Greg Gordon at McClatchy Newspapers' Washington D.C. Bureau put together a recap of the bullcrap pulled by the GOP in Missouri leading into last November's election, with this look back six months after at just how hard the Republicans tried to rig the election:
The preoccupation with ballot fraud in Missouri was part of a wider national effort that critics charge was aimed at protecting the Republican majority in Congress by dampening Democratic turnout. That effort included stiffer voter-identification requirements, wholesale purges of names from lists of registered voters and tight policing of liberal get-out-the-vote drives.
Bush administration officials deny those claims. But they've gotten traction in recent weeks because three of the U.S. attorneys ousted by the Justice Department charge that they lost their jobs because they failed to prove Republican allegations of voter fraud. They say their inquiries found little evidence to support the claims.
Few have endorsed the strategy of pursuing allegations of voter fraud with more enthusiasm than White House political guru Karl Rove. And nowhere has the plan been more apparent than in Missouri.
And nowhere is it more obvious that the Republicans are willing to lie, cheat and take away the rights of American voters to stay in power then it is in Missouri.
"The real problem has never been vote fraud," said Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo. "It's access to the polls. In the last 50 years, no one in Missouri has been prosecuted for impersonating someone else at the polls. But thousands of eligible voters have been denied their constitutional rights. . . . It's sickening."
Sickening? Yes - but get used to it... this is just Republican "Business as Usual," and there will be more as we approach the 2008 elections.
Note: Wizbang Blue is now closed and our authors have moved on. Paul Hooson can now be found at Wizbang Pop!. Please come see him there!
Comments (13)
Tell you what, Lee, a Voter ID would be the perfect thing to combat all these frauds and purgings and such. Will you come out in favor of a Voter ID?
And as for the "debunked" claims, to quote Inigio Montoya, "That word. You keep using it. I don't think it means what you think it means." The claims were dropped because sloppy record keeping made it impossible to dtermine who voted at all. There were dogs and dead people still registered to vote in the Missouri elections. But it was impossible to determine if they had or hadn't.
Furthermore, there were people who pled guilty to voter fraud in the MO elections, and wanna guess which party they were signing up people for? http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/news2007/franklin.ple.htm
Smoke = Fire. And if you really believe that the person only made ONE false registration, well, see there is this bridge I own in New York...
1. Posted by MunDane | May 4, 2007 12:55 PM
Posted on May 4, 2007 12:55
Almost forgot the Gov. Gregoire election in WA. Where the dead zombied up to the polls to vote...http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/206969_dead07.html
2. Posted by MunDane | May 4, 2007 1:14 PM
Posted on May 4, 2007 13:14
Amazing how ensuring only legally qualified voters vote gets translated into "dampening Democratic turnout." This is a tacit admission of Democrat criminality. You people are an embarrassment.
3. Posted by Jeff Blogworthy | May 4, 2007 1:48 PM
Posted on May 4, 2007 13:48
Tacit admission my ass... In fact, the facts speak against you:
THAT's criminal - lying about supposed voter fraud and using those lies to deny citizens of their constitutional rights.
Scum, nothing less than scum tactics from scummy people.
4. Posted by Lee Ward | May 4, 2007 2:11 PM
Posted on May 4, 2007 14:11
A leftist like Lee complaining about voter fraud is like Osama Bin Ladin complaining about terrorism.
But I do so love visiting this site on Fridays to start my weekend off with a good belly laugh.
5. Posted by P. Bunyan | May 4, 2007 2:48 PM
Posted on May 4, 2007 14:48
Lee,
How do you prosecute somebody for impersonating somebody else if you can't ask to see their ID?
6. Posted by U.P. Man | May 4, 2007 4:50 PM
Posted on May 4, 2007 16:50
There have been prosecutions, U.P. Man - a whopping 86 convictions over the preceding five years.
You see, there really isn't a problem, but the perception that there is a problem has been foisted on the American public by a dishonest administration to the point where uniformed voters actually believe it, and uniformed internet bloggers spread the lies further.
get informed:
7. Posted by Lee Ward | May 4, 2007 5:26 PM
Posted on May 4, 2007 17:26
So your are saying,
Democrats are getting charged with voter fraud proves that Republicans are rigging elections?
That filling out more than one voter registration form is OKAY.
That felons voting is okay?
86 out 120 conviction, most Democrats and it's the Republicans fault.
Boy, those mean Republicans making the Democrats break the law.
8. Posted by U.P. Man | May 4, 2007 5:58 PM
Posted on May 4, 2007 17:58
It just means that there is no factual basis behind this push by Republicans for reform and voter ID, etc. It's just lies and politics.
9. Posted by Lee Ward | May 4, 2007 6:04 PM
Posted on May 4, 2007 18:04
People being convicted of voter fraud proves there is no need for voter ID reform?
10. Posted by U.P. Man | May 4, 2007 8:38 PM
Posted on May 4, 2007 20:38
Also, only 86 convictions means no sign of voter fraud but 1 conviction (Libby) means big cover-up?
11. Posted by U.P. Man | May 5, 2007 1:37 AM
Posted on May 5, 2007 01:37
"...in 29 counties more voters were registered than lived there."
Nothing suspicious here.
12. Posted by Jeff Blogworthy | May 5, 2007 10:21 AM
Posted on May 5, 2007 10:21
"...in 29 counties more voters were registered than lived there. Nothing suspicious here."
Nothing factual either. Blogworthy is referencing (without a link - tsk tsk) a lawsuit brought by Bradley Schlozman, then acting chief of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
That case was thown out of court.
Accusations without evidence and then rely on the right wing blogosphere to spread the lies -- it's the Republican way,
13. Posted by Lee Ward | May 5, 2007 1:44 PM
Posted on May 5, 2007 13:44