Suppress the vote

[Embar Angylwrath]

I think one thing many of you may have missed is that by registering the same person several different times (and getting away with it), that person could vote several different times by absentee ballot, as long as different info was used to register the person.

That works for both sides.

[Trollbait]

There is a serious issue that could actually = votes here in Ohio.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10102008/ne ... 132965.htm

Johnson used the same information on all of his registration cards, and officials say they usually catch and toss out duplicate registrations. But the practice sparks fear that some multiple registrants could provide different information and vote more than once by absentee ballot.

I do not know about other states but because of how absentee ballots work here this is a serious issue.

Say a guy fills out several different voter registration cards with different info and picks up several absentee ballots....

The absentee ballot has no identifying information on it.

The name and address on the envelope is checked against the voter registration at the time the ballot is opened and if it matches a name and address it is counted and the envelope is tossed.

Now you have a counted ballot with no real check on the validity of the voter. One person could really mail in dozens of ballots as long as he is on the rolls and they would all be counted.

It would be nearly impossible to prove that this fraud ever took place.

Meanwhile, a federal judge yesterday ordered Ohio's Secretary of State to verify the identity of newly registered voters by matching them with other government documents. The order was in response to a Republican lawsuit unrelated to the ACORN probe in Cuyahoga County, in which at least three people, including Johnson, have been subpoenaed.

Now Brunner must verify each new voter. She did not have to before. What do you think the odds are that someone in the past has taken advatage of that particular loophole?

Also.....ballots have already been cast....how can we be sure they are not fraudulent?

[Partha]

Um, like this?

http://www.electionsonthe.net/oh/absentee.htm

You may request an Absentee Ballot by…

* completing an Absentee Ballot Application and mailing it to the Board of Elections
* calling the Board of Elections and requesting an Absentee Ballot Application to be mailed to you
* mailing a letter to the Board of Elections with the following information:

* Your name and home address.
* The election for which you are requesting a ballot.
* Your date of birth.
* One of the following:

* Your driver’s license number; or
* The last four digits of your social security number; or
* A copy of your current and valid photo identification or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and address.

* If the election is a primary, your party choice, or that you want to vote an issues-only ballot.
* The mailing address to which you want your ballot sent.
* You must state that you are a qualified elector.
* Your signature. (May not be signed by Power of Attorney)

If you're going to the lengths of getting a new SS number or DL number or fraudulent bills at different addresses...well...

But it seems likely that an absentee ballot without said information simply won't be counted.

[Trollbait]

A copy of your current and valid photo identification or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and address.

Come on now......


Seriously.....

How is that NOT open to fraud?

The "proof" of identity is only for the application for an absentee ballot and is not required for the actual ballot to be counted.

They only check the name and address on the envelope against the information you already supplied with the application.

It would not even barely take an effort to commit massive fraud under those conditions.

If you have a hole in the fence in a supposedly secure area you dont say "Well I guess I will wait to fix it when I see someone crawl through it".

You fix the fucking hole. Common sense.

[Trollbait]

So again, please point out some actual modern day voter fraud that justifies the GOP tactics. The GOP is claiming that current fraud is rampant when the exact opposite is true.

Oh and before you go off on the wrong trail.

Just because a voter registration exists for a dead person does not mean that a vote was cast at the poll. Dead people are on the voter rolls all over the country. proof that someone used that to cast an illegal vote is almost never there.

http://www.click2houston.com/investigat ... etail.html

Investigative reporter Amy Davis shows you how hundreds of voters could sway this year's election -- voters who are not even alive.

"All-in-all, a great person, a great woman, just a wonderful person" is how Alexis Guidry described her mother to Local 2 Investigates.

"As far back as I can remember, they've always voted in the election," Guidry said of her parents.

The March 2008 Primary was no exception. Voting records show Alexis' mom, Gloria Guidry, cast her ballot in person near her South Houston home.

"It was just very shocking, a little unsettling," said Alexis Guidry.

It's unsettling because Gloria Guidry died of cancer 10 months before the March Primary.

"She'd be very upset," Guidry said when asked what her mom would think.

Trent Seibert, of Texas Watchdog, says you should be too.

"This is really disquieting. It's concerning. It's worrisome," said Seibert.

He heads up the non-partisan news group on the web.

[Lurker]

Jecks,
That doesn't justify the voter supression tactics used by the GOP. As the source you provided says, "We've never had any evidence there's a concerted attempt at fraud." And yet, that's exactly what the GOP is claiming.

[Klast Brell]

Every time we ask from proof of modern fraudulent votes you show us proof that bogus registrations were submitted. The woman in the video who was registered 6 times. So what. She was going to vote only once. So why take away her right to vote?

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Every time we ask from proof of modern fraudulent votes you show us proof that bogus registrations were submitted. The woman in the video who was registered 6 times. So what. She was going to vote only once. So why take away her right to vote?

I fully understood that the women was only going to vote once, she was responsible and worked with the Board of Elections in her county to correct the problem.

[Harlowe]

I think it's too easy for ACORN to register people - but that's also a state issue. I want every man & woman that is eligible to vote, to have the ability to vote. I want it to be easy and fair, however, it seems like in some states it's just too easy for this bs and it lends itself to this kind of drama and lack of trust.

Do I think it will effect the outcome of any election? Hell no, other than disenfranchise people.

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Story of another guy that claims he was offered money/cigarettes from ACORN people to register.

[Kulaf]

I fully agree Harlowe. Personally I do not like vote drives. Have the civic responsibility to get off your ass and go get registered properly at a state institution if you want to vote. It's really not hard and it would really end this entire practice on the part of both parties and their supporters.

[Ddrak]

I have no problems with mail-in registration (it's the way it works here, but registration and voting is mandatory here too so different argument), but having third parties act as a proxy seems dodgy. They should simply be encouraging people to mail their own registrations in.

Dd

[Harlowe]

I fully agree Harlowe. Personally I do not like vote drives. Have the civic responsibility to get off your ass and go get registered properly at a state institution if you want to vote. It's really not hard and it would really end this entire practice on the part of both parties and their supporters.

I agree though I don't think it's all a matter of being lazy, a lot of it is just a lack of understanding "how to vote". I'd prefer they just do "education outreach" with the materials to register THEMSELF. I don't like third parties doing it.

So what Ddrak said. =)

[Embar Angylwrath]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... 2352.story

Over 30,000 felons illegally registered to vote in FL, with a voting history of 2-1 in favor of the Dems.

I smell another legal fight if FL is close.

[Lurker]

According to that story they are almost all eligible voters but there's confusion over whether they were granted automatic clemency under the new 2007 law or if they needed to apply for clemency. I am happy to see that Florida took steps to prevent the mass purges of eligible voters that occurred in 2000, when tens of thousands of ex-felons were mistakenly removed from the voter rolls.

[Embar Angylwrath]

They really didn't take steps to do anyhting. They are too short-staffed and the overwhelmed to respond appropriately. Nice spin though.

[Lurker]

From your own article...

Browning said the state painstakingly checks all voters before removing them to avoid inadvertently taking off eligible voters as happened in two previous large-scale purge attempts.

"The policy of this department, this state, is that we will err on the side of the voter," he said.

Did you read further than the first paragraph?

[Embar Angylwrath]

Sure I did. I read things like this...

The Division of Elections has a backlog of more than 108,000 possible felons who have registered to vote since January 2006 that it hasn't had the time or staff to verify.

and this...

Maintaining accurate voting rolls is up to the state Division of Elections, which has failed to effectively remove felons for years.

and this...

Most recently, in 2006, the Auditor General recommended the division conduct a "comprehensive check" of all registered voters against lists of convicted felons, a step the state still has not taken, Browning acknowledged.

and this...

Elections workers are now reviewing more than 3,800 possible felon voters but have more than 108,000 others still to be checked. "We've not touched those records yet," Browning said.

and this...

Asked how long it will take to review them all, he said, "I don't have a clue. I really don't."

and this...

John Teate, who lives west of Boca Raton, remains on the voter rolls after registering as a Democrat in July despite felony drug and theft convictions dating to the early 1990s. He said someone he thinks was a Democratic supporter signed him up while he waited for a bus at the central terminal in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

You see, I read the article in context, which was that Florida has a big voter registration issue on their hands that they are unequipped or unable to deal with. I guess you missed all the other paragraphs that you couldn't cherry pick to support your position.

[Lurker]

As I said, the vast majority of those are eligible voters and I'm glad Florida has taken steps to prevent the mass purges. Are they backlogged and understaffed as a result? Sure. Is that better than wiping tens of thousands of eligible voters from the rolls to prevent a few invalid ones? Damn right it is.

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Example of current Voter fraud?

Here you go: http://www.nypost.com/seven/10142008/ne ... 133540.htm

The vote of Darnell Nash, one of four people subpoenaed in a Cuyahoga County probe of ACORN's voter-registration activities, was canceled and his case was turned over to local prosecutors and law enforcement, Board of Elections officials said yesterday.

Nash had registered to vote repeatedly from an address that belonged to a legitimately registered voter, officials said during a hearing at which the subpoenaed voters were to testify.

Board officials had contacted Nash this summer, questioned his address and told him to stop repeat registering.

But still, he breezed into Ohio election offices - the state allows early voting for president - reregistered with a fake address and cast a paper ballot, officials said.

"He came in on 9/30 and Mr. Nash again registered to vote at [someone else's] address, and he cast a ballot," said board official Jane Platten.

Nash did not turn up for the hearing.

Piece from WSJ about Obama and Acorn: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1223940 ... torialPage

Acorn even registered Mickey Mouse to vote this year: http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/e ... 852295.ece