Hundreds of absentee ballots mailed out with "Barack Osama" listed as the Democratic candidate?

Fail.

http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/fail-owned-nut-clarity-packaging-fail1.jpg

It was done on purpose.

Ya know, it is probably just a typo, I guess. But with all the dirty tactics in this and the last two elections, it gives good reason to question it.

Rensselaer county is the county just north of mine. It is traditionally heavily Republican, old-timers, and conservatives. Here we have some vigilant Dem. volunteers who moniter what the Columbia County Board of Elections does. There is also a heavy influx of vocal Dems. who have second homes or have retired here from Boston or NYC.

And as someone said, “s” and “b” are pretty far apart on the QWERTY keyboard. We have had many instances of Dem. signage disappearing overnight. It is happening in Rensselaer also. (Home of Trony, NY and RPI.)

The Albany Times-Union has an intelligent group of editors and reporters and seem to be unbiased. But, of course, they think clearly, write well and have good analytical skills.

I’m sure there will be many, many more of these “accidents” in the future…..

Mine says OBama.

@Loser; this was an article about the absentee ballots in Rensselaer county only. Are you there? If so, we are neighbors.. MacBean and DandyD are also nearby.

I’m sure that the people who want to vote for Obama will have no problem finding their candidate….it’s an honest mistake in my opinion….

It is illegal to use a pen or pencil to change anything on a ballot. The Rensselaer County GOPs are thus printing and mailing new ballots. Check your keyboard next time you type either Osama or Obama. Odama. Owama, Oxama or Oaama I could understand.

Actually, I would find Onama, Ovama,Ogama far more acceptable typographical errors. S, D, W, X and A are too far away from B on the QWERTY keyboard.

Squirbel; you are right, good point and I am sorry.. (My excuses). I was also rushing, not paying attention and trying to show off (my reasons).

If a name is enough to change your opinion in the voting booth, you probably shouldn’t be allowed to vote….

I guess we should strike Kentucky from the voting ballots. [omg, generalization, sue me.]

Those are called “fly-over” states…

Typo?!? Look at your keyboard and tell me if B is anywhere near S.

gailCalled, it’s Troy, NY, not Trony. My current city of residence, unfortunately. (And I’m an RPI alum and faculty member as well.)

Mritty: Ach. When did the name get changed? (I must have been not paying attention.) Did I mean to type Irony, I and T being on the same keyboard?

At least today, with the clarity and the autumn foliage and the river, even Troy can’t be too bad. (what are you teaching? And can’t you buy a large 19th century house for not too much money? My ex- had his office on the Emma Willard campus. It was pretty around there.)

@ PupnTaco: oh, its ‘BS’ alright…

Wow, i work in graphic design and there is NO WAY this was an accident. These things are proofed to within an inch of their life as all legal documents are. This was intentional. And stupid for that matter. Who did it really make look bad in the end.

[]Dear Oh, Bama[]

You think mine is OK?

gailcalled, I teach Programming in Perl

I can’t wait for this to be the “Ohio” or “Florida” of ‘08, as confusion reigns for people who thought they already voted on a misspelled ballot, or didn’t want to vote twice, or whatnot. Mmm, hanging chads.

What we should all be working toward is to separate our right to vote; voter registration and the act of voting from any political party. No qualified voter should be denied the right to vote just as no unqualified person should be allowed to vote.

@jvgr: So many people think that the political parties are official branches of government rather than two private clubs that get to choose who runs the government. Our right to vote IS separate from any political party, although I’m sure they would prefer you didn’t know that.

Someone who lives near that area should go to the office that dealt with those ballots and put up signs outside that say THIS OFFICE BUCKS SALLS!

Fortunately, it wasn’t even close enough for such shenanigans to have any effect on the outcome.