Fraud, fraud everywhere… FRAUD!

News from Pennsylvania.  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

One of the bluest of the blue metropolitan areas in the country.  Heavy Democrat demographics.  Heavy union membership.  Heavy participation by state, local and county government officials.  And a load of absentee ballots.

What could go wrong?

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A trio of Bucks County residents backed by the county Republican committee say they have evidence linking Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy's campaign to a scheme to flood the county voter registration office with fraudulent applications for absentee ballots.

In a petition filed Tuesday, county Republicans say the name of Murphy's campaign manager appeared on a Bristol post office box where voters were urged in a series of letters paid for by the state Democratic Committee to send absentee ballot applications.

The county Republicans submitted with the petition a photograph of a note inside the mailbox that said, "Tim Percico and Paul Hampel only pick up mail." Tim Persico is Murphy's campaign manager, although his name is misspelled in the note. Hampel is a volunteer for the Democratic state committee who said he collects mail from the box.

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In response to the Republican petition, the Bucks County Board of Elections scheduled a hearing 9:30 a.m. Friday at the courthouse to hear evidence of what the Republicans characterize as a coordinated effort to trick voters into improperly applying for absentee ballots and efforts to submit fraudulent applications for absentee ballots.

"While some of these invalid applications have been caught and rejected by the Board of Elections, we believe many other defective and objectionable applications were inadvertently approved by the Board of Elections due to the pervasive nature of the fraud," the petition says.

The petition also asks county election officials to secure all completed absentee ballots at the courthouse in Doylestown until the board of elections can conduct an investigation of the claims.

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Smells like SEIU, doesn’t it?

Here’s the scam:  You get a boatload of people to send in applications for absentee ballots. You send in so many that the local officials can’t possibly examine them all for propriety in the rush to process so many.  The ballots are returned to a central location, where people “not connected” with the Democrat organization complete the ballots and mail them in, swamping the system with absentee ballots that were dutifully signed off on by the Registrar’s office and by all appearances, look valid.

Kudo’s to the watchful Republicans who filed the petitions.  This is the kind of stuff that’s been going in in places like Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and other Democrat districts for decades.  Stopping it will take a long term, concerted effort by local, honest citizens who believe in the principle of “one man or woman, one vote.”

Sharron Angle’s Campaign accusing Harry Reid of vote fraud

Yesterday, it was the story about voters finding Harry Reid’s name already being selected on the touch screen machines. Maybe he was just the default choice, huh?

Now, it’s stories like offering free food, gift cards and other such goodies, if people would just be so kind as to turn out and mash the button.  After all, if Reid’s name is already picked on the ballot, even a brain-dead Zombie can vote for Dingy Harry.

From Angle Campaign Attorney Cleta Mitchell:

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Two days ago, the Democratic Secretary of State announced that voters can be provided "free food" at "voter turnout events." Harry Reid has been offering free food and, according to other reports, some Democratic allies such as teachers' unions are offering gift cards in return for a vote for Reid.

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What Harry Reid is doing is clearly illegal. Nevada law (NRS 293.700) provides that, “A person who bribes, offers to bribe, or use and other corrupt means, directly or indirectly, to influence any elector in giving his or her vote or to deter the elector from giving it is guilty of a category D felony and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130.”

We've seen evidence of this sort of voter 'enticement' by groups such as ACORN - where, in 2008, two ACORN workers in Milwaukee were accused of offering pre-paid gasoline cards or restaurant gift cards to people in exchange for registration.

John Fund wrote in his book Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy, cited reports from the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader (South Dakota) and the election in 2004, where certain residents were quoted saying that "people on the streets were saying you go vote, they would give you gas money, $10, maybe a pack of cigarettes..."

Now, this week in Las Vegas, at our election hotline, we received reports that some teachers' union representatives were offering Starbucks cards to people to get them to vote for Harry Reid. It is even more disturbing and may be possible that they are using their influence and authority as educators to entice students on behalf of Reid.

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If these kinds of activities are going on—and knowing Democrats like we all do they most certainly are—then someone needs to go to jail.  The Nevada Secretary of State (a Democrat, natch) fired back, calling the allegations “conjecture” and “speculation.”

Sickening.

Fortunately, it appears that Angle is pulling away from Reid.  She’s a 3-to-1 favorite to win according to this forecast and polls are showing the typical, late breaking shift towards the challenger/leader.

If this race isn’t close, then Reid can’t steal it.

Voter Fraud, or is Harry Reid the “default candidate?”

These don’t appear to be isolated reports.  Having one or two machines “glitch” is one thing.  Having that many in such a short period of time either indicates a fraudulent election or a horrible execution of the technology.

Harry Reid is a better than even chance to lose to Sharron Angle, but that doesn’t matter if the election can be rigged.  In this case, voters reported going to vote only to see Harry Reid’s name already selected.

From Fox 5 News in Las Vegas:

 

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Voter Joyce Ferrara said when they went to vote for Republican Sharron Angle, her Democratic opponent, Sen. Harry Reid's name was already checked.

Ferrara said she wasn't alone in her voting experience. She said her husband and several others voting at the same time all had the same thing happen.

"Something's not right," Ferrara said. "One person that's a fluke. Two, that's strange. But several within a five minute period of time -- that's wrong."

Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said there is no voter fraud, although the issues do come up because the touch-screens are sensitive. For that reason, a person may not want to have their fingers linger too long on the screen after they make a selection at any time.

"Especially in a community with elderly citizens (they have) difficulty in (casting their) ballot," Lomax said. "Team leaders said there were complaints (and the) race filled in."

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The Registrar’s explanation is unconvincing.

One positive to come of this in early voting—people are mindful that their votes may be compromised and they’re reporting problems. Ripping away the shroud and casting light on the election process makes the SEIU and ACORN thugs scatter like so many cockroaches.

Vote Fraud, Texas Style

How do you stop a wave?  Cheat.

Allegations are swirling around Harris County, Texas (Houston metro area) that SEIU and local Democrats are harassing, intimidating or tricking Republican voters.  Early voting started last Monday in Harris County and the charges of improper behavior started almost immediately.

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In August, Harris County’s registrar and chief election officer Leo Vasquez reported that thousands of fraudulent voter registration forms were turned in by Houston Votes, a group that walks like an ACORN, smells like ACORN and quacks like ACORN.

You would think that these allegations would be taken seriously by those responsible for enforcing Texas election law.  But, the Harris County Attorney, Vince Ryan, is a partisan hack.

He didn’t start looking into allegations until local Democrats complained that Republican poll watchers were doing stuff like…  well, watching polls.  In Pajamas Media, there’s a story today revealing some of the shenanigans being pulled by fraudsters.

These people have no desire whatsoever to have ordinary, honest citizens casting a single vote after careful consideration of candidate qualifications and positions.  They don’t want ordinary, honest citizens monitoring the voting process or reporting activities such as busing in hordes of illegal aliens and having them cast ballots that are already filled out.

Like I said yesterday, if these races are close then the fraudsters will win. 

When you go vote—and I’m sure you will GO AND VOTE—make sure you have your camera or phone handy.  Stick around a while before and after voting.  Look around.  If you see purple T-shirts, take photos.  If you see thuggish looking dudes wearing paramilitary costumes and acting like two-bit club bouncers, take video and report them to your local election officials.

Stone Cold Shocka: Vote fraud could be “problem” in Illinois Senate Race

Here’s something I bet you never saw coming.  Two current election workers have been tried and convicted of vote fraud in recent years. 

What could go wrong?

Some of the tales remind you of the good old days of Chicago elections. One (from 2002) includes a group of seasoned citizens applying for absentee ballots, only to learn that the man “assisting” them in obtaining the ballots had already cast their votes.  When the irate elders asked the young thug WTF he thought he was up to, he replied: “Don’t worry.  You’re voting Democrat, anyway, right?” 

The story comes via the Daily Caller:

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A local government in Illinois is warning about potential voting fraud in the Chicago area, noting two election voters were convicted of such fraud just last spring.

The warning, from the director of elections for Cook County, Ill., raises the prospect that voter fraud could become a potential problem in the race and contradicts Illinois Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, who was dismissive of the issue at a recent debate.

Cook County includes Chicago and surrounding suburbs.

“This past spring, two election workers were prosecuted by the State’s Attorney General and convicted of vote fraud for violating voter privacy by supervising voters as they completed ballots,” a memo from Cook County’s director of elections, Jan Kralovee, says.

At an Oct. 19 debate, Giannoulias slammed his Republican opponent, Rep. Mark Kirk, for his “voter integrity” program that is intended to prevent voting fraud.

“There’s never been an accusation of fraud on the West and South side of Chicago … you’re trying to suppress the African-American vote,” Giannoulias said.

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The potential for abuse isn’t lost on Kirk’s campaign.  Earlier this month, Kirk funded and launched a voting integrity program, which included hiring lawyers and planning to deploy them to “key, vulnerable districts.”  Of course, those districts are heavily populated by minority voters and of course, Democrats promptly played the race card.

Kirk currently leads most polls, and Nate Silver’s Five Thirty Eight gives him about a 60-40 chance of winning the seat once held by Barack Obama.  But the race is close and if the Democrats can get enough zombies to stick around after Halloween and vote, who knows what could happen.

BOMBSHELL: If it walks like ACORN, talks like ACORN and quacks like ACORN…

Its a voter fraud scam.

Like many large metropolitan areas, Harris County, Texas (Houston Metro) relies on volunteer Deputy Registrars to help collect and process voter applications.  And, like many of the other metropolitan areas that have relied on the honesty and integrity of its volunteer squads, Houston appears to have been victimized by the ACORN virus:

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August 24, 2010 – Harris County Voter Registrar Leo Vasquez revealed findings of possible voter registration problems perpetrated by organizations targeting the Houston area.

“The integrity of the Voter Roll of Harris County, Texas, appears to be under an organized and systematic attack by the group operating under the name ‘Houston Votes,’” explained Vasquez. “Houston Votes is the voter registration machine of the ‘Texans Together Education Fund.’ Houston Votes and Texans Together have effectively emerged as our area’s new ‘ACORN’ organization.”

Vasquez presented samples of voter applications being submitted by the Houston Votes/Texans Together organization showing a pattern of falsification of government documents, suborning of perjury and a deliberate effort to over-burden the Harris County voter registration processing system with thousands of duplicate and incomplete voter registration applications.

The Harris County Tax Office will be referring problems, along with associated documentation, to the Texas Secretary of State and the Harris County District Attorney’s office for further investigation. 

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Mr. Vasquez, in his press conference, described some of the problems his office has encountered.  These included one deputy registrar turning in multiple applications for the same person, but the applicant signatures do not match.  Also, multiple deputies turning in apps on the same person, again with applicant signatures that don’t match.  But that’s not all, folks. Under the same deputy registrar number,  multiple applications were turned in with different signatures on the deputy signature line, and  there were way many apps for one deputy to have possibly done themselves. Incomplete applications included no address or an incomplete address (example, Houston, TX or Hwy 249, Houston TX).

Not a citizen of the US?  No problem.  Multiple applications submitted with “Non-citizen box” checked.

And, Vasquez documented numerous citizen complaints, including reports that people are being pressured to re-register for all sorts of bogus reasons, like the Tax Office computer system being down, non-citizens of Texas or the US being told that even temporary residents need to register, etc.

Here are some of the eye-popping statistics released by Vasquez’ office:

• Houston Votes has turned in 25,640 applications
• Houston Votes applications have generated 7,193 "new" voter records
• Houston Votes applications have generated 3,531 applications which were rejected
  by the SOS for failure to match TDL/SSN
• Houston Votes has submitted 1,597 multiple applications (two or more
  applications for same person)
• Houston Votes has submitted 1,014 applications for pre-existing voters
• Houston Votes applications have generated 1,030 Notices of Incomplete
• Houston Votes has submitted 25 non-citizen applications
• Houston Votes has submitted 325 too young applications
• Houston Votes applications have generated 129 felon rejection of applications
  (although not the responsibility of volunteer deputy to determine)
• Houston Votes has submitted 1,133 applications where the No ID box was checked
• Houston Votes has presented the Tax Office with 1,323 applications later than the
  5 day statutory deadline

The legitimate Harris County citizens have also been calling the Registrar’s office.  Here are a few of the complaints recorded, so far:

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Mrs. Margaret N :
On August 18, 2010, Mrs. Margaret N. called inquiring why she had received a request for additional information for "Anne N. one of her nicknames. She did not fill out an application recently. An application with a Deputy signature from Wyatt Anthony Charles was filed with the Tax Office. The application was dated August 3, 2010 and contained false information that elicited a request letter from the Tax Office.

Ms. AG:
Concerned about a receipt from a Voter application posted on her doorstep, Ms. AG contacted the Tax Office on August 18, 2010. She did not understand the purpose of the receipt. As it turns out she did not fill out an application recently. The volunteer deputy's number was that of Houston Votes Deputy, Franiqueka Fortune. Ms. AG became very concerned about this issue.

Ms. M:
Ms. M contacted our office on August 3,2010, very concerned. She was approached by a man wearing a lanyard with the name Joseph Garrett on it. The man insisted that she register even though she was already registered. He told her that he needed the application or he would not get paid. He also told her that she had to fill out the application because her registration expires at the end of the year and it would not get
renewed unless she took action. He also stated that the Tax Office switching from postcard certificates to plastic certificates and unless she filled out a new card she would not get her plastic certificate effective for 2011.  Ms. M was uncomfortable with giving him any information since she knows her registration certificate will get renewed at the beginning of next year. She asked for identification but the deputy didn't have any other than the lanyard.

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Mr. Vasquez and the Voter Registrar’s office provided specifics, along with photocopies of questionable applications. 

• Six Applications, Five different deputies, all on the same day for Carmella Bellazer.
• Five different applications, five different deputies, all for one applicant, Anthony Roy.
• Shakay Swazer was deputized on 8/3/10, and provided different addresses on five different applications.
• Three different applications, turned in by three different deputies, all with questionable signatures, different addresses and a change to the date of birth for one Rayon Jurrell.
• Three different applications, three different addresses, and two applications turned in on the same day for one Jason Roberts.
• Four different applications, four different deputies, all turned in over a two week period for one applicant, Derrick Chatman.
• Two different applications, two different deputies and two different signatures for one Ronnishia Johnson.
• Two different applications, two different deputies, turned in over a one week period, with different signatures for one Tawana Pounds.
• Two different applications on the same day, but with different signatures for one Cedric Bernard.
• Two applications submitted in two days, by the same deputy for the same applicant, one Devona Robinson.
• Three applications, two from the same deputy, for one applicant--Kizzy DeRouen.

Minor issues with incomplete applications, misspelled names, or incorrect addresses are typical in large, metro areas like Houston.  These are not just annoying little irregularities.  Mr. Vasquez’ office has direct evidence of voter fraud.  Multiple crimes have been committed here, including fraud, falsification of government documents, impersonating a lawful officer of the county, and who knows what else.

This is ACORN’s stock in trade, folks.  It hasn’t gone away, and it’s as ugly as it’s ever been.

h/t Texas Watchdog

Gimme some feedback in the comments.