A Democratic House Candidate got 30,000 Write-In Votes in Michigan

a reply to: Krazysh0t
That's fine. Ambiguity has disappeared.

a reply to: neo96

Again. Irrelevant. This OP has NOTHING to do with the national DNC organization.

a reply to: CynConcepts

Well too bad. The voters disagree with you.

a reply to: darkwingduck

Well if they didn't write this marine vet in then the incumbent governor would be running unopposed and the election would just be a formality.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

It's very much RELEVANT to voter will.

Thanks for IGNORING it.

a reply to: neo96

Wait a minute. Maybe the guy does live in a post office box. have you never watched "tiny house". Or maybe that's all he can afford. It is Michigan you know. High taxes, high rent, no jobs.

I must say though 30,000 write in votes !! That may not be a record, but I would call it a darn good average !!

a reply to: neo96

I'm not ignoring it. It's off topic from the thread topic. You are deflecting from something you find uncomfortable to talk about (good news about democrats) to talk about something you are much more comfortable talking about (making sure democrats are hated).

originally posted by: darkwingduck

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
How Bad are Things for the GOP? A Democratic House Candidate got 30,000 Write-In Votes in Michigan
Still no 2018 Elections forum...

In any case, the story in this article should really show you how energized the Democratic base is to win this coming November. For the Michigan governor's race, officials attempted to kick Democrat Matt Morgan off the ballot on a REALLY stupid technicality (they wanted him to have a real address when he had a PO box). Matt Morgan's campaign appealed and lost in a 2-1 decision. So instead of fighting this any further they turned to the public (and Michael Moore). They got out to the public and told them about the "write-in" option. Morgan needed 5% of the total vote cast to make it onto the ballot. This came out to about 3700 votes. He ended up getting that in just ONE district (from again, I remind you write-in votes). Marquette County totaled him at 4388 (the incumbent Republican Bergman got 4522 votes for that district).

In April, Michigan officials who oversee elections kicked Democrat Matt Morgan off the congressional ballot, leaving the Republican incumbent, Rep. Jack Bergman, to run unopposed in the general election.

That was the plan, at least, until primary day on Tuesday, when more than 30,000 Democratic voters cast write-in ballots in Michigan’s 1st Congressional District. That’s nearly eight times as many votes as Morgan needed to be resurrected and placed on the November ballot.

Morgan, a progressive Marine veteran, pulled off the successful turnaround without help from the national party or progressive organizations set up to support vets. Instead, he had filmmaker Michael Moore and a team of hundreds of volunteers who made sure voters knew that, even though there was nobody on the ballot, they could still vote for Morgan

In Marquette County, in fact, Morgan got nearly as many votes as Bergman did. The county credited him with 4,388 votes to Bergman’s 4,522, even after disqualifying a chunk of votes.

The candidate was booted from the ballot based on a technicality: His petitions listed a Post Office box rather than a physical address. His campaign turned the petitions in on March 6. An official got back to the campaign on April 29, explaining the address snafu, and saying that they had until the end of the day to withdraw or they were likely to be disqualified, said Joe Vanderbosch, Morgan’s spokesperson.

They refused to withdraw, so the Michigan Board of State Canvassers booted Morgan. The campaign took the decision to the Michigan Court of Appeals and lost in a 2-1 judgment. Instead of appealing further, the campaign turned to the write-in option instead. “We wouldn’t have ever chosen to do business this way, but when we look back on it, it has been a great opportunity,” Morgan told The Intercept. “It kicked our field program off, it incensed voters, it really turned people out.”

In order to make it onto the ballot, Morgan needed to win 5 percent of the total votes cast in the district for governor on the Democratic side, a figure that came to roughly 3,700 votes. His Marquette County total alone should qualify him for the ballot.

So to recap. Michigan officials under incumbent Republican Bergman attempted some voter suppression using a technicality to kick the Democrat off the ballot and run unopposed. The Democratic candidate, a Marine Veteran, challenged him with write-in votes that force them to put him on the ballot in November AND even came close to over taking his vote counts in some districts with those write-ins.

Say #walkaway all you want, but people are voting D and it is looking BAD for Reps. I'm ready to vote this November 6th. I hope you know I won't be voting for anyone with an R next to their name. The GOP has shown itself to be party over country and they need to go. Every one of them.

“It appears that Republican voter suppression in Michigan’s 1st Congressional District has failed in an historic way!” Moore wrote on Twitter. “Republicans on the election commission kicked the lone Democratic candidate off the ballot, so thousands of us mobilized.”

This story is the kind of thing that makes it into a Hollywood movie. Villain uses some insidious scheme using a technicality to get one over on the good guys and rig the system against them, but the good guys just roll with the punches and beats the villain at his own game ANYWAYS. Score one for democracy!

Of course they are voting D. It is a state primary. They are voting R too.

Yea, that has confused me over the past week or so. Both parties have been declaring victory over things happening in primaries. This story seems to be a little different though. There are a few weird angles to it, so I haven't formed an opinion fully.

I am happy to see grass roots campaigns though, at least it shows people care. It doesn't even have to be anything I'm in favor of, just good to see people care for once. Most of the reason politicians don't represent the people is because only half of the people vote on a good day for a presidential election.

I wish people would wise up to the straight ticket voting though, that's how many small districts get a kook through, blind loyalty.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Remind me again who brought up voter will?

Guess it only matters some of the time.

a reply to: Breakthestreak

Sadly, I am not happy. I am extremely disappointed. I could care less on what letter of partisan choice is tagged on someone. I simply want to be able to have a choice of candidates that sincerely understand they actually represent the people from their area/s of candidacy and not their own personal partisan agendas.

Common sense tells me that if a candidate doesn't even want to reside where I live...how can they sincerely represent me? This article saddens me that the divisiveness in America is causing many on both sides to toss aside their common sense.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Rules. Follow the rules. This is not about the will of the voter. No voters were told they could not vote.

Well, went to vote and there was no Democratic candidate to pick from. I did not know that there was a write in. I guess Dems did not approve him because of an address error on the application on the ballot.

Good thing enough people wrote him in or we would not have a democratic candidate on the ticket this year. Bergman is not doing that bad of a job, I did not vote for him last time, but he isn't bad. I do not know anything about this Democrat write in, it seems he does not pay attention to proper paperwork, that does not mean that he is not a nice guy though. But doing things correctly is important, he got a second chance, so does the Democratic party or they would not have someone on the ticket.

Most people I know who vote do not write someone in.

originally posted by: neo96
a reply to: Krazysh0t

It's very much RELEVANT to voter will.

Thanks for IGNORING it.

You're bringing up the DNC convention of 2 years ago and equating it to THIS write in action. KS is correct. You are deflecting.

a reply to: matafuchs

The rules were followed. After losing the appeal the campaign acknowledged the mistake and they petitioned the electorate to write him in on the ballot. The electorate complied and the appropriate threshold of 5% was crushed. So now the state government has to put him on the ballot in November. So what's the problem?

a reply to: intrepid

Voter will Intrepid.

VOTER WILL.

The op is a farce as some referendum against the right.

Which it's not even close to being.

The thread began as a strawman.

originally posted by: rickymouse
Most people I know who vote do not write someone in.

I'm sure that is the case for most Americans in general. So that's why it's so impressive that Morgan was successful with his drive to get the write-in vote.

originally posted by: neo96
a reply to: intrepid

Voter will Intrepid.

VOTER WILL.

The op is a farce as some referendum against the right.

Which it's not even close to being.

The thread began as a strawman.

That was then and this is now. Don't act like the Republican party doesn't have any blemishes, they both have corruption in them at any given time.

I've seen members bring up those blemishes in threads where (R) circlejerks are going down, they are met with a similar response, deflection.

originally posted by: CynConcepts
a reply to: Breakthestreak



Common sense tells me that if a candidate doesn't even want to reside where I live...how can they sincerely represent me? This article saddens me that the divisiveness in America is causing many on both sides to toss aside their common sense.

Common sense tells me that I would want to vote for the person who stands for the same things I stand for. Why would I want to vote for someone who is unopposed, if they don’t stand for what I want?

a reply to: CriticalStinker

Republicans never went to court and argued they had a right to rig their primaries.

Speaking of.

www.nytimes.com...

Michigan Primary results.

a reply to: neo96

A Democratic House Candidate got 30,000 Write-In Votes in Michigan