Election Fraud

Election Fraud:

Feeling bad about how little trust there is in our elections? Read this, which features famous gunfighter Johnny Ringo in the role of Democratic Party delegate and election official:

Almost every election in the post-Civil War era held the fervor of a religious crusade, and the first Tuesday in November of 1880 caused high fever in the West. Republican James Garfield [Who was later assassinated... -Grim] and Democrat Winfield Hancock battled for the presidency, while Pima County [Arizona]'s most contested race centered on Bob Paul's bid to unseat Sherriff Charile Shibell. Garfield won the presidency by fewer than 10,000 popularvotes.... The race in Pima County proved even more complex. Democrat Shibell, despite appointing Wyatt Earp as his Tombstone district deputy, was perceived as more an administrator than a tough lawman and received the support of the [outlaw gang known as the] cowboys. Oddly, outlaw John Ringo served as a delegate at the Pima County Democratic convention despite a question of his legitimacy because he had no legal residence. The Democrats chose to avoid problems and seat Ringo [shades of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, there]....

Shibell won reelection by a close margin as rumors ran through town of massive election fraud. The San Simon Cienega precinct recorded 103 votes for Shibell and one for Paul, in a district that had no more than 50 eligible voters. All but one of the 23 Democrats on the ticket received those 103 votes... while nearly all the Republican candidates polled only one vote each. The [Tombstone] Epitaph noted: "The odd vote is said to have een cast by a Texas cowboy, who when questioned as to why he was voting the Republican ticket, said: 'Well, I want to show those fellows that there wasn't any intimidation at this precinct.'"

From Casey Tefertiller's Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend, p. 53-4. Election fraud on the frontier... but of course, we know it was better in the cities. Ha ha!

Well, out of such things is democracy made. Maybe it will make you feel better about the current situation -- or even the problems in Iraq, where democracy is having a similarly rough start amid armed and dangerous factions.