Posted on 01/13/2008 2:13:13 PM PST by indigo5
Apparently, according to Michigan law, advocating for people to vote in an election in which they are unqualified to do so is a felony...
Yesterday, I filed a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General against Daily Kos' blogger Markos Moulitsas, requesting an investigation into whether Moulitsas is encouraging voter fraud in next week's Michigan GOP primary.The idea of the freedom to vote is part of the bedrock foundation of this nation. Vote fraud is not a new concept; likely it reaches back even to the time of the founders. However, once vote fraud is discovered, it should be prosecuted aggressively like all flagrant violations of the law. Daily Kos' call, under the direction of Markos Moulitsas himself, for a conspiracy to commit massive vote fraud during the Michigan primaries may be one of those serious attempts to circumvent election law.
In Daily Kos' January 10 posting entitled "Let's have fun in Michigan," Moulitsas called on Democrats to cross party lines and vote in the Republican primary for the express purpose of helping Mitt Romney win. Romney, he says, will be a "weak" opponent for the Democrats in November. Daily Kos makes no attempt to hide the fact they are influencing Republican primaries as Democrats to benefit Democrats.
Moulitsas' call could be felonious. Michigan state law clearly indicates that unqualified electors voting in elections is a felony. It also specifies that counseling or aiding someone to vote in an election they are unqualified for is also a felony. Election law clearly specifies that to vote in a party's primary, one must actually belong to that party.
(Excerpt) Read more at beam.to ...
Hang them all!
Vote early. Vote often.
“Vote early. Vote often.”
Democrats have perfected the art of winning the deceased vote.
Whut?? Dims committing vote fraud? Say it ain’t so!
IBHH!
Yippeee !! I’d love to see that smug, anti-American nitwit, Markos Moulitsas, go down...
As I understand it, Michigan does not have a closed primary, so Democrats are free to vote in the GOP primary.
Encouraging them to do so would hardly be a felony.
IBTRB!!!
(In Before the Romney Bots)
Actually, I'd favor the plan. Conservatives should have no interest in advancing McCain's chances.
Well, that's the question, isn't it? Does Michigan have an open primary or not? Are the only people who can vote in a party's primary those who actually "belong", i.e. pay dues and have a membership card? Or do they just declare on election day or when they register? How is that determined under state law? I don't know and, unfortunately, this article doesn't seem to cite any statute or provide an answer.
Look... I hate Kos like the next guy....
But sloppiness like this stuff makes all conservatives look like nut cases...
Michigan has an OPEN PRIMARY system, which means voters may choose which party’s primary to vote in, regardless of how they are registered.
Kos’ “suggestions” may be his usual smarminess, but its not illegal to encourage people to do something that’s legal (crossover vote in the primary), even if its for smarmy reasons.
sr
King KOmmie could be in trouble ping!
Kos legal fund raiser starts in 5..4..3..
In Before The Paulistinians?
Anyone but McCain and Huckabee. We can defeat Mitt Romney win or no win. McCain needs to have his hat handed to him in Michigan and Huckabee needs to take his rightful place behind Ron Paul.
That isn't the reason he wants Democrats to vote for Romney. He just wants Romney in the race 'til the end to further muddy the waters, so the Republicans spend a few more months bloodying each other. Read:
So why should Dems and indies vote Romney? After his victory in New Hampshire, the press has declared John McCain the Republican front- runner. Meanwhile, Mike Huckabee, who won in Iowa, looks poised to do well in South Carolina, which hosts the next primary after Michigan. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney desperately needs to win Michigan in order to keep his campaign afloat. And the more Republican candidates who are fighting it out, trashing each other with negative ads and spending tons of money, the better it is for the Democratic candidates, of course! In other words, we want Mitt to stay in the race, and to do that, we need him to win in Michigan. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/10/2713/87225
I live in Michigan, and I don’t think you have to be a member of any party to vote in the primaries, you just have to be registered to vote.
geesh, why is it that I heard on Fox late this week, straight from the jackasses mouth, that they were voting for Gomer?
Bwahahahaha!
Kos is and remains, a criminal on many levels.
Lookit, I think the Kos kids are nuts but Markos’ exhortation for his followers to vote to “screw” the Republicans is hardly illegal. As long as everyone who votes is LEGALLY entitled to do so; their MOTIVATION is irrelevant. It’s just another “Strategic voting” - and in this case, brought on by the Republican Party itself for their “brilliance” in having an open primary.
I agree. a loss for McCain in MI is a good thing. Don’t want to give the MSM any fuel to crow about his big mo going into SC.
If you're right, then it sounds like this columnist should have done his homework before filing his complaint and writing his column. Wonder if Kos would file against him for filing a false criminal complaint/libel.
Well heck, the Democrats only have Clinton, Kucinich and Gravel to vote for anyways in Michigan.
Your correct.
Michigan is an Open Primary, so this column is wrong.
Separated at birth?
Michigan doesn’t have an open primary as it is commonly understood. When you show up to a primary, they ask you what party you want a ballot for. If you say Republican, congratulations you’ve become a registered republican. Vice versa. However, if you are say, an elected Republican or a Republican party official, likely you will be challenged if you try to get a Democratic ballot and could be pursued if you actually succeeded.
However, I do not think he is going after the individual cases. He’s going after Kos for telling Democrats to vote as Republicans when they have no intention to change parties. Since Michigan law is written the way it is, he argues (and cites the laws accordingly) Kos can be prosecuted.
Michigan doesn’t have open primaries, open primaries are unconstitutional and have been for over a decade. They have open registration on primary day. Whatever ballot you pick up, you become a member of that party.
“Yippeee !! I’d love to see that smug, anti-American nitwit, Markos Moulitsas, go down...”
Somehow, I suspect he’s rather experienced at this. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”
;)
Ah, thanks for clearing that up. I was wondering about that. This will be the first time I have voted in a primary in Michigan, so I didn’t know what to expect.
No. This is not like where out-of-staters come into New Hampshire and “register” while stating their intent to remain in state. There is no requirement that someone remain “registered” in one party or another after they vote in the primary. In Michigan, regardless, in order to register, you must have been a resident during the 30 days prior to the election in question.
sr
He's right, it is fun. I do it regularly in TX, as in for instance Bush had a virtual lock in the primary, I went over and voted for Nader, I think. Some irrelevant fool anyway. And, yes, it was FUN! And legal.
IBBARRYG!
And because the DNC has nullified the primary by removing Michigan’s delegates to its convention, the winner will get NOTHING.
Encouraging them to do so would hardly be a felony.
I was going to say the same thing. There is no fraud there.
We couldn’t do that in California, at least. They hand you a different ballot depending on which party you’re in.
But if a Democrat would write in Mitt Romney, I don’t know if it would be counted.
I live in Michigan, and I don’t think you have to be a member of any party to vote in the primaries, you just have to be registered to vote.
I vote by absentee ballot. I only get the primary ballot for the Republican party.
Awesome
Let’s hope it grows wings.
Yep. The biggest mistake that has been made is in pushing our primary up.
INTREP
What if it backfires and people KEEP voting GOP?
Plus, while Kos is telling people to vote Romney, others are saying vote Huckabee - he is the weak link. Meanwhile, the notoriously inaccurate polls are saying McCain is the choice of the crossovers.
The Osama and Breck Girl supporters are busy trying to get the “uncommitted” vote, and the Hildebeast supporters are trying not to lose to ‘uncommited’. So I doubt there will be many crossovers of the faithful.
Turnabout is fair play. South Carolina is an open primary state too. Maybe some of us should vote for Kucinich or Gravel there.
The skewing from the open-primary states is deceptive as to who is really appealing to the party members.
John Bambenek, moron.
Democrats won MI for McCain 8 years ago. It’s not wrong for MI Democrats to help Romney win MI now.
The difference is that there’s a competitive Republican primary in South Carolina, and our votes are needed there. Kos suggested this plan for Michigan because the DNC is not going to seat the Michigan Dem delegates anyway, in retribution for Michigan having moved the primary date up against the terms of a prior agreement. As a result, the major Dem candidates aren’t contesting Michigan. Since their votes in the Dem primary are essentially meaningless anyway, Kos recommended Dem voters messing with the Republican primary.
In 1972, Republican voters in Michigan decided to make a little mischief, crossing over to vote in the open Democratic primary and voting for segregationist Democrat George Wallace, seriously embarrassing the state's Democrats. In fact, a third of the voters (PDF) in the Democratic primary were Republican crossover votes. In 1988, Republican voters again crossed over, helping Jesse Jackson win the Democratic primary, helping rack up big margins for Jackson in Republican precincts. (Michigan Republicans can clearly be counted on to practice the worst of racial politics.) In 1998, Republicans helped Jack Kevorkian's lawyer -- quack Geoffrey Feiger -- win his Democratic primary, thus guaranteeing their hold on the governor's mansion that year.Kos is recommending payback this year, since the Democratic primary in Michigan apparently won't be binding this year.
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