Voting irregularities

By Jennifer J. Foster

Published: May 6, 2008

Regarding the decision of Lake County, Ind., elections officials not to release any returns until they are able to release all returns, Jeffrey Toobin said, “What’s going on in Lake County right now is a disgrace.“

News outlets are unable to call Indiana for Hillary Clinton until Lake County results are in; it comprises the suburbs of Obama’s hometown of Chicago. As such, he is expected to do well there.

Toobin said that there is a pattern of irregularities in Indiana’s administration of the elections process that suggest old-time vote-rigging in Texas and other states, where elections officials held back partial returns until they knew how many votes they needed to win, and then they announced a number exceeding that amount.

Toobin also referenced the Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding Indiana’s voter ID law and state election officials’ decision to close polls at 6 p.m. among the irregularities.

“It is outrageous,“ Toobin said. “This is right out of the old days of Chicago politics, when it was openly corrupt ... I’m not suggesting that that’s going on in Lake County, but by holding back that many votes, by not reporting partial returns, they are inviting that comparison,“ he said.

King, the keeper of election results on the Magic Wall, agreed that Lake County’s delay is “certainly curious.“

Something to think about.