I never expected this fake "audit" would be so much fun! Arizona Republicans hunt for bamboo-laced China ballots in 2020 ‘audit’ "Damn! Could that spot be soy sauce?" Arizona Republicans are examining whether there is bamboo fiber in ballots that were used in the 2020 election, an activist assisting with the ongoing audit of the ballots told reporters this week. The latest claim underscores how rightwing conspiracy theories continue to fuel doubt about the results of the results. “There’s accusation that 40,000 ballots were flown in to Arizona and it was stuffed into the box and it came from the south-east part of the world, Asia, and what they’re doing is to find out whether there’s bamboo in the paper,” John Brakey, a longtime election audit advocate, told reporters. The search for bamboo fibers illustrates how the latest GOP audit of all 2.1m ballots cast in Maricopa county, home to a majority of Arizona voters, is elevating absurd claims about the 2020 election. After election day, rightwing activists falsely claimed that China had imported ballots to tip the election for Biden and that those ballots could be identified because there was bamboo in the paper. Earlier, workers were using UV lights to examine ballots; while the purpose of doing so was never clear, there was a conspiracy theory after the election that Trump had watermarked ballots (the UV examinations have stopped). Auditors did not have a clear process for tallying ballots, left laptops unattended, and clear procedures were not in place to hire unbiased counters. “Either do it right, or don’t do it at all,” she wrote. One of the people who spread the lie about China dumping ballots, according to Slate, was Javon Pulitzer, a treasure hunter and inventor, who is reportedly assisting with the Maricopa county audit. Though it’s not clear in what capacity Pulitzer is assisting, Brakey told reporters on Tuesday that the machines capturing the microscopic images of the ballots were linked to Pulitzer. “This guy is nuts,” he said. “He’s a fraudster … It’s ridiculous that we’re doing some of this.” [Arizona Republicans hunt for bamboo-laced China ballots in 2020 ‘audit’ effort] Democrats should play along: Thousands of Biden Ballots Eaten by Invasive Pandas! Last November, a caravan of undocumented migrants rumored to have originated in China’s Yangtze Basin region crossed from Sonora, Mexico, eluding authorities in Pima County, and feasted on Biden ballots in Maracopa! "These ballots are way better than that 'pedophile pizza' they pushed on us!" one of the migrants was heard to enthuse.
Those good, America-first Republicans in Arizona probably had the ballots printed in China to save a few bucks that they could skim off into their party coffers.
WR Fibers is an American company that makes paper products from bamboo. Hahnemuhle is one of the largest manufactures of paper - they use bamboo in some of their products - It's hardly proof of Chinese manufacture to have bamboo in the make-up of paper. Some Republicans be crazy.
Typically, I would have probably found this funny because it's so ridiculous. However, that is not the case today. There have been countless conversations here (and elsewhere on the net) in which some people have blindly accepted and parroted all kinds of ridiculous theories about the election and alleged election fraud. It's moved from slightly amusing to downright scary.
And these same people have already said they will not show their work or their methodology of how they come to whatever conclusion they come to. But there is a large number of people on this forum that will accept it as if Moses himself handed it off
Most righties are beyond repair, MJ (excellent initials, btw). They're basically a cult of useful idiots, at this point. But, like you said, they're dangerous and clearly need to be DESTROYED at the ballot box...
Okay. Here's the deal. Most crazy people don't know they are crazy so there is no point in pointing it out. It is also not a very constructive tool for bridging a gap. I admit that some people are so awful one shouldn't want to reach a "meeting of the minds" with them but I disagree that is strictly along political lines. P.S. Your initials are great too.
Apparently they've counted 200,000 of the 2.1 million votes so far, which means 4 months to go, longer if they're not working 24/7. Watch the action: https://azaudit.org/
Extending Arizona ballot recount past May 14 is 'not feasible', state fair official says Definitely going to watch the HBO movie of this...
In actual fact 200,000 votes (i.e. aprox 10% of the total) is more than enough of a sample size for any qualified Statistician or Actuary to determine whether or not there was a large enough element of voter fraud to effect outcome of the election. Logic would also dictate they concentrate on the districts with the narrowest margins first - maybe they have I wouldn't know. But the outcome after 200,000 votes? Bupkis. But then I guess its a case of who needs logic, statistics or facts when you have Trump in play. Add the fact that to date there have been no announcements (or leaks) indicating that fraud has been detected then this indicates very strongly that there was none, or at worst not enough to make any difference to the outcome. And you can bet the Republican dominated Senate will be leaning over the shoulders of the vote count looking for even the faintest sniff of irregularities to emerge. So its a case of stupid piled on top of more stupid with an extra measure of stupid sprinkled on top for good measure. And all at the taxpayers expense.
The hyper-partisan pretext for full disclosure of the already-audited election demands absolute secrecy as well as blind faith.
That would depend on whether or not they were using accurate methods of detecting voter fraud to begin with. They've tried hiding their methods, the group itself is hyper-partisan, they have grossly mishandled the ballots, and their plan for detecting fraud includes trying to look for bamboo fibers. It's a clown show. But all they need is a headline. Their target audience won't care to actually look into the details of their work. Like you said: who needs logic when you have Trump in play.
For all the histrionics going on in this thread, I appreciate the fact that we are getting an audit. Auditors are the scariest people around when you are in charge. Their ain't a lot of "You're doing a hell of a job, Brownie!". But civilization requires looking over the shoulders of those in charge. I wish IRS was as trusting of my figures as the "never audit" crowd.
There have already been recounts and audit canvassing. We shouldn't celebrate a hyper-partisan group doing a "recount" in which they are grossly mishandling ballots, using absolutely bat **** insane "methods," trying their damndest to keep their methods a secret, and making all future audits of those same ballots completely impossible. It's a clown show. A stupid, dangerous clown show.
About the bamboo fibers theory... A couple of years ago cases of counterfeit one dollar bills were discovered that are suspected to have originated in China. No counterfeiter can make a profit on $1 bills of that quality. This was seen as a possible "advertisement" that "We can make anything". There are very few things that use "security paper". I report, you decide. re: audits: Only for those who have something to lose. You bank has regular audits.
my bank has trained professionals that have no stake in the outcome do the audits. They publish their methodology for the audits. none of these things are true of the fake audit happening in Az
The "Bamboo Scam" histrionics is being secretly conducted by a Trump nut with no credentials. No rational person takes it seriously. The majority-Republican county board of supervisors has vehemently objected to the fake "audit" and pointed to the multiple legitimate audits of ballots and machines that Arizona had already completed that had found no issues.
I've spent years on this forum arguing that both sides have their crazies, but that neither are represented by their crazies. But if this is the path the GOP is taking, I can no longer make that argument. Trump IS the crazy side.
I suspect that the reporting isn't entirely in context or truthful. What likely is happening is the comparison of ballots that likely were manufactured to a specific specification. Care to provide a contextual citation that argues anything different?
If you want to make a claim there is additional context that will make this anything other than bat **** insane, feel free to provide it.