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Republicans Caught Engaging in Voter Registration Fraud, Dirty Tricks |
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Despite the Republican Party’s increased howls of alleged voter fraud, the reality is that its operatives often violate the law when it comes to election dirty tricks.
For example, over the weekend, the owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands of voters this year was arrested in Ontario on suspicion of voter registration fraud.
State and local investigators allege that Mark Jacoby fraudulently registered himself to vote at a childhood California address where he no longer resides so he would appear to meet the legal requirement that all signature gatherers be eligible to vote in California. His firm, Young Political Majors (YPM), collects petition signatures and registers voters in California and other states.
Jacoby’s arrest came after the Los Angeles Times reported that dozens of newly registered voters say they were duped into joining the Republican party by YMP solicitors. The voters told the Times they were tricked into switching parties while signing what they believed were petitions for tougher penalties against child molesters. Some said they were told they had to become Republicans to sign the petition, while others did not know their registration was changed. Some also had their registration changed to absentee without their permission, the Times reports.
Michael Collins of Election Fraud News reports that YPM faced similar charges in Florida in 2004.
And consider these developments:
- The Washington Post reports that a former national Republican Party official, who was indicted six years ago on charges of campaign dirty tricks, has been indicted again, this time for allegedly lying to federal authorities. James Tobin, the former New England regional director for the Republican National Committee, has been charged with making false statements to FBI officials in connection with a scheme to arrange more than 800 hang-up calls that jammed get-out-the-vote phone lines set up by the New Hampshire Democratic Party and the Manchester firefighters union on Election Day 2002.
- In Michigan, under an agreement announced yesterday by Obama for America, several Republican groups and three private plaintiffs acknowledged the existence of an illegal scheme to use mortgage foreclosure lists to deny foreclosure victims their right to vote. This settlement, which has the force of law, ensures that Republicans cannot disenfranchise families facing foreclosure. The Republican groups involved are the Republican National Committee, the Michigan Republican Party and the Macomb County Republican Party. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer says “it is no surprise the Republicans back-pedaled when their illegal scheme was revealed, and their surrender today ensures that Republicans cannot take advantage of the economic crisis to deny anyone’s voting rights. The agreement is a win for Michigan families ready to vote for change, and we will continue to aggressively protect everyone’s right to vote.”
To ensure that all eligible voters can vote and have their votes counted, union members and activists are working through the AFL-CIO My Vote, My Right voter-protection project to ensure the ballot process is run fairly.
The National Campaign for Fair Elections has launched www.866ourvote.org and spotlighted a toll-free voting rights hotline, 1-866-OUR-VOTE, operated by a nonpartisan coalition of groups, including the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and the AFL-CIO.
Also check out the Voter Bill of Rights for Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania by clicking the state name.
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When all you have to do is present a utility bill to prove eligibility to vote the consequences are wide spread. This does not let ACORN off the hook for all it’s questionable conduct. Since the US Supreme court has ruled that there is no constitutional right to vote in a presidential election maybe this is a moot point.
The fact of the matter is if there were more strict requirements to prove you are a citizen of this country to cast a ballot it would be harder to commit any kind of voter fraud.
Just another good reason to embrace a third party in this country. This way the allegations can be spread around.
The republicans are still trying to steal the election. Dont let them!! Vote early. For examples of republican dirty tricks see http://www.republicantricks.com
What you said Door you have made my point exactly.
and there is also this:
McCain Employing GOP Operative Accused of Voter Registration Fraud - http://www.truthout.org/102108K
okay, Dr and Door, what do you propose for the millions of people, mostly poor and elderly, who do not have a driver’s license/State ID, or the birth certificate required to get one? There can be significant costs for obtaining a driver’s license (or State ID) if you don’t live anywhere near a DMV office. Birth certificates cost money too, and if you’re old, the hospital where you were born (if it even still exists) may not have it. Neither may the local government. Paper records get damaged and destroyed over the years. do you propose to spend millions of tax dollars to see that everyone is provided identification COMPLETELY free of charge? Maybe you support a national ID card? that idea hasn’t been too popular.
or, maybe we should prioritize our limited resources on the problems that disenfranchise the most voters, like faulty voting machines and sloppy registration roll purges? here’s a short summary of the major problems and the numbers of voters (many of which are proven, not speculative) affected.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/23638322/block_the_vote
btw, this was co-written by the guy that broke the story about Florida’s election corruption in 2000, a story that the US media wouldn’t touch, but which the BBC reported extensively for weeks after the election.
I do not support a national ID card. I think that is one of the things on the list that makes me a racist.
We need an educated electorate voting on elections so if you can’t read the ballot in English and can’t prove you are a citizen then you should not be voting. Fraud will be less of a problem when we tighten up the regulations and have more oversight. Where have I heard that before?
Facts/Fear this is the 21st. century,if your an old man or old women your birth status has been resolved many years ago.Signifigant cost my you know what in my state it costs excatly 16 bucks to get a drivers liscense and I’ll bet there is less than 1% of the ederly population that does not already have a drivers liscense.Also ever county here has somewhere you can take the drivers test if you have not been through drivers ed. at your local high school.We spend more millions on things that are less important than knowing that everyone who cast a vote is legal to do so.Even the Supreme Court has upheld the Indiana law requiring ID.I am not trying to stop any legal citizen from casting a ballot but to me there is no more important right in this country and we should be very sure the people doing the voting are legal to do so.Yes you are correct about the voting machine problems and I want to see that fixed too.I want to see paper ballots you mark an X in the box with a #2 pencil and someone counts your vote.No scans,no punches,no electronics just a plain ole pencil.
The point is???? A No.2 pencil can be erased.We get itemized receipts for candy bars—why not for votes?
Why don’t we simply get a law passed that makes it illegal to get paid to register voters? That in and of itself would eliminate a lot of fraud. Remove any financial incentive from the process; at least make it illegal to pay by the signature—as in “piece work”
I work in an industry that often requires a picture ID to complete a transaction. You would be surprised at just how many people present expired driver’s licenses (or have none at all) here in the great state of California.It has a lot to do with the really poor service at the DMV, which suffers from additional budget cuts now, and is less patron-friendly than ever. If you are elderly and disabled, you can get an appointment—but they are not easy to get. Even in this day and age, people on a fixed income may not be computer savvy, and may rely on the old ways to do their business.
Also, there are people who lose their ID’s or their papers to fire or theft—should they lose their ability to cast a vote if they’re legally registered? Nothing like kicking someone when they’re down; add a little insult to injury. When I renewed my passport, I had to send for a new certified copy of my birth certificate—which was only an abstract of the original with the official stamp, not a photocopy with the original info. When I took it with me to the Post Office, even the Postmaster hadn’t seen a document like mine—he had me send my non-certified copy with the official one so they’d have a point of reference!
The right to vote is a precious one. It is our civil duty to participate in the process. If any candidate wins this election due to intentional voter fraud,then the process to register to vote needs to be changed.
Catbear I do not want to prevent any legal citizen from voting.All I’m trying to say is we need to reform our system of registration. So we are sure no one legal or illegal is trying to vote fraudulently.I’m all for not paying anyone to register voters.I’m not against the elderly either I don’t like to admit it but I’m fast becoming one of them.But the facts remain we do not have any safegaurds against fraud in the voting booth and there must be some way to fix the problem.Electronic voting scares me to death but I voted last Friday and had to use the machine.Maybe this issue can be resolved before the next election.I know pencil can be erased but it would take a very concentrated effort by many poll workers to make much difference don’t you think.I too work in a field where ID is required and yes there are occassional problems but the system in general it works well.Yes people lose important papers all the time but most are replacable and we are looking at a very small percentage of the population.I’m not trying to kick anyone I just believe voting is our most important duty and we should do whatever it takes to make the system work for every citizen.