World

Rich Whitey on Ballot in Illinois: Actually it is Rich Whitney

by Amy Judd | October 15, 2010 at 08:11 am

640 views | 0 Recommendations | 2 comments

Rich Whitney is Not Happy That His Name is Misspelled as Rich Whitney on Electronic-Voting Machines in Illinois

The Chicago Sun Times notes that his name is misspelled as 'Whitey' in nearly two dozen wards, about half of those in predominantly African-American areas, and there is not enough time to fix the problem by election day.

His name appears as Rich Whitney on the original screen on the voting machine, but is misspelled on review screens that show the voter their choices.

"This is a difficult situation. We'll make the best of it. But the important thing is the name is spelled correctly where it counts, and that's where people are making the selection," Allen said.

The city election board have said they will post a notice of all the candidates at the polling stations and Rich Whitney's name will be spelled correctly there.

Rich Whitney is not happy about the situation and is contemplating legal action.

"I don't want to be identified as 'Whitey.' If this is happening in primarily African-American wards, that's an even bigger concern," Whitney told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I don't know if this is machine politics at play or why this happened."

"In any event, whether it is or not, this has to be disconcerting to a voter, and I wonder how this will impact the vote."

1 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

AndoDoug (not verified)

at 20:28 on October 16th, 2010

This is a mind-blowing development. And exactly what Karl Rove would have thought of back in the day when he was still ambitious lol. As a Canadian addicted to American political machinations and having just learned of Hans A. Von Spakovsk on Rachel Maddow, I salute you all, what a precious and fragile democracy we share.

katodaniel (not verified)

at 06:00 on October 24th, 2010

If this was a mistake, I have to wonder who is in charge of our voting system. If this was on purpose, I have to again wonder who is in charge of our voting system. Questions should be asked.