“In Mayor TenHaken’s letter, when he talks about the integrity of the election, I have to question his integrity,” Barth said during the Minnehaha County Commission meeting.
This appears to be what I have said it was from the beginning, blatant partisan voter suppression by Mayor Stoneless, and Jeff reiterated that at the meeting. Just look at how he has moved the goal posts in just a few days, first it was about ‘Security’ and when he couldn’t get any traction on that he said it was about ‘State Law’ than when that didn’t stick he said it was about what they do in Iowa.
I will have to agree with Barth, it’s not about any of those things, it’s just plain Bullsh*t coming from a very weak individual who continues to fail at leadership. If Paul had any stones at all, he would come in front of the County Commission and explain to them in person why he won’t do it, or at least send the person who is really running the city, COS Beck, to explain it.
When Paul was elected he had a long history of making a living at being a partisan hack, so I had no question in my mind he would continue that tradition as mayor, and he hasn’t disappointed in that respect. Just like the last guy who made a living from being a salesman, he continued that tradition as mayor.
Folks, in Sioux Falls, Covid is not what ails us, it’s our government.
Not only does our Mayor HATE transparency and openness in local government, but now he is actively supporting voter suppression.
Trust me, I was pretty shocked that the SD ACLU got involved, when we pointed out the irregularities in the School Bond vote (super precincts in only the southern part of town and hand counting by finance staff) they virtually ignored us. This time thankfully they are stepping up;
The government should never require citizens to play roulette with their health in order to vote. That’s why we’re pushing Mayor TenHaken to think creatively and work with County Auditor Bob Litz to install additional ballot drop boxes ahead of the November Election
TenHaken’s reasoning for the denial was a lack of time to iron out the necessary security details. The Mayor and his team can do better.
Defenders of the mayor have said that ‘He actually has utterly nothing to do with the November election.’ They are correct on that point, and I have told Auditor Litz in person that he is in charge of the election and has wide authority. The problem? He has to have permission from the city’s top executive to place the drop boxes on city owned property. Despite what others are saying, Bob did ‘ask’ the city for that permission. I asked Bob, “Why is the mayor so against your proposal?” Bob figures he was mad because he wasn’t included in the plan. But this is where Bob made a great point, and I am paraphrasing, “If I would have asked permission from the city before putting together a plan, they would have said to me, come back with a plan. So I did the legwork and worked up a plan before I asked.” You would have thought the mayor would have been appreciative. Nope. When Bob said the city doesn’t have the ‘stones’ to move forward, I’m guessing he was talking about the chief executive, who I have argued does have ‘stones’ mostly in his head. The mayor didn’t even have the leadership and courage to contact Bob himself in an email or phone call, he had one of his communications minions tell Bob NO.
As for the security issues, first off, they could have had a couple hour meeting with the chief of police, the sheriff and the risk manager and worked out those details. As for people stealing a drop box, highly unlikely. They would have been secured to the ground and under 24/7 camera and light surveillance and most likely emptied each day. Also, take into account that stealing ballots is a crime that has some hefty penalties. And even then, what would be the point? You would be stealing ballots from both sides, so it would serve no nefarious purpose.
This is just part of a larger right-wing wacko conspiracy theory that drop boxes and voting by mail is riddled with fraud. This has been proven to not be the case.
I encourage the city council to put a resolution together to make it happen, we still have almost 20 days to get it done.
I don’t know if I am more disappointed in the mayor for believing such nutty theories or that he supports blatant voter suppression. Auditor Litz is right, grow a pair and while your are at it, a brain.
Apparently this meeting was posted on Saturday. I guess auditor Litz found a sealed box of uncounted ballots and had to re-count. Not sure how many or what district(s). I’m waiting to hear the details after the meeting.
Monday, June 11, 2018 8:30 a.m.
Pledge of Allegiance
SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING:
1) Consider Motion to Certify the Results of the June 5, 2018 Primary Election Canvass – Bob Litz
Bob has said that his poll workers are elderly, but isn’t he in charge of training them?
“A lot of my election workers, they’re retired, they’re getting older, they don’t always make the right choice out there. There’s human error. I loathe to throw them under the bus, because it’s difficult to get them,” Litz said.
He also didn’t seem to concerned that election results may have been altered because of the mistakes;
Bender: “I just want to see if you can give me some comfort, if you feel like the error did not affect that race.” Litz: “That one there is troublesome. I don’t know what to tell you. Like you said, the margin of error was five votes. It could’ve been affected, yes.”
He than tries to blame partisan politics. Wasn’t it just REPUBLICANS on the ballot?
“At the end of the day, I’m sitting here holding a bag. You, you, are up here playing a political ploy. Okay, I’m republican, you’re democrat. I get that. That’s the way the game is played. Don’t act like you’re not playing that game, Mr. Barth,” Litz said.
We have already had a volunteer election committee that pointed out the issues with the Auditors office and the SOS office, yet the problems still exist.
l3wis 
