Truthful Politics

A huge typographical errors has been made on Rensselaer County NY absentee ballots sent out to at least 300 voters. On row 1A it lists Senator Barack Obama as Barack Osama. Is this really a mistake or was it intentional? As a typist and someone who has typed many books for publishing firms I have confused neighborhing letters, I have transposed letters, but I have never confused the letter B with the letter S or any other letter keystrokes away from each other.

What happens to those ballots sent in with the Osama name on it - will they be discarded as inaccurate? Will the vote actually go for Obama? or will it perhaps count as a vote for Osama? I called the Rensselaer County Board of Elections and spoke to a women who refused to give her name, she said that "they are typograpical errors and because of the errors they will be counted as votes for Obama."

My question would be to those receiving the ballots - absentee voters in Schodack, Nassau, Brunswick, Schaghticoke and Sand lake - Will this raise a question in your mind before you mark your ballot and send it in? Will you automatically assume the vote will go for Barack Obama or think otherwise and either not send it in or vote for someone else?

Cathy von Hassel-Davies