Posted on 10/24/2004 12:46:36 PM PDT by vannrox
|
The Denver Post
Illegal voters get stern warning Davidson vows to pursue fraud
Thursday, October 14, 2004 - Secretary of State Donetta Davidson said Wednesday that she will aggressively pursue the prosecution of voter registration fraud uncovered throughout the state. In a passionate speech at a news conference about the integrity of the election process, Davidson pushed for more help from the state's district attorneys and attorney general. Davidson, an elected Republican official, said she wants her warnings to prevent illegal voters from casting ballots. "I hope I scared them to death," she said. She also said prosecutors had left her uninformed about their progress but acknowledged she had never asked for an update until Wednesday. "I called the attorney general today and informed him that I was going to take a lead in some of this," Davidson said. "I've been out of the loop. ... I'm putting myself back into the loop." Davidson demanded a meeting Sunday of Denver metro district attorneys and candidates for the office to discuss how to go after voter fraud before and after the election. The widening claims of voter registration fraud took on an increasingly partisan tone Wednesday, with Republicans threatening tough action and Democrats alleging Republicans are trying to bully voters away from the polls. The documented fraud ranges from voters registered multiple times, unauthorized changes to party affiliation and as many as 6,000 felons on the registration rolls. Davidson, along with county clerks across Colorado, has turned over at least 1,000 instances of questionable voter registrations to Attorney General Ken Salazar, she said. Salazar, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, said he is "in full cooperation with the district attorneys around the state - we will find and prosecute these violations aggressively and to the fullest extent of the law." Ken Lane, a spokesman for Salazar, said the office is currently prosecuting one individual and investigating about 150 suspicious documents. Republican Gov. Bill Owens, who left the state Wednesday to campaign for President Bush, released a statement calling on elected officials "to place the highest priority on attacking potential voter fraud." Owens did not say what, if any, action he would take. "With new allegations arising on virtually a daily basis, it is essential that all parties involved - and particularly the attorney general and district attorneys - act decisively and rapidly to root out fraud and prosecute it to the fullest extent of the law," Owens said in a statement. Lane said "We're doing exactly what he's called for, and so we appreciate his concern." Later, however, other Democrats said the Republican leaders' tough language Wednesday is tantamount to threatening voters. "This is the classic move by Republican tacticians: create an environment of fear that discourages voters from showing up on Election Day," Colorado Kerry- Edwards campaign director Sue Casey said in a statement. Fraudulent voter registration is just one source of potential confusion and disenfranchisement at the polls. In light of citizen claims that voter registration drives lost voters' forms, Davidson reiterated that voters could fill out an emergency registration at the polls on Election Day and cast an emergency or "provisional" ballot if their names are not on the rolls. And provided that the voter goes to the right precinct, the vote will be counted regardless of whether the voter ever tried to register before. Under state law, the validity of the vote hinges on the oath of the voter. From the secretary of state's perspective, the challenges of combating voter fraud are the same a they've always been: "We were on the honor system," she said. A surge in provisional ballots in large counties would delay the results of the election until 12 days after the polls close, said Faye Griffin, Jefferson County clerk. Griffin predicts the problems will spark lawsuits in all of the candidate and issue races that win approval by less than a landslide. By the time the next election rolls around, Colorado will have a new statewide computer system that should be able to resolve the sorts of problems encountered this year. In the meantime, however, Larry Sabato, a political analyst at the University of Virginia, said Colorado could become the next Florida. "If it's extremely close ... then the whole ... country's political community will be descending upon Colorado the way they did Florida in 2000 and you will learn to hate tourism," he said. "I would strongly urge the secretary of state to ... get her act together very quickly, or she will become as well-known, for better or worse, as none other than (former Florida Secretary of State) Katherine Harris." Staff writer Erin Cox can be reached at 303-820-1474 or ecox@denverpost.com . Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-820-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com .
|
I'm rather concerned that the jails aren't big enough for all the DUmmy fraudsters who somehow think it's their "right" to cheat, alas, sorta like the schools these days.
Let's make this type of public stance a national thing. Let all the fraudsters know they are going to jail, and then shock everyone in America and actually follow through on the threat.
Kinda makes a person wonder if maybe we suffered under 8 yrs of Bubba
and he had no right to take office....
Unless she starts locking these people up...they will cheat even more out of spite
imo
Just received a voter registration app. in the mail. I am not a citizen, but if I was I would be very upset because the form arrived AFTER the cut-off date for registration.
Where has Secretary of State Donetta Davidson been? In La La Land?
Here's hoping the DOJ is onto all of this. This time I want to see dozens of people prosecuted and have them spend years in jail. This is our very country they are messing with, more than that, this is probably the most dangerous time in history to be playing games.
Let's see. Donnetta has indiciated as many as 30% of registrations in Colorado are fraudulent.
Salazaar (a dumbocrat) is running for Senate.
He's going to prosecute those who vote for him twice??? I don't think so.
"Stern warnings" will not impress them at all
I am sick and tired of hearing this disenfranchised whine.
Please someone tell me why that dims beleive there should be special voting exceptions just for them. There never seems to be a call for this nonsense from Republicans.
For one, we know how to vote and we know where to vote. And two, if we don't know, we ask. It isnt that hard dims.
Well, maybe being one step on the evolution scale from primordial ooze does make some of these things difficult.
Which is exactly why it's the Democrooks that are complaining.
There shouldn't even BE an election until all this voter fraud stuff is sorted out, and prosecutions lined up.
Cancel the election until then. It's senseless to hold elections under these circumstances.
If this is how dirty the loony left wants to play, then by all means, play the same game.
Force all elegible votors to re- register, but this time computerize it, give each registrant an official voter reciept that must be presented at the poll. it's not all that hard to make the system cheat proof.
Declare marshal law until then. And round up the loony democrats who are posting that they are going to kill republicans if Bush wins, if they are questioned at the polls etc.
This lunacy has gone on long enough.
GOP is out suppressing the illegal vote this year. Never fails they always are out suppressin some sort of vote. Lawbreakers should be allowed to vote, I mean its only american right ?
Sheesh .................
Moronic leftists....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.