Meet My Secret Twin
(Crossposted at Monologues of Dissent) by Jeanne Devon & Heather Dubois Bourenane I’m a progressive working mom with two kids. My state had a very regrettable governor foisted upon it. I decided to speak out and started a blog. Soon our regrettable governor became infamous, and national news outlets began calling me. I suddenly found myself on the pages of The New Yorker, The Huffington Post & interviewed by Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz. I still find it stunning that anyone would consider our governor for a Presidential ticket. It’s cool that, through social media, I’ve found someone just like…
Postmortem: Wisconsin, Obama & Elections
Did not the heavenly rhetoric of thine eye, ‘Gainst whom the world cannot hold argument, Persuade my heart to this false perjury? —”Love’s Labour’s Lost,” William Shakespeare Madison, WI—Was it the money? Was it a weak candidate? Was it the President’s and DNC’s indifference? With Karl Rove and national Republicans dancing in the end zone, the soul searching and recriminations among Wisconsin progressives are now in full swing. The bulk of national commentary—including from generally sympathetic outlets like MSNBC and the NY Times—has generally been useless. And since we can have for more impact on what we do than on…
UPDATE: Live Blogging The WI Recall
Editor’s Note: Although Shannyn and I are at Netroots in Providence, The Mudflats has boots on the ground in Wisconsin for today’s critical recall election. Our correspondent Thomas Dewar took the redeye to Madison last night and will be posting updates throughout the day and late into the night as results roll in. The importance of this election, and what it portends for America’s democracy and middle class, is hard to overstate. In solidarity with the people of Wisconsin—AKM 9:54pm CDT Your correspondent will now beg your leave and excuse himself to go drink too much Scotch. Departing a somber…
Bipartisanship is Not on the Map
By Shannyn Moore My friends, once again, Alaska is charting new waters. The GOP-heavy redistricting board, in its zeal to break up the bipartisan coalition in charge of the Alaska Senate, has made Joe Hazelwood look like a model seaman. Let’s see how the entire state “fetched up.” Alaska’s Supreme Court, listing like a dinghy in 20-foot seas, decided by a 3-2 vote that we can run this year’s election on an unconstitutional map of election districts. Why? No time to do a constitutional version. The board’s map still has one last hurdle to clear: the Department of Justice, which…
Open Thread – Linda Kellen Biegel at the Bartlett Club!
Yes, our very own Linda Kellen Biegel will be the featured speaker at the Bartlett Democratic Club luncheon Thursday, May 31. Come to the Denny’s on DeBarr in Anchorage at noon. Have some lunch, and hear Linda’s wrap up of the Municipal election circus. She’s been bulldogging this issue from the beginning to the end, and will share her insights about what went wrong, and what we need to do. Election integrity is a non-partisan issue, and is the foundation of our democracy. Thanks to all who stand up for the thing that truly makes America exceptional – our right…
Election Recertified, Muni Clerk Resigns
I know I’ve been silent regarding my participation one of the “Ten Qualified Voters” who triggered the Election (Hand) Recount of 15 precincts. I hope all of you understand that I was writing constantly “for the cause” and wasn’t able to write it on Mudflats. AKM has been doing a magnificent job. My commentary on this post will be short but you can read the letter that we (through Hal Gazaway) submitted to Chairman Hall and the Assembly before yesterday’s meeting. The letter regards our findings as we went through days of the hand count process. When you read it, you will find it unsurprising that the…
The Latest from the Election Hand Count – A Flipped Race & Other Anomalies
Hand Recount Leads To Flipped Race in One Precinct, Other Anomalies. Municipal Clerk’s Office Forced To Count Again Hand Counting Plagued with Rampant Errors, No Clear Procedures, Security Breaches; Still Not Following Municipal Code Anchorage, AK — The Municipal Clerk’s office announced in Media Advisory 15 that the hand count will continue Wednesday at 1:00 pm. The Advisory states that this will be a count of already hand-recounted precincts and that the results need to be “clarified.” In truth, this count is happening because observers from the Election Hand Recount Application Signers discovered that the results for certain races did…
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…
Election Commissioner and Deputy Clerk Should Be Relieved of Duty
Brad Friedman, an award-winning investigative journalist and expert on issues of election integrity, and the Diebold AccuVote system used in the recent Anchorage Municipal election, had comments about inaccuracies told by the Election Commissioner Gwen Mathew at last night’s meeting of the Assembly to certify the election. His outrage, and call for both Mathew, and Deputy Clerk Jacqueline Duke to be removed from their posts immediately, is a sentiment shared by a growing number of Anchorage residents who are becoming more informed regarding their ineptitude and outright misinformation. Here are Friedman’s comments after watching Mathew’s testimony at Thursdays Assembly meeting,…