Election Administration Arrogance in Philadelphia, Pennsylanania

November 01, 2008

Those of us who have been working for election integrity in recent years have seen the arrogance of some of those who administer elections. Sadly, it is all too common.

In the video below Philadelphia's election administrator, Margaret M Tartaglione, compares waiting in line to vote to be the same as waiting in line to buy baseball tickets or an I Pod. She does not seem to put a lot of weight on the right to vote.




In this case, long lines for the primary and machine breakdowns during the primary did not move the election administrators. But, election integrity activists sued and were successful in getting back up paper ballots.

Below is the story from the American News Project.

Chaos Looms Over Pennsylvania Vote
By Danielle Ivory

Philadelphia is shaping up to be a key city in a key battleground state in this election, but machine problems and long lines may plague the polling stations and voter disenfranchisement will be a serious risk. Unfortunately for voters, the people charged with running a smooth election in Philly seem surprisingly unconcerned. Philly's veritable election czar, Marge Tartaglione (D), in particular, shocked ANP with her comments at a recent hearing. See more videos at the American News Project.

ANP has been investigating the perplexing case of the Philadelphia City Commission for a few weeks.

Click for our original story, Philly Official Scoffs at Voting Problems.

Click for our follow-up, Voters Sue Pennsylvania, Election Official Scoffs.

And click for the judge's recent ruling in the case of the NAACP v. Cortes.

Follow Danielle's reporting on twitter.

Follow Lagan's reporting on twitter.

Source: American News Project