Deputy Municipal Clerk, Jacqueline Duke Terminated. Let the Recount Begin.
This morning, the recount of 15 precincts of the Anchorage Municipal election began. Ten registered voters signed a petition for the recount, and $1500 was collected to begin the process. Each $100 bought one precinct.
The Mudflats’ Linda Kellen-Biegel and Bent Alaska’s Mel Green were two of the ten signers, and are both present right now as the counting begins. You can follow Linda’s Twitter feed @celticdiva for updates and pictures.
Here’s what we know so far:
As of 8:34 this morning, Deputy Municipal Clerk Jacqueline Duke was present in the counting room. Yes, the same Jacqueline Duke who instructed poll workers to ignore broken security seals holding the memory cards into voting machines. Yes, the same Jacqueline Duke who sat on the stage with the election commission, shushing citizens who spoke out of turn even as the Assembly Chair said her role in the matter would be thoroughly investigated. The same Jacqueline Duke who was the only one to program all the Diebold AccuVote machines for the election. Yes, she was in the counting room.
One of the petitioners asked her what she was doing there, and that the group had specifically requested that she not be allowed anywhere near the recount. She said she was just checking in and planned to be upstairs for the day. Then, shortly thereafter, she was seen walking to her car where she sat. Then someone else joined her. Then he left. Then she drove away. Strange…
Not long afterwards, the Assembly was informed via email that Ms. Duke was no longer employed by the Municipality of Anchorage. No reason was given other than from the Chair that there was a “personnel problem.” I should say so.
Well, Duke served at the pleasure of the Assembly, so I guess they no longer found it pleasurable. Good call.
Now, the next question is – When will Election Commissioner Gwen Mathew be fired?
The ballots were at City Hall in sealed bags, which were locked in a room.
Six precincts are being started today. Each precinct will be counted by two people. One reads the name and one records it on a piece of paper.
They will begin by counting the total votes cast and compare it to the machine totals. Then they will start counting each race.
Among the districts being counted are Mt. View, Service High, and Fire Lake.
I (or Linda) will report with updates as the count progresses. But, for now, we can claim a couple pretty big victories. Thanks to all who made it happen.
Lets remember that the clerk’s office are “executive” employees, hired at the pleasure of the municipal clerk and confirmed by the assembly. As an “executive” class of an employee at the MOA, there are no mimimum requirements or a set salary. As you can see by the salaries of the clerks office. At one time the clerks office was part of the “non-represented” class with minimum qualifications and a set pay range. When that was too burdesome for the municipal clerk office and assembly they forced the change. Historically what we paid to those positions making 80-120K now was 1/2 of the current salaries. The burden lies with the assembly and the ramantly ill run clerks office. For one of the highest paid MOA employees, Barbara sure does a piss poor job! This is not the first go around with this lady.
I wonder if she was still technically employed when she was wandering around the recount room, and exactly what she was looking for.
24 hours, and no updates? I’m dying to know how it’s going!
I am curious as to what the criteria was for picking which precincts to count. Is one of them the polling place where the poll worker noted a broken seal on the machine? I am on pins and needles as to what you all find. With all the evident screw ups, there has to be more of a mess under the surface.
No sympathy whatsoever here. The woman is a crook, a Sullivan shill, compliant and participating in GOP election fraud. Testing for November to see how much they can get away with.
there is no victory until those that were denied there right to vote are allowed to vote.
correction : their
I am a bit confused. What I would like to know: was Jacqueline Duke also responsible for the shortage of ballots?
M. Paul
YES! She told election trainees at 4 different trainings that there would be less ballots at this election than in years past. The ballot shortage was intentional.
I am concerned she will not be interviewed during the investigation to find out what went wrong.
They may have tried, met resistance and decided to give her the boot. I do wonder if her really bad attitude towards the assembly and the public had more to do with her firing than the election incompetence.
Either way, I can’t believe she was paid that much for having nothing more than a degree in hospitality. Most accountants don’t make that much, and they know how to count.
True. The salary was beyond even the skill set on her resume. Honestly, for a person with a degree, I’d expect better math skills, and one would think someone with a degree in hospitality would display better customer service skills. I’m really curious as to who was on the selection committee when she was hired.
Wait–she was a party planner?
Step one!
Step one!
I do not feel sorry for anyone who is fired for doing an absolutely crappy job, and that’s the case here. Good riddance. Maybe she’ll take her next job seriously.
I’ve worked for state and municipal government, and I ‘m sorry to say I was pretty much the odd one out because I took the public servant thing very seriously. It torches my shorts to see public servants act like asses, and she is definitely an ass.
Good luck! Even if the outcome doesn’t change, this was so important to make the people running this system accountable. I appreciate all of you working so hard to set this straight.
Glad Duke is gone, although I can feel the pain of being fired. At least in her case, it seems there was plenty of reason to remove her from her position.
Looking forward to hearing the results of the recount. Kudos to all who stepped up and made this recount happen!
I can’t be the only one compulsively reloading this page, hoping for an update; can I?
you’re not 🙂
yes but what about the people who never got a chance to vote.
If I were one of them I would be screaming!!!!!!!!
I never like to see anyone get fires, but Ms. Duke was such a jerk about it to begin with, then how she acted at the meetings– I’m glad she is gone.
yes, whenever I start to feel some glee over someone else’s bad fortune, I try to stop myself. It is never a good thing for a person to lose her job. But sometimes those hard decisions have to be made. Consequences and personal responsibility and all that.
“Consequences and personal responsibility and all that.” Yes, and I am not stressed over her being fired. I thought she should have resigned.
It’s that Alaska state employee haughtiness, they must all report to haughtiness and who do you think you are training upon being hired.
These are not state employees. These are municipal employees.
That “employee haughtiness” runs wild in rural Alaska. The line between the Haves and HaveNots is very clear because of the lack of jobs.
Glad there’s a recount but what about the folks who couldn’t vote because there were not enough ballots?
Very suspicious, Ms. Duke.
I wonder what we’ll find.
Nice.
For all of you..who have made this happen/occur..thus far..3 Huzzahs..and ..most loud and joyous ones!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Bravo! *clap clap*