Sharkey County, MS?

[homelycooking]

This is very strange.

Sharkey County, Mississippi Vote for President, 2004

Kerry/Edwards, Democratic, 1560 (50.4%)
Bush/Cheney, Republican, 1120 (36.2%)
Cobb/LaMarche, Green, 145 (4.7%)
Calero/Trowe, Socialist Workers, 94 (3.0%) (That's 27 votes less than Calero's haul in the Bronx!)

Sharkey County is majority Black, located between Jackson and Greenville. Green Party candidate Nader got 0.6% there in 2000, SWP candidate James Harris got 0.4%. In 2008, Nader got four votes (0.1%) and McKinney (Green) got one vote

Can anyone explain why the Green percentage of the vote for 2004 here is over four times higher than in any other county in the United States, or why one in 13 votes for Calero/Trowe in Mississippi were cast in Sharkey County when that county is home to one in 447 Mississippi voters?

[I left.]

Because it's inaccurate, quite simply.

[Thomas D]

The numbers do look odd.

http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/datagraph.php?year=2004&fips=28&f=0&off=0&elect=0

[homelycooking]

That data can't be right. So how does one find out what the actual results were? Both CNN and the Election Atlas show these numbers.

[Ameriplan]

FYI Kerry received 6 less votes and the SWP ticket didn't include Trowe that year.

[Ameriplan]

http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/index.html

Something is afoot.

[Thomas D]

That data can't be right. So how does one find out what the actual results were? Both CNN and the Election Atlas show these numbers.

It's sideways for some reason but here you go

http://www.sos.state.ms.us/elections/2004/General/Sharkey.pdf

[homelycooking]

Gasp, the results are RIGHT? How can that be?! How does the Green party vote go from 16 in 2000 to 145 in 2004, then 1 in 2008?

[Thomas D]

Gasp, the results are RIGHT? How can that be?! How does the Green party vote go from 16 in 2000 to 145 in 2004, then 1 in 2008?

You're right. I can see 2008. A majority black county standing behind Obama makes sense. But the sharp uptick in the Green vote from 2000 to 2004 is odd.

[Bo]

Gasp, the results are RIGHT? How can that be?! How does the Green party vote go from 16 in 2000 to 145 in 2004, then 1 in 2008?

You're right. I can see 2008. A majority black county standing behind Obama makes sense. But the sharp uptick in the Green vote from 2000 to 2004 is odd.

Maybe there was some kind of dissatisfaction with Kerry (such as his comment about becoming the second black President).

[homelycooking]

I'm trying to think of explanations for this:

1. A bunch (300 or so) of voters got together and decided to vote for third-party candidates?
2. Poor ballot design (à la Theresa LePore in Palm Beach County) caused people to unwittingly vote for third parties?
3. Bad voting machines?
4. Election officials knowingly signed off on bogus results?
5. Black Democrats' disillusionment with Kerry? (@ Rochambeau: Sounds plausible, but why did this only happen in Sharkey County?)

[homelycooking]

OK, it's poor ballot design. Cobb and Calero are on the top of the ballot.

http://www.sos.state.ms.us/elections/2004/2004SampleBallot.pdf

This one ranks up there with the Butterfly and Catterpillar ballots in the annals of Poor Ballot Design!

Thanks to RBH, who posted this years ago. Sorry for wasting your time, the original topic is on page 3 of this forum.

[Ameriplan]

OK, it's poor ballot design. Cobb and Calero are on the top of the ballot.

http://www.sos.state.ms.us/elections/2004/2004SampleBallot.pdf

This one ranks up there with the Butterfly and Catterpillar ballots in the annals of Poor Ballot Design!

Thanks to RBH, who posted this years ago. Sorry for wasting your time, the original topic is on page 3 of this forum.

Are you telling me liberals are so retarded that they vote for whomever, as long as they're on the top of the ballot? lol

[Dallasfan65]

The black vote swung away from Kerry - he only got 88% nationally.

[homelycooking]

On the contrary, my Krazy Konservative friend, I'm telling you that Democrats and Republicans vote for the candidate that they think is the Democrat or Republican, even if it's a nutter Socialist, based on the design of the ballot.

[Vasall des Midas]

3. Bad voting machines?
4. Election officials knowingly stupidly, carelessly signed off on bogus results?

I always thought it was this. There's always one or two small counties that certify obvious crap.

There's a place in North Dakota in 2008 where they messed up one precinct (counting the D and R tallies for two minor candidates instead); Lake Co TN counted every single vote twice in 2004, etc.

[Vasall des Midas]

I'm almost certain there's a thread here somewhere, too...

[Vasall des Midas]

Quite a few, actually.

http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=12434.0

http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=14140.0

http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=26222.0

http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=67196.0

[homelycooking]

There's a place in North Dakota in 2008 where they messed up one precinct (counting the D and R tallies for two minor candidates instead);

I remember this. That was Grant County, right?
Any more conspicuous examples of bad ballot design besides:

Butterfly Ballot, Palm Beach County '00
Caterpillar Ballot, Duval County '00
"Christmas for Commies" Ballot, Sharkey County '04
"Either-Or" Ballot, Sarasota County '06
Double-Bubble Ballot, Los Angeles County '08?

[RBH]

results by precinct, Sharkey County ( Shift+Ctrl+Plus http://www.sos.state.ms.us/elections/2004/General/Sharkey.pdf )

Anguilla Community Center: 0 - 23 - 10 - 6 - 178 - 4 - 7
Anguilla Town Hall: 9 - 244 - 21 - 23 - 231 - 6 - 5
Cary Town Hall: 23 - 165 - 41 - 15 - 255 - 15 - 13
Delta City Community Center: 3 - 114 - 19 - 9 - 213 - 6 - 4
New National Guard Armory: 2 - 2 - 0 - 2 - 34 - 3
Rolling Fork 3rd: 26 - 47 - 27 - 29 - 356 - 13 - 14
Spanish Fort Voting Building: 1 - 52 - 4 - 0 - 17 - 0 - 0
Rolling Fork 1: 4 - 409 - 15 - 5 - 198 - 2 - 2
Rolling Fork 4: 2 - 2 - 4 - 2 - 48 - 3 - 1
St. Bayou 4: 4 - 62 - 4 - 3 - 30 - 0 - 1

[Vasall des Midas]

Just so people don't have to look it up.

                                           L - R - G - Harris - D - Ref - Cons
Anguilla Community Center: 0 - 23 - 10 - 6 - 178 - 4 - 7
Anguilla Town Hall: 9 - 244 - 21 - 23 - 231 - 6 - 5
Cary Town Hall: 23 - 165 - 41 - 15 - 255 - 15 - 13
Delta City Community Center: 3 - 114 - 19 - 9 - 213 - 6 - 4
New National Guard Armory: 2 - 2 - 0 - 2 - 34 - 3
Rolling Fork 3rd: 26 - 47 - 27 - 29 - 356 - 13 - 14
Spanish Fort Voting Building: 1 - 52 - 4 - 0 - 17 - 0 - 0
Rolling Fork 1: 4 - 409 - 15 - 5 - 198 - 2 - 2
Rolling Fork 4: 2 - 2 - 4 - 2 - 48 - 3 - 1
St. Bayou 4: 4 - 62 - 4 - 3 - 30 - 0 - 1

I take it Rolling Fork has strong residential segregation.

[RBH]

Just so people don't have to look it up.

                                           L - R - G - Harris - D - Ref - Cons
Anguilla Community Center: 0 - 23 - 10 - 6 - 178 - 4 - 7
Anguilla Town Hall: 9 - 244 - 21 - 23 - 231 - 6 - 5
Cary Town Hall: 23 - 165 - 41 - 15 - 255 - 15 - 13
Delta City Community Center: 3 - 114 - 19 - 9 - 213 - 6 - 4
New National Guard Armory: 2 - 2 - 0 - 2 - 34 - 3
Rolling Fork 3rd: 26 - 47 - 27 - 29 - 356 - 13 - 14
Spanish Fort Voting Building: 1 - 52 - 4 - 0 - 17 - 0 - 0
Rolling Fork 1: 4 - 409 - 15 - 5 - 198 - 2 - 2
Rolling Fork 4: 2 - 2 - 4 - 2 - 48 - 3 - 1
St. Bayou 4: 4 - 62 - 4 - 3 - 30 - 0 - 1

I take it Rolling Fork has strong residential segregation.

The precinct maps on Gardow show that Rolling Fork 1 is pretty vast (South Rolling Fork, and going from west to east, from county line to county line)

Spanish Fort is also majority white. And Straight Bayou is mixed. Those three precincts had 1447 people in 2000 and were 59% white.

The rest of the county had 5133 people, and was 78% African-American

Anguilla Town Hall is 33% White. It went for Bush and Obama.

http://www.sos.state.ms.us/elections/2008/General%20Election/GE/Sharkey.pdf The only precincts going for McCain were the two majority white precincts and Straight Bayou.

If there was a functional/consistent Democratic party in Mississippi, the state would be a great swing state, along with Louisiana.