Rich Whitney (right) rallying supporters outside of ABC7 Chicago studio as the League of Women Voters, a civic organization committed to informing voters, excludes IL voters from hearing from Whitney, an established Green Party candidate for governor of I by Kevin Gosztola
Rich Whitney earned national media attention about a week ago when it was revealed that his name was misspelled in voting machines being used for early voting in Chicago. His name was spelled correctly on machines when the voter was casting the vote, but when it was time to review votes and submit the ballot, the vote showed up as a vote for a "Rich Whitey."
The Chicago Board of Elections was originally not going to fix the problem or said they couldn't. But, Keith Olbermann selected the Board as a "Worst Person" and the error received a good amount of national coverage and was featured in a segment on The Rachel Maddow Show.
So, Whitney now says, although the campaign is still having problems with getting the Board to straighten things out, the Board is going to fix the problem hopefully before Election Day.
The candidate formerly known as "Rich Whitey" doesn't deserve a Sanity Award for weathering this incredible error and continuing to campaign vigorously for the election. He deserves it for what he is trying to do in Illinois: Restore sanity to Illinois politics.
Rich Whitney earned 10% of the vote in 2006 when he ran for governor, which meant he or another Green Party candidate had automatic ballot status for the gubernatorial election. He managed to earn a chance to debate the two candidates from the Democratic and Republican Parties---Democratic Governor Pat Quinn and Republican State Senator Bill Brady---something that is surprising since Democrats and Republicans usually refuse to appear on stage with candidates who are not Democrat or Republican.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
2
