It seems that not only will they stop at nothing but they also will not learn from past mistakes. Here's hoping that Mukasey can see what a disaster this could become for him, the DOJ and the President.

Edmund Burke had these egregious assholes pegged over 200 years ago:

Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never can willingly abandon it. They may be distressed in the midst of all their power; but they will never look to any thing but power for their relief. -Letter to a Member of the National Assembly (1791)

...sound like anyone you know?

Rep. John Boehner:

"if no action were taken, there is a significant risk if not a certainty, that unlawful votes will be cast and counted."

Translation:

"If we don't suppress some of these votes, we're fucked"

eds: "While I agree that the Republicans are politicizing this, I also am concerned about 200,000 problematic registration records. I fault the Republicans for getting in the way of reducing the uncertainty by playing politics. But why so many problems at this time?...Shouldn't those voters who cannot clear up their status at the polls be required to cast provisional ballots? And wouldn't local election officials who abuse such information be guilty of unethical or perhaps criminal conduct?"

It is my understanding that the databases that the Republicans wanted the registrations checked against are problematic or not appropriate for such purpose. They're waging war on the vote on *all* fronts.

Thanks for posting this, Zach, and an additional thanks to David Kurtz for posting a link on the main page-- this topic needs to be pushed, and pushed hard.

Not to say the Todd debacle doesn't deserve a certain amount of attention (as evidence of increasing instability among McCain's base, if nothing else) but it's more noise than signal at a crucial juncture: namely, when a sitting president is actively involved in trying to influence the outcome of an election.

Here's hoping we see this topic in play among the major news orgs by Tuesday at the latest.

Thank you for watching this closely. I hope the other news media do the same.

Hey, what about old registrants? I bet a lot of those have "discrepancies" too. I hope everyone in Ohio realizes that their vote is being threatened by Bush and the Republicans. Like the slimy robo-calls, this ploy should backfire.

The 'Joe the Plumber' guy's name didn't match his voter registration, a difference between an 'o' and a 'u'. Of course he should vote- that isn't fraud, it's just a typo. I'm sure this thing is true of many judges and policemen, etc. It's just that many new registrants are supporting the other guy...
Uh... do I get a pipe-smoking avatar? I just noticed how many of them there are.

If Mukasey does try to fix Ohio for a third straight election, Brunner should just defy him -- and depend on the ensuing "Free Jennifer" fundraisers to bail her out. By the time it is sorted out the young, black and restless new voters the R's are trying so hard to keep from voting will have cast their ballots.

Ah, democracy American-style.

Two related releases from Boehner's taxpayer subsidised Congressional website:

• October 21, 2008 - Boehner Signs Letter to A.G. Mukasey Asking the Justice Department Compel OH Secretary of State to Comply with Federal Law
• October 22, 2008 - Boehner Statement on Ohio Secretary of State Continued Refusal to Comply with Federal Election Law

That's my question, can the state of Ohio refuse the justice department's interference? There's got to be a way to prevent the president from fixing elections for his party.

So here is what we have to do -
1 poll working should be like jury duty. It is a civic duty- a person should be called up and trained to work an election cycle. No more depending on old retired people - no offense intended
2 - national voting should be just that- senate, congress person and president only. All other ballot and state questions could be handled by the states themselves choosing voting days.
3- election day should be either a weekend or national holiday
4. Polls should open and close in in the same time frame - say 9AM eastern time, 6 AM pacific and close the same way.
5. early voting should be encouraged and made as easy as possible.
6. Accomodations should be made for long lines such as -providing folding chairs and shade- if the deli can give you number to place your order- why can't you get a number to vote at a polling place. That way you can sit down or get some water or food without losing your place in line. Poll workers should work the lines- answering questions and maybe solve problems before they start.
7- Voters should take initiative to - be informed, have proper credentials, make sure their ID information is correct before they head to the polls.
8 Every single voter should recieve a paper print out of their vote. That way if the vote was incorrect it can be fixed and the print out could be passed to a voting box in case of a recount.
9 The voting method should be consistant throughout the country - personally I think a pencil and ballot would be the best- but every state in the union should use the same method for national elections.

Is any of this so hard? This election has energized so many people - if we put it to good use and get behind some new ideas- we can make a difference. Otherwise we're just blowing smoke in the blogosphere.

The whole world is aware what happened in 2000 and since.
Only in the u.s. where bushcon owns the media are their intents even questionable.Eveyone else already knows.
The whole world also knows this financial mess is the direct result of bushcon.
What is at stake now is jail time for many if not all the looters.
They must have a pardon man in charge.
They must make this election at least seem close.Then with legal actions bushcon can shade/delay/overturn/etc any outcome, even create some riots and declare marshall law and give the election to the "courts" to decide.
If you think that's too loopy look what they have already done in the past. This is easy in comparison.
Don't ever forget grandpoppy bushcon supported nazi germany for profit, poppy bushcon ran the cia and traded drugs for missles while raygun was reading scripts.
These guys face jail if their man is not inside the house.
You think they care what this looks like now?
Stay focused. Bushcon employees do not intend to spend any time in jail.
They not only want to spend all their looted cash while the world watches, they want to target anyone who questions their motives.
What you see now in bushcon is the result of a lifetime living in your own sewage.
Their worst fear is truth.

This is exactly that...an attemopt to supress the vote involving the same characters...the WH and the DoJ. Seems Bush and Mukasey have nothing to lose since they will both be out of office soon. But we have a lot to lose. This needs to be publicized to the point that Boehner should be under investigation and charged with an ethics violation.

Since there is zero incidence of "voter" fraud, there is no precedence here that any would be committed yet Boehner "assumes" it will and uses that as an excuse to try to prevent 200,000 registered voters from voting.

That is equivalent to closing down city hall because someone came out of the door with a lit cigarette in his hand and so security assumes city hall might burn down because there might be a match still burning somewhere in the building.

The WH is acting in a bizarre unsound manner trying to get the DoJ into a frenzy assuming that the sky is falling because Boehner claims "it could happen". The SC has ruled and they are certainly more qualified to offer a ruling than the WH. This action comes out on a Friday hoping to be played down when in fact it is intolerable and should not be permitted.

Sort it out after the election because everyone knows they will not find one incident of someone willing to risk prison to vote illegally. If one or two were found stupid enough to attempt that it still would not affect the elections... whereas suppressing 200,000 votes with provisional ballots would definitely affect the election...illegally.

Republicans prove themselves to be completely lacking in integrity once again putting party above the American people.

Is Mukasey stupid enough to sacrifice himself for George Bush and the boys?

Let's find out.

Do they have the right to do this? This is a state issue. What the hell does the federal government have to do with this?

We must remember that there is an investigation being conducted as we speak against the DOJ for the politicization of their offices. And the important fact is that Attorney General Michael Mukasey hasn't responded. He really risks being investigated himself. So would Mukasey defy the US Supreme Court or Bush with just 10 days left until the election? Alberto Gonzales is still under investigation for doing the very same thing. My hope is that he doesn't want to get involve simply because he has no right to go against the US Supreme Court. I have the suspicious feeling that it was more Cheney than Bush but who knows what really going on in the White House these days.

The long and the short of it is that John
Boehner is nothing more than Ken Blackwell in whiteface.

The smackdown for this bunch is long overdue. Raise Hell. Write Sherrod Brown letters of indignation. Write letters of support to Gov Strickland and Jennifer Brunner. Let's all Raise Hell.

Will someone please put the cuffs on this administration. Better yet, a straight jacket.

Translation:

"If we don't suppress some of these votes, we're fucked"

Could not have said it any better!
Boehner's statement reeks desperation . . . .
we're losing, we're losing . . . do something . . . I don't care what it is . . . help . . . we're losing.

A 2005 report by the League of Women Voters of Ohio and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, for example, found that of more than 9 million votes cast in the state's 2002 and 2004 general elections, there were four instances of ineligible people attempting to vote. The data were collected from interviews with all 88 county Boards of Election

(Source: Jon Craig, "Update: Ohio Voter Fraud Rare", Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct 14, 2008.)

If Bush want the DOJ to investigate fraud, then perhaps he needs to review Conyers and the House Judiciary Dem Staff's "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio" January, 2005.

I'm just wondering what is the Democratic response. So far, I haven't heard of a Dem response aimed specifically at countering Boehner's request or Bush's response. Are any of you aware of a counteraction by the Dems?

I'm an Ohio resident and it seems like I might be one of those mismatches. My divorce was final last year and I changed my voter registration back to my maiden name. When I went to change my car's title, however, I was told they don't do that for divorce and "don't worry, it's fine!" So now my voter registration no longer matches my vehicle registration. Fantastic!

So, can they challenge early ballots? If your early ballot is challenged, do they have to notify you and let you, you know, shove your US passport and birth certificate down their throats?