The Ghost Ballot Box
By Robert Holloway
October 31, 2009
More than a year after the disrupted election at the Republican State Convention, the ballots have been counted for Congressional District 2. The election for delegates to the national convention were to be elected at the state convention on April 26, 2009. However the election was disrupted when the results were not turning out the way that party leaders expected. Anjonette Damon covered the story at the following link.
Ms. Damon's report includes the following text:
"According to Friday’s count, Paul delegate Robert Terhune won the most votes, with 288. Paul supporters Marla Criss and Pat Kerby had 283 votes each.
The delegates who actually went to the national convention for the 2nd Congressional District were Michelle Beard, who received 12 votes; Fely Quitevis, who received 19 votes; and Barbara Scoville who received no votes."
Obviously the winners at the ballot box were cheated out of their win by the abrupt shutdown of the convention and election. The counting of the ballots shows without doubt the extent to which Sue Lowden and her inner circle went to subvert the election. I am sure that ultimately Nevada voters will reject someone with the political instincts of a South American dictator. I believe that an objective evaluation of the evidence shows that Sue Lowden is unfit for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
Press Release of October 31, 2009
Las Vegas, NV October 31, 2009: Robert Holloway, Director of the Fair Nevada Elections Political Action Committee released the following statement:
Yesterday, Dr. Wayne Terhune and a group of Republicans in Northern Nevada opened a ballot box from the Republican State Convention of 2008. Since April 26, 2008, the ballot box has been locked in a safe deposit box in the Cashier’s Cage at the Peppermill Hotel. The ballot box was taken there on the night of April 26 when the state convention was abruptly halted in the midst of an election for delegates to the Republican National Convention. The counting of the ballots had not been completed at the time the election was disrupted. The ballot box contained the ballots for Congressional District 2. Nine delegates were to be elected by Congressional District with the remaining delegates to be selected on at large basis.
There is every reason to believe that the ballots remained undisturbed and secure since the convention. Although the national convention is long over, the ballot box represents something like a time capsule from the state convention. The results of the time capsule are especially interesting in relation to the candidacy of Sue Lowden for the United States Senate.
Yesterday’s counting of the ballots showed that the following persons won election as delegates to the National Convention of 2008 from Congressional District 2. They are Robert Terhune, 288 votes, Marla Chriss, 283 votes and Pat Kerby, 283 votes. The winning delegates of course did not get a chance to represent Nevada at the National Convention because of the abrupt ending of the convention. A few weeks later, Sue Lowden and others in a conference call selected delegates to attend the national convention instead of the legitimately elected delegates. It happened that two of those selected were also candidates in the district 2 election that was disrupted. The delegates who actually went to the national convention for the 2nd Congressional District were Michelle Beard, who received 12 votes; Fely Quitevis, who received 19 votes; and Barbara Scoville who received no votes.
In other words, Sue Lowden's disruption of the election meant that those who were denied seats as delegates got more than 10 times the votes of those who were eventually selected by the party leaders to attend.
Sue Lowden never offered an explanation for not counting the ballots in that ballot box. Instead, some weeks after the state convention, Sue Lowden and her circle named all the delegates to the national convention. This was contrary to state law which mandates that delegates to the national convention be selected at the state convention. It was also contrary to the agreement that the state party had with the national party to elect delegates at the state convention.
Sue Lowden was chairperson of the state party at the time of the convention and is therefore responsible but there is evidence that she not only permitted the improper ending of the convention and election but that she was a central figure in ordering the disruption of the election and the ending of the convention.
Our American political system depends on fair elections. Those who disrupt elections are striking a damaging blow to our system. More than any other single factor, I believe that fair elections are critical in maintaining a stable government. For more than 200 years, the stability of our system has rested on a general agreement that everyone must accept the results of elections, no matter how distasteful those results may be to some – and the results will always be unwelcome to many. The elections at state conventions are not trivial or minor things, because these elections play a role in the presidential elections. The use of sleazy and improper methods at state conventions should be resisted by all those who are interested in maintaining a stable and representative form of government.
In guiding the disruption of the election at the state convention, Sue Lowden was a central figure in one of the most unsavory and sordid episodes in Nevada political history. In disrupting an election, she followed the path of many of the dictators of history, including Fidel Castro, Ferdinand Marcos and many others who wanted power and were willing to brutalize the population in order to get power.
I am sure that ultimately Nevada voters will reject someone with the political instincts of a South American dictator. I believe that an objective evaluation of the evidence shows that Sue Lowden is unfit for a seat in the U.S. Senate. For more information, see www.fairnevadaelections.com
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