Setbacks for GOP Voter Suppression Efforts

8 Comments

1. 

   Oui on October 25, 2008 at 9:10 pm

   .

   McCain fights for Pennsylvania

   (National Post) Oct. 23, 2008 – The campaign to put John McCain in the White House is coming down to a few desperate fights in some key states that could bring the Republicans the 270 electoral votes they need for victory on Nov. 4. And nowhere is this last-stand mentality being played out more clearly than in Pennsylvania …

   McCain continues to pour money and resources into the state and has made it one of his most prominent stops on his travels – he was in the state three times on Tuesday.

   Prof. Miller believes there is an unspoken hope among McCain supporters there are “enough people in Pennsylvania who would not be able in the end to pull a lever for a black man.”

   McCain to increase advertising in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida

   Sarah Palin going rogue in final stage of campaign

   (Politico) Oct. 25, 2008 – Even as John McCain and Sarah Palin scramble to close the gap in the final days of the 2008 election, stirrings of a Palin insurgency are complicating the campaign’s already-tense internal dynamics.

   Four Republicans close to Palin said she has decided increasingly to disregard the advice of the former Bush aides tasked to handle her, creating occasionally tense situations as she travels the country with them.  

   McCain’s brother blasts campaign strategy
   In e-mail statement, he calls on top aides to “Let John McCain be John McCain”

   WASHINGTON DC (Baltimore Sun) Oct. 14, 2008 – Frustrations inside John McCain’s camp boiled over on the eve of the third presidential debate as the candidate’s brother unleashed an e-mail blasting the campaign’s “counter-productive” strategy.

   “Let John McCain be John McCain,” wrote Joe McCain in a missive sent out shortly before midnight Monday. “Make ads that show John not as crank and curmudgeon but as a great leader for his time.”

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

2. 

   idredit on October 25, 2008 at 9:18 pm

   yeah and the Bush gang is right on the Ohio case – circumventing courts:

   TPM

   White House Wants DOJ Action On Ohio Voting Case

   Looks like the White House is having trouble getting out of the habit of using the Department of Justice for political purposes.

   The Washington Post reports that President Bush has asked DOJ to look into a request by House Republican leader John Boehner that would force Ohio’s Secretary of State to provide local election officials with information on 200,000 newly registered voters who have mismatched registration data. That could make it possible for Republicans to issue challenges to many of these voters, perhaps forcing them to cast provisional ballots.

   Last week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Ohio Republicans, who were seeking to force the Secretary of State, Democrat Jennifer Brunner, to provide the information on mismatches to local officials, did not have standing to bring the case.

   Boehner announced yesterday in a press release that he had sent a letter earlier this week to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, asking him to take action, but received no response. He then turned to the White House for help — warning in a letter to President Bush that if no action were taken, “there is a significant risk if not a certainty, that unlawful votes will be cast and counted.”

   White House Press Secretary Dana Perino characterized the move as “a routine step that would be taken for any such request from a congressional leader,” according to the Post.

3. 

   Oui on October 25, 2008 at 9:24 pm

   .

   AP Investigation: Palin pipeline terms curbed bids

   ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Gov. Sarah Palin’s signature accomplishment — a contract to build a 1,715-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48 — emerged from a flawed bidding process that narrowed the field to a company with ties to her administration, an Associated Press investigation shows.

   Beginning at the Republican National Convention in August, the McCain-Palin ticket has touted the pipeline as an example of how it would help America achieve energy independence.

   “We’re building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline, which is North America’s largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever, to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets,” Palin said during the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate.

   Despite Palin’s boast of a smart and fair bidding process, the AP found that her team crafted terms that favored only a few independent pipeline companies and ultimately benefited the winner, TransCanada Corp.  

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

4. 

   Denim Blue on October 25, 2008 at 9:39 pm

   From today’s Detroit Free Press:

   “Cox disputes shortcut to aid first-time voters
   He calls program that lets some vote absentee unlawful

   Things got more confusing Friday for some first-time voters — mostly college students — who want to vote by absentee ballot because they can’t get home before the Nov. 4 election.

   Earlier this week, 65 of Michigan’s 83 county clerks tried to help those voters who registered by mail or with third party groups by verifying their identity and letting their local clerks know they were cleared to get an absentee ballot.

   But on Friday, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, responding to a request from a legislator, said the law is clear: First-time voters who registered by mail or with a third-party group must vote in person — not absentee. First-timers who registered directly with their local or county clerk or at a Secretary of State’s office remain eligible for absentee ballots, he said.

   But because the letter his office sent was not a formal opinion, a spokeswoman for the clerks who announced their plan earlier this week said they’re not backing off.

   Those most affected by the controversy are college students who live away from homes where they are registered to vote. Some 328,000 new voters signed up this year, nearly half from counties with big public universities, such as Washtenaw, Ingham, Wayne, Kalamazoo and Isabella.

   Needless to say, Michael Cox is a Republican.

   • 

     Denim Blue on October 25, 2008 at 9:41 pm

     I missed part of the article:

     The clerks had said they would allow people who registered to vote by mail or through a third party to come to their offices to verify their identification and then notify their hometown clerks that they could honor the first-time voter’s request for an absentee ballot.

     Saginaw County Clerk Susan Kaltenbach, president of the Michigan Association of County Clerks, said the clerks will continue with their program.

     “At this point we don’t look at it as legally binding. We feel this is the right thing to do for the voters, and that’s the only thing we’re interested in,” she said. “Unless we get some kind of order to cease and desist, we’re going to continue to do it.”

     Other clerks blasted Cox and state Sen. Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, who sought Cox’s opinion.

     “I think Bishop had two goals, make it more difficult for people to vote and he wants to humiliate” Secretary of State “Terri Lynn Land, who has supported us on this,” said Washtenaw County Clerk Lawrence Kestenbaum, a Democrat. “And it doesn’t speak well for the attorney general either to come up with this opinion so close to the election.”

     Cox, a Republican, said there really wasn’t a question after reviewing the state law, which allows other groups, including political parties and campaigns, to gather registrations, but they are subject to more scrutiny.

     “The law is very clear: First- time voters who register by mail need to appear in person to vote,” said John Sellek, spokesman for Cox. “And plus, the clerks’ program is not being applied statewide, so not everyone in the state can take advantage.”

     Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson, a Republican, had decided not to participate in the program because the county’s attorney said it wasn’t specifically allowed by law.

     Michigan Republican Party spokesman Bill Nowling said the party agrees with Cox’s position but hasn’t decided whether to sue to stop the clerks’ program.

     And Bishop’s spokesman, Matt Marsden, said Friday that “there’s been no discussion on our part to pursue a lawsuit.”

     The clerks have been allowing people to come in with their IDs to verify their registration since a stricter voting law was passed in 1994.

     Annie Wildfong, a 19-year-old sophomore at Michigan State University, won’t have a problem voting because she registered at her campus address rather than her Ferndale home. But she helped register 10,000 people for the Obama campaign and fears that some won’t be able to make it home Nov. 4.

     “Of course that will make things more complicated,” she said. “Sometimes skipping class is not a matter of choice, you’ve got classes that you can’t get out of.”

     • 

       The Voice In The Wilderness on October 26, 2008 at 7:01 pm

       My Grandson has this problem too. I think at least State Universities should close for Election Day.

5. 

   idredit on October 27, 2008 at 4:36 pm

   In North Caorlina, a confusing ballot that leaves off vote for president:

   a Huffpost link

   RALEIGH, N.C. — “I was sure I voted for president, but then a friend told me that a straight-party vote in North Carolina includes every office except president. That made me really mad,” Linda Chavis told OffTheBus.

   Politically speaking, Chavis didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. She is a volunteer “crew chief” for the Obama campaign in Raleigh who did not notice the separation between the straight-party vote and the presidential vote on North Carolina’s poorly designed ballot in 2004. “I thought I voted against George W. Bush, but it turned out I didn’t vote for president at all. It’s an issue today because we’re still using the same confusing ballot,” said Chavis.

   [.]

   Early voting started a week ago, already there are problems

6. 

   Oui on October 27, 2008 at 5:47 pm

   .

   Judge: Rossi to give deposition before election

   (Seattle Times Breaking News) – Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi must give a deposition before Election Day as part of a lawsuit alleging illegal campaign spending by his biggest backer, the Building Industry Association of Washington.

   King County Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas said the public interest demands that Rossi give his answers before, not after, the election is over.

   The lawsuit was brought by two former state Supreme Court justices who are supporting Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire‘s bid for re-election. It alleges that Rossi coordinated campaign spending with the BIAW, and that therefore the trade group should be constrained by state spending limits.

   The BIAW has spent more than $6 million supporting Rossi this election cycle.

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."