"'irregularities' in the vote counting this year"

[skipos]

From http://electoral-vote.com/

Many people have asked me about whether there might be "irregularities" in the vote counting this year, similar to the experiences in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. I am quite sure that if they happen, they will be of a different nature. First of all, both Katherine Harris (R-FL) and Ken Blackwell (R-OH) are candidates, not secretaries of state this year, and both are expected to be on the wrong end of landslides. The three key Senate races that are expected to be very close are in Tennessee, Virginia, and Missouri. In all three, the official in charge of elections is the secretary of state (called the secretary of the commonwealth in Virginia). Of course, the governor also has a lot of influence, especially in a close and contested election. So who are the players in these states?

In Tennessee, the governor is Democrat Phil Bredesen and the secretary of state is Democrat Riley Darnell. Bredesen has an especially keen interest in this election since he is up for re-election, against state senator Jim Bryson (R). The most recent poll shows Bredesen leading Bryson by more than 40 percentage points. Darnell was re-elected in 2005 and is not on the ballot this year.

In Virginia, the governor is Democrat Tim Kaine, who was elected last year. The secretary of the commonwealth is an appointed office in Virginia. Kaine appointed Katherine Hanley to the job, a long-time local Democratic politician.

In Missouri, we have a Republican governor, Matt Blunt, son of House majority leader, Roy Blunt (R-MO). However the secretary of state, Robin Carnahan is definitely a Democrat. Furthermore, her brother, Russ Carnahan is the incumbent Democratic congressman in MO-03 and her grandfather, Albert Carnahan. was a 6-term Democratic congressman. Dad, the late Mel Carnahan, was a Democratic governor of Missouri and the first dead man ever elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri, after a fatal plane crash during his Senate campaign in Oct. 2000. After his death, the new governor, Roger Wilson (D), appointed Mel Carnahan's widow Jean Carnahan (D), Robin's mom, to the Senate, where she served until defeated by current incumbent Jim Talent (R-MO) in 2002. I doubt that Robin Carnahan will go out of her way to give Talent that little extra edge over Democrat Claire McCaskill.

[GregD]

1. Blackwell not SoS?

How's he explain this? Last time I checked, he's still holding that office, is he not?

[Der Blaue Engel]

2. I thought he was SoS too

Don't remember him stepping down. :shrug: