A few people commented that, as
All told, 14,208 people cast a straight-line Democratic vote. Nifong received a total of 26,116 votes, so approximately 54.4 percent of Nifong’s votes came from straight-line tickets. Voters could cast a straight-line Democratic ticket and still vote for Cheek, but it seems unlikely that any more than a handful did so.
I took a look at Nifong’s eight strongest precincts, each of which had at least 90% of voters who were African-Americans, and his eight weakest precincts, each of which had less than 16.5% of voters who were African-Americans.
The figures are below, but the basic conclusion: the percentage of Nifong voters who cast straight-party ballots was actually higher in the most anti-Nifong, predominantly white, precincts than in the most pro-Nifong, predominantly African-American, precincts.
Strong Nifong Precincts
| Precinct | % voted for Nifong | % Nifong vote straight-party lever |
| 42 | 96.0 | 50.2 |
| 12 | 95.0 | 56.5 |
| 13 | 93.3 | 59.7 |
| 11 | 93.7 | 51.0 |
| 41 | 92.7 | 56.8 |
| 47 | 93.6 | 49.3 |
| 49 | 91.7 | 60.0 |
| 10 | 91.2 | 63.2 |
Average straight-ticket vote as percentage of Nifong vote: 55.8 percent
Weak Nifong Precincts
| Precinct | % voted for Nifong | % Nifong vote straight-party lever |
| 37 | 21.6 | 57.0 |
| 25 | 23.0 | 63.9 |
| 28 | 23.0 | 57.5 |
| 44 | 30.3 | 52.6 |
| 43 | 31.4 | 58.7 |
| 45 | 32.0 | 51.8 |
| 50 | 34.9 | 47.8 |
| 27 | 39.0 | 61.6 |
Average straight-ticket vote as percentage of Nifong vote: 56.4 percent
One other item: factoring in the straight-ticket option, only 281 voters (of a total of 1823 who cast ballots) in Mike Nifong’s home precinct took the time to fill in the oval next to his name.
I posted this as a separate item, but will also add it in to the post below.
17 comments:
So basically the AA commuity voted for Nifong to see these innocent white boys hang for injustices their ancestors had. Nifong has an ADA in his office who is a pedaphile and sexually harrasses his co-workers who have to quit for their safety. Nifong who is aware of this will not stop his sex crazed ADA because the perverts mother donated a large sum of money to Nifong's campaign. We also know why the NC Bar hasn't stepped in: The NC Bar members son got caught breaking into the DA's office, so in exchange for not pressing charges Nifong has immunity from the NC Bar to break every and any law he wants. Looks like extortion to me. Also I beleive it is extortion for the FA to tell all her buddies at the Platinum club the she is "going to get alot of money from those white rich boys". Bring the Feds in now before the Nigerian gun runners and diamond smugglers at the Platinum club decide to step in.
Durham is EXTREMELY Democrat as we all know, so this is telling. KC, could one then argue that Nifong really only had about 20-25% of the total votes cast for him? Over 50% went to Cheeks and Monks and another 25% were gifts due to straight ticket votes.
12:30pm-
I thought Destine liked MILF's according to myspace, didn't know he was a pedaphile. He does however, have sex addict written all over him.
Ed Bradley has died. I trust KCJ will post a suitable appreciation soon. Meanwhile, here is a link to his own network's report:
http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/topstories_story_313121849.html
No one should be surprised at the Nifong election results. I am reminded me of a Federal District Court case in North Carolina on sexual harassment several years ago on which I served as jury foreman.
I witnessed first-hand the stubborn clinging of some jury members to their opinions, their biases, their agendas, and their snap judgments in spite of the presentation of evidence – that is facts – to the contrary. One jury member really made an impression on me when she announced that she didn’t care what the documented written policy of the company was, what only mattered was what she thought the policy should be. Another jury member had, I believe, made up his mind in the first ten minutes of the case based on his apparent immediate dislike of the plaintiff.
The lacrosse case is as emotionally loaded as any case in recent history. This makes it exceptionally susceptible to the human tendency to ignore facts, and that is all the more reason to insist on sticking to the facts and, at least as important, sticking to the law. The plaintiff in the sexual harassment case lost, not because she was the not the recipient of harassment (she was, as was verified by testimony, some of it truly mind-boggling), but because the plaintiff’s attorneys did not make a case strong enough to jump over the very high bar for proving sexual harassment under the existing laws of North Carolina. Now try to imagine picking a jury in Durham County that would live up to these responsibilities.
One note of interest to readers: the judge in the above case stopped by to talk to us (the jurors) after the trial. I casually mentioned to him that it would have been really helpful if jury members could ask questions of the witnesses. I was dumbfounded by his answer: we certainly could, provided we submitted them in writing to the judge, who, assuming he deemed them appropriate, would ask them on our behalf. There were a couple of questions that could have been asked that would have clarified and really focused the issues that were never asked. And the judge rated the attorneys as “nines or tens” on a scale of ten. My conclusion – never get involved in the judicial system, but if you are, hire the best attorney you can afford. You’re going to need one.
To 12:33,
I had a brief glimpse of the voting breakdown for Durham and I believe your point is correct. I'm not sure if it was 25% that voted straight ticket, but it was a significnat number.
The totals:
14,208 straight-ticket Dem
3159 straight-ticket GOP
total votes: 53184
So just over 25% were straight-ticket Dem voters.
One of the reasons I have publicly voiced my oppostion to the option to simply vote straight ticket. If you are making the effort to get out and vote, make the effort to know the impact of each and every vote you make. There is no question that without the straight ticket option, Nifong would have received significantly less votes.
To KC: We now know that Couch's mommy paid off Nifong in the amount of a $1,000 campaign contribution for not going after her son on sexual harrasment in his very own office of DA. We also know there is a connection as to why the NC Bar has been so lax in rearing in Nifong and his prosecutorial misconduct. Didn't a son of NC Bar board member get caught breaking into the DA's office and he didn't get so much as a slap on the wrist. Nifong didn't press charges, and return his mother who is on the board didn't go after Nifong. Looks like something the FEDs can sink their teeth into. What if any other info can we get about the NC Bar and what else does Nifong hold over the other members? When we nail Nifong I want to make sure we used the galvinized steel so there is no room to squirm out of it.
Regarding the low turn out at Duke and NCCU, it occurs to me that it might have a lot to do with the fact that students graduate, drop out, or transfer a lot more often than than the voter roles are updated. For all I know, my name is listed on the rolls of my college town too.
Yeah so Nifong won. I'm not shocked. Are any of you? As KC said a while ago, "you don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing."
What can we surmise all of this means? Commonsense conjecture would lead us to conclude what? Is it to early to start talking about trial by jury? Jury selections? Or is it more likely that this trial will be dismissed on multiple technicalities?
RM PAM
to 1:59 pm re juror questions:
Just a note on procedure. The reason questions by the jurors must be filtered through the judge is because there may have been pretrial rulings which place some questions out of bounds. For instance, if the photo ID's in this case are tossed out and the case still goes to trial, a juror might well want to ask if the accuser ever picked the defendants out of any lineup. If the photo lineup is ruled inadmissable, no one can even ask that question.
1:59 PM said:
"One jury member...announced that she didn’t care what the documented written policy of the company was, what only mattered was what she thought the policy should be."
This is nullification. While the company's written policy is not the law, this same thought process occurs with juries/jurors on points of law.
Hypothetically, let's say that the law defines rape as a forcible sex act upon someone who has not consented to that sex act. At trial, the facts demonstrate that a rape did not occur; however, one or more jurors think that the defendants should be found guilty of rape because they hired a woman to take off her clothes and made a comment about a broomstick.
The juror/jurors vote to convict of rape. A jury member might then state, "I don't care what the law is. The only thing that matters is what I think the law should be. The jury may convict if all jurors believe this, or one or more jurors may hang the jury on this basis.
This is exactly what Nifong surely must be hanging (pun intended) his hopes on. Jury nullification of law CAN be upheld in North Carolina. Nifong wants conviction or a hung jury. In either case, he "wins." In the former, he has done his duty for the "cause" (although it is likely he would still be disbarred). In the latter, he can continue the trial for another few months to avoid being disbarred just a bit longer.
Twaddlefree
To 1:59 and 10:38 pm:
What I find shocking is that the jury was not apprised of their ability to ask those questions, regardless of the process for doing so.
Twaddlfree
I strongly suspect that there will end up being a hung jury in this case.
I hear the membership in the Klu Klux Klan has tripled in NC since this started. Good job Nifong. NOT!
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