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Conservative Group Intimidating Voters in Minnesota?
Here's what could be the latest Republican voter intimidation scheme:
Larry Johnson of St. Paul, Minnesota, says that he received a phone call from a woman who claimed to be from the secretary of state's office working on voter fraud, reports the Associated Press. The woman asked about his voting record, said Johnson.
In a sworn affidavit, Johnson said the woman then told him she was working with Jeff Davis, who runs a socially conservative group, Minnesota Majority, that has been stoking fears of voter fraud lately.
Mark Ritchie, the state's Democratic secretary of state, said he has asked county and federal prosecutors to look into the call as possible voter intimidation.
In a statement posted on Minnesota Majority's website, Davis denied the claims of intimidation, but admitted:
Minnesota Majority has been conducting research into what appear to be inconsistencies in Minnesota's voter rolls. Voters with apparent duplicate registration records have been contacted by Minnesota Majority volunteers with a simple request to confirm the accuracy of their voter registration information. We believe these research activities to be in complete compliance with all state and federal laws.
The Department of Justice is currently looking into claims of voter intimidation in New Mexico, allegedly engineered by a lawyer connected to the state Republican Party.
Josh
Zachary
There are a lot of "duplicate" Larry Johnsons in Minnesota, dontcha think?
Also 50,000 people from Somalia, and even more from Southeast Asia, lots of them being citizens now and eligible to vote, and many of whom have names likely to be mangled in transliteration---and may not be the kind of names which conform to the standard U.S. formula of "first, middle, last."
It's a lot tougher for the Thugs, though, since they lost the office of Secretary of State to Mark Ritchie, who campaigned explicitly against the voter intimidation and suppression tactics of his Republican predecessor, Kiffmeyer. She, however, is attempting a comeback as a candidate for state legislature. Michele Bachmann isn't our only embarrassment.
October 30, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
There are a lot of "duplicate" Larry Johnsons in Minnesota, dontcha think?
Also 50,000 people from Somalia, and even more from Southeast Asia, lots of them being citizens now and eligible to vote, and many of whom have names likely to be mangled in transliteration---and may not be the kind of names which conform to the standard U.S. formula of "first, middle, last."
It's a lot tougher for the Thugs, though, since they lost the office of Secretary of State to Mark Ritchie, who campaigned explicitly against the voter intimidation and suppression tactics of his Republican predecessor, Kiffmeyer. She, however, is attempting a comeback as a candidate for state legislature. Michele Bachmann isn't our only embarrassment.
October 30, 2008 11:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
My response would have been," Send me a certified letter from an agency allowed to check me, make a muttually acceptable appointment and put you and me under oath. Other than that you could just be harassing me. Thank you. Goodbye." Nothing is better than caller ID and answering machines at these times.
October 30, 2008 12:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know if these clowns feel that the only road to "victory" is the one that involves the slimiest cheating possible, that, in and of itself, shows that they haven't got the goods. They're clearly losers.
I'm hardly Pollyanna, but I really think that the expanding universe allows less room for this crap. This is so if only for the reality that there are too many eyes on the ball from here on out. This pathetic nonsense only works if it's largely swept under the rug and/or if the little guy can't join with a bunch of other little guys (and maybe even a few right minded big ones) and say "Try taking ALL of us on."
October 30, 2008 12:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Having two registrations is not illegal and not voter fraud...I have registered many times in different states, each time I moved, or in some cases applied for a new states drivers license (change of address, etc.) even for an absentee ballot (when I was in South America for two years)how ever, if you vote more than once that is election fraud...voting more than once is illegal..when will these idiots figure out the difference between registering and voting..they are not the same...people register to vote and then they don't go and vote..should that be illegal, too?....only the actual act of voting more than once is illegal and prosecutable...
October 30, 2008 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Said she was from the sec of state's office? Criminal charges with that coffee, madam? And you, sir. Yes, you mr davis. Could I bring you a drink while you behave despicably?
October 30, 2008 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
main question here is why do voters listen AT ALL when these calls come in; there should be PSA's letting voters know that if caller can't ID himself or herself as a legally-authorized person to make that phone call (or simly won't ID him/herself at all), the person receiving the call should simply not respond to any questions and hang up immediately..
do you guys think in ANY other developed country in the world there are voter-intimidation tactics like here?? PATHETIC....
October 30, 2008 1:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
How many people with duplicate GOP registrations are they calling?
October 30, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is there still anyone who doesn't think secretary of state elections are vital? Look at Democrats in Minnesota and Ohio fighting so hard against Republican election fraud efforts, compared to Republicans in Indiana and Georgia who are the ones causing problems.
And if anyone needs a reason to vote Democratic instead of Republican, remember which party protects your right to vote, and which threatens it.
October 30, 2008 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
"There are a lot of "duplicate" Larry Johnsons in Minnesota, dontcha think?"
Sure, but how many do you expect to find registered on the voter rolls with the exact same first, last and middle names, year of birth AND phone number? That's wht he got a polite call asking to verify his address. There are tons of cases like this in the rolls. Is it fraud? In this case, probably not, but it invites it. It indicates lax data handling practices by the Secretary of State. By the way, Mr. Johnson claims to be a McCain supporter and a life-long Republican. If this was an effort to suppress voters in favor of McCain, why would anyone call him?
Media coverage of this situation has been astonsihingly one-sided. Here's video we didn't see on the news: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btX-cr4wZMg
October 31, 2008 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Having two registrations is not illegal and not voter fraud...I have registered many times in different states, each time I moved, or in some cases applied for a new states drivers license (change of address, etc.) even for an absentee ballot (when I was in South America for two years)how ever, if you vote more than once that is election fraud...voting more than once is illegal.."
There are numerous instances where the secretary of state's file seems to indicate the same person voted more than once in the same election. That's why this needs investigating. It may all be data handling issues, maybe it's not. Either way, there's a problem. That's another tidbit that didn't make the news.
October 31, 2008 12:25 PM | Reply | Permalink