Posted on 09/18/2004 11:28:44 PM PDT by Travis McGee
Polls don't need watching around my parts, so I'm assuming that either the other places are all covered this year (in which case there won't be any fraud), or the GOP is afraid of the political fall-out from trying to combat fraud.
Who I call the whiners are the ones who keep claiming that if it weren't for fraud, Bush "really" won the 2000 popular vote. One guy even went so far as to claim that even calculating in the Nader effect, Bush STILL actually won the vote against the liberals. I find such talk off-putting. If you're out watching polls and personally fighting fraud... bloviate away -- I take my cowboy hat off to you, and will shut up...
I don't know if this will format properly. If not, please accept my apologies. These are old reports that I filed on vote scams:
Report on Poll Watching, 11/7/00
1. I was the only Poll Watcher at Precinct 154, Harris County, TX. The polling place was at St. Andrews United Methodist Church, 2420 Garland, Houston, TX.
2. The Election Judge was Joe Delgado. Ray McKenzie and Oscar Trevino were the Deputy Election Judges. All were Democrats as were the clerks.
3. Problems encountered:
A. The Election Judge did not start off with the ballots in numbered sequence making it difficult to determine how many people had voted. They eventually started over at #1.
B. The ballot can was never locked. The staff was continually taking ballots out to sort, count, and re-box throughout the day.
C. Throughout the day people showed up with VRCs (Voter Registration Cards) indicating that they were registered in other precincts. I objected and generally the Election Judge declined to let them vote. I counted at least 35 from other precincts who were turned away. Examples:
Lynda Reyes
Jusino Sametra
Nicole Harrison
Juan Aurelio Avalos
Angelica Luna
Richard Michael White
D. There were a number of questionable voters who had moved according to the address on their TDL (Texas Driver's License), but they were still registered in Precinct 154. I was not able to copy down names and addresses in every case. They were all allowed to vote. Examples:
Roy Simmons 1015 Colquit Houston, 77056
Joseph Banuelos said that he moved 15 years ago, but he had a VRC for this precinct and was allowed to vote.
Ladislao Maldonado had moved to Pasadena, but had a VRC for Precinct 154. He was allowed to vote.
Domingo Ramirez had moved to Pearland, but had a VRC for Precinct 154. He was allowed to vote.
Belia Delacroy Guerrero came in and stated that she had been working at another precinct polling place. However, she had a VRC for Precinct 154 and was allowed to vote.
Manuel Mata
Pedro Ortegon
Michael Banuelos
E. Many women had names different from that on the voter rolls, allegedly because of marriage. Examples:
Debra Roe (per TDL) voted as Debra Green
F. There were cases where more than one voter at the same address had the same name, e.g., two Eva Riojas (she said one was her daughter, but the birthdate did not match her TDL), and she was allowed to vote.
G. The Election Judge was going into the voting booth with many new voters who did not speak English. He was advocating a "Yes" vote on the Arena measure. Since I speak Spanish, I questioned him on this. He seemed surprised and stopped advocating the measure to the voters.
H. Francesco Gonsales had a valid Voter Registration Card for Precinct 154 but was not in the book. He was allowed to vote.
I. Donna Long had no identification whatsoever. She completed the Challenge form and was allowed to vote.
J. The Democratic Party "Card Pusher" at this location, Manuel Rodriguez, tried to vote. However, he could not produce identification or a VRC so I objected. He was not allowed to vote although he claimed to live in the neighborhood. All of the staff including the Election Judge seemed to be friends of his.
K. There were a number of discrepancies where the name, date of birth, street number, etc. were different on the TDL, VRC, or in the book. In almost every case they were allowed to vote.
L. There were a number of people who tried to vote who were obviously not living in the area. This included one man with a New York State Driver's License, one from San Antonio TX, and several from the Rio Grande Valley. They were not allowed to vote.
M. Some VRCs were badly smudged and difficult to read.
N. Precinct 154 had no Statement of Residency forms for voters who needed them.
O. It was common for the questionable voters to have 000000 for their date of birth on their VRC.
P. Joe Delgado, the Election Judge, was very upset over the number of people who claimed to have registered to vote and never received a VRC in the mail. However, he called the Registrar's office and cleared up most of the cases.
Q. The Election Judge complained of voters being removed from the rolls who had not voted since 1996. Some of these appeared to be legitimate.
R. Late in the day we started to get a number of people trying to vote without a TDL or a VRC or any other form of identification. My impression was that they were trying this tactic at different polling places to see how many times someone would let them vote. Most left immediately when I started to write down a description of the person attempting to vote.
S. I noticed that a lady in line waiting to vote already had a hole punched in her ballot. I notified the Election Judge and the ballot was put into the spoiled pile. Hole number 13 had already been punched for the Gore-Lieberman ticket.
T. The Election Judge allowed one voter to vote without completing the Challenge form. He said that he knew her personally and that she had voted in the Primary. I did not get her name.
U. G. Gerrardo had two registrations at the same address. He voted and said that he would cancel one registration.
V. Ray McKenzie, the Deputy Election Judge, seemed to be against the Arena measure and did not tell some voters about it when he was assisting them. He encouraged voters to punch the straight ticket.
W. Late in the day Joe Delgado, the Election Judge, was on the telephone trying to confirm voters' eligibility. He was running behind on signing ballots. The Democratic card pusher, Manuel Rodriguez, sat down and with the Judge's permission began to forge Joe Delgado's signature. When I noticed and started writing notes on my pad they stopped immediately, and Joe resumed signing ballots.
X. Rick Noriega, the incumbent State Legislator, arrived at 6:40 P.M. and began talking to the voters, the Election Judge, and the Democratic card pusher. When I began writing on my pad, he left.
4. Observations:
A. People seemed to take a long time in voting. However when I mentioned this to the Election Judge, he said that about one third were voting straight tickets according to his observation of the holes punched.
B. The clerks were in the process of handing ballots to people who were registered in other precincts. However when I objected, they stopped accepting these voters.
C. A very high percentage were voting for the first time, and many of them asked for assistance from the Election Judge or his deputies.
D. At least 8 ballots dropped in the box were totally blank with no holes punched. Ray McKenzie said that 1% blank undervoted ballots is normal (he had been Election Judge for the 35 previous years at this precinct).
E. The state inspectors who came through were very helpful, especially Alice Zimmerman. They knew the details of the rules and corrected a number of minor violations on the spot.
F. The Election Judge said that he worked very hard for his party prior to the election. He personally walked 5 precincts.
G. A large number (estimate over 100) of voters had an address on their Texas Driver's License that was different from their Voter Registration Card. The general explanation given was that the voter had not put in a change of address card. These people were allowed to vote as long as they had a VRC for Precinct 154. However, it is possible that some individuals simply registered again each time they moved resulting in the potential for voting multiple times at different precincts.
H. The Democratic "card pusher" was giving out drinks and bags of popcorn. This made him popular with voters.
I. The TDL provided better and more accurate data than the VRC.
J. Bringing coffee and donuts for everyone helped my relationship with the staff. They were courteous at all times.
K. The final count of ballots cast was 863 at Precinct 154. There were 5 spoiled ballots. The Election Judge told me that about 200 had voted early or absentee.
5. Recommendations:
A. Poll Watchers need more training. I was unsure whether many of the practices were legal and proper. I had to take the Election Judge's word on many questions. For example, a checklist of what to look for and a decision tree to handle potential questionable voters would have helped. I received the official state pamphlet, but it needs to be expanded.
B. Having a computer hookup like that at Early Voting locations would help immensely.
C. Checking credentials is probably one of the most valuable things that a Poll Watcher can do. On the VRC one needs to check the precinct, name, DOB, and address and cross check with the TDL and the voter roll.
D. The Poll Watcher needs to be careful of voters being handed more than one ballot. Several people walked back up to the clerks and said that they had not been handed a ballot. It would have been easy to obtain two ballots as the clerks were inundated late in the day.
E. One of Joe Vu's poll watchers, Khoi Le, told me that during Early Voting, he found a plastic strip in a voting machine that prevented holes from being punched when the ballot was inserted. I inspected each voting machine regularly in my precinct and found no such device. However, anyone could place such a strip in a machine that would prevent punching holes for certain candidates. It might also produce dimpled or pregnant chads.
F. Poll Watchers need to be able to speak the language of the voters. At Precinct 154, if the Poll Watcher does not speak Spanish then he won't really know what is going on.
G. Poll Watchers should dress like a person in authority. Because I wore a suit and tie, the voters seemed to think that I was the person in authority. I believe that this contributed to fewer attempted violations.
H. There is no substitute for having a Deputy Election Judge from the opposite or minority party. This person is intimately involved in the process and has more value than a Poll Watcher.
I. If the "card pusher" had a computer or mapbook, he could help voters who went to the wrong polling place. Ideally, there should be a computer to check names, addresses, etc. against the voter roll. For example, he could have a sign that says, "Check With Me First If You Have A Question About Where To Vote".
J. There were a number of voters who could not locate their VRC. If a party wants to get their base to the polls it should help voters with their paperwork in advance.
K. Somehow, the voter roll needs to be purged of people registered under multiple names and at multiple addresses.
L. Poll Watchers need to ask more questions and get issues resolved early in the day with the Election Judge. Once the clerks are instructed properly, they will tend to perform properly.
Here are my FR posts from the 1996 California election:
Start watching for phantom voters on the rolls. The professional election scam artists use illegals and winos to steal sample ballots from your mailbox in order to vote them absentee. In the 1996 election in Orange County I surveyed 200 registered voters in Orange County across 7 precincts. 50% were non-existent phantom voters. 50%!!! The phantoms were registered to ordinary homes in suburban neighborhoods where the mailboxes were accessible from the street to facilitate stealing the sample ballots. BTW, my survey was in Bob Dornan's district during the election where he lost his seat. IMHO, the phantom voters did far more fraud damage to him than the illegal aliens that you read about in the controlled press. The LA Slimes and the OC Register knew about this because I offered them proof; they were careful to cover up the highly successful Democratic phantom voter project. California elections often go to the candidate who is willing to commit the most felonies. If any Freepers want to know how to bust this scam, email me.
Like I have been saying for 7 years now: The vote fraud scam artists often register phantom voters as Republicans or Independents to confuse investigators. Start watching for phantom voters on the rolls. They simply make up names and register them to an address with a mailbox on the street
In California vote fraud professionals register hundreds of thousands of non-existent phantoms so that they can vote them absentee by mail. Stealing elections is a big, profitable business in a number of areas. The stats on registration and turnout are worthless until the voter rolls are purged of such phantoms. You can find the precincts where this is practiced by spot checking phonebooks, reverse directories, etc. as well as cross checking population figures with the 2000 Census. Illegals, felons, and dead voters can be detected by similar means.
I live in Florida and I can tell you that there are tens of thousands of voters from up north who come to Florida every year to live the winters down here. They vote up North absentee then come down here to vote in Florida at the polls.
It is beyond belief that Bush did not instruct John Ashcroft to do a complete investigation into voter fraud in the 2000 election. Voter fraud will be magnified even greater this year. There will be huge amounts of voters voting twice and the number of illegal aliens voting could be in the hundreds of thousands.
This is the 21st century and we are using 18th century technology and security at the polls. The ability to commit voter fraud and not be caught is so easy Dan RATher could do it.
Thanks for the vote fraud archives link!
You are actually asking why our RINO congress critters are spineless and torpid in the face of 'rat depredations? Seriously? Why is water wet? Why are our borders wide open 3 years after 9-11? Etc.
You bet. It's our duty as New Media pioneers to stay on top of a story the liberal MSM will only bury or deflect, as they did in 2000, when they ended up blaming the Republicans in Florida for vote fraud.
BUMP!
The Bush campaign needs to remind the American public about how the Democrats very nearly stole the election for President in 2000. Turnout will be key.
Yep, Irving Schlossberg was caught red-handed with a voting machine, used to tightly stack ballots for effective spiking, and it was a MSM "non-story."
That was then, this is now. Free Republic MUST be the vanguard in getting 2004 vote fraud stories to the New Media, to prevent the 'rats from stealing the election.
The "bread and butter" 'rat vote rigging takes place in ghetto precints where the "opposite party" (Repubican) watcher is actually a 'rat stooge, registered Republican for the specific purpose of filling the role. This is a hard nut to crack. How many actual Republicans will volunteer to spend 12+ hours at a hostile ghetto precinct, where all players are dedicated 100% to turning out a 100% rat vote?
Great post, thanks!
Imagine what goes on in 'rat precincts where the "poll watchers" are all 'rat stooges, even the nominal Republicans!
I'll never understand why our spineless leaders didn't go to the wall to uncover the massive voter fraud in 2000.
But then, I still don't understand why our borders are still wide open, 3 years after 9-11.
The Bush campaign was too timid to even bring it up in 2000-2001, and as a result, the MSM was able to portray them as "disenfranchising millions of black voters" etc.
If you wait for jelly-spined ("please like me!") RINOs to get tough on voter fraud, you will die disappointed. It won't happen. It's up to FR and the New Media, or the story will not be told.
This has to be a primary focus of FR over the next months, or we could see our republic stolen.
Who's whining?
Plenty of poll watchers observed rampant fraud in the '02 South Dakota Senate race. However in the end its the candidate that has to file the court challenges. The spineless republicans are just too pussy to do so and let the rats get away every time.
It's up to FR and the New Media, or the story will not be told.
This has to be a primary focus of FR over the next months, or we could see our republic stolen. -- Right. I plugged John Fund's book several days ago on another thread. We must keep bumping this issue relentlessly.
And you suggest?
Pussy? You're striking rather close to home aren't you?
You won't hurt your little old self, will you?
Good point.
I retreated [shame on me] from the ghetto years ago, when the indians out numbered the calvery.
Once we have all the enemy inside the big cities we can lay siege and starve them to death. ;)
Lamentably, it'll probably come to that in our lifetimes, one way or the other.
I'm suggesting candidates like Thune and Ashcroft challenge stolen elections in court.
Pussy? You're striking rather close to home aren't you?
You won't hurt your little old self, will you?
How old are you? ten? Come back to FR when you've passed through puberty.
It was you who said "pussy".
Your quote was ...
"Plenty of poll watchers observed rampant fraud in the '02 South Dakota Senate race. However in the end its the candidate that has to file the court challenges. The spineless republicans are just too to do so and let the rats get away every time."
Need help finding your quote? Try ... #74 posted on 09/19/2004 12:43:32 PM EDT by rmmcdaniell
I also notice you are a bonifide Bush hater, and have nothing good to say to anyone, about anything, in your posts.
You are now dismissed.
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