considering the dem operation acorn is under investigation in half the states for illegal activities, someone needs to make attempts to ensure a fair election.
On Oct 12, 5:47 am, "[ the last patriotic Republican ]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > GOP Attacks on American Voters Turn Desperate, Ugly and Dangerous > http://www.truthout.org/101108B > The GOP assault on American voters has hit full stride as the economy > and John McCain tank in synch. > > With just over three weeks until election day, the Republicans > have mounted an all-out attack against newly registered voters and the > organizations working to sign them up. As many as 75% of these new > voters are expected to vote Democratic, but the attacks have also > spread to long-established voters as well. Recent calculations show > more than a million more newly registered Democrats in Ohio than > Republicans. > > The usual drumbeat claiming massive voter fraud has become > ceaseless at Fox "News" and other right wing media mouthpieces. > > As expected, the assault centers in Ohio, which once again could > decide the presidency, but has manifested throughout the nation: > > 1) A Republican sheriff in Greene County, Ohio, has demanded > social security and other records from 302 local voters whose ballots > he apparently wants to negate. Sheriff Gene Fischer has requested > registration cards and address forms for all Greene County residents > who voted in a special session established in Ohio allowing new voters > to register and vote on the same day. The process was challenged in > court by the GOP. The Ohio Supreme Court turned down that challenge, > and allowed the same-day voting to proceed. But now Fischer claims > telephone calls complaining about the potential for voter fraud have > prompted him to go after the information. > > In Franklin County, home of Ohio State University, Columbus State > Community College, Capital University, Ohio Dominican University, and > Otterbein College, election protection observers are reporting > continuing surveillance by Republicans at Veterans Memorial, the site > for early voting. The observers have documented Republican operatives > taking photographs and writing down license plate numbers of voters. > Election activists expect similar criminal charges as in Greene County > to be filed in the state's capital. > > Greene County is home to Wright State, Central State, Wilberforce > and Cedarville Universities, along with Antioch College, which was > recently put out of business by a right-wing putsch on its board of > directors. > > Llyn McCoy, Greene County's deputy elections director, says names, > telephone and Social Security numbers will be blacked out of any > records handed over to the Sheriff. According to McCoy, the Sheriff > says he has no evidence of voter fraud other than phone calls stating > fraud was a possibility. It is widely assumed that the same-day > registration/voting option was exercised primarily by students who > lean heavily Democratic. In 2004, African-American students from > Wright State, Central State and Wilberforce were regularly challenged > on their registration credentials and forced to endure waiting in > lines to vote for hours. Students at Cedarville, a Christian school, > made no such reports. Sheriff Fischer's targeting of historically > black college students, the core of Obama-mania, is intended to send a > chilling effect through the ranks of these Democratic voters. > > 2) U.S. District Court Judge George C. Smith, a Reagan appointee, > has approved a GOP lawsuit demanding that the state give county boards > of elections great leeway in attacking new voter registration forms. > The decision, framed under the Help America Vote Act, would allow > Republican challengers access to data from the Bureau of Motor > Vehicles and the Social Security agency to challenge new voters. The > Judge noted that Ohio law permits challenges to absentee ballots, > thousands of which have been pouring in to elections boards. If > allowed to stand, it could give the GOP the right to shred ballots > already cast in the Buckeye State, with the precedent possibly being > used to further enable a GOP nationwide disenfranchisement campaign. > Smith gave Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner a week to respond. > Brunner has stated she will appeal. > > 3) Before the ruling, Brunner announced at the close of > registration that the number of registered voters in Ohio had jumped > by 665,949, from 7,518,189 active voters on January 1, 2008, to > 8,184,138 active voters now. About 5.4 million votes were officially > counted in Ohio's 2004 presidential election. Then-Secretary of State > J. Kenneth Blackwell certified a Bush victory of less than 119,000 > votes. A massive GOP disenfranchisement campaign could easily exceed > that margin. > > 4) The New York Times has reported that boards of elections in at > least nine crucial states, including Ohio, have violated federal law > in conducting purges and have been illegally using Social Security > data bases as part of those purges. The Times' Ian Urbina quotes > Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman as asking the Colorado > Attorney-General to review how some 2,500 citizens were removed from > the registration lists there. The Times has cited purges in Colorado, > Louisiana and Michigan that have apparently been conducted within 90 > days of the upcoming November 4 election, violating federal law that > allows states to expunge only those who have been convicted of a > felony, moved out of state or died. > > 5) The Times has also reported that boards of elections in Nevada, > North Carolina, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio have illegally used federal > Social Security databases to flag and possibly eliminate voters whose > registration applications were suspected of irregularities. The Times > reported some 37,000 Colorado voters removed in the three weeks after > July 21; Secretary Coffman said the number was 14,000. > > 6) Michigan elections director Christopher Thomas said his state > had removed about 11,000 voters in August, while the Times estimated > the real number to be closer to 33,000. Thomas refused to make the > purged files public. Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land is a > long-standing Republican partisan whose political activism traces back > to the mid-70s when she worked for Gerald Ford's campaign in high > school. Critics charge that she functions in the traditional of > Florida's Katherine Harris and Ohio's J. Kenneth Blackwell. > > 7) North Carolina's BOE director Gary Bartlett dismissed concerns > raised by the Social Security Administration about possible mis-used > of SS files to purge registrations there in conjunction with drivers > licenses. The SSI contends Social Security numbers can only be > accessed when there is no drivers license or other form of state ID > available. > > 8) A CBS News report has revealed organized caging attempts by the > GOP to eliminate registered voters from the rolls in 19 states. The > report marks one of the first initiated by a corporate news > organization isolating Republican anti-vote campaigning. > > 9) An electronic voting machine in New Mexico was found to be > operating on faulty software which could have eliminated hundreds of > votes. The glitch was apparently corrected, but was of a type that > could result in thousands of votes being lost on Election Day 2008, as > they were in 2000 and 2004. > > 10) The grassroots organizing group ACORN has come under serious > attack in Nevada, Missouri, Ohio and elsewhere from Republicans > attempting to negate the thousands of generally low-income citizens > ACORN has registered to vote. As a matter of law, ACORN is required to > report irregular registrations that come through its process. But GOP > operatives have equated these with "fraudulent" filings, and a have > ramped up a smear and fear campaign aimed at negating thousands of > legitimate ACORN registrants throughout the US. > > 11) The GOP continues to resist attempts to subpoena Michael > Connell, a shady Republican computer operative who programmed the 2000 > Bush-Cheney web site. Connell was also hired by former Ohio Secretary > of State J. Kenneth Blackwell in 2004 to tabulate the Ohio vote count. > Under Connell, Ohio's vote totals were shunted to a computer bank in > the same basement in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that housed the servers > of the Republican National Committee. In the early hours of the > morning after election day, vote totals mysteriously began shifting > from Kerry to Bush, swinging the 2004 election. Connell's cyber- > security industry colleague Stephen Spoonamore, a Republican and > former McCain supporter, has said that Connell may be able to shed > light on vote count rigging in the 2008 vote count as well. Attorneys > in the King-Lincoln-Bronzeville civil rights lawsuit have thus far > been unable to secure Connell's sworn testimony. > > 12) CNN has reported that Obama's surging poll numbers may leave > him "in position to steal Virginia from the GOP." Virginia hasn't > backed a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in > 1964, but CNN's use of the word "steal" has raised hackles among > election protection activists who argue the flow of theft is in the > other direction. > > As the moment of truth arrives, McCain-Palin attacks based on > race, alleged "terrorist" ties and more are sure to increasingly > dominate the GOP campaign. But far more insidious will be an all-out > assault on voter registration in the name of "voter fraud," and on > finding new ways to undermine the national vote, most importantly on > electronic voting machines of the kind programmed by Michael Connell. > > If those supporting the democratic process are not exceedingly > vigilant, the GOP could use these tactics to once again take the White > House. > > -------- --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
