Blinking Precinct: Tampering Probe and Sound Truck Redeploy
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Will contacts Sheryl Cryman to discuss potential election tampering due to power outages in a Democratic precinct.
Will redirects sound trucks from Laguna Hills to Anaheim based on the precinct's conditions.
Will expresses frustration about the weather and emphasizes the critical window of opportunity in the election process.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
N/A (referenced statistic)
Listed in the vote-tally header (Ritchie: 32,365,173), serving as contextual pressure (opponent's presence in the returns) but not physically present.
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N/A (referenced statistic)
Appears only as an entry in the vote-tally header (Bartlet: 39,063,986), a background datum that frames the stakes but does not actively participate in the scene's action.
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Concerned and professionally focused — alert to signs that demand immediate attention.
Notifies Will that Sheryl Cryman's line is blinking — acts as the communication conduit that triggers the phone call and thus the entire emergency sequence.
- • Ensure Will is connected to the appropriate legal contact quickly.
- • Keep communication channels clear and functional.
- • Support the campaign's rapid response through accurate information.
- • Immediate communication with legal counsel is critical when election irregularities arise.
- • Small signals (a blinking light) must be acted on to prevent larger problems.
- • She must be proactive to avoid delays in escalation.
N/A (referenced statistic)
Listed in the vote-tally header (Webb: 41,374), appearing as an adjacent electoral datum that amplifies the urgency but does not engage in the event's actions.
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Worried and exasperated — anxious about the stakes and the scramble, but focused on getting things done.
Responds verbally to Will's orders with alarm and exasperation, receives the instruction to reroute trucks and attempts to register the gravity of the change while chiding Will's intensity — poised to execute the logistical pivot.
- • Execute Will's reroute orders quickly and efficiently.
- • Stabilize staff morale and prevent panic in headquarters.
- • Ensure the campaign's limited resources are deployed where they'll help most.
- • Will's instincts matter and must be supported even if stressful.
- • Rapid logistical changes can preserve slim electoral margins.
- • The team must act now rather than wait for formal instructions.
Reserved and businesslike — hears the report, evaluates it against legal protocols, and is positioned to advise on tampering procedures.
Serves as the on-call legal surface — receives Will's urgent report about outages and is addressed as the county clerk's legal counsel; her presence legitimizes the campaign's decision to probe and provides the legal liaison the team needs.
- • Assess whether outages constitute actionable evidence of tampering.
- • Advise the campaign (or county clerk) on appropriate legal steps.
- • Maintain official processes so any escalation is legally defensible.
- • Election irregularities must be handled through established legal channels.
- • Rapid reports from campaigns are useful but require verification.
- • Her office should balance responsiveness with procedural caution.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The campaign's sound trucks function as the primary mobile resource Will uses to alter foot traffic patterns: he orders them pulled from Laguna Hills and redirected to Anaheim to concentrate presence near the endangered Casa Verde precinct, a tactical move intended to boost visibility and voter access.
The Casa Verde precinct street lights — blinking and going on and off — act as the environmental clue that triggers suspicion and action; their instability is treated as evidence of power outages potentially impacting voters and prompting the legal query about tampering.
Will's campaign telephone is the action node: snatched from its cradle, used to place the urgent call to Sheryl Cryman, conveys the legal escalation, and is hung up decisively — a device that transforms information into command and movement.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Anaheim is the tactical target for redeployment: the destination where the campaign hopes concentrated truck presence will increase visibility and protect turnout in precincts threatened by outages.
Horton Wilde's Campaign Headquarters (Mattress World) serves as the nerve center where alerts are triaged, decisions made, and resources dispatched. The cramped, buzzing space concentrates anxiety and improvisation; it is where Will's call, orders, and the team's reactions coalesce into a rapid operational shift.
Laguna Hills is the immediate origin point for the campaign's sound trucks — described as having insufficient foot traffic — and thus the source location for the relocated assets.
Casa Verde precinct is the at-risk battleground whose uneven lighting and localized outages provoke the call to the county clerk — the specific geographic and electoral site whose compromised condition threatens the campaign's narrow margin.
Santa Ana provides the municipal context for Casa Verde — the city's infrastructure failures are the backdrop for legal and tactical escalation and situates the precinct within county jurisdiction and clerk oversight.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Horton Wilde's Campaign operates as the organizational actor performing rapid triage: its staff (Will, Elsie, Sharon) coordinate legal contact, asset redeployment, and weather intelligence to protect a vulnerable precinct and narrow returns.
The County Clerk's Office is present via its legal counsel — the institutional gatekeeper for election integrity. Its role is to receive reports, advise on tampering protocols, and lend legal legitimacy to any escalation the campaign may pursue.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph
Key Dialogue
"SHARON: Will, you have Sheryl Cryman. That's the county clerks legal cousel. It's blinking."
"WILL (on phone): Sheryl, it's Will Bailey. How you doing? Fine, thank you. There are scattered power outages in the Casa Verde precinct in Santa Ana and the street lights are going on and off in the only legitimatley Democratic precinct I've got, so if I lose by a hundred 'cause people couldn't cross the street, who in your office would I talk to about election tampering? Thanks a lot Sheryl. I appreciate it."
"ELSIE: The die has been cast, big brother. You're making everyone crazy. WILL: There's a moment after you cast the die but before it hits the table. Breathe wrong and you'll change the way it lands. Can I get a new weather report?!"