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* Local Lake County media was all atwitter this week at a seemingly stunning revelation by their county clerk…
Lake County Clerk Willard Helander expressed concerns Oct. 17 with the high volume of irregularities in voter registration applications recently received by her office.
These improprieties could impact the results of local elections within the county, Helander said.
“The integrity of an election could well be compromised,” Helander said. “In an election cycle where a Lake County candidate would win or lose by one or two votes, this is really scary.”
Helander said several days ago that she had notified area police, the attorney general and the feds. The attorney general, however, wasn’t notified until late yesterday afternoon.
* More…
Pointing to more than 1,000 “compromised” registration forms received by her office, County Clerk Willard Helander called Friday for voter registration reform to protect the integrity of elections.
Meanwhile, the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the initiation of a joint investigation into the registration forms, which include non-existent addresses, dead people and even pets.
* Pets? What the heck is that about?
The only “agent of change” Princess ever supported was the person who freshened the water in her fishbowl.
So election officials in Chicago’s northern suburbs want to know why voter registration material was sent to the dead goldfish. […]
Beth Nudelman, who owned the fish, said Princess may have landed on a mailing list because the family once filled in the pet’s name when they got a second phone line for a computer.
“There was no fraud involved,” said Nudelman, a Democrat who supports Barack Obama. “This person is a dead fish.”
The paperwork sent to a “Princess Nudelman” likely came from the “Women’s Voices, Women Vote” project, which sent nearly 1 million mailings to Illinois households in August using a list that mistakenly included some pets, said Sarah Johnson, a spokeswoman for the not-for-profit group that encourages single women to vote.
* An August 21st story in the Monmouth Review Atlas about the Women’s Voices, Women Vote statewide mailer includes this bit of info…
The generic form already has names printed on them
Apparently, some people are just sending the completed forms into the county clerk’s office, maybe as a joke, or maybe because they don’t read them closely, or whatever.
* I’d heard of that Women’s Voices, Women Vote outfit before. The group backed was chock full of Hillary Clinton supporters in the primaries and found itself in hot water all over the place. This is from the Virginia State Police…
Virginia State Police special agents have tracked down and identified the source of the mass mailing of voter registration applications to Virginia households across the Commonwealth.
The investigation was initiated Thursday (Feb. 7, 2008) after State Police was contacted by the State Board of Elections. On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, Virginia citizens began receiving recorded phone messages notifying them that a voter registration packet would be arriving in the mail. The individuals were then advised to complete, sign and mail in the application. Concerned because the messages did not specify who or where the packets were coming from, many of the citizens contacted their local registrar to find out if it was legitimate.
* In North Carolina, the group’s robocalls were initially thought to be a form of voter suppression because the calls targeted African-Americans with incorrect information…
“The calls were scheduled to coincide with the arrival of the voter registration applications,” the group said in a statement. “We regret any confusion that has arised as a consequence of this timing.” Podesta weighed in as well, calling the North Carolina situation “a mistake of judgment and execution, and not an attempt to disenfranchise voters.”
* More problems…
* In Arizona last November, election officials were “inundated with complaints” after Women’s Voices sent a mailing erroneously claiming that recipients were “required” to mail back an enclosed voter registration form. Many who received the mailing were already registered; the mailing also gave the wrong registration date. Secretary of State Jan Brewer denounced the group’s tactics as “misleading and deceptive.”
* A similar mailing in Colorado that month “[drew] fire and caused confusion,” according to a state press release.
* In Wisconsin, state officials singled out Women’s Voices for misleading and possibly disenfranchising voters, stating in a press release [PDF]: “One group in particular — Women’s Voices. Women Vote, of Washington, D.C. — apparently ignored or disregarded state deadlines in seeking to register voters,” sending in registrations past the January 30 deadline and causing “hundreds of Wisconsin voters who think they registered in advance” to actually not be.
* Michigan officials ended up “fielding tons of calls from confused voters” after Women’s Voices did a February mailing to “380,000 unmarried women” — including numerous deceased voters and even more that were already registered. Sarah Johnson of Women’s Voices “seemed confused by the confusion,” the Lansing State Journal reported.
* A 1.5 million-piece Women’s Voices mailing in Florida falsely stated: “To comply with state voting requirements, please return the enclosed application.” Pasco County’s elections supervisor called it “disingenuous”; another said it created “a lot of unnecessary panic on behalf of the voters,” reported local newspapers. Sarah Johnson of Women’s Voice said, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
* By March, Women’s Voices was backing off the erroneous “registration is required” language, but there were still problems. For example, a mailing in Arkansas allowed that “registering to vote is voluntary,” but a clerk in Washington County reported that “the majority [of forms] sent back to the county come from registered voters, causing needless labor for office employees.”
What a mess.
But it looks, once again, like this group may be incompetent or at least careless and not intentionally evil. Helander might want to rein in the rhetoric a bit.
Goldfish don’t vote. Not even dead ones.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:02 am
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Comment by Vote Quimby! Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:17 am
From the pets article:
“Fido’s not going to be left on there, but if a cat is named is Polly, she may be,” Johnson said. Princess could be a person’s name, she insisted. “I went to high school with two Princesses.”
That made me chuckle. I think we all went to high school with some princesses!
I think it’s unfortunate with all of the news related to attempted registration fraud that the general media hasn’t done a better job of explaining it, and frankly McCain’s hyperbolic rhetoric regarding ACORN in the last debate wasn’t accurate or helpful either.
Any rational person knows that Mickey Mouse’s registration won’t be approved, nor will Mr. Mouse show up on election day and try to vote.
And if he does, well, he can always fill out a provisional ballot.
The worst part is the unnecessary waste erroneous registrations create.
Comment by doubtful Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:19 am
Wouldn’t it be voter fraud (i.e., showing up a polling place and voting under a fraudulent name, or voting multiple times) that would compromise the integrity of the election, as opposed to bad registrations, which are seemingly pretty commonplace under the best of circumstances (clerical error, people not realizing they are already registered, whatever)?
What will compromise the integrity of the election is if the county clerk doesn’t do her job in making sure that registrations are valid BEFORE the election, which is what she is charged with doing. Sounds like someone is employing a little pre-emptive CYA action to me.
Comment by Sweet Jane Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:23 am
I am feeling really dumb - what is the big deal if a reg form is found out to be bogus? If it is not real, can’t they just not register the non-person, no harm no foul, only real people vote?
Comment by Missing Springfield Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:23 am
Voter suppression is the most despicable form of political dirty tricks.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:27 am
If this was a republican group that committed these “innocent mistakes” all hell would break loose and we’d be subject to endless hand wringing about GOP pols having a mandate.
When dems steal an election its all good. Ends justify the means.
Comment by anon89 Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:27 am
anon89, how does sending in a voter registration card for a goldfish qualify as stealing an election?
Take a deep breath.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:28 am
There were some very close races in Lake County the past 2 cycles. And it looks like there will be some turnovers on the Lake County board this time.
County Clerk Willard Helander (with support of the Lake County Republican Party) are playing defense. Schedule a dog-and-pony-show presser. Play it all up as if someone actually tried to register a goldfish.
Comment by Ela Observer Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:32 am
Considering what I saw when I early voted and what I have been hearing from my local election authority I can see why this guy is getting a bit tense.
We have had people show up to early vote wearing dozens of Obama buttons. We have had people calling the election office looking for yard signs and getting upset when the election commission doesn’t have them. (Like several calls in one day spaced almost exactly 15 minutes apart).
Other stupid stuff to, it’s like everyone has turned it up to 11 this time around.
Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:36 am
Anon 89, I’m sure Pres. Gore would agree with you.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:36 am
Marketing and polling can lead certain political people into believing they can target unregistered voters and boost their party’s election chances. Since the early days of demographic marketing and with the implementation of professional 24/7 politics, these two have joined into a Frankenstein, wrecking havoc on all elections.
Name the organization, and you see a fully funded, often by us, sub-group that focuses on registering the “right” kind of voters to help keep the entitlements these organizations live off of, surviving the swings of voter’s whims.
Everyone is playing this game.
When FDR created massive federal entitlement programs, he set off a chain reaction whereby special interest groups joined lobbyists in demanding a share of our money. Good or bad, this now results in voter registration drives to keep the entitlements coming and these organization’s spot at the trough open.
What we are seeing this year is open abuse of voter registration procedures. Since this summer, we have watched these groups’ efforts turn malignant. Worse, we are seeing our presidential election threatened by these groups actions in swing states.
You thought 2000 was a stolen election? You thought 2004 was also stolen? Then perhaps you feel justified in stretching the law until you think it will get you the results you want. We are seeing groups of people disinterested in maintaining any semblance of election integrity, and only interested in an election result, regardless of means of attaining that result.
This is jeopardizing our entire system.
People are not as stupid as these groups are claiming they are. With every US Census, we again witness special interest groups claiming that they people they represent are too stupid to follow simple directions so that we must allow any results to be manipulated to ensure “fairness” and their version of “accuracy”. Instead of objective results, these groups are pushing us to accept subjective results based on their predetermined subjectivity.
We may see laws changes so that we may be losing the ability to vote early. With the perception of rampant fraud spreading throughout the US, any election result that is not a landslide in popular vote, will be seen as tainted.
And that corrupts our entire system.
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:36 am
Princess was in the tank for Obama.
Comment by Greg Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:37 am
anon89,
The facts on the ground don’t support you hyperventilating.
For example, there are two recent stories of Republican registration fraud, and, beyond the appropriate actions taking place, no one is making a big deal about them.
Certainly if you feel that the fraud perpetrated upon ACORN by a handful of their employees warrants justice department intervention than intellectual consistency demands you also believe Diebold should have been investigated in 2004 when the CEO of the company promised to deliver the election to George Bush, right?
Comment by doubtful Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:40 am
VMan, what “massive federal entitlement programs” did FDR create?
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:53 am
==Goldfish don’t vote. Not even dead ones.==
Well, at least not in the suburbs…now in 1960 Chicago in the River wards, it was a different story.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:58 am
==Goldfish don’t vote. Not even dead ones.==
Well, at least not in the suburbs…now in 1960 Chicago in the River wards, it was a different story.
Comment by Commonsense in Illinois Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:58 am
Anon89 may have been hyperventilating but he has a point. Illinois dems’ hypocrisy on this issue is amazing. If the GOP does something, it’s the end of the world; if the Democrats do the same thing, ho hum.
Comment by Excessively rabid Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:07 pm
In Illinois, mailing in a voter registration form does not complete the process. Voters who register by mail must show two valid forms of ID, one with their current address, when they vote.
The Lake County Clerk simply needs to make sure her election judges follow the law.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:09 pm
WVWV didn’t back Clinton in the primaries. Doesn’t excuse the mis-steps, however.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:12 pm
Rich, I don’t see how you conclude that a group that supported Hillary in the primaries is behind the Lake County voter registration irregularies that are just now appearing. As you like to say, take a breath and wait for the investigation to determine who is actually behind it. I also don’t see how registration irregularies automatically translates into voter fraud. What it can translate into, however, serious pre-election polling problems. If pollsters assume more Democrats in their models, the numbers could easily and inaccurately skew to the Democrat. The fine print of most of the polling data I’ve seen does show that pollsters presume Democrats, then Independents, then Republicans. Seems odd to make these assumptions when finding a proper universe from which to sample. Anyway, chill out on the Hillary bashing. Don’t be surprised if the pollsters are way off (they blew several in the primaries, as you will recall), and chill out on the Hillary bashing. Last I checked, she stopped running late last Spring.
Comment by phocion Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:16 pm
If a county clerk receives an unsigned voter registration form, what’s s/he do with it?
It seems to me that unsigned forms received sufficiently before the deadline should be sent back to the address with a letter explaining the form needs to be signed.
If the form is for a fictional person and it’s signed, the person signing the form is legally responsible.
The Republicans are complaining up a storm about defects in voter registration processes.
There’s a simple way to end problems with voter registration. There are states, like Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota (IIRC) that are exempt for the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 because they have same-day registration.
If Republicans insist on whining about people working on commission registering non-existent voters then let’s go to a simple same-day registration system.
This will keep groups from hiring people to register voters. And there will be no voter registration fraud.
But the Republicans don’t really want to fix the process. They want something to whine about and to raise the specter of Black, Latino and low income voters “stealing” elections for Democrats.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:17 pm
phocion, your point about polling makes absolutely no sense.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:18 pm
That dead goldfish is destroying the very fabric of our democracy I say! Throw that un-American terra’ist-swimmin’ Carassius auratus character in the slammer til it rots.
….Couldn’t resist.
Comment by Rob_N Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:19 pm
Carl,
You forgot Goldfish. They don’t want Goldfish “stealing” elections for Dems either.
Comment by Rob_N Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:20 pm
===For example, there are two recent stories of Republican registration fraud, and, beyond the appropriate actions taking place, no one is making a big deal about them.===
Registering voters as Republicans? That only effects primaries, because only registered party members can vote in a party’s primary in California. And the head of a voter registration registering himself so that he can “legally” collect signatures? That’s all that you have?
Compared to filing a petition in court in the name of a dead man to keep polls open in St. Louis, these are big nothings. (And even that trick didn’t really implicate the integrity of the election, which is the purpose of all this.)
And registering a goldfish IS serious because a human could show up and try to vote under that registration, which would undermine the integrity of the election. And you can be sure the goldfish won’t complain, even if it were still alive.
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:21 pm
If the GOP does something, it’s the end of the world; if the Democrats do the same thing, ho hum. -Excessively rabid
Reread my previous comment on this article. Registration fraud is not a partisan or new, and the Democrats are not making a big deal about it.
Only one of the presidential candidates mentioned it in the third debate, and erroneously claimed ACORN was “on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history … maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.”
If that’s not over-the-top rhetoric, I don’t know what is.
It would certainly be nice if people, regardless of ideology or station, would remain grounded on this issue. I know, I guess, that’s asking too much from some.
Comment by doubtful Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:23 pm
Cluttering up registration rolls with phony names and addresses (even names of pets) isn’t really fraudulent activity? It is clear from Rich’s carefully researched article that this group used language designed to get people to act, thinking that it they did not they would somehow not be registered, or that something was wrong. That is not some slip up, a goof, an oops! Such language usage and robo calls were deliberate activities, not mistaken ones that were filled with good intentions.
Why should the Lake County Clerk or clerks throughout the country have to winnow out the illegitimate voters from the legitimate ones because of the behavior of such groups? No, I don’t expect a goldfish to vote and get past an election judge, unless the goldfish applies for an absentee ballot, but why can’t we take such nonsense more seriously?
In Lake County we have dead people signing petitions for candidacies, pets registering to vote and other such nonsense. Last night I saw mailers for three different Democratic candidates for County Board claiming that high property taxes were the fault of the “Lake County Assessor” who is “controlled” by the Republican board members. All mailers came out of Chicago/Cook County.
You would think those candidates would know enough about the assessment process in Lake County to figure out the mistakes in their own mailers? Or figure out how property taxes are assessed in Lake County as compared to Cook County? Or were they deliberately telling fibs about the process in their mailings?
Two more weeks and all this nonsense will be over. For this cycle, anyway!
Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:23 pm
===And registering a goldfish IS serious because a human could show up and try to vote under that registration===
I want you to reread that comment after the election is over and everyone has cooled out.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:25 pm
That’s all that you have? -Anon
Tricking people into registering because they think they’re signing a petition to toughen penalties for child molesters and illegally registering to skirt the law, and you dismiss it with the wave of a hand. Shameful.
You act as if I was absolving the existence of one by presenting the example of another. I wasn’t; I was merely saying it wasn’t relegated to one party.
I happen to think they’re all wrong; they’re all examples of registration fraud; and not a single one will have an effect on the election.
Comment by doubtful Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:35 pm
Ms. Helander is a responsible elected official pointing out the clear-cut flaws in the mail-in registration system. She is right to point out this tomfoolery. I find her “rhetoric” to be appropriate.
However, her office will be ultimately responsible to ensure that these compromised and/or dubious registered voters are purged from the system and no opportunity for voter fraud is permitted to occur.
Please do not place these types of decisions in the hands of underpaid and undertrained election judges on Nov. 4th. Please.
Comment by Jake from Elwood Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:36 pm
Helander has it exactly right on this issue. If these people pulling this nonsense worked in the corporate sector, there would be tons and tons of investigations - and probably all sorts of civil lawsuits, if not criminal charges.
On this one, since it’s occurring in the political world, it’s “No Harm, No Foul”.
Wrong. Both scarce resources and time are being wasted by these people who are trying to game the System. And they are succeeding at doing it. They should be treated the exact same way the Enron executives were treated - welcome to jail time.
Be a fast end to all the voter registration game playing going on once that happened a few times.
Comment by Judgment Day Is On The Way Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:46 pm
On the mail in voter registration form: “If you do not have a driver’s license, State Identification Card or social security number, and this form is submitted by mail, and you have never registered to vote in the jurisdiction you are now registering in, then you must send, with this application, either (i) a copy of a current and valid photo identification, or (ii) a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter. If you do not provide the information required above, then you will be required to provide election officials with either (i)or (ii) described above the first time you vote at a voting place or by absentee ballot.”
It is not rocket science to check the forms and ID either at the County Clerk’s office or at the polling place. In fact, the only reason this issue has made the news (in Lake Co. or with ACORN) is because it is being caught.
Having said that, voter fraud occurs every election, and will continue to recur as long as people vote. There is no perfect system. I would guess that fraudulent voting probably mimics the overall voting and has a minimal impact.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:07 pm
For the very first time in my life, I am embarrassed to be a woman. Who ARE these people?
Comment by IAmWomanHearMeRoar Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:15 pm
I have personally registered thousands of voters -on a volunteer basis. I’m fairly familiar with the process. We started using motor voter forms in the 2000 election simply because so many people on the Chicago lakefront walk around without proof of address, not without proof of identity.
I see very little or no possibility of vote fraud actually occurring. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Princess the Fish, or whoever are not going to show up and actually vote. If fictitious names and addresses are used, the post office will return the voter ID card to the election authorities, which would also lead to flagging the registration for scrutiny at the polling place.
If election authorities are unable to verify the identity of the person registering via the motor voter form, from information on the motor voter card (e.g.,Illinois Drivers License/State ID Number or last 4 digits of the Social Security Number, or prior registration at another Illinois address), then election authorities should/do instruct judges to request proof of identity/address when the person shows up to vote. It’s completely routine! It’s not hard to flag any questionable registrations for special attention from the judges at the polling place. Some of the ridiculous pseudonyms can be screened out in advance.
So if someone shows up and tries to vote under these pseudonyms, they have to produce proof of identification and proof of address in order to vote. It’s not happening/going to happen!
Voters in jurisdictions with same day registration are required to prove who they are and where they live before registering and befere voting.
I thnk the main problem is that various organizations are paying/creating financial incentives/setting productivity standards that lead paid registrars to create false registrations, simply to earn more money, not to actually perpetrate vote fraud.
Corpses are not voting anymore, but I will concede that they did so in the distant past.
I am in fact from Missouri - “show me” fraudulent voting, and then I’ll be ready to concede that a significant incidence of actual vote fraud is occurring/has occurred. It’s not!! Otherwise, my conclusion is that vote fraud is a myth perpetrated by Republicans interested in suppressing the vote. Reoublicans don’t like it when more poor people and minorities register and vote. Republcians fought motor voter laws tooth and nail - in illinos they had to be sued to force compliance with the federal motor voter law.
I agreee wholeheartedly than anyone who intentionally commits voter fraud individually or in a conspiracy with others should be prosecuted and imprisoned.
Comment by Captain America Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:18 pm
Williard — get your head around her name for a sec — has been into voter suppression for years. She once tried to get the Lake Co Sheriff (then a GOP) to pinch) Cong. Jackson at a church while talking about registration.
I believe she also helped Blinky Jim Edgar try to stop Motor Voter in IL.
Another proud GOP moment
Maybe this fresh attention will get the US Atty sniffing around that office.
Comment by EmptySuitExpress Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:25 pm
“Goldfish don’t vote. Not even dead ones.”
They probably couldn’t do worse than some voters!
Comment by Ken in Aurora Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:26 pm
There are no modern cases in Illinois of anyone being shown to have voted with a fake name after registering to vote multiple times. But, in every single election I have personally seen people who are disenfranchised because we have needless bureaucratic barriers to voting rights and no election-day registration. I’ve seen people told to go to another precinct where they still aren’t allowed to vote or are told to cast a provisional ballot that will likely not be counted. Jim Edgar’s stubborn opposition to motor voter laws is one of the most shameful things this state has done in the last 30 years. I’m very skeptical of anyone who uses the bogeyman of fraudulent registrations as an excuse to start making voting more difficult again.
The article says: “Our system does not provide safeguards to protect the voters,” Helander said. “[Voters] deserve to know the quality of voter registration efforts.” … “We need to know that everyone who casts a vote is a bona-fide voter.”
Actually, the system does have safeguards. Verifying registration applications is part of the job of the county clerk. Maybe the Lake County clerk should do the job he was elected to do instead of trying to lend credibility to a national Republican voter suppression effort.
Comment by Will Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:30 pm
Will said, “Maybe the Lake County clerk should do the job he was elected to do instead of trying to lend credibility to a national Republican voter suppression effort.” Willard Helander is a lady.
In 2001, I met a 95 year-old man who said that he voted for FDR five times. I said, “He only ran four times.” He said, “I voted for him five times, on the same day. I went to five different precincts. They won’t let me do that anymore.”
Comment by Phil Collins Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:35 pm
Much of this sounds like kids or pranksters trying to see if they could jerk someone around. If so, it worked.
Comment by Cheswick Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:52 pm
I recall one high profile incident in 2004, where a paid Republican consultant was caught intentionally discarding Democratic registrations. Sorry I can’t recall specific details, but I have no reason to cloud this discussion with false information.
Synstematically purging large numbers of minority voters, without any notice or opportunity to appeal, on grounds that they might have been felons, should also be considered vote fraud. It happened in Florida in 2000.
So vote fraud/supression is a many spelendored-thing indeed.
Comment by Captain America Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 2:05 pm
==I recall one high profile incident… I can’t recall specific details…
It happened in Florida in 2000.
So vote fraud/supression is a many spelendored-thing indeed.=
You aren’t sure, but you are sure that Republicans are somehow behind voter suppression and stole the 2000 election.
Sure, you know what you are talking about.
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 2:27 pm
“anon89, how does sending in a voter registration card for a goldfish qualify as stealing an election?
Take a deep breath.”
How quaint to act the innocent.
The goldfish wont vote, but some Democratic ward healer will vote for it if he can get away with it.
The trouble is, after the elction is certified, no one really cares what happened.
Comment by True Observer Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 2:27 pm
===The goldfish wont vote, but some Democratic ward healer will vote for it if he can get away with it.===
TO, read the stories above.
Not gonna happen.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 2:30 pm
Mendoza is a turncoat and should be ashamed of supporting Republicans. It’s time for true Democrats to oust Medoza in a Democrat primary race.
Comment by Doggone Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 2:32 pm
Bipartisanship and Republican support in Chicago? Get those blinders back on Mendoza! For us, it is forever 1958!
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 2:42 pm
Republican Party officials removed about 96,000 African-Americans from the voting rolls in Florida in preparation for the 2000 election. This was accomplished through removing everyone who had a name or birthday sufficiently close (not an exact match) to any convicted felon anywhere in the United States.
Less than 150 Latinos were removed during the same purge. In Florida Latino are mostly Cubanos who mostly vote Republican.
After the election the flawed methodology was exposed (although not covered widely in the traditional media) and the properly registered voters were added to the voting rolls again. Of course, it was too late for them to vote in the 2000 election. And no one was ever prosecuted by the Bush Justice Department (or Florida state gov’t) for disenfranchising these Floridians.
So, VanillaMan, now you know the story.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 3:00 pm
Van Man,
I’m no longer contesting the results of the 2000 election. The U.S. Supreme Court negated that option.
You could look it up. The haphazard “felon purge” in Florida is common knowledge - it a matter of public record, not a figment of my demented left wing imagination.
Another example of intended voter suppression: In 2004, the Ohio Secreatary of State, Ken Blackwell, tried to exclude all legitimate voter registrations that were printed on a piece of paper downloaded off a computer or simply photocopied, instead of on a motor voter card that had a specific thickness. Of course, he didn’t get away with his plan - he was sued and had to relent.
Republican registration officials in Virginia deliberately tried to confuse students by informing them that registering in Virginia would cause them legal complications or jeopardize their scholarships/financial aid (2008). Now I wonder why certain Republican election officials in Virginia might want to discourage student civic participation/voting when the Supreme Court says students are entitled to vote at their college address if they choose to do so?
The flip side of wildly-exaggerated voter fraud allagations is voter suppression.
Comment by Captain America Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 3:21 pm
It is insulting to make any claims that Ken Blackwell intended to suppress voters.
These ridiculous claims were investigated and quickly uncovered to be partisan silliness and sour grapes.
It is wrong to regurgitate these unfounded smears.
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 3:33 pm
==VMan, what “massive federal entitlement programs” did FDR create?==
Sheesh!
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 3:36 pm
There was a lot of alphabet soup in the New Deal, but I don’t recall SHEESH.
Would it be too insulting to regurgitate an answer?
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 3:51 pm
Van Man
Name: Nathan Sproul Consultant
Lincoln Strategies
Place Calfornia
Guess who’s working for John McCain’s campaign?- The consultant who allagedly destroyed Democratic voter registrations in 2004.
Visit the Huffington Post Web Site if you dare and read the following story: “McCain Employs GOP Operative Accused of Voter Registration Fraud.”
Van Man visiting the Hufffington Post Web site might give you a nervous breakdown, given your delicate sensibilities. But since you challenged the origanal validity of my vague recollection, read it and weep!
Comment by Captain America Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 3:51 pm
“It is insulting to make any claims that Ken Blackwell intended to suppress voters.” -VanillaMan
You can chose to be insulted by that fiction.
I prefer to be insulted by the deliberate voting inequities in Ohio in 2004.
“After the election, local political activists seeking a recount analyzed how Franklin County officials distributed voting machines. They found that 27 of the 30 wards with the most machines per registered voter showed majorities for Bush.”
“In Knox County, some Kenyon College students waited 10 hours to vote. “They had to skip classes and skip work,” said Matthew Segal, a 19-year-old student.”
“In Youngstown, 25 electronic machines transferred an unknown number of votes for Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) to the Bush column.”
Long lines waiting for too few voting machines. Long time voters scrubbed from the rolls. Machines actually switching votes.
But no, nothing to be insulted by there. Unfounded smears. Sheesh.
Comment by doubtful Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 4:05 pm
I thought Blackwell was that fashion guy who just died.
How about we not focus on esoterica.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 4:08 pm
This from the AP, today …
“A Republican official in Lake County wants to require some voters to show IDs if voter registration problems are clustered in certain precincts. Lake County Clerk Willard Helander on Monday said she’s asked the state’s attorney if that could be done legally.”
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6459105
Helander’s presser last week was less about suffrage for goldfish — and more about laying the groundwork for a Republican voter suppression effort in Lake County.
In 2004, the Lake County Coroner was decided by 900 votes. A Lake County Board seat was decided by 36 votes.
In 2006, a State Rep seat and a County Board seat were decided by 900 votes. Another County Board seat was decided by 300 votes. Two more were decided by 100 votes.
In 2008, Kirk vs Seals may well turn on how Lake County votes. Everyone is expecting Nov 4 to be a long night in Lake County.
Comment by Ela Observer Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 4:42 pm
Rich: Women’s Voices Women’s Votes is a project started by EMILY’s List. They sent one of these forms to my Mom, who is 66 years old and has been registered to vote since she was 21. Obviously, she was not an unregistered, single woman voter these people were targeting.
Anyhow, the form looked so bad, was so poorly done, and looked so phoney that my dad (who was a support staffer for HDems for 11 years) thought it was some kind of fraud and was ready to call the authorities.
So they called me and had me look at it, and I also had concerns until I saw it was Women’s Voices/Women’s Votes.
I am still on the e-mail list of EMILY’s even though the last time I gave to the organization was in 2000. I stopped because I later saw that EMILY had given Sara Feigenholtz $1000 for a general election. After that, I never gave them another dime because what the heck does Feigenholtz need $1000 for a general election? I thought my contributions to the organization itself, beyond the money you give to selected races they highlight for you, was going to Democratic women candidates in targeted districts.
Clearly, EMILYs or WVWV did not mean to cause any problems or try and disenfranchise anyone. I do think they really, really screwed up by being overly aggressive in their registration efforts. Having been involved in such drives myself, I understand their goals, but no one over there sat down and thought this whole thing through. Now they have handed the Republicans another phony “Democratic liberal voter fraud” allegation that we will have to hear about over and over and over until election day. Sigh.
Comment by some former legislative intern Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 5:15 pm
Finding stories about the Sproul affair from 2004 is as easy as a web search. It took place in Washington & Oregon and was pretty well documented. Additional allegations were made regarding registration irregularities in other states.
It’s especially interesting when you consider that ACORN is getting grief for turning in registrations for Mickey Mouse because they are required by law to turn in all completed forms. The Sproul folks are accused of doing the opposite: sorting through the forms and sending in only likely Republican voters. Maybe someday the Dem supporters will learn to sort through the forms as well.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 5:40 pm