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The Theft of 2008


Please watch this report from the BBC Newsnight journalist Greg Palast titled The Theft of 2008.  At the beginning of the video a BBC anchor states that he was told by a Republican campaign staffer that it is "inevitable that his people would contest any Democratic victory". In the video Palast reports on the voter fraud/voter suppression claims of both parties as the 2008 election enters it's last two weeks.  Part 1 examines both side's claims of voter fraud and voter suppression along with a report on voters in NM finding out they were purged from the rolls and voters in MI that may be challenged at the polls based on their receiving foreclosure notices. 

 

Part 2 takes a look at the king of the Michigan foreclosure business, Trott & Trott, and notes that the McCain campaign shares office space with their foreclosure operation.  It also examines a bi-partisan report on election practices in the 2004 election.  The report found the GOP fears of voter fraud were unfounded and that qualified voters were denied their vote by suppression tactics, but those findings were altered by the Bush administration prior to release.  There is also a statement from a US attorney who was fired by the Bush administration for not finding any prosecutable cases of voter fraud.  Voter fraud claims are used as justification to implement suppression methods that can disenfranchise voters in large numbers.

 

Members of the Republican party are waging a campaign of misinformation regarding voter registration fraud and it's effect on our elections as they did in 2004.  We know that some paid staff of various organizations turned in fake registrations to plump the results of their efforts, but these registrations won't be verified and do not wind up on the rolls as registered voters.  By raising alarm over this the Republicans are setting the stage to challenge the registrations of American citizens by the thousands, denying many their right to vote.  At last weeks debate John McCain stated that Acorn, who reported that some of the registrations they collected were probably fake, "is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history ... maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."  To date cases of fraudulent voter registrations have rarely been followed by evidence of people actually casting an illegal vote.  In reality what could destroy the fabric of democracy is denying the right to vote to portions of the citizenry.  These efforts are focused heavily on poor and minority areas, those which tend to vote democratic.  If we continue to disenfranchise enough of them to swing elections to the GOP and that party also stacks the Justice Department with prosecutors that favor their agenda we will no longer be a full democracy.  We must turn out in large enough numbers to counteract the suppression tactics that await us.  Please urge all you know to get to the polls and vote! 


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I don't see the Republicans foregoing their voter suppression tactics anytime soon as it seems to be working for them. One thing that should perhaps come out of having presidential elections contested so routinely is to move the election day to an earlier date, to provide time to sort it out so that we don't end up as we did in 2000. In the meantime, vote, phone bank, go door to door. Shed more light on the misinformation being launched from Camp McCain every day.

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More places are having early voting which I think may help. It will certainly ease the strain on polling places. Oregon is already all mail-in and I think most of Washington state is too. In Seattle we still have polls but many people register absentee and vote by mail. Ballots went out last Wednesday and I canvassed yesterday to get out the vote and encourage absentees to mail their ballots in early.

I wonder how switching to all mail voting effected turnout in OR. I'd think it would improve it but then again there are the ballots that get mailed late and aren't postmarked in time.

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Hey Bademus,

I looked up some of the OR turnout numbers during the primary... Sorry I don't have time to extract the info, but the numbers are high. Here's the old post:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/05/thank-goodness-for-oregon-and.php

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Thanks Paige!

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It can potentially be a two edged sword. Early voting may help discourage disenfranchisement at the polls. But it also gives anyone with the means and inclination to "stuff ballot boxes" or tamper with voting software a target to aim for.

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You are referring to the "drop-dead-date"? There's no such thing. And in further fact: AFTER the alleged drop-ead-date of 12/12/2000, several western and northwestern states turned in their slates -- and they were counted without controversy.

You really should get to know the law, instead of sitting on your hands and expecting everyone else do the heavy lifting.

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I'm referring to the delay and confusion inherent in a contested election as to transition to the new administration. Such a delay during the current election cycle would be less than desirable. Regarding "heavy lifting" see Bush v. Gore. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html

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Co-sign. As long as Republicans have radicals telling them that it is their *Christian duty* to deny access to the polls, this will continue.

Check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglw

Its from 1980 but I don't think that attitude has changed much...

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Amazing! Thanks for the link LBJB. If only Rove hadn't taught them the Machiavellian techniques of concealment it would be so much easier to expose their low down dirty ways.

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I think we need to be able to verify that our vote was counted and valid (Our vote reflects our intended vote). We definitely should be notified if our vote is not counted so that we know why. A voter could go through their entire lifetime having their vote not count otherwise.

I am wondering if we should start an 'Every Vote Counts!' campaign, a petition letter stating that we are interested in having all provisional votes counted before a winner is declared. Something to encourage Senator Obama, the media, each other that we don't have to know whether we won... until we know we actually won!!

If 3 million votes were not counted in a previous election surely it could have changed the outcome. We should wait until the votes are counted and certified.

We must not allow the republicans to steal this election, period!

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Hopefully if that happens you'll know there's no such thing as a "drop-dead-date". Nixon challenged the election of 1960 up to the day before the inauguration in the NEXT YEAR.

The voter's rights are PARAMOUNT OVER those of candidates. Getting the election right is more important than the date of inauguration, or the date on which the candidate is technically to take office.

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