Fake voting rights activists and groups linked to White House

[kliljedahl]

Bob Fitrakis
December 30, 2005

Top level Republican operatives with ties to the White House, Senate Majority Leader William Frist and the Republican National Committee (RNC) not only engaged in the suppression of poor and minority voters in the 2004 Ohio presidential election' but they spun the election irregularities into a story linking blacks to cocaine and voter fraud. Bush allies in Ohio are now using this myth of voter fraud to pass a repressive "election reform" bill.

In the month prior to and immediately after the 2004 presidential election' the Republican Party engaged in an orchestrated campaign to divert the mainstream media focus away from election fraud and irregularities in Ohio and manufactured the myth of "voter fraud."

According to a former Columbus Dispatch reporter' Ohio Senator Mike Dewine sent his spokesperson' Mike Dawson' to meet with the editorial board of the Dispatch and other Ohio newspapers. The primary talking point for the GOP was that there was no evidence of irregularities in Ohio.

The Republican state legislature used the "voter fraud" spin to introduce the draconian Ohio House Bill 3. The "election reform" bill has passed both Republican-dominated houses and is awaiting a conference committee at the start of the new year.

HB 3's most publicized provision will require voters to show their ID before casting a ballot. But it also opens voter registration activists to criminal prosecution' exempts electronic voting machines from public scrutiny' quintuples the cost of citizen-requested statewide recounts and makes it illegal to challenge a presidential vote count or' indeed' any federal election result in Ohio. HB 3 will also reduce voter rolls by ordering county boards of elections to send cards to registered voters every two years. If a card comes back as undelivered' the voter must rely on a provisional ballot.

Fake voting rights groups tied to the White House



Keith’s Barbeque Central

[FreedomAngel82]

1. I remember a good while back

there was this group who was a "voting rights" group but it was discovered that they were tied to the RNC and they disappeared really quick. They have no shame.

[Kurovski]

2. K&R (nt)

[Up2Late]

5. Sorry, I keep seeing this "K&R" in threads, but I guess I missed...

...the original. What does K&R stand for?

[Kingshakabobo]

6. Kicked and recommended. n/t

[druidity33]

10. K & R

puzzled me for a while too... recommend is when you click the link to the original thread up top. Kicked is when you've replied to it and bumped it to the top of the GD page... as i've just done.


...little bathroom magnets...

[Canuckistanian]

3. K&R

[mod mom]

4. OH Dem Caucus stated only 4 documented cases of "voter fraud" in Ohio

but not according to WH stooges:

In March 2005' Congressman Bob Ney held a U.S. House Administrative hearing at the Ohio Statehouse where a general counsel for the brand new voting rights group' the American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR)' told the Congressional committee that the voting problems in Ohio were the result of the NAACP paying people with crack in order to entice them to register to vote. ACVR's general counsel' Mark F. "Thor" Hearne' turned out to be the former national general counsel for Bush-Cheney '04' Inc.' with no history of working in a voting rights organization. Hearne relied on a lawsuit filed against the NAACP in Wood County' Ohio "alleging fraudulent voter registration under the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act."

Hearne wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice in March 2005 claiming there was "substantial evidence to suggest potential criminal wrongdoing by organizations such as Americans Coming Together ("ACT")' ACORN and the NAACP – Project Vote."

"We understand that local Ohio law enforcement authorities are pursuing criminal prosecution against some of the individuals involved in this activity' which activities include paying crack cocaine for fraudulent voter registration forms'" Hearne wrote.

Cliff Arnebeck' the attorney representing the NAACP' denounces this as a deliberate racist disinformation campaign to divert attention from Ohio's election theft. "crack cocaine' the NAACP – Hearne and the Republicans are using racist code words'" Arnebeck said. The Wood County case was withdrawn in June 2005' but not before it was revealed that the plaintiff' Mark Rubick' had been "indemnified" and held "harmless" by an obscure group' the Free Enterprise Coalition' with ties to the Republican Party. Signing as the "Authorized representative" for the Coalition was one Alex Vogel.

[Kingshakabobo]

7. Wonderful.

Our democracy isn't dead but it has one foot in the grave and the other foot on a banana peel.

[Up2Late]

8. If you haven't already, you should post this to the Election Reform...

...forum too.

Brad Blog had some great reporting on the "American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR)" earlier this year.

"Mystery Solved! Location of 'American Center for Voting Rights' Found! Exclusive Photographs!"

<http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001282.htm>



I was going to recommend sending him an email, but I see he already blogged about it yesterday: <http://www.bradblog.com/>

<http://www.bradblog.com/ACVR.htm>

[kliljedahl]

9. Feel free to do it yourself

I'm not familiar with that forum.



Keith’s Barbeque Central

[paineinthearse]

12. I thought it had been deleted.

It used to be an "admin's choice". Where is it now?

[rman]

14. it's one of the "topic forums"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=203

[paineinthearse]

11. k&r

Too tired to comment now, Happy New Year, everyone.

[autorank]

13. That's a big RECOMMEND. This is a great story, pure Rove.

They decry their crimes with organizatins that are a "crime" against reason. Nothing makes sense to them because they are beyond reason. Their only goal, power and acquisition. The law, the consitution, the general well being, freedom, dignity...these are all meaningless terms to the BushCo people.

This story is a Rosetta Stone for the entire Bush empire.

[PATRICK]

15. How about others?

It was hard to judge activist organizations who disagreed with one another in ways that led some to rubber stamp the stolen elections, sideline central issues, accept HAVA "reforms" and e-voting security as given, or sell out on too many issues while concentrating on others. One might question the leadership of individuals or the entire organization itself.

Probably the most vetted and known organization was the BBV site and its subsequent split. Others though were known to be mere propaganda covers for the e-voting and security industry. The money and sources were pretty well known and questionable then. This new wrinkle is more unabashedly political than the corporate angle, the type of punishing "reform" the Dems had the right and necessity to call for in 2000 and instead let the GOP continue to pick up the ball and run with zero to none audible protest of GOP fraud and the inherent threats of e-voting itself.

I expect as little will be done to even roll back that tactic as in the past, close down ad hoc GOP sites as we might with a little daylight. Democrats have to take back the offensive which the facts have given them every right and duty for too many muted years.

[Maestro]

16. You have to wonder why they would pass such a

draconian bill...perhaps so they won't get caught again. :eyes: This disgusts me. What is up with Ohio. Didn't the Ohio House just pass a bill, the Ohio Patriot Act, that could potentially allow people to be arrested for no reason?

[kliljedahl]

17. They did, here's my post on it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5645633



Keith’s Barbeque Central

[kliljedahl]

19. One last kick.

Keith’s Barbeque Central

[kliljedahl]

20. OK one more

Keith’s Barbeque Central

[Al-CIAda]

18. .

[Independent_Liberal]

21. I can't wait for this to blow up!

:)