Tea party groups work to remove names from Ohio voter rolls

[TomCADem]

Source: LA Times

CINCINNATI — Lori Monroe, a 40-year-old Democrat who lives in central Ohio, was startled a few weeks ago to open a letter that said a stranger was challenging her right to vote in the presidential election.

Monroe, who was recovering from cancer surgery, called the local election board to protest. A local tea party leader was trying to strike Monroe from the voter rolls for a reason that made no sense: Her apartment building in Lancaster was listed as a commercial property.

"I'm like, really? Seriously?" Monroe said. "I've lived here seven years, and now I'm getting challenged?"

Monroe's is one of at least 2,100 names that tea party groups have sought to remove from Ohio's voter rosters.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ohio-voting-fight-20120927,0,811761.story

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Republican "volunteers" are combing through Ohio voter rolls to systematically challenge minorities and college students in order to try to supress the vote in a targetted manner.

[LiberalEsto]

1. Outrageous

Apartment buildings ARE considered commercial property because the owners make money from renting to tenants.

I can't believe that these sleazebags think they're going to cheat their way into defeating President Obama despite the polls showing his significant lead over rMoney.

On second thought, I can believe it. They've cheated like mad in previous elections.

I hope President Obama and the Democrats are prepared to fight back, and HARD.

[pandr32]

8. Karma

I love the golden rule: do not do unto others what you would not want done unto you. Perhaps all those who identify as Tea-Partiers should be sent similar challenges.

[freshwest]

41. We have neither the funding nor the inclination to deny people the right to vote. Won't happen.

[CoffeeCat]

9. Please everyone--Go to www.truethevote.org Crimes are happening!!

www.truethevote.org was set up by Tea Party activists. It is intended to suppress voters and to intimidate them.

www.truethevote.org is an online clearinghouse for tea partiers to sign up and volunteer.

What can they possibly do, you say? The site's volunteer opportunities list:

1.) Going through the voter rolls to determine fraud

2.) Being poll watchers on election day, and serving as security at the polls.

I'm not kidding.

And now these things are happening. They did this in Wisconsin. Was probably a trial run. And these tea partiers were at the Wisconsin polls, challenging voters and some of them left without voting. God knows how many.

This is so unbelievable. We cannot allow this to happen!

[arcane1]

19. I'm half tempted to sign up, just to keep an eye on them n/t

[duhneece]

24. I considered joining their listerve for the reason you suggested

but am too overwhelmed with other stuff right now.

[tarheelsunc]

21. I'd sign up just to kick teabaggers off the roll.

[Blue_Tires]

14. At least no one on DU is even pretending that the

TP is a legit grassroots group that we need to "reach out" to anymore...And at least no one is trying to censor posts when the TP gets called out for the racists that they are...

[gordianot]

2. The faceless want to remove you. There needs to be a movement identifying the challengers to voting

[robinlynne]

26. sometimes the challeneges come from inside the election officials.....

and sometimes they are hidden, i.e. no letter in the mail.

[freshwest]

42. Will need to be done state by state. That's how the teahadists took control of the offices.

[ffr]

3. Time to purge the Tea Party

Register & VOTE! Let's run the tables up and down the ticket. No More Republicans!

[DFW]

4. This is a true confession

The Republican Party is as good as confession openly that they know they cannot win Ohio legitimately, so they resort to this kind of electoral fraud.

It needs to be pointed out for what it is. Teabaggers needs to be pointed out for what they are. Rolls-Ryan need to be shown up for the weak candidates they are that they need "support" like this to not lose key states by double-digit margins.

[LynneSin]

5. Wow Jim Crow is alive and well in Ohio

I can't believe this kind of obvious racism is happening in our state. This should be a federal crime for people who are doing this.

[heaven05]

6. HOW!!!?

How could amerikkka come to this obvious, not caring who knows electoral fraud and blatant racism, sexism, ignorance and stupidity, again? This so-called 'democracy' is a joke. Don't get me wrong, it's all I got, so I won't boo, I'll vote. Yet some days I do want to explode at the above descriptions of our great society Give me a break. Human beings?

[CoffeeCat]

7. OMG....This is so outrageous, I can't stand it!!!!

If you go to "True The Vote" at http://www.truethevote.org/ you will see the website/clearinghouse for Tea Partiers to sign up and engage in these nefarious election-fraud behaviors.

All under the guise of making our elections more fair.

I want to frickin kick someone in the balls right now. Where in the frick do these asswipes get the authority to do these things????

The website lists these possible "volunteer opportunities"--

--Going through voter lists and using our software to determine if there are anomolies.
--Serving as poll watchers at the polls, to serve as security and scout for voter fraud.

Ok.....is everyone understanding this????

These partisan fuckwits are combing throught the voter rolls and challenging Americans!!!! They will also be AT THE POLLS--intimidating people, making people feel uncomfortable and doing God-knows-what!

And if you think I'm being dramatic--there are loads of articles out there about how they did this in Wisconsin during the Walker recall. These tea-party dirtballs openly challenged college students about their IDs and questioned whether or not they should be voting. Many left the polls, called and complained--but in the end, they did not get to vote.

This is REAL!!!!

They have no authority to do this!! My stupid ignorant neighbor is a walking meatloaf and a tea partier. So, I guess that gives him the authority to go through the voter rolls and purge people? This is insane!

Can you imagine the backlash if Obama For America had people combing the voter rolls and challenging people?

This woman discovered the challenge to her voter registration. How many will show up to vote and be denied--unaware that a tea partier decided to cast doubt on the registration!

THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!!!

[MysticLynx]

15. Until

There is some sort of legal recourse that will cost these vote suppressor big fines- they will keep doing it. Sue them some how - we need a clash action suit of some sort, once they have to 'compensate' legal voters to the tunes of billions of dollars for the harm they have caused it will stop.

[CoffeeCat]

16. If any tea partier ass hat challenges me at the polls...

I will call the police. I will threaten them with a lawsuit.

They have no authority. They have no right.

As I said earlier, my neighbor is an incredibly ignorant walking meatloaf--who argues that the big banks need less regulation, just because Glenn Beck tells him to say so. So, these are the types of yahoos who are going to be installed at our polls--intimidating people?

Screw them.

[bemildred]

10. Too stupid to even hide what they are doing.

They are soooo going to pay for this idiocy.

[AzDar]

11. Until this shit becomes subject to harsh civil and criminal penalties,

and is routinely prosecuted, they will continue to do it. You want to take away someone's right to vote? You'd better be able to prove just cause, or go to jail.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

12. Now we know the REAL reason why they want to abolish the 14th Amendment. Racist fucks!

[Blue_Tires]

13. kick

So much for those self-styled "defenders of constitutional liberty"

[Maeve]

17. So far, they are getting nowhere with this

308 challenges in Franklin Co (home of the Ohio State University), all turned down by the BOE
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/09/25/voter-roll-challenges-dismissed.html

They can try, but they are also getting an earful!

[Ikonoklast]

20. If they try to intimidate voters at Ohio polling places, they will get themselves arrested.

They can only question if you are a citizen of the state.

Even then, if there is any question about your proofs of residency, you will still be given a provisional ballot and be allowed to vote.

No challenges from unauthorized persons can keep anyone from voting in Ohio.

Can I vote if someone challenges my right to vote?

Yes. Only official poll workers can question or challenge your right to vote. Poll workers can only question you on limited issues, such as where you live. No one can question or challenge you about things like your disability, age, citizenship, or whether or not you have a guardian.

The Secretary of State provided a Directive telling poll workers they can not challenge a voter on Election Day because state computer records don't match the proper identification voters gave when they registered to vote or provide on Election Day. Problems with mismatched government records (Social Security, Motor Vehicle, Voter Registration) are not a reason to deny people's right to vote. Read the Secretary of State Directive 2008-99, Election Day Voter Challenges Based Upon a Failure to Match Information on the Statewide Voter Registration Database (PDF file).

Call the Ohio Legal Rights Service (LRS), 1-800-282-9181 or TTY 1-800-858-3542, if you are denied your right to vote.

[elleng]

23. Thanks for this good, useful info, Ikono.

[Ikonoklast]

27. Anyone not a poll worker breaks the law if they open their mouth to question your right to vote.

They can stand there with their sour pusses hanging out all the live-long day, but they cannot do or say one word to any voter without getting their asses in some serious trouble.

After all, what's to keep a Democrat from going over the registered voter list and challenging every person they belive to be a Republican who shows up to vote?

[elleng]

29. Right BUT voters have to know this AND have the whatever, guts etc. to assert it:

NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!

[Ikonoklast]

35. Not in Ohio. The poll workers will get your ass tossed so fast you'll get whiplash.

[elleng]

36. Very good to hear, assuming poll workers see what's going on.

Do recall all the b.s. with FOREVER voting lines around Cleveland 'a few years ago.'

[KansDem]

33. Aren't they also prohibited from "politicking?"

And by that I mean no signs or buttons in the vicinity of the polling place, so they won't be able to "identify" themselves. One assumes that would also be no vocal contact as well.

If I'm stopped and questioned by one of these TeaBaggers, I might be compelled to make my displeasure known!

[Maeve]

38. Yes, you are right, no shirts, no stickers, no discussions--plus

Poll observers have to be certified (with a Certificate of Appointment, usually from a political party) and they get ONE warning if they interfere with voters or workers (or use a cell phone to discuss the election). Second strike, they are out of there.
I have worked the polls for several years now and no one is messing around on my turf.

[KansDem]

46. "...no shirts..."

How about this one?



I mean, it's just an ordinary football jersey...

[Maeve]

49. Dang, when you try to type quickly...

We did make a young voter turn his Obama t-shirt inside out four years ago

[Ikonoklast]

40. No certified poll watchers can wear any political insignia whatsoever.

They can only communicate with the poll workers, at no time are they allowed to question the voter directly..

All political signs or workers must be at least 100 feet away from the entrance of the designated polling place.

[Maeve]

44. I intend to bring the issue of "observers" up at my training class

If it doesn't come up otherwise...I want to make sure trainers are aware of the current crop o'crazies.

[Maeve]

39. Absolutely!

The people I have worked with are all very aware of the need to protect the voters' rights (poll worker for several years here in Ohio). And there has to be a mix of R's and D's at each polling place by law to prevent anyone from taking a blind eye approach.

[santamargarita]

18. This is the same bunch of servile scum that will be tampering...

with voting machines on election night!

[onehandle]

22. I hereby chalenge the citizenship of each and every teabagger from coast to coast.

You can resume your teabaggery when you put up or shut up.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

25. I remember a few years back that some Republican Thug was claiming renters shouldn't vote...

...he said they didn't have a permanent address and had no right to "affect homeowners who actually live in the district."

[KansDem]

30. My late uncle believed that as well...

Last edited Thu Sep 27, 2012, 02:58 PM - Edit history (1)

He was a retired USAF general and very conservative. At a family reunion in 1978 he was talking with a few of his nieces and nephews when he made the comment that only property owners should be permitted to vote. That remark was met by a liberal husband of a niece who guffawed in a rather loud voice.

My uncle turned and walked away. He made the unforgivable mistake of discussing politics at a family reunion. My family is, for the most part, Republican, and we don't discuss such beliefs...

[Spitfire of ATJ]

32. Sounds like he flew a desk.

[midnight]

28. Harassment seems to be their MO........ Time to have the courts send these folks a message....

[nykym]

31. From Bullies at the Ballot Box

There is nothing wrong with wanting accurate voter rolls. However, True the Vote’s notices are at odds with the very statute they claim to be enforcing, because the NVRA requires that any general list maintenance program resulting in the systematic removal of names of ineligible voters must be completed no later than 90 days before Election Day.25 The reason such list maintenance programs must be completed at least 90 days before the election is to ensure that removal notices do not confuse eligible voters about their registration status so soon before an election. To be clear, election officials in the counties where True the Vote “expects to take proper action … well before Election Day in November” would violate the NVRA should they conduct a purge within 90 days of the election.26

Link:
http://www.demos.org/publication/bullies-ballot-box-protecting-freedom-vote-against-wrongful-challenges-and-intimidation

[Odin2005]

34. They are fucking SHAMELESS.

[SoapBox]

37. Criminal

She and others need to pass these stories on to the White House.

[azurnoir]

43. the teapartiers know this is the only way they can win

voter suppression, to them an American value, to the rest of us a crime

[julian09]

45. You do not have to answer to anyone until you get to the desk with voting lists

they check your name, then you vote. Anyone inside or outside has no right to harass you they can not stop you from checking in.
If they persist, tell them to fuck off and call security or tell poll workers that they are harassing you and others.

[h2ebits]

47. YOU can help in the elections

I registered to work as an election judge and/or poll worker. My first class with the Denver Elections Division is on Saturday. Step up and help stop the fraud where you live.

[davidn3600]

48. And so it begins.