"All that is old and already formed can continue to live only if it allows within itself the conditions of a new beginning."
Stealing Nevada?
Posted 10:28 p.m., Oct. 12, 2004
Updated 6:24 p.m., Oct. 15, 2004
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Kevblog Note: As I promised I would, I am updating this column to indicate that indeed allegations have been aired by CBS News charging that Democratic groups have perpretrated voter registration fraud in Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida. The report gave no details, other than to say that in Florida, "Republican registration forms were allegedly torn up." Reprehensible.
... Kevblog Note: This is an addendum to my column published last night (below). Credit goes to Josh Marshall for probing around to find out that the subject of the story below, Voters Outreach of America, has a job flyer that ends with the words, "Paid for by the Republican National Committee. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee." Read on to learn why that is so significant.
Just when you come to believe that nothing's shocking....
What follows is from a story on the Web site of TV station KLAS-TV, in Las Vegas, the heart of one of the election's battleground states, Nevada. That's a state which several polls currently show is in statistical dead heat for five electoral votes that could prove crucial to the outcome of the presidential campaign.
Employees of a private voter registration company allege that hundreds, perhaps thousands of voters who may think they are registered will be rudely surprised on Election Day. The company claims hundreds of registration forms were thrown in the trash.Anyone who has recently registered or re-registered to vote outside a mall or grocery store or even government building may be affected.
The I-Team has obtained information about an alleged widespread pattern of potential registration fraud aimed at Democrats. The focus of the story is a private registration company called Voters Outreach of America, AKA America Votes.
The out-of-state firm has been in Las Vegas for the past few months, registering voters. It employed up to 300 part-time workers and collected hundreds of registrations per day, but former employees of the company say that Voters Outreach of America only wanted Republican registrations.
Two former workers say they personally witnessed company supervisors rip up and trash registration forms signed by Democrats.
-- "Voter Registrations Possibly Trashed,"
George Knapp,
KLAS-TV, Las VegasThe story goes on to say that the company has pulled out of Nevada, and is now in Oregon, registering more voters. Read the rest of the story here.
The sad thing is that this is only coming out today. Why? Because, according to the Nevada Secretary of State's Web site, the last day that voters would be allowed to register to vote in person is Oct. 12, 2004--by close of business today--for those registering to vote in person at county registrars' offices. Mail-in registrations ended days ago.
Obviously, this is an argument in favor of nationwide, same-day voter registration. Argue all you want about state control over election law, incidents like this point out clearly that people ought to be allowed to register to vote at the polling place with proper identification, as those of us lucky enough to be Minnesotans may.
Not to have this convenience, which doubles as a check-and-balance, is to render it all-too-possible to compromise elections for the entire republic.
So, who wants to call Jimmy Carter? We're obviously going to need his U.N. third-world election monitor buddies to oversee the polls in Nevada as well as Florida and Ohio.
Postscript: Since I posted this last night, a new report has surfaced on TV station KVAL 13 in Eugene, Ore., that the same organization, Voters Outreach of America, is being accused of the same tactic in that state--incidentally, another tightly contested battleground state. Oregon officials are now reportedly investigating the allegations.
Finally, Joshua Micah Marshall, a frequent contributor to the Atlantic Monthly and author of the Talking Points Memo blog, reports that the head of Voters Outreach of America is Nathan Sproul, a GOP political consultant and the former chair of the Arizona Republican Party. Marshall reports that a Lexis-Nexis search of national news reports indicates the group has also been active in registering voters in West Virginia--yet another pivotal battleground state.
Finally, I have been getting some feedback, which I will add to the discussion page presently, indicating that Democrats also have been accused of similar tactics, both in Minnesota and Florida. I have not found any such incidents in my Google searches, but if anyone can find evidence that this is in fact happening, please let me know. I would be happy to include those in this report as well. Dirty politics is dirty politics, whoever plays it that way.
-- Kevin Featherly
