More About Those Circles on Maps

Josh Howard, Chair,
NC SBOE

Is it only coincidence that Watauga Board of Elections member Bill Aceto produced circles on the map of Watauga County (see last post, down-column) that are virtually identical to circles on the map of Forsyth County that the majority Republicans down there used to ram through their own Early Voting Plan that established one polling station for the entire city of Winston-Salem?

At the hearing (via tele-conference) on March 6 of the State Board of Elections to determine which Early Voting plan would be adopted for Forsyth -- the majority Republican plan based on circles that ignored population density or the minority Democratic plan that acknowledged the greater population of Winston-Salem -- State Board of Elections Chair Joshua Howard said -- twice -- according to the transcript, that he found the Republican map with circles "striking."

Put a circle on a map and SBOE Chair Howard is simply dazzled.

Is that why Aceto put circles on a map?

Joshua Howard is a lawyer and may be excused, we guess, for being incompetent when it comes to geographical and demographical facts about the landscape (even though NC statutes mandate that the Board of Elections shall consider those factors in locating polling sites for the convenience of voters). His previous claims to fame are that he assisted the pit bulls in prosecuting Bill Clinton over Monica Lewinsky and he worked behind the scenes on the confirmations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Partisanship counts for more than mere statistics relating to ballot access.