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About that Romney Win in Maine...

By W. James Antle, III on 2.14.12 @ 4:12PM

The Bangor Daily News is reporting that the Maine Republican Party is facing increasing pressure to reconsider its claim that Mitt Romney won the state's caucuses until all the votes are counted. (Hat tip: Taegan Goddard.) Some caucuses were postponed due to snow and told that they won't count in the final tally; towns that had their caucuses before February 11 were also inexplicably not counted.

The Bangor paper quotes a political science professor as saying "It sure looks like they counted what they wanted to count." It is by no means clear that the missing votes would be enough to change the outcome, but even Republicans who didn't support runner-up Ron Paul are concerned about the perceptions created by the state party's handling of the caucuses.

UPDATE: Maine GOP says Romney win will stand "for now."

View all comments (19) | Leave a comment

Floyd Looney| 2.14.12 @ 4:34PM

The GOP chose their candidates, our votes are superfluous and will remain uncounted if they get their chance.

Aleck| 2.14.12 @ 5:40PM

It sure does look hinky.

Garfield| 2.14.12 @ 7:22PM

Makes you wonder if Romney really won Florida doesn't it...

Seriously, for all we know the vote tabulation was false in Florida...

Bill| 2.14.12 @ 5:40PM

I don't trust any New England Republicans.

PattyMor| 2.14.12 @ 6:14PM

Bill, I don't trust the N.E. Republicans, nor the "establishment". They have much invested in Mitt and they'll do their darndest to drag him over the finish line.

Drek| 2.14.12 @ 6:25PM

Just like Iowa, where ballots just up and disappeared.

If this is the kind of crap necessary to drag Romney the baptizer over the finish line................... what's he going to do in a general?

He's going to get his doors blown off!

Sean| 2.14.12 @ 6:39PM

And they guy who postponed the caucus in his county was a Romney supporter. His county was expected to do very well for Ron Paul. The girl scouts in his area didn't not even cancel their events because the snow wasn't coming until late that night and only .5 inches.

RJ| 2.14.12 @ 6:53PM

The first step in "democracy" is to have an honest and efficient voting process. There is no excuse for anyone other than a legally registered voter, voting once and having all ballots being accurately counted. We used to think that the Soviet elections were shames. Now the election process in the United States looks like it is designed and operated for fraud.

ERG| 2.14.12 @ 7:13PM

Wasn't the report today that some new study shows that roughly 2.8 million American adults of voting age are double registered still -- in their old locales (before a move) and their new one?

My sister is still on the registry in her old state after moving away 9 years ago. She has written and telephoned to get off the registry, to no avail.

She knows that she could absentee vote this way by mail to her old state, but she is to good to even think to commit such a reprehensible crime.

RJ| 2.14.12 @ 7:40PM

A lot of the problem is keeping the voting rolls current; not keeping up with people moving or dying. But the system is very vulnerable to fraud and it does happen. John Fund's "Stealing Elections" provides a good description of its weaknesses. Surprisingly, Robert Novak admitted in his book, "Prince of Darkness" that he voted twice in the 1956 Presidential election (if I recall correctly). Over the years, I have heard other such admissions. A local appellate justice wrote an article that his grandmother routinely voted, along with her underage sons, dozens of time in Missouri for each election. They were afraid of being caught when they found their picture in paper while voting on the other side of town from the family residence. With all that is at stake and with the low level of ethics in campaigns, we know that extensive voter fraud is taking place. It can, and it has, changed the outcome of close elections. The integrity of our political system requires that the voting process be safeguarded.

Ryan| 2.15.12 @ 8:25AM

I think that I'm double-registered as well. It's more of a clerical error than actual fraud - I believe I even let my home registrar know I had moved.

Simon Templar| 2.14.12 @ 6:55PM

Maine - 502 of 600 Precincts Reporting - 84%
Name Votes Vote %
Romney , Mitt 2,190 39%
Paul , Ron 1,996 36%
Santorum , Rick 989 18%
Gingrich , Newt 349 6%

What do you know about Maine? There are big clues in this table as to who is who. It is very revealing in many ways? Can you guess what they are?

Any takers? Dare you see it?

Other

Monroe| 2.14.12 @ 10:48PM

Sorry, whatever you're trying to suggest is going over my head. Care to explain|?

ERG| 2.14.12 @ 10:55PM

I think he is trying to tell us that voter turnout was smaller than what fills many 4 year high schools in America. If those are voter totals, then 67% of those eligible to vote stayed away. (And this was probably not due to foul weather)

The ongoing story of this campaign is the great disdain and mistrust everyone has of:

1. The politicians involved.
2. The process.
3. The media coverage.
4. The gargantuan sums of campaign money being spent.
5. Grave questions about the financiers and Super PACs.

And the utter futility of it all. We'll hit 16.5 Trillion in debt with Obama; it would only be annual $1.1 Trillion deficits with Romney.

Most people are not apathetic. They know that we are given no real choices.

Clint| 2.14.12 @ 7:23PM

" As Rachel Maddow explains in this report, the Ron Paul strategy is to let the caucus results fall where they may, and then ensure Ron Paul delegates are elected to the convention. Because these caucus results are non-binding, it ensures that the votes matter less than the delegates sent to the convention. And right now, the Iowa, Minnesota, and likely Maine delegates will be attending not for Mitt Romney, but Ron Paul. Not for Gingrich or Santorum, but Ron Paul.

The strategy is pretty simple and not secret, as explained by Ron Paul strategist Doug Wead:

WEAD: I watch television and I see them saying Romney has this many delegates and Santorum this many, and as you know, not a single delegate has been awarded from Iowa or Minnesota or Missouri or Colorado or Nevada, and as you point out, we're tracking this at the precinct level, we think we have the majority of them, we think we've won in Iowa, we won in Minnesota, we won in Colorado, and Missouri is yet to be seen. And we think we probably won in Nevada, because we're counting the precinct votes. The only thing that I might add there is nothing wrong or deceptive about this, anybody can stay. Woody Allen says 80% of success is showing up. Our people show up. and they have a right to do that, and they are committed, and so they are running as delegates at the precinct level to the county convention where they will again run as delegates from the county convention to the state convention."

Garfield| 2.14.12 @ 7:24PM

Santorum and Gingrich didn't campaign in Maine.

Honestly though, are all Massachusetts politicians as corrupt as the Chicago politician in the White House or is it just Romney?

PCP Smoker| 2.14.12 @ 8:03PM

i think this is what happened in Iowa. They counted what they needed to count, got the headlines, and then moved on. At least the head of the IA GOP was made to resign.