Now, that's interesting. I would be VERY interested to see the exact stats on that one.
That being said, the longer this race is called into doubt and the more infighting there is within the GOP about this race, the better a shot Childers (D) has at making this race a horserace. I was not sure I would ever live to see the day when a Democrat would be elected to the Senate from Mississippi, but Childers, I say once again, is about as far Right as a Democrat can go and still be called a Democrat. And he is well-liked in MS.
Electoral history has shown us repeatedly that in cases like this, the underdog from the other party can rise to the top. I'm not saying it will happen. I am saying that if this blood-feud continues, it can happen, thus forcing the RNC to sink money into a state that should be safe (R) for them.
it could happen
but they really should get to the bottom of this
Well, of course, I agree strongly with you about that.
Again, I'm a Democrat, I have no dog in this race, and if the Cochran campaign "won" by cheating and it can be proven by the MS BOE that fraudulent votes put him over the top and that McDaniel actually won, then that MUST be cleared up.
The AP results right now:
News from The Associated Press
Cochran +6,693
The MS BOE has not yet published the race:
Secretary of State :: Elections
(As I indicated once before, in terms of information and election transparency, Mississippi is probably the very worst state in the nation: in terms of reporting VR, VT, election returns, the whole nine yards)
McDaniel supporters having claimed to have found +3,000 fraudulent "crossover" votes is
not the same as actual evidence that they were such, plus 3,000 would still mean that Cochran is still ahead by +3,600 or so. You can be sure that if this comes to a full HAND recount with double-checks, the Cochran people are going to find some "fraudulent" votes for McDaniel as well. And one re-count could lead to another.
This is exactly why recounting should be done by independent counters with no dog in the race. And this is why we need a national voter ID system, like every other civilized nation on the face of the earth.
Often, a vote is thrown-out by a partisan because someone says that that person voted in another county, like a Joe Green, perhaps. Well, duh, there is more than one Joe Green living in Mississippi, you can bet. See: Florida's computer purge of voters, 2000.
My point is, until a full HAND recount is done, this is all just smoke and mirrors.
Again, I want to make it clear: whoever truly had the most legal votes should be the winner, that is abundantly clear. But the McDaniel people are playing posse right now, as if they are empowered by the state to count votes again when no re-count has been ordered, and you can be 100% guaranteed they are making mistakes. They are neither trained to do this stuff nor are they empowered and they are hell-bent on wanting their guy to win. Which means they will do anything to find "fraudulent" votes.
, 42 U.S.C. §1973gg-6. In addition,the Individual Plaintiffs bring claims for vote dilution in violation of the Equal ProtectionClause, and Equal Protection claims for Mississippi’s failure to employ uniform election practices.
