Electric Fishwrap

As of late, items have been hitting my inbox such as “Barack Hussein Muhammed Obama” and “OBAMA’S TROUBLING INTERNET FUND RAISING!”

How shocking, if only it were true.

The e-mails I get nearly on a daily basis should not faze me. People make stuff up all the time to smear one candidate and boost another. But I get these e-mails from my relatives, for whom I care deeply. I won’t say which two are the worst offenders. My purpose is not to make them look foolish.

I open the email, and read the first few lines, then check Snopes or PolitiFact immediately. Usually eye-rolling ensues, and I fire back an e-mail reminding them to check the two Web sites, knowing it will do no good anyway.

Today I’d had enough. I got the email about Obama and McCain’s tax policies (the copy of the e-mail I received had been further altered to make it less true). The person who sent it to me is married to an accountant.

I hit reply to all. I know that’s a bad idea in almost any case. I linked to Snopes and to PolitiFact, as usual. Does anyone believe these e-mails enough to the point where it changes opinion? Somehow I doubt that. For the most part, people vote the party, not the person.

Finally, I don’t favor either candidate or party, nor would I say if I did. I don’t think reporters of any stripe should tip their hat to anyone about what they believe or who they support. But I will always be annoyed when someone spreads a lie when a simple Internet search would reveal the truth.

Here in Washington State, there was a ballot issue called 4204. Simply put, school district levy elections (to pay for operations and property maintenance) would pass with a simple majority (50 percent + 1) instead of a super majority (60 percent). In the past few years, many Washington school districts have had their levy elections pass the simple majority test but fall short of 60 percent.

On Election Day, results were tabulated across the state, and it appeared that 4204 was going down (roughly 48 percent to 52 percent). But a last-minute get-out-the-vote surge, continuing at this moment, seems to bring the election into the “too close to call” range (see the Secretary of State’s Web page for 4204). As you can see, only 2,620 votes separate the schools from a win here.

With more than 178,000 votes left to count, 58,000 of them in King County (where there’s a 50-percent approval rating) it doesn’t take a statistician to see where this is going.

Yes, Election Day is like the Super Bowl for journalists (well, except sports journalists). I’ve always loved the excitement of it. But here in Washington the results can trickle in until several days after Election Day, because you’re only required to have your ballot postmarked by then.