Gyroscope

A newsletter for those unmoved by spin.
No. 50, October 25, 2004

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by John Nordin
Vote Fraud

"This spring, the [Florida] secretary of state also tried to keep secret a list of felons — not allowed to vote in Florida — who had been removed from the voting rolls; a Florida newspaper got hold of the list and found glaring inaccuracies. The "purge" list inordinately was dominated by blacks, who tend to vote Democratic, while Hispanics, traditionally more conservative voters, were left off." (Seattle Times, 10/25)

The Florida secretary of state is being sued for having thrown out registration forms from new voters because they failed to check a box indicating they were U.S. citizens, even though they had elsewhere signed an oath that they were citizens. (Financial Times, 10/18, p.11

"This spring, the [Florida] secretary of state also tried to keep secret a list of felons — not allowed to vote in Florida — who had been removed from the voting rolls; a Florida newspaper got hold of the list and found glaring inaccuracies. The "purge" list inordinately was dominated by blacks, who tend to vote Democratic, while Hispanics, traditionally more conservative voters, were left off." (Seattle Times, 10/25)

And our youth are getting involved in Florida also:

 

[University of Florida] students questioned the activities of a for-profit, Republican-sponsored voter drive last week after it improperly was held on campus.

For-profit companies are not allowed to work at the university without prior authorization, and Young Political Majors LLC did not seek UF approval before beginning its drive last week, said Lohse Beeland, director of student activities.

After talking with the group, she said UF officials decided YPM could continue working on campus as long as it adheres to university policies.

However, some students later were concerned that YPM representatives reportedly pressured students to register as Republicans.

Ted Terry, president of the liberal Gator Greens, said he plans to file a complaint against the group with UF and local officials after his own encounter with the YPM drive. After signing the petition, Terry said he became suspicious because a YPM employee checked off a box to change his party affiliation and asked him to sign the registration form. (Alligator Online)

In Nevada, a Republican group threw out Democratic voter registration forms. (NY Times, 10/15, pA27) Alas, it isn't all by Republicans, as in Colorado, where there are accusations that groups registered the same person more than once. (Financial Times, 10/18, p.11)

Even the former saint of all things progressive, Ralph Nader is doing it.

A Pennsylvania court struck Ralph Nader's name from the state's ballot yesterday, declaring that nearly two-thirds of the signatures on his nominating petitions were invalid or had been forged. ... "I am compelled to emphasize that this signature-gathering process was the most deceitful and fraudulent exercise ever perpetrated upon this court," wrote James G. Colins, the president judge of the Commonwealth Court. (NY Times, 10/14, p. A24)

But leave it to the New York Times, in a front page, headline article, to make it sound as if it was all the Democrats doing. They lead with a story about how Republican officials in Ohio are going to station more people in the polling places "guard against potential fraud arising from aggressive moves by the Democrats to register tens of thousands of new voters" is how they describe the efforts. They quote a Republican official, James Trakas "The organized left's efforts to, quote unquote, register voters - I call them ringers - have created these problems." (NY Times, Oct 23, p. 1)

Well, we can't have that, now, "aggressive" efforts to register "quote unquote" new voters. I mean, how dastardly, how subversive. We like our old voters, nothing wrong with our old, traditional voters. Don't need these quote unquote "new" voters.

It's looking more and more clear that the GOP is looking to pull in Ohio the same voter 'fraud'/voter suppression operation they tried to pull two years ago in South Dakota. Probably they'll be doing it in other states as well, but Ohio is clearly ground zero. Not altogether a surprise since they just sent their South Dakota get-out-the-vote chief to run things in Ohio. (Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo, Oct 24)

And who is this person?

Larry Russell, the state director of the South Dakota Republicans' "get out the vote" efforts, resigned over questions surrounding absentee ballot applications. National Republicans promptly transferred him and five of his team members to Ohio, a promotion to the coveted battleground state. (Markos Moulitsas in the UK Guardian Unlimited, 10/20)

Another one to watch is Nathan Sproul who contacts libraries to set up voter registration efforts. He runs a Republican consulting firm but put himself forward as representing America Votes. (Oregon Mail Tribune, 9/21) His firm is now accused of destroying Democratic registration forms in two states. (Slate) He's also been active in Minnesota (Star Tribune, 10/18) where a Democratic organization is catching flack for the antics of a fired employee.

But, hey, if you can't keep people from registering, keep them from finding the voting booth. In Pennsylvania, Republicans were foiled in their last minute request to move 63 polling places in minority neighborhoods. Local Republican officials opposed this plan, which had been proposed by 'hired guns' from the national party.

And then there is just ordinary carelessness. I doubt I'm going to be able to vote this year, I moved right at the deadline to re-register, and my promised absentee ballot hasn't showed up yet. Fortunately, Kerry is way ahead in Washington. But I have no way of proving I registered, no real way of protesting not getting a ballot and if I want to try to protest, I have to drive into downtown Seattle, find parking, walk around the urine smells of the streets and find the voter registration office.

The system is just not organized or run with the care it should be.
Links to sites concerned with voter fraud

Voter Registration Fraud Clearinghouse

America Votes (the organization Sproul was claiming to represent)

Vote Watch 2004

The Long Shadow of Jim Crow: Voter Intimidation and Suppression in America Today, A Report by PFAW Foundation and NAACP
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