Thursday, December 7, 2017

PRIORITY BLOG REQUEST: Atlanta Mayoral Election

Q. Two Candidates, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Mary Norwood just had a run off election. The vote difference was about 750 votes with Keisha Lance Bottoms winning and 18,000 more people voting this year than in 2009 when Mary Norwood last ran for election and she lost by about 700 votes.


Can you explore what motivated this many more people to vote? As background: I recall the 2009 election seem to have people more energized (I know I was!) and going to vote than this election so it is surprising this many more people voted, unless solely due to population increase.
A.  I get that there was a certain amount of tampering done to increase the votes in favor of Keisha.  It looks like people were not only bused in, higher up groups (supporters of Keisha) worked to "get documentation" for the undocumented people living near and close to Atlanta.  The PTW (Powers That Were) are desperate to get Democrats in their corner.  To be clear the PTW work  is a bi-partisan effort, but in this situation the democratic force feels much more influential.  Keisha does not feel like a bad person, she just has "bad people" supporting her. 
  
Mary Norwood is asking for a recount. Is there a threat to Keisha Lance Bottoms securing the win? What is really behind the fear of having Mary Norwood Mayor? Is big money at risk and the current government does not want any change in how money flows so the race issue is really a cover for the money issue.  Or, is this just fear of losing "control" generally?
A. This is about money, control and the control of money (where it goes, how it is invested, who ultimately gets it, etc).  Even with a recount, I see Keisha still winning. 

Was this an honest election? if not, how was it manipulated?
A.  It wasn't completely honest, but I get that Keisha didn't realize what was happening.  She took donations and support, and didn't realize how much "support" she was getting behind the scenes.   The campaigning was fair, but the the voting day itself was very manipulated.   

Voting in general:  Even if not manipulated, see the question below. I ask this from mathematical / statistical / operational curiosity .

Since everything is electronic, the numbers should be in very quickly (and I believe that the results are known much more quickly than reported--they slowly release the info to basically drag it out for news coverage, drama, division, etc.) If I understand correctly, all the voting precincts have internet connection so the vote counts technically can be (are?) delivered in real time. I seem to recall that when a voting precinct's internet is down, that polling station is closed until the internet is back up which seems weird because they have printed voter logs to look up registered voters.

Do they cherry pick the precincts to report early vs. late? Is it really live or do they know the end result in advance? Many elections seem like a horse race-people hold their breath to find that the lead horse in the final moment loses. Or is it drawn out for some nefarious reason like fractional voting or vote changing? 
A.  Things are strategically released.  I get the reason is because they want the race to look close because it lessens the urgency to get out and vote (or some kind of psychological game like that??).  If a favorite looks to be trailing, legit voters will want to cast their support / vote.  By playing it this way, and surging the poles with "fake voters" it hinders the time frame to get out and vote.

Would using paper ballots keep elections more honest or is it impossible?
A.  I cannot see how a paper ballot would have prevented this (I hear if anything, it makes voter fraud easier...).

I know this is a lot of questions but fraud across (local / national) elections continues to come up and it is such an important topic that I feel like I want to know if/how it is happening. 

Thank you for helping disseminate truth.

9 comments:

Robert Schoen said...

The statistics between the two elections are incredible as if to rub the rigging in the face of voters to show how stupid they are and how little they can do about it. The tribalism in politics is pushing this oountry towards a totalitarianism where art is torn down and people can't voice a different view without being shunned or starting a fight. I'm amazed how many people have their heads in the sand over what's going on and what's at stake.

The enlightened one said...

This is such a boring reading. Incredibly lame and dull (referring to the choice of topic). So was the previous one too.

The enlightened one said...

Could have been perhaps slightly more interesting, if the senate election in Alabama was touched upon, in which the Steve Bannon-backed republican candidate Roy Moore recently said on the radio that George Soros would end up in hell.

Chatty Cathy said...

I wasn't aware of this race but it was nice at least to hear that the winning candidate, KLB, is not a bad person. Hopefully she'll protect herself from the manipulations of the PTW but of course since they contributed financially to her campaign, that could prove difficult. She'll need lots of love and light.

Raymond said...

Enlightened One...you are very rude. If you don't like the posts, no one is compelling you to read or comment on them.

Thanks for your blog Lynn.

Unknown said...

Hi Lynn,

Regarding Trump's speech on the recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital yesterday, what's your take on it? Take a look.....

Trump Incoherently Slurs Words During Speech; Serious Mental Decline Or Bad Dental Work?

Video 4 min 8 sec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP14xs8Psvc

Also, for a number of years running you have seen the Christmas period as a time of sudden, precipitous falls in financial markets. There is a strong possibility that the US Congress will not be able to arrive at any agreement on its budget talks before a December 22nd deadline takes hold. The US risks a government shutdown after the 22nd with adverse effects on the economy. The volatile mideast situation combined with a US government shutdown could indeed severely impact the stock market during the holidays this Christmas. Any thoughts?

Lynn White, Focus Sessions said...

@Robert: I do agree with you. I really see this based out of fear that people will stand together. They want us submissive and divided...

@enlightened one: I'm sorry you didn't find anything interesting here, but I do ask that you be respectful of the requester that paid for this sensitive question. I try to cover a variety of topics (from Aliens which I know you like, to politics, economy, etc), and to this person it was a very real issue where they live. Even if you don't live in Atlanta, the bigger take away I get is that the PTW are desperate and working overtime to hold what control they have remaining, and that just because the PTW may be supporting a person, that person could be unaware they are being used (and sort of innocent to the situation).

@Raymond: You're welcome. I appreciate it.

@Jerry: I just listened to this. I'm not sure if he has dentures, or some kind of bridge, but I get something was slipping. He also is fighting a cold (post nasal drip???). All things combined, created that somewhat garbled speech..

I have and still do see the Christmas trees when I focus on the economy. I always get leery this time of year because I don't know if it is another timeline or this one (since I have seen this for like 3 years in a row and it never goes away). The best thing I can say is watch trends and listen to your gut. I really thought a Christmas "event" was going to happen last year and didn't, so I feel it is still out there looming. Congress could evoke this event this year, but I cannot get a clear confirmation on it (yet).

Lynn White, Focus Sessions said...

@Cathy: She will need our love and light. I feel they have big plans for her...

Thanks for the comments everyone. Love and light-

Enlighten Your Life said...

Someone did not want Mary Norwood in office, she looks like someone who cannot be controlled. I don't think Keisha has any idea of what is going on but she'll learn soon enough, Atlanta politics are dirty, as are most big cities.