First a little history: back in '92, the year Clinton was first elected, there was a scandal in Augusta, Maine on election night when an aide to Democratic Speaker of the House, John Martin, was caught red-handed in a restricted area stuffing ballot boxes. That little bit of inept fraud became known as Ballotgate, and while Martin was never indicted for that crime the fallout from it prompted Maine voters to inact term limits shortly thereafter. Martin himself was term limited out the next election but by that point he had had the longest stint as a state legislator in Maine history - and has since added to the record as a State Senator plus just got his old House seat back; I guess term limits don't count for much here in ME. More on that later.
Now, 22 years later, we have another incident that bears all the hallmarks of what should be termed "Ballotgate II," although no one was caught red handed this time - and another difference is that the perpetrator(s), (if the results of the tampering are any indication), works for the GOP. If you follow me below the fold, we'll dive into some pretty sordid and depressing details.
