Absentee ballots lost in plane crash?
Yeah, that’s an excuse that I’d use if I was worried about the absentee ballots going against me in an upcoming election. Stars & Stripes link;
A top official in the Federal Voting Assistance Program this week notified election officials across the nation that a transport plane crashed at Shindad Air Base on Oct. 19.
The crash resulted in the destruction of 4,700 pounds of mail inbound to troops serving in the area.
Federal officials in their email to state election offices said they did not know if any ballots were destroyed. They also said the lost mail was limited to one zip code.
I can find little about any crash at Shindad Air Base but it looks like there were no casualties, which seems odd. I’m just saying in light of the cover up at Benghazi, this one is small potatoes.
If anyone out there has more information on the crash (apparently, almost all of the articles in Google are only related to the ballots), I’d welcome it, if just to mollify the voices in my head.
Category: 2012 election, Military issues
Some reason the Black Sabbath tune “Paranoid” comes to mind…
I can add a little since I’m in a unit that tracks this here in Afghanistan- you’re right, there were no casualties. As far as ballots, it’s highly unlikely that there were any on the plane- states are required to send out absentee ballots 45 days before the general election, so it’s doubtful that many were destroyed.
It was a contracted aircraft. The destroyed mail was “bound for the zip code 09382 (Shindand, Farah, and Camp Stone (also known as Herat)).” Source: Federal Voting Assistance Program news release of 24 October.
We only have 1 plane and 1 set of ballots? Maybe they could find another contract plane and spare ballots in Chicago and send them there today?
Crap
I’m shocked, SHOCKED I tell you to hear this. Coincidentally, my homework and last 3 alimony checks were on that bird, too.
I found these:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Bexar-replaces-service-member-s-ballot-lost-in-3975923.php
http://lunaticoutpost.com/Topic-Absentee-ballots-for-U-S-troops-burned-in-crash?action=newpost
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2950847/posts?page=1
That is all.
This seems rather inconvenient. Even if the troops voted, the ballots would not be back to the states in time for them to be counted. This is just another in a line of coincidences that will earn Obama another term… and I don’t believe in coincidences.
@#4. Can’t do it, those Chicago ballots have all been dropped off at the cemeteries, already. And, the spare ballots from Minnesota have all been marked and are waiting in car trunks all over Minneapolis-St. Paul.
You left out Texas.
The paranoia here is embarrassing, and those links that Ex-PH2 posted are down right scary, the way people leap off of a cliff to some conspiracy conclusion. It’s not some grand scheme to do voter suppression – they don’t even know if any ballots were on that mail run, they’re just sending out the notices to err on the side of caution. By the way, it’s Shindand, not Shindad.
Since absentee ballots were supposed to be mailed 45 days prior to the election, they should have been mailed on September 20th. So why would the Federal Voting Assistance Program think there were ballots on a plane that crashed almost a month after they were supposed to be mailed? Paranoiac math.
It was me! I stole them! I have lined my nest with them for the winter! You humans are toast!
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=squirrel+pictures&view=detail&id=B459D3C7C80B66EEB3D83F03A7F6B284D5A960C0&first=1
I searched the Air Force News Service, and no articles exist detailing the crash.
Typically, when there is an aircraft crash, the specific aircraft (C-17, C-5, etc.) is listed, along with issues of who survived or did not.
Secondary to this, I do not see any mainstream media hits on this issue, including Fox News, who would have been all over this story.
Last but not least- Factcheck.org and Snopes.com: NADA…
I have first hand knowledge of the crash. I saw the plane burning. One crew member was treated and released with no major injuries. As far as ballots go, I don’t know if any were on the plane but a bunch of us haven’t received our ballots. And no one will tell us just exactly what was on the plane besides “mail.” Take that how you will.
[…] know that story about absentee ballots being lost in a plane crash? Jonn at This ain’t Hell is blogging about it […]
Okay, what kind of plane was it?
The plane was a contracted DHL aircraft in which the landing gear collapsed on landing. The crew escaped but the A/C burned, destroying all cargo and the plane. This was relayed to me a few days ago from my brother who was waiting for a package from me.
How conveeeeeenient.
Any Guard or Reserve units in those camps? Say, from a state or district that could go either way?
Perhaps other states should join Jefferson County, Colorado in the 21st century and do absentee ballot via email. My son got his ballot via email 45 days before Election Day. Went to the voting center on base to print it. Filled it out, then went back to scan it and email it back. He then checked his status online and verified that the county received it.
Now he is on base in the US and I know email and such is a bit dicier the farther forward you are, but I would think that if there’s a voting center on each base that they would have email, printers and scanners available. It would certainly eliminate any delay or mishaps in receiving ballots or getting them back on time.
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Im currently at Shindand,
The plane was carrying about 4,700 Ibs of mail
It came in and lost its gear (or never deployed) and look like a bat outta hell coming down the strip
Crew was ok, thankfully
Im a NG solider and my ballot (along with most of the guys in my unit) were already in our hands or sent off,
The reason they put “May have contained Ballots” is they really dont check indivudual mail for what it is, just the Zip code of where it is going.
It was an An-12 flying on contract for DHL. Crashed on landing at approx 1730ish local time. My ops personnel at SHI were watching the fire and response, providing us with real-time info back at KAF. It was reported immediately to us that is was carrying mail. Seven crew, one slight injury evacuating the aircraft. Fuselage broke into several section when it crashed.
This is not about lost ballots, but the hurricane has reached inland as far as Lake Michigan, with snow and freezing rain reaching westward into the southeastern corner of Kentucky. The storm is 2200 miles across. NYSE was closed all day. NYC is basically shut down. Battery Park flooded early this morning. Ohio had early voting this morning — 1 million voters showed up in spite of the storm. Storm surge is 5 to 10 feet, with high tides and a full moon tonight.
O’Hare Airport and Midway are both shut down. Winds picked up this afternoon around 1PM CDT. Lake Michigan had 10ft surf this afternoon, expected to go to 27 to 31 ft surf. Storm is in Michigan and Indiana already.
The most important thing is that there are no campaign ads on TV, because most TV stations in the storm area are dark. And there are no campaign stops because both candidates have put that on hold, all due to Mother Nature’s decision to have a squall and marry it with a classic nor’easter. It could possibly last until just before election day.
Y’all have a nice day. 🙂
Meanwhile, the OIC (that would be occupier in chief) is whining about how his feelings are hurt over being accused of misrepresenting things about Benghazi and setting up the situation where Jeeps will most likely now be manufactured in China.
Oh, yeah. The whiner in chief. Just loverly, you silly man.
OK. That didn’t have anything to do with lost military ballots either. Seems that there are a bunch of civilians lining up to make up the difference? This could be very interesting. Maybe such an overwhelming majority that the fraudulent vote cannot overcome it?
One can only hope.
I was there and saw the whole thing happen. The accounts are not entirely correct.
The airplane was traveling down the runway at excessive speed after landing and made a hard left turn onto a taxiway. At least the nose gear collapsed as the starboard wing hit the ground and the plane caught fire. BIG fireball and lots of black smoke. The aircraft did not break up until well after it was on fire.
The crew did somehow escape (one guy got some stitches) and the airplane burnt to the ground along with some 4700 pounds of mail.
Only small portions of the craft were left behind. They had it cleared off the next day and air ops resumed shortly thereafter.
That’s all.
GTA V is awesome. This gameis definitely going to get me fired!