11-19-08 Stevens concedes!!! Stevens concedes!!! Stevens concedes!!!

[dmcowen674]

11-19-08 Stevens concedes !!!!

11-15 Update Stevens losing by over 1,000

11-13-08 Stevens losing in re-count!!!

Now they are counting absentee ballots

It appears absentee ballots are not counted unless there is a re-count. Anyone have confirmation on this?

Maybe a miracle in the northland?

11-13-2008 Stevens trailing in Alaska Senate race

ANCHORAGE, Alaska ? Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, the titan of Alaska politics convicted of felony charges last month, fell behind by more than 800 votes Wednesday as the count resumed in his re-election bid.

Democrat Mark Begich, the two-term mayor of Anchorage, began the day down more than 3,200 votes but went up by 814 as officials resumed their counting of early and absentee ballots.

The tally was 132,196 to 131,382.

Should the result remain close a recount is possible. In Alaska, the losing candidate or a collection of 10 voters has three days to petition for a recount unless the vote was a tie, in which case it would be automatic.

If the difference between the candidates is 0.5 percent of the total votes cast, the state pays for the recount, to be started within three days of the recount petition. The state Elections Division has 10 days to complete the recount.

 

[frostedflakes]

There's still hope.

 

[Corbett]

Thread merge pls

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2247256&enterthread=y

 

[KGB]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
11-13-08 Stevens losing in re-count!!!

Now they are counting absentee ballots

It appears absentee ballots are not counted unless there is a re-count. Anyone have confirmation on this?
Maybe a miracle in the northland?

11-13-2008 Stevens trailing in Alaska Senate race

ANCHORAGE, Alaska ? Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, the titan of Alaska politics convicted of felony charges last month, fell behind by more than 800 votes Wednesday as the count resumed in his re-election bid.

Democrat Mark Begich, the two-term mayor of Anchorage, began the day down more than 3,200 votes but went up by 814 as officials resumed their counting of early and absentee ballots.

The tally was 132,196 to 131,382.

Should the result remain close a recount is possible. In Alaska, the losing candidate or a collection of 10 voters has three days to petition for a recount unless the vote was a tie, in which case it would be automatic.

If the difference between the candidates is 0.5 percent of the total votes cast, the state pays for the recount, to be started within three days of the recount petition. The state Elections Division has 10 days to complete the recount.

IIRC, provisional ballots are the last to be counted and only if the race is so tight it is warranted.

 

[Thump553]

Provisional ballots are different than absentee ballots. Provisional ballots are ballots cast by voters whose credentials are challenged. They are not counted at all until the challenge is resolved in favor of the voter.

I think each state has different systems on how to count absentee ballots. It used to be quite common not to count absentee ballots at all unless there was some possibility of them affecting the outcome. In New Hampshire at least, they are now all counted regardless.

 

[BoomerD]

Absentee ballots should ALWAYS be counted, regardless of their potential impact on the outcome of the election. EVERY vote should count...

IMO, if Stevens doesn't win this thing, the Alaska Election Department isn't doing their job and should expect to be looking for a new job soon.

Queen Sarah doesn't tolerate insubordination or suffer disloyalty well.

 

[jpeyton]

Hahahahaha, Alaska Republicans just can't get a break, even AFTER election day.

 

[DealMonkey]

Frankly, it astounds me that Alaskans would re-elect a convicted felon. But I suppose these are the same voters who voted Palin into office too. Sheesh.

 

[Lemon law]

For what its worth, here are the very latest numbers, published at 4:37 PM today.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200...usa_election_stevens_1

Here is my do the math analysis.

1. Fact, on election day eve, or early next morning, The Stevens lead stood at about 3257.

2. Fact little has changed that until a few days ago, some nine days later, when the mandatory, by Alaska State law, examination of the absentee and provisional votes started being counted.

3. Fact or semi fact according to the link, in the first few days 60,000 out of 100,000 remaining absentee and provisional ballots have been counted.

4. Do the math, of those 60,000 counted, Begish has gone from a 3257 deficit to a 814 vote plurality, a Begish swing of net 4071, or an overall percentage of 53.39% Begish. And if that trend holds up, Begish will gain another 1357 votes and end up with a plurality of over 2100 votes.

5. Fact or conjecture, of the remaining 40,000 votes to be counted, a higher percentage of those will be provisional ballots and ballots cast on the last day or out of the voters home precinct. Sadly for Steven fans, those votes will still likely be biased democratic, so any efforts to discard the lot, will not overcome Steven's 814 vote deficit. So Stevens only hope may be to count only votes for Stevens, and reject any and all votes for Begish. Not likely to happen when the entire nation and a pile of courts will be watching the process with eyes wide open.

I think the democrats can be way more than cautiously optimistic. And perhaps say, ding dong, the witch is dead, which ole witch, the Stevens witch. The corrupt witch is dead.

After that, what happens to Stevens is somewhat irrelevant, I think he should go to jail, but I will settle for out of elective office.

 

[Mursilis]

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Frankly, it astounds me that Alaskans would re-elect a convicted felon. But I suppose these are the same voters who voted Palin into office too. Sheesh.

Exactly. Counting votes for Stevens shouldn't require more than the fingers found on two hands (assuming his family would still vote for him). I can see Alaska Republicans not wanting to vote for the Democrat on the ballot, but in that case, they should just abstain rather than vote for such a piece of trash as Stevens.

 

[winnar111]

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Frankly, it astounds me that Alaskans would re-elect a convicted felon. But I suppose these are the same voters who voted Palin into office too. Sheesh.

Hello William Jefferson.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: winnar111

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Frankly, it astounds me that Alaskans would re-elect a convicted felon. But I suppose these are the same voters who voted Palin into office too. Sheesh.

Hello William Jefferson.

Yes, I too consider Jefferson and Stevens to be comparable..


:roll:

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Frankly, it astounds me that Alaskans would re-elect a convicted felon. But I suppose these are the same voters who voted Palin into office too. Sheesh.

It is not about voting for a felon... basically the Alaskan republicans are trying to keep that seat. That is the only reason I would think someone would vote for a crook.

 

[daveshel]

I would much rather see Stevens lose than win and be expelled from the Senate, because that could put Palin on the fast track to Washington. I've heard enough of her and her doors - don't let this one hit you in the ass, Sarah.

 

[Lemon law]

Originally posted by: daveshel
I would much rather see Stevens lose than win and be expelled from the Senate, because that could put Palin on the fast track to Washington. I've heard enough of her and her doors - don't let this one hit you in the ass, Sarah.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wonder if you understand the implications. This Begish Stevens election is big, really big. If Begish wins, the Senate seat goes to Begish for six years.

If Stevens can manage to win the election, the seat would nominally be Steven's for six years, but there are a few Major Major Problems. (a) The Senate may and likely will refuse to seat him. (b) The judge may tell Stevens to go to jail while he appeals. All in all, its very likely going to force a Steven resignation and a brand new special election by early 2009. An election Palin may want to enter risk free, and an election that could put Palin in the Senate before 2010. But none of those above possibilities can happen if Begish wins this current Senate election.

As for the Louisiana congressman who was found with $90,000 in his freezer, the criminal charges against him keep hanging over his head, but its our Justice Department that is dropping the ball. As soon as he is even goes to trial, the democrats will probably boot him from congress, but I suspect the government messed up badly in his case, the evidence will likely get thrown out of court because the government bungled, and he may never be tried. And until the charges are ready for court, the democrats can't just act on rumor.

So the Begish Stevens Senate election of 2008 is going to be something closely watched, the GOP can salvage something out of it if Stevens wins, they will simply run another Republican who will likely win in republican biased Alaska, even though Stevens can't survive and will almost certainly be forced to resign, but if Begish wins, there is no hope for the GOP to salvage anything, so its the bottom line GOP worse case scenario. So for now, the GOP will back Stevens to the hilt, but as soon as Stevens wins, the GOP will change their position, and turn Stevens into an already trussed up human sacrifice.

Already the battle lines are drawn in the US Senate, the current GOP minority leader. Mitch McConnell is inclined let Steven's stay, but others in the GOP Senate minority may rally around his #2, ditch Steven's immediately, and McConnell may no longer be GOP minority leader. With a special Senate session starting next week, the official Alaska recount must end by Nov 19, there is already many many battles being waged over what amounts to the Steven's corpse.

And lucky Ted Stevens, he gets a ring side seat to his own funeral, not quite the guest of honor, more a dead man walking, much larger in death than he was in life. As the circling vultures can hardly wait to see him die. Sharpening their beaks as they circle.

 

[winnar111]

Originally posted by: Lemon law
As for the Louisiana congressman who was found with $90,000 in his freezer, the criminal charges against him keep hanging over his head, but its our Justice Department that is dropping the ball. As soon as he is even goes to trial, the democrats will probably boot him from congress, but I suspect the government messed up badly in his case, the evidence will likely get thrown out of court because the government bungled, and he may never be tried. And until the charges are ready for court, the democrats can't just act on rumor.

You mean like they booted Alcee Hastings from Congress? Oh, wait....

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Lemon law
For what its worth, here are the very latest numbers, published at 4:37 PM today.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200...usa_election_stevens_1

Here is my do the math analysis.

1. Fact, on election day eve, or early next morning, The Stevens lead stood at about 3257.

2. Fact little has changed that until a few days ago, some nine days later, when the mandatory, by Alaska State law, examination of the absentee and provisional votes started being counted.

3. Fact or semi fact according to the link, in the first few days 60,000 out of 100,000 remaining absentee and provisional ballots have been counted.

4. Do the math, of those 60,000 counted, Begish has gone from a 3257 deficit to a 814 vote plurality, a Begish swing of net 4071, or an overall percentage of 53.39% Begish. And if that trend holds up, Begish will gain another 1357 votes and end up with a plurality of over 2100 votes.

5. Fact or conjecture, of the remaining 40,000 votes to be counted, a higher percentage of those will be provisional ballots and ballots cast on the last day or out of the voters home precinct. Sadly for Steven fans, those votes will still likely be biased democratic, so any efforts to discard the lot, will not overcome Steven's 814 vote deficit. So Stevens only hope may be to count only votes for Stevens, and reject any and all votes for Begish. Not likely to happen when the entire nation and a pile of courts will be watching the process with eyes wide open.

I think the democrats can be way more than cautiously optimistic. And perhaps say, ding dong, the witch is dead, which ole witch, the Stevens witch. The corrupt witch is dead.

After that, what happens to Stevens is somewhat irrelevant, I think he should go to jail, but I will settle for out of elective office.

How long before certified?

 

[fskimospy]

Originally posted by: Mursilis

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Frankly, it astounds me that Alaskans would re-elect a convicted felon. But I suppose these are the same voters who voted Palin into office too. Sheesh.

Exactly. Counting votes for Stevens shouldn't require more than the fingers found on two hands (assuming his family would still vote for him). I can see Alaska Republicans not wanting to vote for the Democrat on the ballot, but in that case, they should just abstain rather than vote for such a piece of trash as Stevens.

If I gave people more credit for electoral stragegery, voting for Stevens was a very smart choice, even if you're a Republican who hates Stevens. Considering he's quite likely to end up in jail in the near future or be booted out of Congress, you elect Stevens, watch him get kicked out, and then have a special election for another Republican who would probably win considering how red the state is. If you elect the Democrat, you get a Democrat. Possibly for a long time.

Note: I don't think people actually voted for him because of this unfortunately.

 

[Lemon law]

Originally posted by: winnar111

Originally posted by: Lemon law
As for the Louisiana congressman who was found with $90,000 in his freezer, the criminal charges against him keep hanging over his head, but its our Justice Department that is dropping the ball. As soon as he is even goes to trial, the democrats will probably boot him from congress, but I suspect the government messed up badly in his case, the evidence will likely get thrown out of court because the government bungled, and he may never be tried. And until the charges are ready for court, the democrats can't just act on rumor.

You mean like they booted Alcee Hastings from Congress? Oh, wait....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok Fair enough, winnar111, but the Alcee Hasting thing hardly applies to Stevens in any way. The Senate gave ole Alcee the boot, not as a legislator, but for the allegation of bribery against him while he was a Federal Judge. However, Hasting's co conspirator refused to testify against him, winning a jail term in the process, but making any criminal prosecution of Hastings impossible. As a result, rightly or wrongly, the full house voted for his impeachment and the full Senate voted for conviction, meaning he lost his judgeship. Since then, and with no criminal convictions to bar him, Alcee Hastings has post impeachment run for and won a congressional seat. But in a sense, Hasting was punished for his previous crime,
and any life sentence is only in the mind of the beholder.

William Jefferson is a different case but the resemblance to Stevens is unmistakable. And I have been trying to do my research on his latest escapades.
I have found numerous links to the effect that the justice department, for what ever reason, is reluctant to prosecute. But Rep. Jefferson has also waged an aggressive campaign against any prosecution by the Justice Department. And since they found all that cash, traceable to a bribe in his freezer in mid 2006, he has won reelection in 11/2006 and now appears on the verge of doing it again. Because of Hurricanes Ike and Gustov, the actual congressional elections that normally should have happened on 11/4/2008 was delayed, and 11/4/2008 election was the day he won a run off election for the democratic nomination. And now he faces a republican, Cao, in the general election that will occur on 12/6/2008. Sadly, Jefferson is expected to win.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...2/AR2007101201891.html

Meanwhile on the legal front, Jefferson basically ran out of delaying tactics against the Justice Department, when a 3 judge panel ruled against his rather grandiose claims of congressional immunity, the actual Justice Department trial was scheduled to start 12/2/2008, but apparently has been pushed back to some much later date.

But at this point, I have to agree, its time for the democrats to lower the boom on Jefferson. But like the GOP in Alaska, the democratic best hope of salvaging anything lies in letting Jefferson win the general election on 12/6/2008, and then forcing Jefferson's resignation by refusing to seat him. And maybe a deal is already in the works with the GOP to kill two birds with one stone, the honesty quotent in the legislative branch will go way up if those two are gone.

But not to engage in any self deception, a lot more legislators would have to go to get the honesty in the legislative branch up to any semi respectable level.

 

[Lemon law]

Dmcowen674 asks how long before certified? And its my understanding that this current count, by Alaska State Law, must be finished by 11/19/ 2008. Which is this coming Wednesday. And thus far today, no new results are coming in, I assume they recess for the weekend, nothing may be publically released Monday, implying the bombshell results of the last 40,000 ballots will hit Tuesday. And probably officially certified on 11/19/2008.

After that, under Alaska law, asking for recount is a fairly low bar, but I believe its on a challenger pays for it basis.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Please explain to me why a CONVICTED FELON is not in jail, but in fact, is running for a governmental office. Same goes for any bastard, dem, rep or whatever, first to have the balls to run, or continue to hold the seat, then secondly, not understand it's a reflection on how you percieve yourself to be above the law.
It makes me sick.

 

[techs]

Originally posted by: Sheik Yerbouti
Please explain to me why a CONVICTED FELON is not in jail, but in fact, is running for a governmental office. Same goes for any bastard, dem, rep or whatever, first to have the balls to run, or continue to hold the seat, then secondly, not understand it's a reflection on how you percieve yourself to be above the law.
It makes me sick.

In my best Yaacov Smirnoff accent:
"What a country"

 

[Lemon law]

Originally posted by: Sheik Yerbouti
Please explain to me why a CONVICTED FELON is not in jail, but in fact, is running for a governmental office. Same goes for any bastard, dem, rep or whatever, first to have the balls to run, or continue to hold the seat, then secondly, not understand it's a reflection on how you percieve yourself to be above the law.
It makes me sick.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of the three people being talked about, only Ted Stevens is the convicted Felon, Jefferson has not been tried yet, and by various laws and technicalities, Alcee
Hastings cannot be tried.

But rightly or wrongly, our system of justice presumes innocent until proven guilty and then permits an appeal process. And since Stevens is not slated to be sentenced until 2/2009, he stays free for those two reasons.

In a somewhat similar outrage, Ken Lay died an innocent man in the eyes of the law because his conviction was being appealed.

But maybe we should also remember we have executed many innocent men, as DNA evidence later came to light some time after they paid with their lives.

No system of justice is perfect, but its our system, and even if I think Steven is more corrupt than the day is long, I would not be surprised to see him beat the conviction on appeal.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Originally posted by: Lemon law

Originally posted by: Sheik Yerbouti
Please explain to me why a CONVICTED FELON is not in jail, but in fact, is running for a governmental office. Same goes for any bastard, dem, rep or whatever, first to have the balls to run, or continue to hold the seat, then secondly, not understand it's a reflection on how you percieve yourself to be above the law.
It makes me sick.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of the three people being talked about, only Ted Stevens is the convicted Felon, Jefferson has not been tried yet, and by various laws and technicalities, Alcee
Hastings cannot be tried.

But rightly or wrongly, our system of justice presumes innocent until proven guilty and then permits an appeal process. And since Stevens is not slated to be sentenced until 2/2009, he stays free for those two reasons.

In a somewhat similar outrage, Ken Lay died an innocent man in the eyes of the law because his conviction was being appealed.

But maybe we should also remember we have executed many innocent men, as DNA evidence later came to light some time after they paid with their lives.

No system of justice is perfect, but its our system, and even if I think Steven is more corrupt than the day is long, I would not be surprised to see him beat the conviction on appeal.

Ok, I do understand that, but to have the audacity to run for an elected office, that boggles the mind, whereas anyone off the street would be spending time in jail working on appeals.
I appreciate the info.
And yea, Ken Lay dying as an innocent man was a farce, and I believe he should be tried posthumously

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Originally posted by: Sheik Yerbouti
And yea, Ken Lay dying as an innocent man was a farce, and I believe he should be tried posthumously

Why? He's dead. What else can you possibly do to him? Let's waste money sullying the already sullied name of a career bastard whose death was cheered by millions!