Legalizing Marijuana - A New Republican Strategy?

[kpete]

The Republican Party has a new voter registration project in Fresno. It involves luring people to sign a LEGALIZE MARIJUANA petition and then re-registering them as Republicans.



Legalizing Marijuana - A New Republican Strategy?
By Mike Rhodes

The attractive young woman says to me, "would you sign our petition to legalize marijuana?" I don’t have to think twice and say "sure, where do I sign?" That is when it got interesting. She says, "Do you have your ID with you?" "Well, yes I do, but what does that have to do with..." I say as she responds with "oh, we just have to verify your ID." Thinking that this has something to do with making sure they have valid names for a ballot initiative I comply.

As I’m filling out my name and address on the petition I notice that the young lady is filling out a very official looking form. Probably just the ballot initiative form, I think to myself. Then, she says "is it OK if I register you as a Republican?" "What?!?" I say "yes, I do mind! What are you doing?" She says that if I register Republican she will get an extra 10 cents. But, I complain, "I don’t want to re-register." She explains that this is just to update the records for the County Clerks office. I repeat that "I do not want or need to update my records." I am repeatedly told that it is OK and that they just want to update my voter registration records. She also tells me that she is working for the Republican party, being paid hourly, and that the ploy about the "10 cent bonus" was not accurate.

This Republican party employee goes on to tell me that she is there to attract people to the table that is set up in Fresno’s Courthouse Park, and that the legalize marijuana petition is just a prop. She confirmed that there is no ballot initiative to legalize marijuana. She said that the petition will be given to an elected official in Sacramento. I have my doubts about that.

At this point in the conversation, she called over her "boss" who was talking with someone a short distance away. I introduced myself as the editor of the Community Alliance newspaper and said I was interested in writing a story about the petition campaign and their registering people with the Republican party. I guess that wasn’t the right approach to get him to open up to me. The "boss" gave me no information. He even refused to give me a copy of the marijuana legalization petition I had just signed.

more at:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/03/18294421.php

[panader0]

1. That's the way to fool those stoned out Dems.....

Flip her a dime and piss off. Legalize it!

[The Deacon]

2. They Used This Back In 2004

[Mabus]

7. and here's proof

The following is from a BBC documentary on efforts to disenfanchise voters.

[Warren DeMontague]

10. It sounds to me like the woman in the photo is quite possibly committing

a felony, there.

Perhaps someone can find out who she is?

[Mabus]

12. Need a Californian to call 1-800-345-VOTE or 1-866-452-8682.

PDF link, California Voter's Rights information (referenced below) http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/vfph.pdf

Elections and Voter Information
Voter Fraud


The Secretary of State is committed to a goal of 100% voter participation by eligible citizens and a tough zero tolerance policy for voter fraud.

To help ensure a fraud-free election, the Secretary of State has increased the statewide voter fraud investigations unit, developed a Joint Voter Fraud Task Force with the attorney general's office and published the first ever Voter Fraud Prevention Handbook which will help every citizen understand and report election irregularities to the Secretary of State's fraud investigations unit.

You may view The Voter Fraud Prevention Handbook in pdf format by clicking here.

To order free copies of the handbook, please call 1-800-345-VOTE, or send an e-mail request with your mailing address to [e-mail].

If you:

* observe someone who appears to be coercing a person as they are casting their absentee ballot;
* witness someone completing a voter registration card which you know to be false;
* see a petition circulator signing names on petitions instead of having the voters sign their own names;
* watch someone mishandle completed voter registration cards

Call 1-800-345-VOTE or 1-866-452-8682.

In order for us to be able to investigate the allegation, it is critically important that you provide us with the date, time, place, and specific circumstances that you witness, as well as telling us your name and telephone number or some means of getting in touch with you to follow up and obtain further details. We need credible evidence -- not just suspicions of irregular activity. But if you truly believe you've witnessed an election-related irregularity, do not hesitate to call our hotline today!

Voter Fraud will not go undetected or unpunished!
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_p.htm

[WernhamHogg]

40. Very interesting...

I pass that exact spot everyday on my way to work. I'll have to check and see if the scum is there on Monday and if they are, perhaps I could get some names (doubtful, but I'll try).

In 2004, I was waiting for a bus in that park when a woman approached me, offering me candy if I would register to vote Republican and promise to vote for George. When I told her I was a registered Democrat and I absolutely would NOT be voting for George, she offered me candy if I would just fill out a survey. Since I didn't want her to have any of my information, I told her that "my mother always told me never to take candy from strange Republicans" and I walked away. }(

[Metta]

3. Ah, the old bait and switch. Repukes - you can count on their dishonesty.

By whatever means possible,eh?

[mom cat]

4. They did a similiar ploy here with an anti gay petition that they

were conning people to sign by telling then that it was a wine petition.
Boy do I check what I sign since then.

[porphyrian]

5. Yeah, that petition'll make a big difference...

:eyes:

Sneaky bastards. Time for a counter-campaign. Guess which party started the "drug war" and instituted all the mandatory minimum sentences?

[Suich]

6. I don't get it.

In California, if you're registered as a Republican, do you have to vote Republican? What's the advantage of inflating the numbers?

[Mabus]

8. They send it in as a change of address too

That way when you go the polls you are no longer registered in your own precinct. You complain and they pull out the form you filled out and signed. You have been disenfranchised. And, according to the paperwork you signed, it looks like you tried to commit voter fraud.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Typical. Yeah, well, you can't get any Republicans in California with

the shit the party really DOES stand for.

Hey, maybe if we actually did come out for legalizing pot, we could snag these voters. Apparently the GOP thinks there's an untapped market there!

Makes more sense to me than following that tired-ass "Imitate the GOP as much as possible, don't take any controversial (read: real) stands, and by all means we have to court the values voter" playbook.

[pscot]

11. Oooh, Wait, wait. I got an idea

Lets circulate petitions at upscale shopping malls calling for repeal of all taxes on incomes over $150,000. Republicans will sign up in droves and we can register them as Democrats.

[sgxnk]

13. lots of repubs

have been for legalization/decriminalization of marijuana

for DECADES

national review, the conservative flagship has been for it since it's inception iirc

republican governors, mayors, etc. have come out for it

just for the record

[yardwork]

16. These are scams, though. They're not real petitions.

They're using the legalization issue as a lure to get people to fill out a form, then filling in the re-registration info. It's not a real petition.

It's a way to disenfranchise voters who are in favor of liberal causes.

[sgxnk]

19. ok

fair enough

i think of decrim of mj as an anti-statist/libertarian cause

not a liberal cause

that seems closer to the truth, considering the relative levels of appeal

regardless, the subterfuge issue is concerning in the petitions

[John Q. Citizen]

22. Yeah, it's probably a felony to commit election fraud. n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

26. Well, perhaps it should be ADOPTED as a "liberal" cause.

Apparently, the GOP thinks there's a market of untapped voters, there.

[sgxnk]

33. imo

the GOP should adopt it as a platform position

as should the dems

but neither will

don't get me wrong - i think mj is lame. that doesn't mean it should be illegal.

[Warren DeMontague]

35. I haven't done anything stronger than caffeine in years.

Alcohol nearly killed me.

But prohibition is idiotic, and a waste of lives and resources. Pot, in particular, is so relatively benign that it's ludicrous to spend most of a $40 Billion per annum DEA budget "fighting" it.

Legalize it, tax it and be done with it.

[Pushed To The Left]

29. Both a liberal and libertarian cause

Many of the true "small government" conservatives have libertarian leanings and aren't too fond of the drug war either.

[sgxnk]

34. absolutely right

the hallmark of a statist, whether a dem or a repub is that they always want to protect us FROM OURSELVES

i think there is a lot more reasonable disagreement (imnsho) over whom our external enemies are, and what govt's role is in regards to that, but as a general rule govt. should stay the heck out of people's bedrooms, bloodstreams, and personal contracts, with rare exceptions

[yardwork]

41. That would wipe out most of bushco's platform

No more "defense of marriage" acts, no more constitutional amendments protecting the flag, no more attempts to make abortion illegal again, no more drug tests, no more drug wars.

Think of the money we'd save!

[KaptBunnyPants]

21. I guess the figure that the scam would eliminate more Democratic votes

than Republican ones, a net gain in thier amoral eyes. They would probably disenfranchise one of their own supporters if they could take out 3 of their opponents...

[Warren DeMontague]

25. Yeah, well, it makes enough sense that even some of them can see it.

Who wants to spend $40 Billion a year to try to keep people from smoking pot?

Control freaks, religious nuts, and folks on the drug war gravy train, that's who.

Truly fiscally conservative people don't want any part of it. And they're right.

[terryg11]

14. wow. did this make the news there?

i would think some of the republicans more conservative and "morally right" would be upset some

[Joe Fields]

15. Just when I think I've used up all of my indignation.....

[yardwork]

17. This is important. Please kick and recommend.

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. LIBERALS! Walk AWAY FROM THE BUBBLES!

I hope someone turns that skanky bitch in.

[grannylib]

23. Hope this doesn't surprise anyone...rePiglicans CANNOT win by legitimate

means, so fraud, lies, corruption and outright theft are what they have to resort to in a desperate effort to remain in power.

[w4rma]

24. Tricky. They sign you up as a Repuke in a different voting district than

where you are planning to vote.

And they pick a topic that they believe will bring mostly progessives into their trap.

I wonder if they then use the extra numbers on the voting roll in Orlando (see post #7) to vote *for* you also.

[Pushed To The Left]

27. Pretty dishonest

Is that even legal? That has to be some sort of fraud.

[w4rma]

28. Yes. But will the law against fraud be enforced against Republicans? (nt)

[LaPera]

30. The more reg. republicans the easier they can cheat with the Diebold

machines now in place all over CA.

[alfredo]

36. the more money they can get from the party. They even scam

their own. They have no ethics.

[shadowknows69]

31. I'll support any republican that can legalize pot

then I'll get burnt and forget to go vote for them B-)

[w4rma]

32. They don't appear to be even turning in the petition part. (nt)

[Patchuli]

37. That's so dishonest and hypocritical

but that's the republican party! BTW, I don't think she was that attractive. I'm surprised they didn't have a buxom blonde!

[struggle4progress]

38. I wonder how the table would've looked in the pool ...

.. but that's just my artistic curiosity speaking ...

[GreenTea]

39. Kick!

[tyedyeto]

42. Fresno? Freeper capital? Would not trust just anyone in that city n/t