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Dead Goldfish Offered The Vote In Illinois
Election officials in northern Chicago want to know why voter registration material was sent to Princess, a dead goldfish. "I am just stunned at the level of people compromising the integrity of the voting process," said Lake County Clerk Willard Helander, a Republican, who said she has spotted problems with nearly 1,000 voter registrations this year. Beth Nudelman, who owned Princess, said the fish may have got on a mailing list because the family once filled in her name when they got a second phone line for a computer. When will we recognize a goldfish's right to vote?
Has been push-polling my 5 year old son, so why not a goldfish?
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Oh no, it got sent registration materials. It did not get registered. The paperwork was sent out based on a request. It is the end of Democracy as we know it!
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
if election officials actually provided the pet with the ABILITY (aka some form of proof that is acceptable at a voting location) to vote.
Willard? That's my first name (as it's the custom in my family to torture first sons with it for 9 generations now), and I've never heard it on a woman before.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Even if the fish had been registered it wouldn't matter. Voter registration fraud or voter registration errors aren't an issue unless actual voting fraud occurs which is much more difficult. None of the erroneously registered or requested to register individuals are going to actually vote.
Looks like PETA finally got what they wanted. Damn lobbyists.
That's nothing, CowboyNeal even voted in 2004!
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
-nod- That's why it was killed. You've never heard of a conservative goldfish getting "The Ick" have you? Connect the dots.
That's how many times Mayor Daley of Chicago is registered to vote. ;)
No surprise about the goldfish.
Heck, people who lived in Illinois (specifically Cook County) who have died, still vote!
I'd say somebody in the Lake Country Republican party has: 1. Gender confusion 2. A need to have voter registration fraud vs. voter fraud explained to her/him/it. 3. The expectation of a really interesting experience on the day Princess the Goldfish shows up and requests a ballot. Don't you think this Republican meme has passed its sell-by date?
It would not be anything new for the dead to vote in Chicago in a fishy election. In as much as so many there have been sent to "sleep with the fishes(sic)" it might seem appropriate for fish to vote their displeasure and in that respect what is more appropriate then having a dead fish vote in Chicago?
In Cook County Todd Stroger did even need to win the vote to get in office. Last year some came into the polling saying there dead family member is still on the voting list for years even after calling in about it.
This is the humorous media end of a much more sinister campaign designed to convince people that lots of scary voter fraud is taking place and that we need to crack down at the polling places to stop it.
The republicans are scared stiff, and want everyone to put aside the rights of new voters in a cloud of suspicion and red tape that will clog voting places, keep folks standing in line and frustrated them into not voting in minority and heavily Democratic areas. Casting suspicion on the lists used to target voters for persuasive ads is one thing - many of these are commercial advertising lists. Saying that the actual voter list has bad names on it, which evil people put there, who intend to risk their liberty to vote more than once, is harder to believe.
> 1. Gender confusion
Bigot!
In their five year investigation of voter fraud, the Bush Administration found 120 prosecutable offenses of voter fraud, out of millions and millions of votes cast. Organized voter fraud is a myth, but organized voter suppression is very real. Republicans know that the higher the turnout, the more likely it is that the Democrat will win. So, they like to spread things like this around to encourage voter suppression efforts Like this one in Ohio.
She was a cold fish...
That's no way to talk about him. He's only in his eighties and probably would live long enough to get a shot at a second term.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, watch it -- I'm huge!
I'm already hearing the apologists with their tired story that this is just registration fraud, no evidence of actual election fraud. Nothing to see here, move along.....
But they are wrong. Most are just repeating Kos talking points and aren't actually in on the scam, but they are useful idiots. So what IS the scam?
Go check out the CLOWARD-PIVEN STRATEGY for details. Basically the idea is to totally swamp the system so that there is insufficient manpower to detect fraud. So that is a win for them since it brings chaos. Be allowing them to actually commit fraud under the cover of all this noise is yet another win. Finally as they undermine public confidence in our elections they win yet again.
Democrat delenda est
I dont know what the big deal is...how many fraudulent votes could actually be cast in a statewide or national election? Doesnt this fall under the 'margin of error'?
only live goldfish should be allowed to vote
This is Illinois, where' we're so patriotic even being dead doesn't keep us from voting! Being nonhuman doesn't keep us from voting!
VOTE EARLY! VOTE OFTEN!
Illinois is home to Al Capone and Richard Daily.
The last Democrat to be defeated by a Republican went to prison. The last Republican to be defeated by a Democrat is in prison right now. And our present Governor, a Democrat, will likely go to prison himself, as the Feds are scrutinizing him in the Rezco case.
Both Federal Senators are Democrats. The Governor is a Democrat. The state legislature is mostly Democrat. Obama is from Illinois. Guess who's going to win Illinois by a landslide, dead goldfish or no?
Free Martian Whores!
Sorry, I must have missed this punditry ... which candidate has the most affinity for the fish electorate in the swing states?
The great seer, John Cleese, anticipated these problems back in the late 60's early 70's with his passive civil disobedience campaign, demanding a fish license (government ID) for "Eric, the Fish."
Since it was a "gold"-fish, I suspect that the usual group of Ron Paul supporters will be blamed for this.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
This is my experience: When I got my drivers license in my state (a republic) i couldn't swap out the first letter of my second name, which is J on my birth certificate for X. In the end, they're both pronounced exactly the same, but because of "legal issues" i can't have it with an X on my drivers license.
:P
Go forward in time. I'm now 18 and able to register to vote. So I sign up with X instead of J, wondering if that'll go through EVEN THOUGH my birth certificate, social security number and drivers license along with all my other documentation in life so far has it with a J. Guess what? It went through!
So I now happily vote with an X for my middle initial and no one ever questions it. So what's so shady about this? Do you guys ever wonder how you get notices for jury duty? Really, have you ever considered where those names are pulled from? At least in my state, it's from voter registration records.
Since I registered, i've only received jury duty summons for X, never J, who legally doesn't exist! Yeah, something has to be done about all this. It shouldn't be so difficult. Mexico is infamous for it's election fraud. BUT the way the voter registration goes is excellent. Everyone has a voters credential. That is something that EVERYONE has, it's even more important that your drivers license. As a matter of fact, many people in rural areas don't have drivers licenses, but do have those voter cards.
I grew up believing "USA is #1 in the world." But after having gone out of the US and seeing more of the world, I don't believe that is the case in every aspect. Mexico is always looked down out of ignorance. But they have got their voting system down... it's fraud they can't eliminate
BTW, this reminds me of Bush's win in 2000... Mexicans said, "We thought we knew all of the dirty tricks on how to rig elections."
My abilities are only limited by my imagination
I'm registered to vote twice (not intentionally). I registered and voted at age 18 in my parents' city, then went off to college in another state, continuing to vote in my home state via absentee ballot. (I never registered in my temporary state even though they allowed college kids to do so.)
After college I moved back to my parents' state, in a different city, and registered to vote in my new precinct when I updated my driver's license. Now, eight years later, my name still appears on the voter rolls in my parents' precinct. (How do I know? My dad has been precinct chair and seen it.) My dad has pointed it out personally to the registrar that I'm on the rolls there, haven't voted there in eight years, and indeed am registered and voting somewhere else in the state, and that I should be removed. The registrar said he could and would do nothing about it.
Actually, I'm upset that I'm listed twice and wish they would remove me. My state keeps talking about one of those state-wide voter database laws, with clauses to kick anyone with questionable registrations. I worry one of these years that I'll walk in to vote and be told that I can't because my registration was questionable and I was kicked off the rolls in both places.
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
In Cook County Todd Stroger did even need to win the vote to get in office.
Perhaps "...didn't even need to win.." would make more sense here. Then again, a bit more information about this anecdote (and relevant links) would also be helpful.
Last year some came into the polling saying there dead family member is still on the voting list for years even after calling in about it.
Again, perhaps you meant to say "Last year someone came into the polling place saying their dead family member was still on the voting list..."
Unless that "dead family member" showed up to vote, I wouldn't worry too much about it. On the other hand, I would be worried if all it took to remove someone from the voting rolls was some an unverified phone call.
Give it a look see. it is not about voter fraud, it is about manufactured crisis and it can be pretty effective.
So all I need to do is learn the registration and voting requirements in key states and wait after this term is over in this election?
Monkey see monkey do. I can learn from the Democratic seminar on "get out and vote" drives too.
See you all in 2012!
I dunno man. Maybe you could like, I dunno, maybe, like uh... take some personal responsibility or something like that and like find out if there's like some forms or something like that that you could like fill out you know, and uh... like get it taken care of or something. Whatever.
Son, get your shovel. Let's go dig up some votes!
Small town mayors and small state governors might have a certain x quantity of time on their resumes in the category of executive experience. But so do Pizza Hut managers.
I wouldn't for a moment consider either a small town mayors, small state governors, or a Pizza Hut managers to have the type of QUALITY of leadership experience required to seek national office.
It not just Sarah Palin that epic failed trying to move from small town mayor / governor to national candidate. Unfortunately, so did VT Gov. Howard Dean. Dean's horrible performance even with his orange hatted legions on the ground in the Iowa caucuses proved he had no large organization leadership experience. Now, with 4 years experience as Nat'l Party chair, Dean might be ready to seek national office today. Palin clearly isn't close to being ready for the national stage.
Obama, on the other hand, ran campaign organizations first in a large chunk of Chicago, then the state of Illinois, and then lead his national Presidential campaign to beat the Clintons nationally.
They never seem to mention anywhere, but the fish was actually a Republican.
Republicans are complaining now more than ever about problems with voter registration, but they have been completely unable to show it leading to voter fraud. It's classic misdirection.
It should be noted that one GOP scheme to challenge voters if there is any discrepancy in government databases (IRS, DMV, etc) would have prevented their much ballyhooed "Joe the Plumber" from voting, because one database misspelled his name. And rather than challenge all "questionable" registrations, the GOP is only challenging new registrations. In a highly Democratic year.
And all their whining over ACORN ignores the fact that groups are required by law to turn in all registrations, even if they appear problematic. Which is why ACORN does quality control and flags suspicious registrations so they can be easily investigated by elections officials.
Republicans know their brand is a turd sandwich; their entire philosophy has been proven to be broken at every level on every issue. So now they're trying to cheat their way into holding on to power. Pathetic.
Guess you missed the part where volunteer poll workers used "leftover" voter registrations at the end of the night to make up for the lack of legitimate votes in both Gary, Indiana and St. Louis, Missouri.
Which is a problem with registration, how exactly? If poll workers engage in shenanigans, that's a problem with the poll workers.
Public records released in New Mexico today confirm that fraudulent voter registrations are in fact turning into fraudulent votes. ACORN, currently under investigation by the FBI, is now confirmed to be responsible for producing fraudulent voter registrations and illegal votes in New Mexico. An inspection of public records has revealed that illegal votes were cast in New Mexico's 2008 primary election.
You remember what the US Attorney scandal was all about? Gonzales fired US Attorneys for not pursuing bogus cases of voter fraud. You ever stop and wonder why the rest weren't fired?
ACORN (and all other registrars) are required by law to hand in suspicious registrations. If someone fills out a form saying they intend to vote as "Micky Mouse", ACORN must turn it in. In fact, not turning it in is a violation of federal law. The only thing they can do is flag suspicious registrations for elections officials, which is exactly what they do.
What color is the sky on your planet?
Blue, as opposed to the straight up bullshit on your homeworld.
You incompetent boob. ACORN is required by law to turn in all registration forms, even suspicious ones. The only thing they can do is flag forms they find to be suspicious, which is exactly what they do.
The so called problems with ACORN are nothing more than baseless Republican talking points, but I repeat myself.
Didnt any one get to Poll him before his date with RALPH?
Huh? ABC? Neilson?
What was he thinking? Did he vote absentee?
Comon! Wakey Wakey? Who is the fish voting for?
What is his views? Is he a Swing voter or a Swim voter?
Oh He's dead. Must be a ....