j.lowe : making and finding stuff

CNN reports (via The Albany Times Union) that hundreds of absentee ballots have been sent to voters in New York State’s Rensselaer County, near Albany, with Barack Obama’s last name spelled as “Osama.” Election officials are claiming it’s an unfortunate mistake, despite the fact that the form went through three different proof readers.

How many times have you hit “s” on the keyboard when meaning to hit “b”?

Never. Ok. Well, I guess one could assume that the person who made the ballot just had an unfortunate slip of the mind – but it is still odd that two other people approved it afterward.

From the Albany Times Union-

”It’s a little suspicious and at least grossly incompetent,” an anonymous voter said. “If I crossed out the name and wrote in the right spelling my ballot would be invalid.”

What is happening to our democracy?