RNC and Voter Suppression

Indomitus writes "Slashdot recently listed the story about a voter registration company tearing up registration forms from Democrats but the story is quickly becoming much more than just that one story. Daily Kos is keeping track of the many folks digging up more and more information on this scandal-in-the-making. This is not only an important story to get out to voters, it's a great example of power of the internet to facilitate participatory journalism."

Comments

initial thoughts?

[Shakrai]

I predict a deluge of posts saying that /. is biased towards the left and pointing out that the Democrats haven't been above using dirty tricks in the past (and may very well be doing so now). Of course this ignores the obvious fact that no matter who is committing such fraud it's ultimately a travesty of justice and the biggest danger our Republic currently faces.

Of course the bigger question (that nobody is asking) is are these actions being coordinated by the RNC in any way shape or form? Is it a "wink, smile and nod" system or was the RNC truly caught off guard by this (as they will no doubt claim)? It also begs the question of why would you hire such clearly biased people and trust them with such an important responsibility?

Much more importantly how exactly does voter registration work in Nevada? Why should the system be setup in such a way as to even allow this to happen? In my state the only way to register to vote is to do it yourself in person or mail it to your local board of elections. Why the hell are third-party people (with either party) being allowed to do anything more substantial then hand out registration forms and encourage people to actually register? In a smart system they would be allowed to drive them to the Board of Elections if need-be but they should have no business handling these forms after they are filled out.

Re:initial thoughts?

[TykeClone]

It's worth noting, by the way, that the Democrats have been waging a systematic campaign to get Ralph Nader off ballots, with no one seeming too upset about it...

Like how he was kicked off of the ballot in Pennsylvania(?) because he had enough signatures obtained in a timely manner, but the signatures were from Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

Re:initial thoughts?

[j0nb0y]

Unfortunately, it looks like that's going to happen no matter who wins. There's ample amounts of fraud on *both* sides. At least this year, unlike 2000, at lot of it is being uncovered *before* the election, which is the superior time to catch it, imo.

My advice to everyone on this particular issue:
1. Send those involved to jail. The GOP should oust the people who decided to fund this fraudulent organization. Yesterday.

2. States affected should pass emergency legislation to allow late voter registration for this election, and encourage everyone who registered this year to double check that they *are* registered. This should be heavily publicized. All this is expensive, but much better than the alternative.

I'm a republican, btw.

Re:initial thoughts?

[revscat]

My advice to everyone on this particular issue: 1. Send those involved to jail. The GOP should oust the people who decided to fund this fraudulent organization. Yesterday.

No, that would be the ethical thing to do. Instead they just fired them, and then moved them to Ohio to do the same damn thing.

I'm a republican, btw.

I was too, until I realized how deeply criminal the party has become. From Tom Delay to Cheney to Rowland to the treason committed against Valerie Plame to the almost innumerable criminal investigations into Republican activities, it just sickens me. I *was* an Eisenhower Republican, but today that makes me a bleeding-heart liberal.

Re:initial thoughts?

[Jherico]

I hate to say this, but you may be barking up the wrong tree. Registration levels are usually way below population levels, so the idea that voter registration groups managed to hit everyone in the county, even the people missed by the census, AND get them to register seems pretty unlikely. Also, the eligible voters in a given region are actually a subset of the population, since you can't vote if you're under 18. All these factors work against your arguments. On the other hand no one has posted a link to any actual backing for this story, so it might just be apocryphal bullshit anyway.

Oh well...

[TheLink]

Maybe the UN should send in troops to help restore democracy :).

Re:What about DNC orders to claim voter intimidati

[Zelet]

You have your facts wrong. They want their "operatives" to highlight past voter intimidation so that there will be a spotlight on the area to possibly make that intimidation impossible.

Never goes just one way

[Brown Eggs]

While I am certainly no Republican or Republican supporter (I am voting Libertarian), I just wanted to point everyone to this. It is things like this that led me to believe that both parties are corrupt (and EQUALLY corrupt) and that looking elsewhere is in the best interest of all rational people. Now let's hope that such heresy does not catch the ire of the moderators and get me modded down

Oh the shock and surprise.

[GOD_ALMIGHTY]

Continuing on this thread and another highlight over at DailyKos:
Rock the Vote versus the RNC, Ed Gillespie told MTV to stop talking about the draft. MTV responded very succinctly, IMNSHO:

Dear Chairman Gillespie,

The letter I received from you yesterday was quite a surprise. It struck us as just the sort of "malicious political deception" that is likely to increase voter cynicism and decrease the youth vote. In fact, it is a textbook case of attempted censorship, very much in line with those that triggered our organization's founding some fifteen years ago.

I am stunned that you would say that the issue of the military draft is an "urban myth"that has been "thoroughly debunked by no less than the President of the United States."

I have some news for you. Just because President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Secretary Rumsfeld, and for that matter Senator Kerry, say that there is not going to be a draft does not make it so. Just because Congress holds a transparently phony vote against the draft does not mean there isn't going to be one. Anyone who thinks that the youth of America are going to take a politician's word on this topic is living on another planet.

By your logic, there should be no debate about anything that you disagree with. There's a place for that kind of sentiment (and your threats), but its not here in our country.

There are questions that the politicians are running away from. How long can we keep 138,000 U.S. troops or more on the ground in Iraq? What if full-scale civil war erupts there, as the CIA has warned is a realistic possibility? Would the next President be faced with a choice of pulling out of Iraq rather than institute a draft? Would women be drafted? What exactly would the draft-age be?

According to the Pentagon's own internal assessment, there are "inadequate total numbers" of troops to meet U.S. security interests. The current issue of Time magazine reports that, "General John Keane, who retired last year as the Army's No. 2 officer, says the continued success of the all-volunteer military is not guaranteed" Keane has told Congress that adding more than 50,000 troops to the Army would require thinking about a return to the draft."

But you want young people to believe that the draft is just an "urban myth." I was expecting that you were going to present some facts to back up your assertion. But, instead, you have demanded that we stop talking about it.

Now this is probably flamebait, but I think it's poignant given this thread:
Conservatives: Still trying to enforce the 3/5ths compromise!

Flawed elections

[karnat10]

... the story about a voter registration company ...

That's were I start to worry already. Why do obscure private companies carry out tasks that important to build trust in an election's result?

Where I live (in the old world), my administration knows I'm a citizen and when there's elections, they send me all necessary stuff automatically. That's what a public administration is for, after all.

It's still before the elections, and I already know I'm not gonna trust the result.

But we'll have to live with it anyway, so please, dear Americans, take a wise decision.

Indeed!

[Rayonic]

Whereas the Democrats are so anti-voter-suppression that they even encourage dead people to vote.

Wait, I'm sorry, I should have said "living-impaired people". ;-)