Governor Mitch Daniels is leading a 32-member trade delegation to Germany and the United Kingdom this week as part of an "effort to bring jobs and investment to Indiana and strengthen relationships with companies that employ Hoosiers in their Indiana operations." While I believe these trade missions can be beneficial to our state, they too often become nothing more than junkets for political insiders and cronies. One look at the makeup of this delegation confirms it is more of a junket than a serious trade mission.
Ten of the delegation members are members of Daniels' administration, including the governor. Of course Nate Feltman, the head of the IEDC, is on the trade trip. That is to be expected. He also drags along four other members of the IEDC staff, including Chad Sweeney, Stephen Akard, Edita Ubartaite and Michael Kruger. Daniels is bringing along two members of his personal staff, including his press spokesman Jane Jankowski and aide Ben Ledo. Two members of the governor's security detail are also on the trip, as well as Tom Dusing from Carefree Travel. His commissioner of Agriculture, Andy Miller, joined the trip, and he brought his assistant, Beth Bechdol.
It wouldn't be a true junket unless members of the legislature were along for the ride. Four lawmakers take this honor, including Sen. Sue Landske (R), Sen. James Lewis (D), Rep. Matt Whetstone (R) and Rep. Dennis Oxley (D). Notice the even split between Rs and Ds. This helps insulate the trip from partisan criticism.
Two members of the business and community delegates on the trip have close ties to the IEDC's Nate Feltman. His uncle, Ed Simcox, is along for the trip as the lobbyist in chief for the Indiana Electric Association. Melissa Reese is a partner at Ice Miller, the same law firm where Feltman was a partner before joining the administration. According to her bio at the firm's website, she concentrates her practice in employee benefits. I'm not sure how her work relates to this trip.
Simcox also managed to get a couple of his fellow utility industry friends on the trip as well, including NIPSCO's Don Babcock and Duke Energy's Marie Christine Pence. Kyle Hupfer, the former DNR commissioner for Daniels and now an executive with ProLiance Energy, also made the trip.
Matrix Global Partners' Terry Anker is on the trip. His company was the beneficiary of a $1.2 million from the state's 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. The Reimbursement Group's Michael Duff, a GOP contributor, is on the trip. Ray Moistner and David Bramlage, representing Indiana's harwood lumber industry, are both on the trip.
Frank Hoffman, a real estate attorney for Krieg DeVault with strong GOP ties, is on the trip. Kenneth Yerkes is the head of Barnes & Thornburg's labor and employment practice and that earned him a seat on the trip. And Christine Keck of Old National Bank joined the group.
Several local economic development folks are on the trip, including Wayne County's Jim Dinkle, Washington County's Bill Nolting, Lawrence County's Eugene McCracken and the Northeast Indiana Regional Marketing Partnership's John Sampson. And the final person on the list might keep an otherwise hostile blogger to the Daniels' administration from commenting on this trade mission. Gordon Hendry, husband of Taking Down Words' Jen Wagner, made the trip on behalf of the Indy Partnership. Also, Sven Schumaker of Lutheran Child and Family Services is accompanying the group as a volunteer for IEDC.
“We select trade mission trips based on where we think the chance of return is highest,” said Daniels. “We’ll talk about the welcoming climate in Indiana and what we’re doing to make our state an even more attractive place to do business." One has to wonder, though, whether that same criteria carries through to the persons selected to participate in these trips based on some of the participants on this trade mission.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
And It Gets Even Worse
Even Democrats may be prepared to throw Marion County Clerk Beth White overboard as the finger pointing begins in earnest. The Star's Brendan O'Shaughessy has an excellent front-page investigative report into what went wrong in this past Tuesday's election. The startling findings make clear that White knew she had serious problems well in advance of Tuesday's election. O'Shaughnessy writes how White failed to sound the alarm even as late as the night before when she knew she was short election inspectors:
O'Shaughnessy observes that White's office made a change in the way inspectors are recruited. In the past, the controlling county party recruited election day inspectors. This year, Democrats decided to cede this responsibility to the clerk's office, which turned out to be a major mistake. On this score, O'Shaugnessy tells us White knew at least two weeks prior to the election the process of finding inspectors was not going well. He writes:
One of the problems O'Shaugnessy discovered was White's office's inability to understand the meaning of the word "no". Judy Archer explains how she received phone call after phone call over the past several weeks. "In the past three weeks, she said, she received numerous mailings and at least three calls reminding her to pick up materials for the more involved role of inspector at Robin Run Village, a retirement center in Pike Township," O"Shaughnessy writes. "The last call came at 11 p.m. Monday, she said. She again told the caller it was a mistake." "No one ever asked me to be an inspector, and I never said I would," said Archer, who did work Tuesday as a clerk. "I tried to make it clear I had another job, but they weren't listening."
The lists from which White's office were working were inadequate to say the least. O'Shaughnessy reports that White's office at first refused to release the lists to him because she said she feared people on the list would be unfairly blamed. When she did finally produce the lists, White conceded to O'Shaughnessy that the lists were "unorganized and inaccurate."
There are signs the Peterson administration is trying to shift as much responsibility to White's office for the election day fiasco as possible. "It was so chaotic that Keira Amstutz, Mayor Bart Peterson's policy director and chief counsel, was listed as an inspector despite her plans to campaign with the mayor Tuesday," OShaughnessy writes. "She said she was still getting calls Monday about an assignment at the polls." "[Marion Co. Democratic Chairman Mike] O'Connor said they thought letting the clerk handle the inspectors would make the process less partisan and more organized." "We have some role in the blame here," he said. "Clearly, I didn't ride herd enough on the process." "I wasn't aware of the scope of the problem" he adds.
Again, I will repeat my concern of the lack of care local Democrats have shown concerning the voters who were completely denied an opportunity to participate in last Tuesday's election. It is simply inexcusable that they aren't insisting on a revote in those five precincts which never opened on Tuesday. Frankly, I'm surprised the Republicans haven't pushed this issue. The idea of prosecuting the inspectors who didn't show, as suggested by GOP Chairman Tom John, is simply ludicrous in light of all the latest disclosures. The only person guilty of failing to perform their election responsibilities is Beth White.
It was nine hours before polls were scheduled to open when the full scope of an election disaster months in the making finally hit home for Marion County Clerk Beth White.
Exhausted from the scramble to find more than 900 poll inspectors, White stood in a Downtown union hall surrounded by a sprawl of boxes stuffed with election material. They should not have been there.
Poll inspectors had not shown up to claim ballots, poll lists and instructions for more than 200 precincts. There was no contingency plan for a breakdown of that magnitude.
"I was heartsick," White said in an extensive interview on what went wrong during Tuesday's primary. "It was shaping up to be a disaster."
Yet White still didn't sound the alarm, just as she hadn't in previous weeks, when signs of the crisis were emerging.
O'Shaughnessy observes that White's office made a change in the way inspectors are recruited. In the past, the controlling county party recruited election day inspectors. This year, Democrats decided to cede this responsibility to the clerk's office, which turned out to be a major mistake. On this score, O'Shaugnessy tells us White knew at least two weeks prior to the election the process of finding inspectors was not going well. He writes:
Post-election analysis reveals warning signals at least two weeks before Tuesday. The list of potential inspectors was in constant flux, as volunteers dropped out in the weeks before the primary. Inspectors never were assigned for at least 33 precincts.
By the time training ended Sunday, more than 350 inspectors had not collected their materials. But White, a Democrat who was elected clerk in November, did not appeal for the public's help. Nor did she seek help from Republicans, who had run elections for the past 36 years in Marion County. In past elections, the GOP had often asked for Democrats' help in filling many spots in the final week.
White said that option never occurred to her . . .
The resulting debacle Tuesday left thousands of voters frustrated as dozens of polls opened late because of missing inspectors, incorrect ballots or the wrong keys for counting machines. Five precincts never opened, disenfranchising more than 3,200 voters.
One of the problems O'Shaugnessy discovered was White's office's inability to understand the meaning of the word "no". Judy Archer explains how she received phone call after phone call over the past several weeks. "In the past three weeks, she said, she received numerous mailings and at least three calls reminding her to pick up materials for the more involved role of inspector at Robin Run Village, a retirement center in Pike Township," O"Shaughnessy writes. "The last call came at 11 p.m. Monday, she said. She again told the caller it was a mistake." "No one ever asked me to be an inspector, and I never said I would," said Archer, who did work Tuesday as a clerk. "I tried to make it clear I had another job, but they weren't listening."
The lists from which White's office were working were inadequate to say the least. O'Shaughnessy reports that White's office at first refused to release the lists to him because she said she feared people on the list would be unfairly blamed. When she did finally produce the lists, White conceded to O'Shaughnessy that the lists were "unorganized and inaccurate."
There are signs the Peterson administration is trying to shift as much responsibility to White's office for the election day fiasco as possible. "It was so chaotic that Keira Amstutz, Mayor Bart Peterson's policy director and chief counsel, was listed as an inspector despite her plans to campaign with the mayor Tuesday," OShaughnessy writes. "She said she was still getting calls Monday about an assignment at the polls." "[Marion Co. Democratic Chairman Mike] O'Connor said they thought letting the clerk handle the inspectors would make the process less partisan and more organized." "We have some role in the blame here," he said. "Clearly, I didn't ride herd enough on the process." "I wasn't aware of the scope of the problem" he adds.
Again, I will repeat my concern of the lack of care local Democrats have shown concerning the voters who were completely denied an opportunity to participate in last Tuesday's election. It is simply inexcusable that they aren't insisting on a revote in those five precincts which never opened on Tuesday. Frankly, I'm surprised the Republicans haven't pushed this issue. The idea of prosecuting the inspectors who didn't show, as suggested by GOP Chairman Tom John, is simply ludicrous in light of all the latest disclosures. The only person guilty of failing to perform their election responsibilities is Beth White.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Beth White: It Gets Worse
While Marion Co. GOP Chairman Tom John is calling for the prosecution of election inspectors who failed to show for duty in past Tuesday's municipal primary election, there is growing evidence of malfeasance on the part of Marion County Clerk Beth White in the administration of her office. We already knew that at least 150 inspectors didn't report for duty in the election, 5 precincts never opened at all for business on election day, dozens of other precincts opened hours late, and polling materials were sent to the wrong precincts in some cases. Now, White is conceding she hadn't even bothered to prepare a list of inspectors for election day. The Star's Robert King reports:
In other words, White is telling us you can't prosecute inspectors for failing to show because she didn't even know who was supposed to report for duty on election day. If she didn't have a final list, how could the inspectors have been properly noticed of their duty? She apparently didn't have a final list because someone didn't take the 10-15 minutes it would have taken to set up an Excel spreadsheet to enter a list of the inspectors with their contact information. Or as White put it, "We didn't stop to do data entry."
What is even worse than the degree of incompetence on display by White this week is the complete lack of concern on her part and other local Democrats that thousands of people were deprived of their fundamental right to vote in Tuesday's election. Why aren't they insisting upon a new election--at least for the precincts in which voters were completely disenfranchised? Can you imagine if this had happened under the management of a Republican officeholder? There would have already been a lawsuit filed, and the calls for the officeholder's immediate resignation would have been loudly voiced.
One thing that should happen in this case is very clear. The Justice Department's voting rights section needs to step in and begin monitoring elections in Marion County for some period of time in the near future. As John said, we clearly need "adult supervision" here. And Beth White should seriously consider whether it is in the best interests of Marion County for her to continue serving as its county clerk.
Marion County Clerk Beth White acknowledged Friday that she went into this week's primary election without an accurate list of the people expected to open the county's 917 voting precincts.
"That list doesn't exist," White said Friday after Marion County Republican Party Chairman Tom John called for pursuing criminal charges against the 150 poll inspectors who failed to show up for duty Tuesday.
Absent inspectors meant voters in scores of precincts found nobody home during the early hours of the election. Five precincts, with about 3,100 registered voters, never opened. White, a Democrat overseeing her first election, said she hopes it will be possible to produce a list of inspectors in the next couple of weeks . . .
White, meanwhile, cautioned against initiating legal proceedings against the poll workers who didn't show up. She said such a move could deter people from volunteering for the job, which pays $110 for a roughly 14-hour day.
White produced two lists that she said were "not updated and complete."
The first was a "source list" of potential poll workers. The other was a "snapshot" of the worker roster as it looked sometime before the election.
A final list was never put together, White said, because additions and subtractions made in the final days before the election weren't put into her office's computer.
"We didn't stop to do data entry," White said.
In other words, White is telling us you can't prosecute inspectors for failing to show because she didn't even know who was supposed to report for duty on election day. If she didn't have a final list, how could the inspectors have been properly noticed of their duty? She apparently didn't have a final list because someone didn't take the 10-15 minutes it would have taken to set up an Excel spreadsheet to enter a list of the inspectors with their contact information. Or as White put it, "We didn't stop to do data entry."
What is even worse than the degree of incompetence on display by White this week is the complete lack of concern on her part and other local Democrats that thousands of people were deprived of their fundamental right to vote in Tuesday's election. Why aren't they insisting upon a new election--at least for the precincts in which voters were completely disenfranchised? Can you imagine if this had happened under the management of a Republican officeholder? There would have already been a lawsuit filed, and the calls for the officeholder's immediate resignation would have been loudly voiced.
One thing that should happen in this case is very clear. The Justice Department's voting rights section needs to step in and begin monitoring elections in Marion County for some period of time in the near future. As John said, we clearly need "adult supervision" here. And Beth White should seriously consider whether it is in the best interests of Marion County for her to continue serving as its county clerk.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Man Accused Of Stealing AIDS Funds May Avoid Jail
The man in charge of the AIDS Task Force of Southeast Central Indiana was charged by the Wayne County prosecutor with 10 felony counts of theft in January, 2006, but under a plea agreement the prosecutor plans to drop most of the charges and reduce the remaining theft counts to mere conversion. Insted of jail time, William Selkirk is likely to do 120 days of home detention and serve 3 years of probation. He would also be required to repay $11,050 to the Hope Fund. Here were the facts contained in the original charge as outlined by the Palladium-Item:
- Wrote an $8,000 check out of AIDS Task Force funds to a local businessman to cover the payroll of the man's private business. Neither the businessman nor task force officials have any record the money was paid back.
- Hired a New Castle woman he had met in an online chat room and instructed her to do the task force's 2002 state audit even though the woman was not a public accountant or a certified public accountant. He paid the woman $3,150 to do the audit and eventually paid her $8,700 for consulting and fundraising services. The Indiana State Board of Accounts eventually rejected the audit because an accountant did not do it.
- Made dozens of unauthorized purchases using task force cash and credit cards, buying meals at restaurants like O'Charley's, Red Lobster, Carver's and Jag's, spending $346 for tickets to a performance by The Three Tenors in Chicago, buying alcohol, motorcycle parts, hotel stays and gift cards at local stores.
- Paid himself $12,000 from a Wayne County Foundation Impact grant to Hope House for a full year of bookkeeping services that were never performed.
Record's BAC Level Results In Stiffer Charge
Because blood alcohol level tests showed that Terry J. Record's content level was more than .15, he is being charged with reckless homicide, a Class B felony, in addition to a charge for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, causing death. Record, an attorney for the Indiana Department of Health, struck a vehicle driven by Jimmy Cash last Sunday night, killing Cash, after Record drove his BMW through a red light. If Record is convicted, he could face a sentence between 6 and 20 years. The Star's Jon Murray reports:
WRTV reports that witnesses tell police Record spent more than 4 hours at the strip club during which he consumed 14 beers and six shots. Does the word "overserving" come to mind? WRTV also reports Record was fired from his state job on Wednesday.
The Star's Murray reports that Record's attorney, David E. Lewis, will seek to have Record's $100,000 bond reduced at his initial hearing tomorrow. Record's bail was set when he was originally arrested on a lesser Class C felony and OWI charges.
The question everyone who's been following this case closely has been asking this week is whether Record was drinking alone. The town is abuzz with rumors there may have been others drinking with Record at Brad's Brass Flamingo last Sunday night who don't want their names drawn into this tragedy. It was reported earlier that police obtained surveillance video from the strip club showing Record drinking after he denied consuming more than 4 drinks and refused to take a breathalyzer test. Will Record name others and call them as witnesses at his trial?
Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi is appointing a special prosecutor to handle the case because Record worked for his office for a brief period before he was fired for lying about his involvement in a hit-and-run last October. Record admitted he struck a parked car and overturned his car after leaving a bar in Broad Ripple but only after he initially reported his car stolen to police. Neither the police nor Brizzi's office pursued charges in that case, or another case in December where Record's vehicle was suspected of being involved in a hit-and-run in downtown Indianapolis resulting in injury to a pedestrian. It will be interesting to see if the prosecutor opens up those cases as well for possible prosecution in this latest incident.
UPDATE: Record's bond was reduced from $100,000 to $10,000 at his hearing this morning in front of Judge Grant Hawkins against the urging of the prosecutor's office. Hawkins says the advisory bond in this case is $5,000. Jon Murray also reports a police officer testified about the second suspected hit-and-run involving Record. Murray writes, "In December, McCalip said, the license plate of Record's car was recorded by a witness to a pedestrian hit-and-run in Downtown Indianapolis." "He admitted he was the owner of the vehicle, but he did not think he was driving at that time," McCalip said. "The crash resulted in minor injuries to the victim, who lives in Pennsylvania, the detective said."
New blood test results for Terry J. Record, 26, show that his blood-alcohol content Sunday night was between .15 and .17, about twice the level at which an Indiana driver is considered drunk, police said today.
Record has been charged with two counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, causing death, and one count of reckless homicide, said Matthew Symons, the prosecutor's spokesman. One of the drunken driving charges is a Class B felony, a more serious charge allowed when blood-alcohol content tests at more than .15.
WRTV reports that witnesses tell police Record spent more than 4 hours at the strip club during which he consumed 14 beers and six shots. Does the word "overserving" come to mind? WRTV also reports Record was fired from his state job on Wednesday.
The Star's Murray reports that Record's attorney, David E. Lewis, will seek to have Record's $100,000 bond reduced at his initial hearing tomorrow. Record's bail was set when he was originally arrested on a lesser Class C felony and OWI charges.
The question everyone who's been following this case closely has been asking this week is whether Record was drinking alone. The town is abuzz with rumors there may have been others drinking with Record at Brad's Brass Flamingo last Sunday night who don't want their names drawn into this tragedy. It was reported earlier that police obtained surveillance video from the strip club showing Record drinking after he denied consuming more than 4 drinks and refused to take a breathalyzer test. Will Record name others and call them as witnesses at his trial?
Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi is appointing a special prosecutor to handle the case because Record worked for his office for a brief period before he was fired for lying about his involvement in a hit-and-run last October. Record admitted he struck a parked car and overturned his car after leaving a bar in Broad Ripple but only after he initially reported his car stolen to police. Neither the police nor Brizzi's office pursued charges in that case, or another case in December where Record's vehicle was suspected of being involved in a hit-and-run in downtown Indianapolis resulting in injury to a pedestrian. It will be interesting to see if the prosecutor opens up those cases as well for possible prosecution in this latest incident.
UPDATE: Record's bond was reduced from $100,000 to $10,000 at his hearing this morning in front of Judge Grant Hawkins against the urging of the prosecutor's office. Hawkins says the advisory bond in this case is $5,000. Jon Murray also reports a police officer testified about the second suspected hit-and-run involving Record. Murray writes, "In December, McCalip said, the license plate of Record's car was recorded by a witness to a pedestrian hit-and-run in Downtown Indianapolis." "He admitted he was the owner of the vehicle, but he did not think he was driving at that time," McCalip said. "The crash resulted in minor injuries to the victim, who lives in Pennsylvania, the detective said."
Wedge Issues And Low Turnout Spell Victory For Kelty
The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette's Benjamin Lanka attributes Matt Kelty's upset win over Nelson Peters in the city's Republican mayoral race to a low turnout and Kelty's reliance on wedge issues popular with the religious right. Kelty won with 50.7% compared to Peters' 46.7% in an election where a mere 14% of the voters showed up at polls. Lanka writes:
Note Kelty's claim that he delivered "a message of reducing government's role." And then recall that his first reaction to news reports that a couple of young students at a Warren Township school in Marion County had engaged in a sexual act in a classroom was to call for a crackdown on sexually-oriented businesses. “We must do more to come together as a community and say enough," Kelty said at the time. He added, "The obvious place to start is exactly where our current leadership failed, in that there are virtually no meaningful ordinances that regulate SOBs." Is that "reducing government's role"?
City Councilman John Crawford, R-at large, agreed that the poor turnout helped Kelty.
Crawford said Kelty was able to spur blocks of voters to the polls by taking stances on wedge issues like Harrison Square and by gaining the endorsement of abortion-rights opponents and pro-family groups, which appeal to staunch Republican voters.
Downs said Peters’ perceived waffling on certain issues likely kept some of his supporters from voting at all.
“I think part of it is regular Republicans ended up being disappointed in Nelson as the campaign wore on,” Downs said.
Kelty said turnout wasn’t overly low based on history, but he said it was disappointing to see so few people participate. He said he was able to compel voters to the polls by giving them a message of reducing the government’s role.
Note Kelty's claim that he delivered "a message of reducing government's role." And then recall that his first reaction to news reports that a couple of young students at a Warren Township school in Marion County had engaged in a sexual act in a classroom was to call for a crackdown on sexually-oriented businesses. “We must do more to come together as a community and say enough," Kelty said at the time. He added, "The obvious place to start is exactly where our current leadership failed, in that there are virtually no meaningful ordinances that regulate SOBs." Is that "reducing government's role"?
Varvel On White
Star editorial cartoonist Gary Varvel is always at his best when someone else is at their worst. His "Dumb and Dumber" take on Marion Co. Clerk Beth White and former Clerk Doris Ann Sadler will resonate with many observers. Varvel blogs today:
I opened up the window and listened very carefully to see if I could hear former Marion County Clerk, Doris Anne Sadler saying, "See, it's not as easy as it looks, is it?" But instead, I heard a voice that sounded a lot like Governor Daniels whispering, "Privatization. Privatize the election." Weird, huh?
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Daniels Set To Announce Re-Election Next Month
Gov. Mitch Daniels is expected to formally announce his re-election bid on June 16 at Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse. There are already two announced Democratic opponents, including Senate Minority Leader Richard Young and architect Jim Schellinger. Former U.S. Rep. Jill Long Thompson may jump into the race as well.
If recent gubernatorial elections are any indication, Daniels has a pretty good chance of being re-elected to a second term. Indiana used to constitutionally limit Indiana governors to one term. Can anyone think of an Indiana governor elected to a full term who was defeated when he sought a second term? If my history is correct, the re-election rate is 100%. Otis Bowen was the first two-term governor. He was followed by Robert Orr, Evan Bayh and Frank O'Bannon, each of whom were elected to second terms.
If recent gubernatorial elections are any indication, Daniels has a pretty good chance of being re-elected to a second term. Indiana used to constitutionally limit Indiana governors to one term. Can anyone think of an Indiana governor elected to a full term who was defeated when he sought a second term? If my history is correct, the re-election rate is 100%. Otis Bowen was the first two-term governor. He was followed by Robert Orr, Evan Bayh and Frank O'Bannon, each of whom were elected to second terms.
Beth White Takes Her Lumps
Marion County Clerk Beth White endured a public flogging in today's Star for her handling of yesterday' primary election and deservedly so. It's hard to believe some of former County Clerk Doris Ann Sadler's worst critics were wishing she were still in charge, but after yesterday's debacle, Sadler looks like a God send. Here's a sampling of what the paper had to say:
- Comparing her first election to the maiden voyage of the Titanic, political columnist Matt Tully writes, "White's maiden voyage as elections chief capsized immediately as many poll workers failed to show up Tuesday." "It was so bad that not only did dozens of polls fail to open on time, but some never opened at all." "Ballots were not delivered to some precincts." "No one knows how many voters were denied the chance to cast a ballot, making it hard to understand how this election could be considered valid."
- Reporter Robert King writes, "Beth White's first Election Day as Marion County clerk started going downhill long before the sun rose, when 150 precinct inspectors -- the folks in charge of the polls -- never showed up to collect ballots and voter lists." "But by the end of perhaps the most chaotic, confused and bumbling election in Marion County's history, things got so bad that questions were raised about whether White should resign and whether major election reform is needed to prevent another debacle." "The problems were countywide and profound." "Five of the county's 917 precincts never opened.
At least 45 more opened late." "Ballots and precinct voting lists were shipped in several cases to the wrong voting location, forcing election officials to print new ones, some as late as 4 p.m. -- 10 hours into the 12-hour voting day." "Poll clerks and poll judges with no inspector training were deputized on the spot to fill in for the 150 missing inspectors." "She has no plans to resign." - And from the Star's editorial, "But for now, the credibility of an entire primary election is in jeopardy." "Citizens are left to wonder how the county will reconcile its flawed, incomplete vote." "One of the most basic principles of our democracy has been violated."
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