Commentary: Beth White did not have a "successful election"...

...unless you use the Chicago Cubs' definition of success (100 years without a title), and not the New York Yankees' (where anything less than a title is not a success).

Beth White received a thumbs up from the Star's Matt Tully for not botching the election. Letters to the editor have come in saying she looked good on CNN.

Have the expectations of competent elections been diminished so much by her 2007 Primary failure that piss-poor elections administrations are considered successful?

Let's run down the facts:

• Once again, polls did not open on time in multiple precincts.
• Precincts opened without ballots to vote on.
• At least 30 precincts ran out of ballots by midday.
• White claims no voter was turned away, despite multiple stories to the contrary. What she meant is no voter who signed in the poll book was turned away.
• White was less than truthful on voter challenges, saying they did not exist because no inspector reported them to her.
• White chose to leave partisan precinct offices off the ballot, which could result in legal challenges by losing candidates at state conventions.

The best example, Abdul Hakim Shabazz and Chris Spangle on WXNT said White was having a great election and that the issues were "normal." Yet, minutes later, Fox News Channel's Megyn Kelly called those same normalities "voting problems."

The fact of the matter is outside Indiana, voters don't put up with the types of failures Beth White has given us. If you think the issues we regularly experience are acceptable or normal, SHAME ON YOU! Our right to vote is too precious to accept mediocrity in administering it. And just because White's hand picked inspector's don't inform White of issues doesn't mean they did not happen; shame on the media for taking her at her word.

The rest of our great country does not accept these failures. Just because Beth White screwed up an election in the worst possible way before does not make her repeated mistakes any less horrific.

Comments

[innocent bystander]

man. it must be eating you up inside to see her do so well. i'm no beth white fan, but come on...if you're not gonna give credit where credit is due, at least shut up.