Let’s put a once-and-for-all stop to all this Trump-led nonsense about rigged polls at the 2020 US presidential election. We’ll take the state of Pennsylvania as a working example.
Despite the fact that the presidency and congress are federal matters, the states run all elections. Two vital tips for election riggers. There are only two groups that matter: the courts, presided over by judges; and election workers, who are responsible for security and counting. If you’e got those two nobbled, you’re there!
In Pennsylvania judges are elected , not appointed. And the law is quite specific in permitting judges to brand themselves with their political allegiance when standing for election (of which more, later).
Pennsylvania has a three-tier judicial system. There is a Supreme Court. Below that are two equal courts called the Commonwealth Court, and the Superior Court. Below them are the Courts of Common Pleas., where it all begins There is one further layer below even that, referred to as Minor Courts which (I'm guessing here) equate to magistrates courts. Election riggers need pay attention only to the Supreme Court, where all issues of consequence are finally resolved.
If we are to believe the internet, there should be 7-9 supreme court judges in PA. Today there are eight, of whom three proclaim allegience to the Republicans. One judge declares himself a Democrat. The political allegiance of the remaining four is undeclared.
When it comes to election workers, the situation defies credulity. NOBODY KNOWS how many election workers there are in the US, though the figure of “around 20,000” is as good a guess as any. On the day of an Amercan election each PA ‘precinct’ (ie electorate) needs a minimum of five election workers: one "Judge of Election”, two "Inspectors", and two "Clerks". The number of clerks can increase in more populous precincts. Each precinct elects a member of the House of Representatives, or Lower House, which has 435 members. So that gives us a bare minimum of 2175 election workers in the USA. The difference between 2175 and “about 20,000" is presumably made up by extra clerks and extra polling stations in more populous precincts.
Election workers are volunteers, recruited by advertisement, of which the following is typical:
HELP STAFF YOUR LOCAL POLLING PLACE
Our democracy depends on ordinary people who make sure every election runs smoothly and everyone's vote is counted — people like you.
When you sign up with Power the Polls, we’ll share everything you need to apply to be a poll worker in your community.
You can make sure we have safe, fair, efficient elections for all voters. Step up and become a poll worker for the next election today!
Our democracy depends on ordinary people who make sure every election runs smoothly and everyone's vote is counted — people like you.
When you sign up with Power the Polls, we’ll share everything you need to apply to be a poll worker in your community.
You can make sure we have safe, fair, efficient elections for all voters. Step up and become a poll worker for the next election today!
POLL WORKERS GET:
training and paid*
*varies by location
There are two elections every year requiring the presence of the volunteer workers. Primaries are held on the third Tuesday in May except in a presidential year when they are held on the fourth Tuesday in April. General elections including presidential, senate and lower house elections, and municipal elections, are held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. (Tuesday is invariably the next day after Monday, so why this long-winded explanation is needed is a bit of a mystery. I suppose in a year when 31 October is a Monday, the election needs to be held on Tuesday 8 November, which strikes me as unnecessarily long-winded, not to mention complicated.) On days when elections are being held, judges and inspectors must stay at their polling station the whole day, which runs from 06:00 am to around 21:30 pm. Clerks can opt for a half day shift.
Training starts six weeks before the next election. The pay isn’t bad either: For a judge in Chester County, Pennsylvania, it’s US$250 (A$371.50, 228 €, stg191.28 at 9 October 2024)) per day, plus mileage at 67 cents a mile.. The lowest paid election worker in Chester County gets US$175 a day plus mileage.
So where does that leave us? Continuing my mug's guide to election rigging, no use training or co-opting just one Supreme Court judge. Judges are assigned their trials randomly, and in our case we might not get the judge we want. Better get all eight on board. Now we’ll need to co-opt about 400 election workers. And we’ll need to pay them. That’s $1 million, plus mileage plus a reserve for criminal defence lawyers if all this unravels. We’ll need 10,000 training manuals (Dynamite!!!!! What if even one leaks ????!!!!) Plus we’ll need to hire a hall to address them all.
Did any of this ever happen? Of course not. If it had, does anyone think every one of the 400 IN PENNSYVANIA ALONE would have kept their mouths shut? Multiply that by seven or eight, the number of ‘swing’ states, and you have a world record conspiracy of silence. Does anyone think THAT happened?
Yet this line of attack has not been used, so far as I know, by any of the US mainstream media. They would much rather fight on the side of Springfield, Ohio's cats and dogs. Well, the cats and dogs are certainly good for a laugh, but the above is deadly. particularly in the light of those who 'flipped' in Georgia or in front of the J6 committee.
I suppose Eeyore-like I'll have to take comfort from: you read it here first.
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