Who is this ignoramus in New York with a typing malady?

Absentee ballots were mailed to voters of Rensselaer County in upstate New York this week; voters could vote to elect the Republican candidate, John McCain, OR they could vote to elect the Democratic candidate, Barack Osama. Yes, OSAMA. Apparently, someone unintentionally made an uh-oh. The commissioners at the election office issued a statement in which they said they "regretted the error" and admitted their obvious embarrassment.


One of my biggest pet peeves during presidential election time is how often people give in to completely false information (like some of the ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS conservative propaganda anti-Obama emails I've read) and preach said information as if it was gospel. Especially if the information in question is nothing more than a conspiracy theory. I really hate those... In my opinion, nothing sounds more ignorant and pathetic than someone spouting off conspiracy-like "facts" (like when my step-dad told me Sarah Palin was "set-up" to look stupid in her interview with Katie Couric... I mean SERIOUSLY!?). However, something sketchy seems to be afoot here... Let's consider the possibility of a typographical error. Now look at your keyboard and consider the placement of the B and S keys. How often do you accidentally type "bincerely" or "rememser to sring your sathing suit to the sarseque!" Rarely, I'm guessing. I'm sure you'd be even more aware of it if you were essentially comparing a change-inspiring presidential candidate Barack Obama to Public Enemy Number 1 Osama Bin Laden. Especially if there has been a lot of attention paid to the similarity of their names. All I can say is that it's true what they say: Always have someone check your work before turning it in.

I certainly don't think the typographically-disabled individual responsible for this blunder intended for 300 Osama ballots to be sent out. Some attention has been paid to the fact that the commissioners from the election office never specifically said what the "human error" was. One could assume the error was one of the typographical nature... But technically the error could have been allowing the ballots to be sent out without checking them. On that token, something that started as a silly practical joke intended for only the eyes of a few people ("Hey, look! I made it possible to vote for a terrorist! Hee hee I'm so silly and bored at work!") could have - by complete accident - been distributed to New York voters. That itself could be a "human error" right? The commissioners' apology could totally cover that possibility. I'm not gonna lose any sleep over why this happened and what actually transpired; it was a mistake, it was in horribly poor taste, and there's really nothing that can be done about it now.

The only conclusion I can draw from this is that the New York elections office needs a more thorough and rigorous intelligence evaluation for their employees...