers?
It reeks of rigging and voter fraud! Welcome to CT, boys and girls, one of the 5 highest taxed states, 1 of 7 where social security is taxed, and the 13th most corrupt state in the nation! And now with the Dems in charge, we can expect MORE tax and spend!
If anyone read the paper yesterday, the Bridgeport registrar said the ballot order was based on the the previous three elections. That seemed quite reasonable and responsible. Perhaps there should have been a bigger “fudge factor”. This just underscores how seriously people took this election as compared to previous mid-term elections. It was an unfortunate but understandable situation.
Legitimate criticism that she “called” a close race when the numbers weren’t in yet. Poor judgment.
But each community elects two registrars of voters (one for each party) and PAYS THEM to do their job. They were recommended to order one ballot for each registered voter. Why should the Secy of the State have to check up on them? Does she have to check to make sure they have places to vote in each district? That the places will be open? That the voting equipment is provided? They have a job, and they didn’t do it well. Unfortunately they were just reelected, in a questionable process (was there opposition?)
Susan Bysiewicz’s handling of the situation sounds very unprofessional (at best) and potentially much more serious to me …I believe a full investigation of the vote and her handling of it are needed because she makes any further declarations.
Susan Bysiewicz and the Democrats knew this would be highly contested election with high voter turnout. (Unless they were living under a rock) They also knew that Democratic voters might not turn out in the numbers they hoped for (thus the huge last minute push by the Presdient and Bill Clinton). What better way to quell voters upset with the status quo and a high Republican turnout than to not have enough ballots on hand in one of the biggest voting districts in the state and then blame it on the local voting registrars … brilliant. She could barely contain her glee during her press conference. Would she have been as proactive regarding Tom Foley? We all know the answer to that.
Bridgeport stays open two extra hours and the Secretary of the State is ready to call the race. The AP gives candidate Foley the lead so it seems imperative that the SOTS get this right by being patient and not politically eager.
Sure blame town officials for the Bridgeport mess. Where was the Secretary of the State and her large staff when Bridgeport ordered 20k ballots for 70k registered voters? They were asleeep at the switch…
This is the same person whom the CT Supreme Court disqualified from running for Attorney General because she claimed to have practiced law when she did not. Also, the same person whom Blumenthal’s office was supposedly investigating for allowing State e-mail system to be used to solicit campaign contributions and support. Bottom line: she is a political hack whose behavior the last few days calls into question (no, in fact, it proves) her lack of impartiality and her desire to force a result prematurely in favor of her party. And, our tax money pays her salary?? She declared a result in a race separated by a few thousand votes even before all results were reported and BEFORE thousands and thousands of absentee ballots were counted! DISGRACEFUL!!
If a candidate is endorsed by more then one party then they can appear on the ballot more then once. This is not the first time it has happened. There have even been times where a candidate has been on both the Republican and Democrat lines, most recently Donna Loglisi for Town Clerk last year. It really doesn’t matter though how many lines a candidate is on, you can only give that person one vote.
John, it is not only legal, it is common. It has happened in CT before; you just never noticed it. And it happens every year in NY, where there is an active Liberal Party and an active Conservative Party that commonly cross endorse Democratic and Republican candidates.
Apparently you want to change the rules when you lose.
How is it legal to have a candidate’s name more than once on the ballot? If this were an election for kindergarten class leader, 5 and 6 year olds would most certainly notice-and object. This ballot nonsense is ludicrous. When you combine this with the shenanigans in Bridgeport and at the state capitol with Bysewicz-what you have is a made for TV script for the Dukes of Hazzard with Boss Hogg in charge.
As i understand it, the bag of ballots were not “found” at JFK. Their existence was known and announced to both parties and the SOS. They just had not been counted. AND…the “bag” was presumably locked with a registered lock and number, as were all the bags of votes.
It seems the poll workers refused to count the ballots election night. Keep in mind, poll workers start at 5:00 am and work straight through with very few breaks until about 8:30 pm, or later, depending on their job. They still should have done their job completely and counted the ballots, but i can understand that they were exhausted and wanted to go home. The local registrars should not use them again. For that matter, the local registrars should really resign in embarrassment.
All this about “previous elections” is bogus. The last election in Bridgeport, in 2008, there were about 40,000 votes cast. The Secy of State recommends each district order at least one ballot for every registered voter.
If you look at the results by town/city, you will see that Malloy won this election in the towns of Fairfield County. Malloy was supposed to win big in the cities, but Folley did not win big in the towns like he should have. So much for the theory that he would lose Stamford, he won it by 5,637 votes and held his own in the towns that surround it.
The Bridgeport Registrar’s office should be “Bibbed”
No corruption involved you say, what about the bag of ballots found at JFK that were not counted, Hmmmm? It is very suspect that Bridgeport got two more hours to vote.
There must be a state wide recount as the people have no faith in the results and no faith in an incompetant Secretary of State.The results will be the results but we have no choice now but to demand the recount
Wow. What a lot of nonsense. just a few comments:
1. Yes, the MEDIA call elections based on preliminary results. The Secretary of State does not.
2. Although the SOS may not have the OFFICIAL results, she does have access to unofficial results which may indicate that Malloy will win. (Still really dumb for her to announce an unofficial winner)
3. Bysiewicz should not have made the unofficial “call”, but that doesnt have an effect whatever, so there is no “corruption” involved.
4. As previously noted, why in the world would the Democrats deliberately reduce the number of voters in a city they usually win by 3-1. That is not corruption; it’s stupidity.
5. Also, as noted, there is a Republican registrar in Bridgeport with equal power.
6. yes, the machines are programmed to catch more than one vote in a column and reject the ballot, whether the votes are for the same candidate or different candidates. Many ballots were rejected for that reason. The reader (machine) spits them back out with a message “OVERVOTE”
7. Whenever there is a holdup in voting for any reason, it is common practice to provide additional hours if necessary.
8. Net, Malloy probably lost many more votes due to the lack of ballots than he made up in the extended hours.
9. Newspaper reports are not official ballot counts.
9. Foley has no need to concede until he is satisfied he has lost. His concession doesn’t change anything. The votes still have to be counted anyway. And as close as it is, why should he concede?
For poster # 32: The tabulators were programmed to ACCEPT ballots that were marked twice for the same candidate. It was not an error. The candidate only received one vote even if the ballot was marked twice for the same candidate. In the results report issued from the machine, the total of votes from twice-marked ballots was on a separate line, so Dan Malloy had 3 totals: a total of votes from the Democratic line, a total of votes from the Working Families line, and a total of votes from ballots that were marked twice. These 3 totals were added to give him his final vote count. The Registrar of Voters in each district decided how to apportion the “twice-marked” ballots to either the Democratic party or the Working Families party, so that each party got a portion of the twice-marked ballots.
A judge granted the additional 2 hours in Bridgeport because they had an undue hardship in Bridgeport. No other districts had the same hardship. If you want to contest that, you may, by suing the State of CT. In any case, it was only 500 additional votes, so it’s unlikely that it will change the election results.
Excuse me, Karen Murphy, but Dan Malloy won Stamford with 19,416 votes, compared with 13,779 for Foley, as per the Secretary of the State website.
” Someone please find out:
1. how many ballots were rejected because the elector marked for malloy on both the democratic line and the working parties line?
2. were the voting machines even programmed to catch this error?
3. when will the rest of the state have equal rights to 2 extra hours to vote?
4. Has an arrest warrant been issued to the moderator of elections of Bridgeport for violations of Sec 9-314 and Sec 9-351, 353, and 355 of the Ct state election laws? “
Isn’t Bridgeport Democrat territory? Why would the Dems want to short ballots in an area in which they are strong?
Let it be known that Foley won Stamford, not Malloy.
Not one vote for Marsh in Bridgeport??????
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/elections/article/Vote-for-Governor-results-by-town-798203.php?appSession=063267347352680&RecordID=&PageID=2&PrevPageID=1&cpipage=1&CPISortType=&CPIorderBy
Frank is right, his whole family is trash. From his drug-dealing son, to his crooked brothers, one of which pleaded guilty to one count of Bank Fraud in exchange for ratting on his partner in crime, to his other brother who GC’d his home renovation in Shippan, gaining volunteer labor in exchange for no-bid city contracts.
Dan Malloy is a piece of garbage. He screwed up Stamford and now he gets a chance to destroy the whole state. He is a liar and thief, the perfect politician. CT residents need to wake up !!
I hope she retires in disgrace- seems like corruption to me- how and why could she declare an “unofficial” winner without even having results? what does that accomplish? There’s no way that many voters voted democrat in Bridgeport according to Bysiewicz
When the ballots are verified..and counted ….accurately…we will know who the Governor will be…until then..neither won, neither lost.
And this woman wabted to be Attorney General? How dumb is this secretary of state. How can any official make such an announcement without the final number!
So wait, the plot was to short the ballots in the area you’re most likely to do well, and then try to add fraudulent votes under much increased scrutiny? Are you guys serious, or is it just “fraud” because the Dems might win? I think calling it on provisional data was a bit premature, but at least she’s actually letting the votes be counted, rather than shutting it down a la Katherine Harris (or can’t you remember that far back?). And, unlike the Republicans at that time, no “spontaneous” angry (partisan) mobs are disrupting the process. And, sure, fire Bysciewicz as of January 1, 2011. She shouldn’t be in that office any more.
jschmidt,
Actually, each town/city has TWO registrars: one from each party. Bport included. Don’t let that mess up your narrative, though.
The SecState should not have declared an “unofficial” winner. That was wrong, and reflects poorly on her. She was too eager to announce her party won.
That doesn’t mean she cooked the books, though. This will be sorted out and I strongly suspect that when it is, Malloy will have won. If not, so be it.
Yes it is over, but Foley is going to drag this out for as long as possible because he is not s good loser. Oh and BTW, for those of you posers who think you know something about politics – projecting a winner before all the results are in is common practice in every state in the US.
It has been over 20 years since a democratic govenor was in office. Who’s fault is it that we are the 5th highest taxed, one of 7 states to tax social security, and the 13th most corrupt state in the US? And if it is still the democrats fault then why did none of our republican govenors not do anything? Maybe we should ask Govenor Rowland. Or maybe he was too busy being corrupt to do anything about our rank as the 13th most corrupt state in the US. Nobody can blame one party over the other. WE allow it to happen because of the people WE vote into office. WE will not get anywhere until WE work together to find a solution. Instead of complaining and spewing out data without any resources so that it can be checked do something about it. If you can do a better job run for office next time. Does anyone know how elections are run?
Has anyone thought about the Presidental Election in 2000???
Dave Moore- It is not over until there are official results. Both the registrar in Bridgeport and Bysweicz are Democrats. By is probably trying to get on Malloys good side so she can get a job in the administration. But you seem to think Foley should just trust Bysweicz word that he lost? No way. Foley should wait for the offical results and then aks for them to be triple checked and have the media do it too. Trusting Democrats at any level is foolish.
While I agree that the Secretary of State should have handled the matter better, I am amused by the dimwitted buffoons who have posted their same old political rhetoric here as they cry over Foley’s loss. Waaaaa……need your diaper changed?
Crooks, at the Capitol and in Bridgeport.
If anyone thinks this was not orchestrated by Bridgeport to get in more Democratic votes to put Himes and Malloy over the top, then you are all smoking dope.
How many of those “copied” ballots where filled out without voters? Has anyone looked at the number of names crossed of the voting list in Bridgeport and compared that number to the number of ballots filled out? I will bet there are many more ballots than names.
What about the fact that Malloy was listed on the ballot twice. If a voter filled in both spots on the ballot for Malloey, did one voter’s ballot count twice?
Heads should roll and a new election should be called or an entire state recount, including absentee ballots should be conducted.
Bysiewicz is a clown and should be fired!
The Registrars should have ordered enough ballots for the amount of registered voters, not based on previous elections. If you plan for a summer cook out , do you not buy a bun for every hotdog? They both earn a huge FAIL!!!! And should tender their resignations ASAP.
Ann, I couldnt agree with you more, I also have heard there wereballts that were not counted because of machine malfunction.
Bysiewicz is also the one who tried to stop our constitutional right to wear WWE logo clothing (if we wanted to) at the polls…and that was judged as illegal… she needs to pay attention to the laws, our constitution and doing her job accurately and fully and get out of the political limelight and stop the cronyism! She has struck out numerous times in the last month or so… shows that she has no clue as to what she is doing. I hope she waits to announce the winner of the Governor’s race until all the votes are in and we are sure of the tally! I’m getting really sick of her.
The election is over Foley! YOU LOST! It is time for Foley to concede and act like an adult. YOU LOST!
Well said, Publius, as usual. Bysiewicz’s judgment on releasing numbers early is certainly questionable, but as to the blame on not ordering enough ballots, the fault lies solely with the registrars from both parties (one of which did not even have the guts to face the music). Is the rush by many of you to pin this on Susie B. because she’s a Dem? Sometimes, a mistake is just a mistake. Would you have the SOS (regardless of party) babysit the town officials across our state every step of the way? Oh wait! That’s big, interfering government.
Recount is the only way to ensure that all the state elections & the Himes election are accurate. Include the absentee ballots too. Get the count right. This is an abomination. How can anyone feel confident about any of the result numbers?
Can anyone say: political hack?
It reeks of rigging and voter fraud! Welcome to CT, boys and girls, one of the 5 highest taxed states, 1 of 7 where social security is taxed, and the 13th most corrupt state in the nation! And now with the Dems in charge, we can expect MORE tax and spend!
If anyone read the paper yesterday, the Bridgeport registrar said the ballot order was based on the the previous three elections. That seemed quite reasonable and responsible. Perhaps there should have been a bigger “fudge factor”. This just underscores how seriously people took this election as compared to previous mid-term elections. It was an unfortunate but understandable situation.
Legitimate criticism that she “called” a close race when the numbers weren’t in yet. Poor judgment.
But each community elects two registrars of voters (one for each party) and PAYS THEM to do their job. They were recommended to order one ballot for each registered voter. Why should the Secy of the State have to check up on them? Does she have to check to make sure they have places to vote in each district? That the places will be open? That the voting equipment is provided? They have a job, and they didn’t do it well. Unfortunately they were just reelected, in a questionable process (was there opposition?)
I wonder if Bysiewicz is enjoying her 15 minutes of fame…
Can it be over soon, please, before Cuba offers to send election monitors to CT to help?
Susan Bysiewicz’s handling of the situation sounds very unprofessional (at best) and potentially much more serious to me …I believe a full investigation of the vote and her handling of it are needed because she makes any further declarations.
Susan Bysiewicz and the Democrats knew this would be highly contested election with high voter turnout. (Unless they were living under a rock) They also knew that Democratic voters might not turn out in the numbers they hoped for (thus the huge last minute push by the Presdient and Bill Clinton). What better way to quell voters upset with the status quo and a high Republican turnout than to not have enough ballots on hand in one of the biggest voting districts in the state and then blame it on the local voting registrars … brilliant. She could barely contain her glee during her press conference. Would she have been as proactive regarding Tom Foley? We all know the answer to that.
Carl could not have said it better. She is an unadulterated buffon.
Bridgeport stays open two extra hours and the Secretary of the State is ready to call the race. The AP gives candidate Foley the lead so it seems imperative that the SOTS get this right by being patient and not politically eager.
Sure blame town officials for the Bridgeport mess. Where was the Secretary of the State and her large staff when Bridgeport ordered 20k ballots for 70k registered voters? They were asleeep at the switch…
This is the same person whom the CT Supreme Court disqualified from running for Attorney General because she claimed to have practiced law when she did not. Also, the same person whom Blumenthal’s office was supposedly investigating for allowing State e-mail system to be used to solicit campaign contributions and support. Bottom line: she is a political hack whose behavior the last few days calls into question (no, in fact, it proves) her lack of impartiality and her desire to force a result prematurely in favor of her party. And, our tax money pays her salary?? She declared a result in a race separated by a few thousand votes even before all results were reported and BEFORE thousands and thousands of absentee ballots were counted! DISGRACEFUL!!