Voter Problems and Fraud

Following are cautionary tales of voting problems.  Look for disenfranchisement and don't be afraid to speak up!  Volunteer to be a poll watcher if you can do it.   
 

Fox News reports: Las Vegas -- Some voters in Boulder City complained on Monday that their ballot had been cast before they went to the polls, raising questions about Clark County's electronic voting machines.
Voter Joyce Ferrara said when they went to vote for Republican Sharron Angle, her Democratic opponent, Sen. Harry Reid's name was already checked.Ferrara said she wasn't alone in her voting experience. She said her husband and several others voting at the same time all had the same thing happen."Something's not right," Ferrara said. "One person that's a fluke. Two, that's strange. But several within a five minute period of time -- that's wrong."Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said there is no voter fraud, although the issues do come up because the touch-screens are sensitive. For that reason, a person may not want to have their fingers linger too long on the screen after they make a selection at any time."Especially in a community with elderly citizens (they have) difficulty in (casting their) ballot," Lomax said. "Team leaders said there were complaints (and the) race filled in." http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/25511115/detail.html
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The Nevada News Bureau writes:  Secretary of State Ross Miller said today there have been no complaints filed with his office about suspicious voter activity despite email rumors and media accounts that at least some electronic voting machines are pre-programmed to support U.S. Senate candidate Harry Reid, D-NV.
Miller, holding the first of two media briefings on the allegations, urged anyone seeing a violation of election or voting law to file a formal complaint with his office so it can be investigated.
“I know that tensions are running high this election and that emotions are running very strong, but I want to set the record straight,” he said. “This is the entire reason that we have formed the Election Integrity Task Force in 2008. I’m not going to stand for any fraud or intimidation at the polling place, but nor will I stand idly by and listen to rumors and innuendos undermine the integrity of our electoral process.”  http://www.nevadanewsbureau.com/2010/10/27/nevada-secretary-of-state-says-no-evidence-of-vote-fraud/
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AZ Star reveals: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned Arizona’s requirement that people show proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The split decision by a three-judge panel determined that the requirement to show proof of citizenship — passed by voters in 2004 — is not consistent with the National Voter Registration Act. http://azstarnet.com/news/blogs/pueblo-politics/article_3bbf4f4e-e12c-11df-b57f-001cc4c002e0.html
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Newbernsj writes: A Craven County voter says he had a near miss at the polls on Thursday when an electronic voting machine completed his straight-party ticket for the opposite of what he intended.

Sam Laughinghouse of New Bern said he pushed the button to vote Republican in all races, but the voting machine screen displayed a ballot with all Democrats checked. He cleared the screen and tried again with the same result, he said. Then he asked for and received help from election staff.

“They pushed it twice and the same thing happened,” Laughinghouse said. “That was four times in a row. The fifth time they pushed it and the Republicans came up and I voted  http://www.newbernsj.com/articles/machine-91656-screen-voter.html
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From ABC News: This year marks the first Illinois election that any registered voter can cast their ballot by mail, no excuses necessary. Even as the deadline for postmarking those ballots nears, problems are brewing. An Illinois county election official is telling the ABC 7 I-Team that thousands -- potentially hundreds of thousands -- of voters who are expecting a ballot sent to them by mail may be disenfranchised. http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=7747590
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WFTV reports: Daytona Beach City Commissioner Derrick Henry and his campaign manager, Genesis Robinson, were arrested Wednesday, charged with committing absentee ballot fraud during Henry’s 2010 re-election campaign, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.  The arrest of Henry and Robinson comes a little more than two months after Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall requested an investigation into irregularities in absentee ballot requests coming into her office. McFall brought her concerns to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office in August, prompting the Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office to immediately launch a joint investigation that ultimately led to the filing of a dozen felony charges against Henry and Robinson.
"Derrick do you intend to step down from city council?" WFTV reporter Jason Allen asked Henry as he was being arrested."Do you intend to stop asking questions when you're told to?" Henry replied.
The investigation revealed that Henry and Robinson devised a strategy to boost Henry’s re-election bid by obtaining absentee ballots for numerous people, most of whom never requested the ballots. By law, residents are only allowed to request absentee ballots for themselves, immediate family members or for someone for whom they’re acting as legal guardian. http://www.wftv.com/news/25536806/detail.html
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Fox News Illinois reports: Illinois may not be finished investigating those late military ballots.
Members of the House Elections Committee say they're considering formal hearings into how and why 36 counties missed the deadline to send ballots to deployed servicemen and other overseas voters.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said there is clearly something wrong when one-third of local election offices miss a federal deadline to ensure soldiers and sailors have their votes counted.  http://www.foxillinois.com/news/illinois/Lawmakers-May-Probe-Late-Military-Ballots-105831858.html
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The Fayetteville Observer writes: [Perhaps spurred on by Obama's declaration that we who love Obama have to punish their "enemies" comes this news from the AP:] The North Carolina Democratic Party asked voters Wednesday to avoid shopping at dozens of discount retail stores whose parent company, owned by a conservative activist's family, injected hundreds of thousands of dollars into the fall elections to target Democrats. Party leaders set their sights on Variety Wholesalers Inc. executive Art Pope at a news conference, calling him a "right-wing extremist" who sent money to at least three conservative political organizations that have created mailers and ads critical of Democratic incumbents. The party's boycott of the company's North Carolina stores, (snip) Roses, Maxway and Super 10  http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/10/27/1043438?sac=Home
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The Washington Times writes: The Justice Department on Wednesday vowed to thwart any efforts to intimidate voters at the polls on Tuesday and to ensure that the ballots of military voters are counted, as activists on both sides of the political aisle reignite their regular election-time tango over the dangers of voter fraud versus voter suppression. Facing separate investigations in its handling of a voter-intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party and questions over the failure of absentee ballots to be sent to military personnel and their families by the legally required date . http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/oct/27/justice-department-vows-to-stop-voter-intimidation/

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From the Washington Post: [In this election, states the Washington Post]: The winners should take little comfort from the results. Dissatisfaction with Republicans also runs deep, and voters have conflicted expectations about what should happen in Washington over the next two years. Politicians of both parties will remain on trial. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/27/AR2010102703653.html
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