I met before the event with some other liberty-oriented conservatives prior to the county convention.  We had three goals in mind: first, we wanted to go to the state convention.  Second, we wanted to fill vacancies on the Executive Committee, the decision-making body for the county party.  Third, we wanted a rule change that added an attendance requirement for Executive Committee members.  The way we saw it was simple: for the last several months the Executive Committee was paralyzed because not enough members showed up at meetings to have quorum.  We wanted the county party to better reflect us, and we wanted the county party to be able to move, which they weren't due to the lack of attendance.

We soon found out that none of the preparation mattered.  The convention was not the time to deal with Executive Committee business, and everyone that showed up was registered as a delegate to the state convention.  Oh well.

But there was one interesting thing at the event: David Trent, nominated for Salem Township Clerk by 9 votes over Mary Cowmeadow, announced that he won the election and would win the recount because "[his] supporters were administering the elections throughout the township."

Yes, that's right.  David Trent told a room of 60 people, the most active Republicans in the county, essentially that he rigged the election for himself by allying himself with those that counted the votes. 

You know what the response to this remarkable admission was?  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  Not even from the Ron Paul supporters—we were too stunned to say anything!

There's really only one lesson to be learned from this.  If you're running for office, the clerks and election administrators had better be on your side.  They wield the power to steal elections, and unless you have people who are dependably honest and won't rook you out of victory, expect to be rooked out of victory.

Next year, the race is on for fair elections—can you become an election administrator?  It's time to look into this.