August 2010 - Posts

Massive Voter Registration Fraud Uncovered in Harris County Texas
27 Aug 2010 3:33 PM

The Harris County Texas Voter Registrar is calling into question upwards of 5,000 fraudulent voter registrations submitted by the group Houston Votes.

"The integrity of the voter role of Harris County Texas appears to be under an organized and systematic attack by the group operating under the name Houston Votes," Vasquez said.

Vasquez said some of the problems include multiple applications for the same person, applications for people already registered, incomplete applications, applications from non-U.S. citizens and several from people too young to vote.

"We have evidence indicating violation of the Texas Election Code, falsified documents being submitted to this office and possible violations of federal election laws," said Vasquez.

Another local group also highlighted the issues with the group and the thousands of fraudulent voter registrations that have been submitted in Harris County. In a TV news report, they showed a vacant lot which according to county voter registration rolls has 6 active voters residing there. The case has been referred to the Harris County District Attorney and Texas Secretary of State.

This report comes at the same time when 10,000 voting machines (all of the machines for the county) were destroyed in what is being called a suspicious fire in the warehouse where they were being stored.

In response to the massive loss of the voting equptment the Harris County Clerk had the following statement:

Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman this morning said she is confident of timely, clean elections in November, even as a fire that destroyed the county's entire inventory of 10,000 electronic voting machines still burned.

Kaufman urged voters to cast their ballots early to help the county cope with a possible shortage of equipment on election day.

"Because I don't expect to have 10,000 pieces to work with, no matter what we do, I'm sure that we're going to be putting on a full court press urging people to vote early," Kaufman said.

 

by Matt Suermann | with no comments
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Controversy from Fake Michigan Tea Party Candidate Grows
27 Aug 2010 2:43 PM

An important story broke this week regarding Democrat efforts in Michigan to get fake Tea Party candidates on the ballot in Michigan. First, it was revealed that a Democrat staffer engaged in efforts to get a fake Tea Party candidate on the ballot for County Commissioner seat in suburban Detroit's Oakland County. Jason Bauer, then-Political Director of the Oakland County Democratic Party, was behind the efforts to get Aaron William Tyler, a former resident of Michigan currently residing in Arizona, on the ballot under the Tea Party name. As far as we know, Tyler did not consent to this, nor did he have any knowledge of what was going on. According to the Detroit News, Bauer was forced to resign his post on Sunday following these allegations.

On Tuesday, it was then reported that Oakland County Democratic Party's chairman, Mike McGuiness, also resigned, citing a "new professional opportunity." Now, a press release (not available online) from the campaign of Michigan Secretary of State Candidate Ruth Johnson, claims that McGuiness also happens to be employed by Johnson's Democrat opponent for Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson. Ruth Johnson, the clerk for Oakland Party, uncovered the fraudulent filings last week.

According to Johnson's press release, Democrats may have put up to 23 of these fake Tea Party candidates on the ballot in the state.

Judging by the various reports on the controversy, Bauer was heavily involved with getting Tyler and others on the ballot. At a minimum, he notarized and filed Tyler's and other questionable candidates' affidavits.

On Wednesday, "Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson asked . . . for a one-man grand jury to investigate whether [Bauer] and others committed crimes in connection with alleged fake Tea Party candidate filings." Please click here and here for more.

We are seeing similar allegations of fake Tea Party Candidates in other states, including in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and possibly Florida. In Pennsylvania, Republicans were successful in getting a fake Tea Party gubernatorial candidate bounced from the ballot following revelations that the candidate filings were full of errors and fraudulent signatures.

by Justin Riemer | with no comments
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Rasmussen: 82% Say a Photo ID Should be Needed to Vote
20 Aug 2010 11:59 AM

Rasmussen Reports has a poll out that shows that 82% of Americans believe that a photo ID should be required to vote. This is from a survey of 1000 likely voters nationwide. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3%.

From the write up of the poll:

An overwhelming majority of Likely Voters in the United States think all voters in the country should be required to present photo identification in order to vote in U.S. elections.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters finds that just 14% disagree and think the current identification system is sufficient. Just 4% are undecided on the issue.

This is a sentiment that spans demographics, as majorities in every demographic agree that photo identification should be required to vote.

The fact that so many special interest groups have fought for years to allow voter fraud to happen by not simply requiring photo ID. I wonder if they will finally listen to the public that their attempts to undermine the electoral process by making it easier to cheat the system. Pretty sure that vast majority of Americans have a photo ID anyway, why not just make it a requirement to vote?

by Matt Suermann | 1 comment(s)
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Washington, DC Mayor Vetoes Vote Buying Ban
18 Aug 2010 12:25 PM

The Washington Post had an article in yesterday's paper highlighting Washington, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty's pocket veto of a bill that would have brought DC code into line with Federal law.

Last month, the council overwhelmingly approved a bill by council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) that would have enshrined in the local code the federal prohibitions against paying someone to vote or register to vote, or accepting payment to vote or register to vote. It also made it a crime to use a false name to register to vote. Violators could be fined as much as $10,000 and face five years in prison.

Fenty's reasoning for the veto though is concerning and smells of pure politics

But Fenty friend and strategist Ronald Moten lobbied the mayor to veto the bill. Moten worried that the council, led by Fenty rival Vincent C. Gray (D) was trying to quash the mayor's go-go concerts designed to get low-income African American residents registered to vote.

This veto comes at a time when Fenty's political future is on line, he is facing a September 14 primary, and is trailing in some recent polling. While, the Fenty campaign commented that he believes that vote buyers should be "locked up", that did not stop his primary opponent from hitting on the veto.

But Mo Elleithee, a Gray strategist, blasted the mayor's decision.

"The bill says, in the most simple of terms, you can't buy someone's vote," Elleithee said. "The fact that the mayor wouldn't sign it speaks volumes. We knew that he had no problem bringing pay-to-play politics to the mayor's office. Now it appears he has no problem bringing it to the ballot box."

by Matt Suermann | with no comments
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AP: Federal Appeals Court Rules Against ACORN
13 Aug 2010 1:57 PM

Last summer the political world was abuzz over the undercover videos that exposed the corruption of ACORN. Ultimately, those videos helped to cause the collapse of ACORN and the defunding of ACORN by Congress. Following Congressional action to exclude ACORN form receiving federal funds, ACORN appealed and had its funding reinstated. Today, a Federal Appeals Court in New York reversed the lower court and allowed the funding ban to remain in place of the disgraced organization. Here is what the AP is reporting:

A federal appeals court on Friday threw out a decision that had barred Congress from withholding funds from ACORN, the activist group driven to ruin by scandal and financial woes.

The ruling by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reversed a ruling by a district court judge in Brooklyn that found Congress had violated the group's rights by punishing it without a trial.

Congress cut off ACORN's federal funding last year in response to allegations the group engaged in voter registration fraud and embezzlement and violated the tax-exempt status of some of its affiliates by engaging in partisan political activities.

Fueling the outrage was a video that caught three employees allegedly advising a couple posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend to lie about her profession and launder her earnings.

The AP notes the following in the decision from the court:

The appeals court disagreed, citing a study finding that ACORN received only 10 percent of its funding from federal sources.

"We doubt that the direct consequences of the appropriations laws temporarily precluding ACORN from federal funds were so disproportionately severe or so inappropriate as to constitute punishment," the three-judge panel wrote.

by Matt Suermann | with no comments
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RNLA Chair David Norcross on “Life With Elena”
6 Aug 2010 11:58 AM

Yesterday, the US Senate confirmed Elena Kagan to be the 112th Justice to the US Supreme Court by a vote of 63-37. Today's "Inside the Beltway" column in the Washington Times highlighted a number of Conservatives and their take on what Kagan on the bench would mean. One of the Conservatives quoted was RNLA Chair David Norcross.

LIFE WITH ELENA

They knew it was coming. They've heaved a sigh. Now, those opposed to newly minted Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan already anticipate the long march ahead, as Ms. Kagan sets up her bench and gets to work.

"She is what she is, and that is an academician. What troubles me most, and what has troubled many of us, is that she has no legal experience. It's going to be in her nature to be a problem solver, rather than jurist," Republican National Lawyers Association Chairman David A. Norcross tells Inside the Beltway.

Also quoted in the column was Marco Rubio (R-FL)

"The American people deserve judges who will interpret laws, not invent them, and who will adhere to the Constitution," observes Marco Rubio, a conservative candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in Florida.

 

 

by Matt Suermann | with no comments
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Sen. Kyl: Kagan is no Rehnquist
4 Aug 2010 4:21 PM

Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) went to the floor of the US Senate yesterday to speak against Elena Kagans' nomination to the US Supreme Court. In his remarks, he shot down one of the left's favorite arguments out how former Chief Justice Rehnquist did not have any judicial experience before being named to the High Court. Well, Kyl destroyed that argument and showed how Kagan is no Rehnquist when it comes to experience. The full text  of his remarks can be found below.

 

080310 Kyl Remarks on Kagan Nomination

by Matt Suermann | with no comments
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Mr. Nelson? Mr. Nelson, NO.
2 Aug 2010 9:23 AM

With the final vote on Elena Kagan's nomination quickly approaching, Senators on both sides of the aisle have begun to telegraph their intentions on how they will vote on her confirmation. Many of the them have been a given (everyone knew that Sen. Leahy would vote yes and Sen. Sessions would vote no) while others have been wild cards like Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) who came out on Friday in support of her nomination. While, it was expected to some extent that there would be Republicans voting to confirm, it was unknown if any Democrats would buck their party and oppose her nomination. Then, Sen. Ben Nelson voiced his opposition to Kagan, making the opposition to Kagan's elevation to the high court bipartisan and a signal that there is opposition to Kagan within the Democrat Party.

 

NELSON STATEMENT ON SUPREME COURT NOMINEE ELENA KAGAN

July 30, 2010 – Today, Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson issued this statement on the president's nomination of Elena Kagan for the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the seat of retired Justice John Paul Stevens:

"As a member of the bipartisan 'Gang of 14,' I will follow our agreement that judicial nominees should be filibustered only under extraordinary circumstances. If a cloture vote is held on the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court, I am prepared to vote for cloture and oppose a filibuster because, in my view, this nominee deserves an up or down vote in the Senate.

"However, I have heard concerns from Nebraskans regarding Ms. Kagan, and her lack of a judicial record makes it difficult for me to discount the concerns raised by Nebraskans, or to reach a level of comfort that these concerns are unfounded. Therefore, I will not vote to confirm Ms. Kagan's nomination."

What is most interesting in Nelson's statement is the fact that he is listening to his constituents for a change and not just voting the way he feels like. If only more Senators would actually listen to their constituents before voting. What a concept!

by Matt Suermann | with no comments
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