Massachusetts' special election fallout

Was it fair?

A Brad Blog follow-up on the integrity of the elections noted that Democrat Martha Coakley conceded early in the night, despite votes being left uncounted and reports of some voters being handed ballots "pre-marked" for her opponent, Scott Brown. Brad reports that

...a group of election integrity experts, after having posted an "Orange Alert" yesterday about the serious e-voting concerns in today's election, have sent an open letter to Sec. of State Bill Galvin, along with a public records request PDF, calling for the retention of all election materials, such as voted, spoiled, and unvoted ballots, as well as all of the easily-tampered-with memory cards and electronic databases, etc., to ensure they are all secured and available for inspection by the public after the close of polls.

Meanwhile, progressives feel used and frustrated. The state's democratic activists are having a hard time coming up with a contender for 2012.

And what about health care reform? Brown was elected on a "stop the bill" platform, but the House could pass the Senate's version of the reform bill without a peep from the 41st senator. This is only a step in the wrong direction if single payer activists take it as a defeat and stop working toward systemic change that will guarantee care for all. Here's a good guess: while many voters were wary of the cost of the health care bill, very few of them know that a single payer system will offer more care for less cost. We have our work cut out for us.