Disaster in St. Charles County.

[galloglas]

ATTENTION:---- In the entire County of St. Charles, where the Election Director is Rich Chrismer (as in the father of Jim Talent's campaign manager, Rich Chrismer), the head of the County Democratic Committee was told, in August, to name all poll judges, challengers and watchers! Otherwise, he (Chrismer) did not have to consider any of them!!!

The St. Louis County legal team (headed by, I hear, Shonna Clemmings) knew about this at least two weeks before the cutoff date to submit these names (cutoff was 5:00 PM on Tuesday, 10/31) and managed to get seven people qualified in two weeks!

NOW, in St. Charles County, there are 240,000 ballots to be cast and there will not be one single pair of Democratic eyes to watch the process!


BTW, the Missouri SoS Election Protection Hot Line is 800-669-8683. In case, (hint, hint) you just MIGHT want to call!

[dalaigh lllama]

1. Does each county do things differently?

Back in October I called our local election board to volunteer to help today, and they asked me which party I was affiliated with. They said they needed an equal amount from each party at the polls. (They also said they'd call me if they needed my help, bu they never did.) I'm in Audrain county, BTW.

[galloglas]

2. St. Charles is the ONE exception...

Both St. Louis and Jackson counties each have an Election Board for the City and one for the County. But, in each case, they are bi-partisan.

So they have a Republican and a Democrat Election Director for both St. Louis City and Kansas City, as well as St. Louis County and (what is called) Eastern Jackson County.

All other 111 counties, except St. Charles, have a County Clerk who is supposed to divide the workers out in equal numbers.

St. Charles is the only one (because it is a Charter County) which elects a single Election Director. And that director is Rich Chrismer, father of talent's campaign director!

I know that there has been a call made to the SoS for his recusal (see below). But he has not recused himself. Look for a big problem in St. Charles tonight.

And the only thing we can do is to scream bloody murder to both the Press and the Secretary of State.


St. Charles County Elections Director asked to Recuse Himself over Election Day Conflict Involving Son
Talent spokesman Rich Chrismer’s father heads 240,000 person voting district
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 30, 2006


Jefferson City — The Missouri Democratic Party today called on the father of Jim Talent’s spokesman to recuse himself for the General Election as St. Charles County Director of Elections, citing a potential conflict of interest. Rich Chrismer, earned more than $90,000 last year working for Talent’s Senatorial staff and is now his campaign spokesman.

Rich Chrismer, who shares a name with his son, is the St. Charles County Elections Director where he oversees the voting registrations and procedures for St. CharlesCounty’s 240,000 registered voters. In September Chrismer said he was registering 1,000 voters each week<1>, an unusually high number for a nonpresidential year.

"It is in everyone’s best interest that Missourians have confidence that their votes are counted fairly, be they Democrats or Republicans. An election official that could be handling hundreds of thousands of ballots should not have such a glaring conflict of interest as Rich Chrismer does," said Missouri Democratic Party spokesman Jack Cardetti.

The Missouri Democratic Party also cited some troubling problems Chrismer and St. CharlesCounty have had in the past including precincts with 100 percent or more of active voters voting in November 2004, and more than one case of Chrismer not being able to identify a voter’s address.

In 2004, St. CharlesCounty had six precincts that recorded 100 percent or better turnouts, with one precinct showing 31 more votes casts than active voters.<2> Even in precincts that came short of 100 percent, voter turnout was exceedingly above average when compared to the rest of the area.

On at least two occasions Chrismer has been on the receiving end of a law suit claiming he cannot identify the address of registered voters in St. Charles County. Chrismer has responded by admitting his own ineffectiveness as Elections Director by saying he was unable to unable to verify the residency of everyone who registers to vote.<3>

###


<1> "Absentee balloting begins today in Missouri" St. Louis Post-Dispatch September 26, 2006

<2> "Six precincts record 100% turnout" St. Louis Post-Dispatch November 7, 2004

<3> "St. Charles goes to court to get 3 votes disqualified Focus is on defeat of 3 annexations in April election" St. Louis Post-Dispatch May 5, 2005
# # #

[wildflowergardener]

3. st. louis county

I know this is not St. Charles - in St. Louis County, after 2004 I felt alot better about voting here, because I was a poll worker and For every poll worker there had to be one republican and one democrat, and each one had to sign the book for each person, also they were very strict about the procedures of handling the ballots.

Meg

[galloglas]

4. Disaster was averted... McCaskill wins!! Talent concedes!!

How about that catastrophe in St. Charles??

Three heroic ShowMe citizens fought off the sheriff, GOP lawyers, and Rich Chrismer. Then stuck it out at the 170th precinct in St. Charles County, cameras and all!!

St. Charles went to Talent by 52 to 44% (probably 51% to 48% when we see the films, and recount).

Give a big HIP! HIP! HOORAY!!! to those brave souls from ShowMeTheVote!!!!