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Conyers To Boehner: Enough With The Voter Fraud!
House Judiciary Chair John Conyers has released a statement in response to Republican leader John Boehner's various recent efforts to get the Justice Department to pay more attention to voter fraud, despite scant evidence of such fraud.
Writes Conyers:
This endless campaign to press the Department into pursuing phantom claims of 'voter fraud' must end. So-called "voter fraud" is vanishingly rare and every time this subject is given a careful look it is found to have essentially no concrete impact in our elections. Indeed, according to Justice Department data, out of almost 200 million votes cast in federal elections since October 2002, only 102 individuals have been convicted of federal voter fraud offenses. Thus, Republican agitation on this issue is both unnecessary and costly, as Department resources are needed to combat serious matters of voter suppression. Fliers distributed in Virginia this week using state letterhead to mislead Democrats and Independents about the date of the election and recent reports of violence and intimidation against citizens working to register and turnout voters are real-world problems that directly impact citizens' right to vote. It is also disconcerting to see Members of Congress criticizing career personnel of the Department for their private political activity, which intrudes deeply upon their privacy and appears to have no bearing on their job performance.
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Josh
Zachary
You go John!!
October 31, 2008 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
John Conyers demonstrates what is Congressional Oversight and what it is to have a spine by standing up to lying bullies like Boehner. Thank you!
October 31, 2008 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
John Conyers demonstrates what is Congressional Oversight and what it is to have a spine by standing up to lying bullies like Boehner. Thank you!
October 31, 2008 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
John Conyers demonstrates what oversight is? Hah. When John Conyers delivers a sternly worded letter, it only becomes a siren call for republicans to violate whatever he's advocating since there will be no repercussions at all.
If there were, Conyers would not be compelled to write sternly worded letters that these days signal smacks of desperation.
November 1, 2008 5:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
So the "strongly worded letter" is sufficient this time, unlike all the other times Conyers has remained totally aboveboard while being foreceful WITHIN THE RULES?\
October 31, 2008 7:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
john Conyers should be the House majority leader in my book. He takes a leadership role on every issue that matters now. End Pelosi's inneffective control of the House!
October 31, 2008 7:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll second that. Pelosi doesn't deserve the speakership after her miserable performance this congress.
October 31, 2008 8:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, it is a sad thing that MY party wastes so much time on this issue when there has been no proof that illegal voting is a real problem. The party's attempt at voter suppression is a true embarrassment to me and it begs the question as to whether Republicans understand their ability to win an election on the basis of the votes they recieve shows just how willing they are to change the subject away from their low turnout of the voters to their ridiculous compulsive complaint about voter fraud. I am about to re-register so I do not have this perennial party embarrassment every 4 years. It turns out to be a continuing admission by Republicans that we cannot win on the merits but have to denigrate Democratic turnout in order to win. And that is just sickening to me. Voter suppression is a sin and they will be held responsible for their misdeeds.
October 31, 2008 10:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, it is a sad thing that MY party wastes so much time on this issue when there has been no proof that illegal voting is a real problem. The party's attempt at voter suppression is a true embarrassment to me and it begs the question as to whether Republicans understand their ability to win an election on the basis of the votes they receive shows just how willing they are to change the subject away from their low turnout of the voters to their ridiculous compulsive complaint about voter fraud. I am about to re-register so I do not have this perennial party embarrassment every 4 years. It turns out to be a continuing admission by Republicans that we cannot win on the merits but have to denigrate Democratic turnout in order to win. And that is just sickening to me. Voter suppression is a sin and they will be held responsible for their misdeeds.
October 31, 2008 10:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
MJJ, it's not just an embarrassment to your party, but an embarrassment to all Americans. The people of the world pay attention to American elections and are watching this with particular interest. "Consevatives" have destroyed the Republican brand as well as their own credibility through their own incompetence, leaving "party first" defenders like Boehner to try and rescue their tenuous hold on power. It is an effort that will ultimately fail.
November 1, 2008 7:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
The DOJ should be looking into the allegations that the electronic voting machines still used in many states consistently malfunction, either switching votes from one group of candidates to the other (always to the advantage of the republicans), or by not counting or losing votes (always to the advantage of the republicans).
Diebold and other manufacturers of these machines claim the technology is not there to create a paper receipt (although many of these companies also manufacture ATM machines). And they also claim their technology is proprietary and therefore do not have to make their voting machines available for inspection from outside experts.
These machines more than likely gave the 04 election to Bush when the exit polls overwhelmingly gave the election to Kerry. And from what I understand, the exit polls are extremely accurate and historically not off by more than a few points in either direction.
November 1, 2008 9:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
For what they're worth, Conyers, etc. should issue subpoenas to the different Repug thugs around the country who are taking part in this "vote fraud" bullshit. Make these people testify, under oath, as to why they believe massive voter fraud is taking place.
After all, Congress should know about any voter fraud, should they not?
November 1, 2008 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink