Posted on 01/09/2008 12:57:58 PM PST by Between the Lines
Monday, Stephen Stone, CEO of Alan Keyes for President, met with Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan to discuss "evidence of deception by the Iowa Republican Party with regard to the recent caucuses."
Stone delivered a letter that described the campaign's allegations against Iowa GOP officials. According to Stone, the state party's behavior in the caucuses "disenfranchises voters" and appears to have "violated the election laws."
Among the facts outlined by Stone:
1. State party leaders gave precinct chairs a "suggested ballot" of presidential candidates that was used to guide caucus-goers in the nominating and voting process, and Alan Keyes' name was excluded from the list. The reason given by party officials was that Keyes "announced too late" -- although he announced four months ago on Sept. 14, nine days after Fred Thompson. Stone noted the party's list of favored candidates amounted to free advertising and gave them an unfair advantage.
2. Party leaders claimed they weren't aware Keyes was running, even though many of these officials personally attended a Dec. 12 Iowa presidential debate involving all the major Republican candidates, including Keyes. The debate, sponsored by the Des Moines Register, was broadcast nationally by CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, and PBS.
3. Claiming they couldn't include Keyes' name in their electronic reporting system, GOP officials have refused to release the total number of votes for Keyes, saying they don't know the total -- even though witnesses say they saw precinct chairs reporting to state officials the number of votes received by Keyes at the caucuses. A C-SPAN viewer claims he saw a video clip that documented the reporting of votes for Keyes to state headquarters by two precinct chairs.
4. The Iowa GOP continues to exclude Keyes as a candidate on their website (www.iowagop.net) -- as well as exclude his vote totals -- as though his candidacy doesn't exist.
5. According to Iowa statutes, failure by officials to report the votes of qualified voters in a presidential precinct caucus is illegal and punishable by law.
6. The exclusion of Keyes appears motivated by bias against him -- in a way that is un-American and contrary to democratic principles.
Said Stone, "In our judgment, the tactics we've witnessed by the state party are reminiscent of 'communist-style' electoral politics. By unfairly developing a 'suggested ballot' of candidates, and allowing irregular handling of votes for Ambassador Keyes, state party officials created an atmosphere of intimidation for Keyes voters."
"Aside from damaging the environment for free choice in the election process" -- Stone said he told RNC chairman Duncan -- "such deceptive practices are both unethical and illegal."
Duncan's response, Stone said, was to deny that the Republican Party has any responsibility for the illegal or improper actions of state parties. According to Stone, this response is unacceptable, since the RNC recently penalized several state parties for pushing the 2008 presidential primaries far ahead of schedule, due to their inordinate zeal to be "first in the nation."
As punishment, the national party stripped New Hampshire, Wyoming, Michigan, Florida, and South Carolina of half their delegates to the national GOP convention, to be held in Minneapolis in September. "If the RNC can do this, it can do similar things to stop states like Iowa from ignoring fair electoral process and deceiving and disenfranchising the electorate," Stone added.
The full text of Stone's letter to Chairman Duncan is available at www.AlanKeyes.com -- along with supporting documents and the testimony of witnesses.
This is an outrage! They disenfranchised Alan Keyes’ voter!
Yeah. My twenty-one year-old daughter, casting her first presidential vote, was one of the disenfranchised Iowans.
Two voters isn't enough for a class action ... no self respecting law-weasel will touch it.
I didn't know that Alan Keyes' mother was from Iowa!
I always thought he was just a foot or two short of crazy.
CEO of Alan Keyes for President”
Now there’s a resume builder....
The posts on this thread so far are a demonstration of how untethered from principle many Republicans have become.
The fact that Alan Keyes appeared in that recent debate, causing me to momentarily think I was having an acid flashback to 2000, and that anyone thinks this is the reason he didn’t win, is evidence of how out of touch with reality some people are in picking their battles.
I seem to recall that Fred’s announcement date was moved up so that he could beat the deadline and be included in Iowa. It could have been somewhere else, however.
Actually most have been merely humorous at the expense of Keyes and his supporters. Still waiting for the ‘why doesn’t Keyes STFU’ crowd to show.
Alan Keyes has become “untethered from principle”. Mind you, I voted for Keyes in 2000 ... I believe he is a smart man, and one of the best orators I’ve ever heard.
But - he entered the race too late to make the ballot. Yes, he was only 9 days after Thompson ... but my understanding is that he was also several days after the well-publicized deadline. A deadline is a deadline ... Keyes knew or should’ve known the deadline, and should’ve abided by it.
I’ve become increasingly irritated at Keyes’ propensity for insinuating that any undesired outcome in his fruitless campaign history is somehow connected to a conspiratorial bias against him. He isn’t losing because of bias - he’s losing because nobody’s voting for him.
H
It was Michigan, which made a last-minute law change that moved up their process considerably. There was never any deadline for Iowa. Their exclusion of Keyes was completely arbitrary.
No, he didn't.
I’m no great fan of the never-ending fundraiser that is the Keyes campaign, but these actions by the Iowa GOP, assuming they are documented accurately, are unacceptable.
He’s appeared in three debates.
>>> But - he entered the race too late to make the ballot.
>> No, he didn’t.
Yes - he did. Iowa had a deadline; Keyes didn’t get in before the deadline — thus he was too late to legally be included on the ballot.
Now who’s disconnected from principle? Conservatism isn’t about individuals being above the rules, and/or expecting exceptions to be made, or rules changed, for you when you voluntarily choose to ignore the rules. Keyes, a supposed law-and-order candidate, should know better than to ignore the rules and expect an exception to be made in his case.
Keyes should’ve declared before the Iowa entry deadline ... he failed to do so, so he wasn’t included. The rules were followed - I see no problem.
H
There was no deadline.
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