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Departments Election Issues Election fraud, my ass Of course the justifications keep shifting, as with the Iraqi war. First it was the general performance of the prosecutors. Then a preference for specific replacements.. Now it’s concern for the democratic process. But the administration and its allies have a long history of using the specter of election fraud to justify reprehensible actions. In 2000, Jeb Bush claimed to be fighting potential fraud when he purged over 55,000 voters from the Florida rolls for felony convictions that never applied under state law—or never existed to begin with, for instance if someone had a name similar to a convicted felon. Staffers of ChoicePoint, the Republican-tied data-collection firm that handled this effort, acknowledged that they disproportionately targeted low-income Democrats, particularly African Americans. A follow-up by BBC investigative reporter Greg Palast found that 90 percent of those scrubbed were legitimate voters, enough by far to have made Al Gore the winner. And the Supreme Court that handed Bush the presidency was led by William Rehnquist, who got his start harassing black and Hispanic voters in South Phoenix as part of a Republican effort called Operation Eagle Eye. Election fraud was also the watchword in 2004. Ohio Secretary of State (and Bush campaign chair) Ken Blackwell claimed he was just protecting the legitimacy of the vote when he knocked 300,000 voters off the rolls in key Democratic cities like Cleveland, far exceeding Bush’s margin of victory. Blackwell also tried to reject new Democratic registrations because an arcane law said they were supposed to be on 80-pound paper stock (presumably more secure), then had to back off when his own official forms failed the same criterion. And he went to court to ensure that provisional ballots would be considered only if cast in the right precinct, defeating their key purpose, even as he sowed voter confusion by pulling machines and closing down polling stations in longstanding Democratic neighborhoods. But maybe voting integrity really is the issue in the current wave of firings. In the same 2004 election, Karl Rove aide Timothy Griffin, just named the new U.S. Attorney for eastern Arkansas, originated a strategy to send 70,000 letters challenging the addresses of black and Hispanic voters in places like Florida’s Jacksonville Naval Air Station, a local homeless shelter, and the historically black Edward Waters College. As Palast writes in another BBC report, Republicans sent the letters out with do-not-forward instructions. When they came back undeliverable, as when soldiers were deployed overseas, Florida then struck the voters from the rolls so even absentee ballots no longer counted. Maybe that’s what White House Spokeswoman Perino meant by showing concern for the sanctity of the vote. If election fraud was a legitimate issue, such abuses might have a shred of legitimacy. Yet the documented cases of deliberate illegal voting are minuscule. For a 2003 report, Securing the Vote, the think tank Demos conducted a national study, seeking documented evidence of actual fraud. They ran comprehensive searches of newspapers and court records, contacted secretaries of state and state attorneys general. Except for cases involving a handful of isolated individuals, every rumor of illegitimate voting turned out to be baseless. The image of armies of unregistered, illegal, and dead people swarming the polls was and is a Republican myth. So what was the sin of the fired U.S. Attorneys? It seemed that they weren’t sufficiently enthusiastic about joining compatriots who investigated or indicted local Democrats by a nearly five to one margin over Republicans, often with election eve headlines that melted away, along with their cases, as soon as the polls were closed. Some may have refused to go after Democratic groups who were trying to register voters. San Diego’s Carol Lam even had the audacity to prosecute Republican Congressman Duke Cunningham. Perhaps this solidly Republican group actually believed their job was to serve all of America’s citizens, instead of playing the role of political attack dogs. It’s too bad that couldn’t be the standard for the administration that terminated them. |
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Recent Election Issues Articles Nonviolent resisters put Senator Clinton on notice In-depth, post-EVEREST interview with Ohio's Secretary of State The phrase that could defeat Hillary Clinton Ohio will likely face big vote-counting problems in 2008 "Critical security failures" leads Ohio Sec. of State to recommend ban of DRE (touch-screen) voting machines Ohio Secretary of State confirms 2004 election could have been stolen Kucinich first, Edwards second in PDA straw poll Hillary and the politics of disappointment Voting can be a real battle for U.S. troops and others overseas in the 2008 primaries Wolf Blitzer loses Democratic debate Another Clinton campaign fraud We remember… Nov. 2 memorial anniversary of the 2004 Ohio election The weak slat under the bed of democracy Aurora Dairy exemption from check-off program challenged; USDA should demand retroactive payment from faux organic milk producers Kucinich tops other Dem Presidential leaders in key CA straw poll Will the GOP election theft machine do it again in 2008? Exactly how the good guys finally won Voter purging: a legal way for Republicans to swing elections? Why doesn't the GOP want Ohio's voting machines tested? The Cat in the Hat, elusive happy endings, and the [election] mess that is so big, and so deep, and so tall The Death of the DRE: gone the way of Lawn Jarts Fooled Again series: exclusive interview with Michael Collins Fooled again series: exclusive interview with "Diebold whistleblower" Steve Heller The Dan Rather voting machine special, a recipe for election disaster, and serious food for thought Resistance of one The dog ate my homework continues: inter-office Ohio Board of Elections email prompted by SAVE THE BALLOTS website gives a glimpse into the attitudes of Ohio election officials Look at who runs our boards of elections Restore health to America's elections and pull the plug on SDD virus threat Paper ballots for California: Secretary of State announces de-certification/re-certification plans for e-voting systems The dog ate my homework Welcome to jail for destruction of election records… for some of the ladies and gentlemen of the Ohio Boards of Elections! The criminal cover-up of Ohio's stolen 2004 election sinks to the fraudulent, the absurd, the pathetic Part II – Squire v. Geer: Facts the Magistrate left out are even more shocking than the ones he included Will Bush cancel the 2008 election? Ohio's 2004 presidential election records missing or destroyed Sausage making and electronic voting machines Shreds of evidence Missing records and record access in Ohio, July 2007 On-site observations of the hand-counting of paper ballots and recommendations for the general election of 2008 Sicko ? John Edwards supports "open source" for voting systems Will electronic voting reform create new ways to steal elections? US Attorney resigns following Conyers’ request for BBC documents Will Al Gore face his inconvenient truths about our stolen elections? Giving the voters "poisoned food" to "nourish" democracy In the land of the free, and the home of the brave The globalization of electronic election theft RFK: Rove and Rove's brain, 'Should be in jail,' not in office Introducing Psephos Are Rove's missing e-mails the smoking guns of the stolen 2004 election? The GOP's cyber election hit squad Another path to peace: the case for Kucinich Virtual election season Bye bye to Cleveland GOP Election Chair Bob "Ballots for Bush" Bennett Bye bye to Cleveland GOP Election Chair Bob "Ballots for Bush" Bennett Auditing the mid-term election Two big victories boost Ohio's election protection movement More potential 2004 election illegalities rock Ohio's Hocking County as Cleveland braces for a legal firestorm New Ohio evidence exposes apparently illegal 2004 recount activity by Hocking County's GOP Election Director, and a stinging complaint is filed in Cleveland Explosive new vote fraud developments continue to rock Ohio and Florida Forced resignations and stiff prison sentences intensify the escalating blowback from Ohio's 2004 stolen election Election fraud, my ass After Ohio's recount rigging convictions in Cuyahoga, is Coshocton County next? Florida setting example Sequoia Voting Systems contract with San Francisco needs added section to ensure transparency Ohio's spreading stolen 2004 election scandal claims another victim First criminal convictions from Ohio's stolen 2004 election confirm recount was rigged Election attorneys amplify importance of convictions for recount rigging in Ohio 2004 presidential race Do new Ohio recount prosecutions indicate unraveling of 2004 election theft cover-up? The mystic voting hall: for the love of democracy DREs, magic and other sleights of hand Read Election Issues Articles by Year: |
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