Do you want to know how ridiculous the issue of "voter fraud" is? Keep reading.
I'm going to go out on a limb, and suggest that Tony Romo is not likely to vote in Nevada in 20 days, unless he actually lives there. I'll go even farther, and promise you that Mickey Mouse, Dick Tracy, Bugs Bunny, Bruce Wayne (Batman), and Franklin Delano Roosevelt will never once show up at a polling place and cast a vote.
I remember when I was sending out brigades of canvassers to shopping centers, malls and universities to register voters. I had to pay them for every registration they submitted; all of them. I got quite a few fake registrations; the most common name seemed to have been Elmer Fudds; I'm not sure exactly why. But I got them all; cartoon characters, dead people, celebrities; it wasn't all the registrations, but a few pretty much every week.
And here's the rub; the only thing I could do about it, was to fire the canvasser, never use them again, and I usually handed the name to all of my compadres in the field. But I had to pay them for every application and, by law, I had no choice but to submit every single application to the registrar. I was not a government official, and I had no power or right to tear up an application for any reason.
Now, the Republican Party, in its never ending quest to distract you from the worst economic mess since the Great Depression, which they caused, and the two messed up quagmires, both of which they started and are responsible for, they have chosen to sully the name of a truly fine group of people, who are doing fine work in the name of democracy.
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, otherwise known as ACORN, has been around since 1970, and advocates and lobbies Congress for poor and working-class families, as well as the middle class, back before the neocons set about to destroy it.
ACORN's causes include better public schools, housing and wages for the poor, as well as more community investment from banks, in addition to state and local governments. ACORN actively pursues their goals by way of demonstration, negotiation, lobbying, and developing legislation. And in order to do that successfully, they need voter participation, so a major part of their mission involves voter registration. Their voter registration efforts are largely non-partisan, although, of course the poor and working class tend to register as Democrats; why wouldnât they?
As president of ACORN since 1990, Maude Hurd has been doing the Lordâs work, and sheâs smart as a whip.
Yet, late last week, the Nevada Secretary of State, (a Democrat, although the governor is a Republican, as is a majority of the legislature), raided the Clark County office of Project Vote, which is run by ACORN.
Why, you ask?
Because the state had received "fraudulent" voter registrations.
"Some of these (forms) were facially fraudulent; we basically had the starting lineup for the Dallas Cowboys," Secretary of State Ross Miller said. "Tony Romo is not registered to vote in Nevada. Anyone trying to pose as Terrell Owens won't be able to cast a ballot."
"We don't know how many (falsified forms) are here; there may be two, or there may be thousands," said Bob Walsh, spokesman for the secretary of state's office.
(From the Las Vegas Review Journal)
Alright, on the surface, this would seem to be a very serious problem, and it's a bit of a problem, but not for the reasons you think.
First of all, it's not likely there are thousands, but even if there were, so what?
Wait! Did I just say "so what?" People were fraudulently registering to vote! That's serious, isn't it?
Yes, that's exactly what I said. The above is NOT an example of voter fraud, unless the state issues a voter registration, and someone actually tries to vote in Nevada as Terrell Owens. County registrars are required to investigate every single application they receive, and verify the names and addresses before issuing a registration; thatâs why most states have deadlines several weeks before Election Day, and those few states that allow same-day registrations require identification on the spot, with proper name and current address.
The worst these people are guilty of is wasting ACORN's money, if indeed ACORN was paying them, and a few minutes of the county registrar office's time.
So, what's really going on here? Here's a hint, from the same article:
Other canvassers hired by ACORN were residents at the Casa Grande Transitional Housing Facility, a Nevada Department of Corrections institution that offers convicted felons an opportunity to take part in work-release programs.
"It raises significant concerns that they hired prison inmates, some of whom have been convicted of identity theft," Miller said.
Okay, when you read the above, your first reaction should be "so"?
Check out all of the subtle implications in the above. ACORN is hiring people to register voters. They are probably going to register more Democrats and Independents and Republicans, naturally, and the Republicans in the state would naturally not like that idea.
But worse, this gives the Republicans cover for a probable âvoter purge,â as he pretends to use this circumstance to go "root out" all of the other "fraudulent registrations" all over Nevada.
But think about it. ACORN's mission is to get more voters to the polls, to advocate for issues important to the poor and working classes; what would they gain by purposely submitting fake voter registration forms? Such a thing is actually a waste of their time and money, since they pay canvassers for their work.
The answer is, of course, that they wouldn't. But the Republicans are desperate to make you think of something other than the disaster they have made of this country, and they are looking for a pretext with which to justify their illegal caging and voter purges. See, if they can get you to believe that, somehow, people pretending to be Terrell Owens, Tony Romo and Mickey Mouse (or Elmer Fudd) might show up and vote, unchallenged, then they create a pretext for their obligatory scan of the voter rolls for people with names that are not fraudulent, but that seem perilously close to someone who shouldn't vote, such as the "John Smith" who lives in the black area of town, and might be the "John Smith" who was once convicted of armed robbery.(Okay, so "Jamal Smith" is far more likely to be purged; you get my drift.)
This is the real threat to our democracy, folks; the Republican government officials who are about to commit election fraud (NOT voter fraud!), and remove thousands of names from their registration rolls, without a hearing, and without notifying anyone. And don't give me that "everyone does it" crap, either. If you can come up with a huge, statewide effort to purge Republicans from voters rolls in the last 30 years, I'll print an amendment, but I've looked pretty hard for one.)
There is little or no danger to democracy from voters who can read upside down, and vote as someone else, because your state doesn't require identification. There is little or no danger from people who register in several precincts at once. And there is absolutely ZERO danger from a "facially fraudulent" application that will NEVER result in a registration being issued. I mean, unless the Secretary of State of Nevada is admitting that his office is purposely allowing fraudulent registrations through. But that couldn't be the case, could it? I mean, since he's managed to discover these "fraudulent" registrations.
If you're a Democrat or independent, and you live in a Republican state, or a county or municipality run by Republicans, this is the kind of thing you have to worry about, folks:
Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times.
(...)
The screening or trimming of voter registration lists in the six states -- Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina -- could also result in problems at the polls on Election Day: people who have been removed from the rolls are likely to show up only to be challenged by political party officials or election workers, resulting in confusion, long lines and heated tempers.
Registrars in Republican-led states and local areas all over the country are involved in "caging." They're checking Social Security numbers (which is itself illegal), driver license records, etc. And they're sending letters to people's homes, and when a letter comes back, they are purging those voters from the polls. That includes military personnel, who may have been transferred to another location temporarily, and those who may be in another state, caring for a sick friend or relative.
Yeah, that's right, folks. How would you like it if you show up at the polls on Election Day, only to find out that someone purged your registration from the rolls, and you no longer have a right to vote? Compare that to the likelihood that Tony Romo will show up in all 50 states to vote fraudulently, or that Mickey and Minnie will show up at any precinct anywhere? Still think canvassers padding their registrations for a few extra bucks is the big problem here?
According to Greg Palast, 40% of those purged from California voter rolls had Islamic, Vietnamese, Chinese and Hispanic names, and were often victims of misspellings by government workers. Now, wouldnât you consider that to be just a bit more important than the prospect of someone posing as Elmer Fudd and casting a vote?
Speaking of Palast and Kennedy, they have a wonderful non-partisan comic book, which everyone should download and pass on to everyone they can. It's not a question of whether or not Republicans will try to take your vote away from you; the only question is how, and this book helps you know how to protect yourself.
Download the comic book here. (note; the site will ask for a donation, but you can buy it for as little as a penny. If you can't afford a penny through PayPal, e-mail me and I'll send you a copy.)
Whenever anyone, especially a Republican starts talking about "voter fraud," it should set off alarm bells. I'm not going to say there is no such thing as voter fraud, but think about this; in a country in which there are upwards of 200 million registered voters, in which 130-140 million of them are expected to vote, meaning that 40% of registered voters won't even show up at the polls, who in their right mind is going to waste their time trying to pretend they're someone else in order to cast a vote? Sure, there will be a few, but how many would you really expect?
On the other hand, (mostly) Republican state officials have the power to wipe out millions of voters with the stroke of a pen, and thus prevent you from exercising the most basic right in a democracy. And that's what they plan to do. This whole ACORN thing is a scam; it's a pretense for Republicans in Nevada to add legitimacy to their intent to purge thousands of voters from the polls.
And we can't let them. If you're in a state that allows early voting, go in now, and vote. If you're like me, and will be out of your precinct on Election Day, make sure everything on your ballot is filled out completely, including your full name and address, just as it appears on your registration, and put at least two first-class stamps on it; in fact, I will be sending mine Express Mail, with a signature required for delivery.
If you can't vote early, and you don't vote by mail, go to your polling place early; if anyone at your precinct tries to stop you from voting in any way, get it on your cell phone cam, and make a stink. Do NOT accept a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots rarely turn into official ballots, and are kept separate from other ballots, which means they're easy to toss aside, or simply leave uncounted, when it's to someone's advantage to do so. Show your identification, if they demand it and demand the precinct judge either show you why your name was purged, or make a decision to allow you to vote right then and there. If he doesn't, call one of the campaigns, and if necessary, they will have a lawyer represent you.
Keep this in mind, folks; it's not up to YOU to prove that you're qualified to vote. The STATE is required to prove that you're NOT qualified to vote. No one can stop it, unless your state denies the vote to convicted felons,and you are one (a felony is any crime with a potential sentence of one year or more. A speeding ticket is not a felony, nor is being arrested for getting into a fight at a bar.
Again; check out the comic book for more; Greg Palast and Bobby Kennedy, Jr. are far smarter than I.
It's your right. Go vote.
