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By Kerri Provost, November 10, 2010 1:44 pm

Welcome back to another addition of “Get the Interwebs to Answer my Questions.” Previously, we advised readers on how to check their tail lights, how to own a cupcake truck, and whether or not a neighborhood was safe. Still, questions remain. One reader wants to know:

Is the real Santa going to be at Hartford festival of lights 2010

Yes, Virginia, the real Santa is going to be in Bushnell Park on the evening of November 26, 2010. I promise to let you know more about his arrival soon.

Someone else asks:

What do people in hartford read?

We read books, magazines, student essays, brochures, graffiti, billboards, newspapers, zines, the writing on the wall, and palms. We read junk mail, blogs, poorly designed websites, love letters, hate mail, drivel, comments, menus, signs, text books, receipts, bills, scripts, and transcripts. We read minds, maps, rivers. labels, legal briefs, and between the lines.

Ever consumed with parking, someone wants to know:

Where can I park my bike in fast food restaurant?

My suggestion is to park the bike outside. If there is no designated bicycle rack, chain it to a fence or post. Locking your bike increases the odds of it still being there when you return. You can get a bike lock at department stores, bike shops, and even some hardware stores.

Some questions are just curious, like this one:

What do lobbyists wear?

They wear their agenda on their sleeves.

And finally, someone inquires about:

How third party votes are counted in Connecticut?

Good question. Is the candidate a write-in or is his name on the ballot?

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By Kerri Provost, November 8, 2010 2:47 pm

If you’re curious about what is going on in Hartford politics, here is some insight. I have heard from a number of reliable sources that they “forgot” to count the write-in votes.

Apparently, they began counting the write-in votes this morning.

Keep these antics in mind the next time we get to vote for the Registrars of Voters.

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By Kerri Provost, November 4, 2010 10:00 pm

What if your vote really does not count?

A few readers have contacted me about their concerns that their votes were not being recorded. In the first district, there should be at least three votes recorded for Todd Vachon, a write-in candidate for United States Senator. Currently, the Secretary of the State website is showing zero listed as voting for this candidate. This is not a problem exclusive to the Hartford area, as similar reports are coming from Salem, New Haven, and Mansfield. As of publication, there are nine votes recorded for him in the second district and four in the fifth district.

One reader sent me this note:

You feel dirty and I felt like some dirt has been flung in my face by the Hartford Registrar of Voters office. On Tuesday I proudly voted for Todd Vachon, Socialist write in candidate for U.S. Senate. I know that my partner Tim and our friend Alvin also voted for him. Imagine my surprise when I looked at the SOTS page and saw in Hartford there were no votes cast for Todd. I called the Registrar of Voters office and talked to Olga Vazquez and she told me when I asked where the write in votes were, “the votes are sealed in an envelope and are not opened until a judge orders them to be opened.” What! She then told me that the head election monitor told her that when they were in the office late last night. When asked for the name of the monitor who told her this she would not tell me.

I don’t know. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe they do not have to count the legitimate write in votes. I know it’s okay to disenfranchise folks all over the place according to some. Like I told the woman at the election enforcement when I called them to file a complaint, I don’t allow anyone to take my vote as I came up in the day in this country and saw folks killed, beaten, fire hosed, dog bitten just trying to vote.

I noticed that there was a bit of confusion at Burns [Elementary] School. I overheard a tender of the scan machine offering to put the ballots in for two people until I loudly said that was a violation. Well lo and behold I saw a local politician who was running in this area flitting in and out of the line talking to folks. I don’t even think that she votes at the Burns School but I could be mistaken. After she heard me she left the voting area and went outside not 75 feet from the poll and began to greet and meet out there. One poor guy over voted on his first ballot and then again on his second. I hope someone helped him. Though most of the folks working the poll didn’t seem to know fully what they were doing the young man who checked my ID did a very good job.

I noticed the Republican monitor just sat there on his phone when I am sure with what I saw and heard could have said Violation more than once. All in all though it was nice in a way to see so many people out voting at 10:00 AM exercising their right to vote for the wealthy and more of the same old same old. I don’t know perhaps I should go back to my anarchist roots and root for revolution not change that we can’t really believe in.

The highlight of my day was when I could proudly cast my vote for Chris Hutchinson the Socialist Action candidate for U.S representative and write in Todd Vachon of the Socialist Party for Senate. It was nice once again in my lifetime to have someone and something that I believed in to vote for. I usually do not bother voting for the evil twins, voting for a kinder and gentler capitalism of the Greens, or voting for the props of the Democrats the Working Families Party. I can’t understand why any thinking persons would want to continue to love the masters and join the enemies. What pray do they the workers have in common with the rich capitalists? I will never know.

Regardless of the viability of a candidate, these votes need to be counted, recorded, and made public. A document provided by the Secretary of the State describes the process for dealing with write-in votes as follows:

The moderator and assistant registrars of voters shall unlock and remove all the ballots from the write-in bin. They shall record the number of ballots in the write-in bin. They shall count by hand the votes cast for the office in which the elector indicated a write-in vote. They shall record on the moderator’s returns the write-in votes in accordance with the law governing write-in ballots. They shall seal the write-in ballots in a depository envelope marked “write-in bin” and place them in the ballot transfer case.

These votes do get sealed, but this should not happen until after they have actually been counted.

Some may not find this a priority item, since a third party candidate — a socialist in particular — does not typically pose a significant challenge to the outcome of an election; however, this kind of oversight must be taken seriously. If any votes are not counted, the outcome of an election does not accurately represent of the pulse of a region. Besides, it makes one curious as to which other votes are not being counted.

The polls closed in Connecticut 48 hours ago and with the advent of new technology, tallying votes need not be as time consuming as in the past. Take a look at the results posted on the Secretary of the State website. If you voted for someone, but no votes are recorded for your town/district, contact your Registrar of Voters and call the Secretary of the State to file a complaint.

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By Kerri Provost, November 3, 2010 3:38 pm

After voting, I felt dirty. Continue reading 'Learnings (and some unanswered questions) from the 2010 Election'»

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By Kerri Provost,

Emily of Live in Hartford reports on various types of ineptitude at her polling place on Tuesday. Obviously, she was not the only one to experience preventable nonsense yesterday. What sorts of “adventures” did you have?

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By Kerri Provost, November 1, 2010 2:08 pm

Hector Robles has been fired from his job at the Hartford Police Department. The announcement of this comes one day before Election Day.

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By Kerri Provost, August 18, 2010 3:55 pm

The official results of last week’s primary have been posted and updated on the Secretary of the State’s website. In the District 1 race for State Representative, Matt Ritter beat incumbent Ken Green: 1,153 to 1,151. For State Representative of District 4, Kelvin Roldan beat challenger Angel Morales: 382 to 376. 

Both WFSB and the Hartford Courant have reported that Green has not conceded.

If you were wondering where one person’s vote actually matters, it’s here, in local elections.

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By Kerri Provost, August 11, 2010 7:35 am

For official results from yesterday’s election, see the Secretary of the State website.

The State Legislator races were very close in a few cases, so expect to wait awhile for votes to be recounted. If you want to know more about the recount (recanvass) procedure, check out this document.

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By Kerri Provost, August 10, 2010 2:27 pm

A quick call to the Registrar of Voters yesterday confirmed that I belong to one of the two major political parties, which means little to me beyond my ability to vote in primary elections. It’s not a just system, blocking out those who choose not to affiliate for personal or religious reasons.

The photograph depicts the scene outside the Burns School around 7:30 this morning. There were about the same number of people inside as at the November election, though my polling place as changed, so this observation is neither here nor there.

The half dozen votermaniacs (pictured) were cheering even when no pedestrians or cars were in sight. Luckily, the building has a secondary entrance that sidesteps political cheering squads.

There was no drama to my knowledge (so far) down in Voting District 9, but elsewhere, a candidate’s mom allegedly got into it with her son’s challenger. Let’s hope this is an exaggeration and that people are behaving themselves. For a change, let all the ridiculousness happen elsewhere.

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By Kerri Provost, August 9, 2010 12:26 pm

What are they worth?

Two North Carolina State University studies showed that celebrity endorsement of candidates would more likely hurt than help the politician. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution argues that political celebrities (think Sarah Palin) as opposed to celebrity celebrities (think Angelina Jolie) can have impact:

“The fact that [Palin] has endorsed, it does make a difference,” Garst said. “Obviously, it would be better if she were here. Nevertheless, you can use an endorsement to get earned media, and that’s what Handel is going to do.”

Earned media, in political parlance, includes newspaper articles and television coverage. The media cover the endorsement and give it more attention, and more voters hear about it.

Endorsements create buzz, which might bring certain politicians into the public’s attention.

What impact do newspapers and other media outlets have on voters when they make official endorsements? It’s not a new tradition for newspapers to make political endorsements, but it’s one that seems questionable. For papers that claim to be unbiased, they are demonstrating one, though in this case, at least the bias is evident when posted in the Opinion Editorial section. Still, if a newspaper claiming neutrality in general starts to pick favorites, what does this mean for how political items are reported upon? If The Newspaper’s Endorsed Candidate is involved in some ethically unappealing behavior, does The Newspaper report on that immediately, or is it ignored as much as possible so that The Newspaper does not look silly for putting its confidence in Endorsed Candidate in the first place?

How does a particular endorsement reflect upon the institution? If a newspaper has in recent years endorsed someone who later resigns from office due to legal problems, what merit, if any, does that newspaper’s present and future endorsements hold? If a candidate’s ethics or behaviors are questionable, it makes one curious why an entity would support him/her at all. Continue reading 'Political Endorsements'»