Posted on 10/18/2008 6:35:10 PM PDT by buccaneer81
Illegal voters, or just getting out the vote? Home's 12 occupants strike at heart of debate over voter eligibility voters Saturday, October 18, 2008 9:17 PM By Jill Riepenhoff THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH A small, unremarkable house on the East Side seems as anonymous as any other on its working-class street.
But as authorities investigate the rental home's current and former residents for possible voter fraud, it has become a focal point for questions about the integrity of Ohio's election system heading into the presidential election.
Some critics of Ohio's election system now question whether lax residency requirements and election laws are creating loopholes for outsiders to vote in this battleground state.
By late summer, the house at 2885 Brownlee Ave. had become headquarters for a group of 20- and 30-somethings who came to Ohio with a lofty goal: to register as many as 10,000 new voters in traditionally Democratic precincts on the East Side.
About 200,000 newly registered Ohio voters have been flagged by the secretary of state because their names, addresses, driver's-license numbers, and/or Social Security numbers don't match other state or federal records.
Likely among them are the 12 people who have registered to vote since August using the address of the 1,175-square-foot Brownlee Avenue house.
Some of them already have voted. Others requested absentee ballots but have yet to return them to the Franklin County Board of Elections.
None of them, however, seems to have ties to Ohio - no close relatives, no public-records trail, no obvious intention to stay in the state past the election.
Most of them grew up on the East Coast, attended colleges there and registered to vote in their home counties. It is not illegal to be registered to vote in more than one state. But it is illegal to vote in more than one or to vote in a state that is not your permanent residence.
The owner of the house also is coming under scrutiny. He has voted in Ohio even though he has lived and worked in New York since 2004.
All 13 are under investigation by Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien. None has any apparent ties to ACORN, the Association of Community Activists for Reform Now, whose voter-registration activity has come under scrutiny in Ohio and other states.
"My take is that they haven't come here attempting to deceive anyone," O'Brien said. "They were under the impression they were entitled to vote. That's how they were reading the law."
He has talked to several of the people or their attorneys. He doesn't believe they set out to intentionally thwart the law, which requires voters to live in the state at least 30 days before the election.
Daniel Tokaji, assistant director of an elections law center at Ohio State University, said residency is not always cut and dried under Ohio law. The statute says: "A person shall not be considered to have gained a residence in any county of this state into which the person comes for temporary purposes only, without the intention of making such county the permanent place of abode. ... That place shall be considered the residence of a person in which the person's habitation is fixed and to which, whenever the person is absent, the person has the intention of returning."
"My bottom line is for some of these cases, there's a gray area in the law as to whether someone's intention to remain is sufficient in circumstances where they've come here and it's not clear how long they plan to stay here," Tokaji said.
Still, cases such as these cast a cloud on Ohio, said Bradley A. Smith, a Capital University Law School professor and former Republican member of the Federal Election Commission.
"Is this the tip of the iceberg or an isolated incident? Nobody knows," Smith said. "But it doesn't look good. It doesn't pass the smell test. And it undermines the confidence in the voting system."
The inhabitants of the Brownlee Avenue house aren't talking anymore. A woman who answered the door Friday peered from behind a Halloween decoration duct-taped to the screen door and said, "No comment," before slamming and bolting the door. A visit earlier in the week drew a similar response, and attempts to contact members of the group through other means were unsuccessful as well.
But some of the residents were interviewed by a Dispatch reporter during the last week of August and explained some of their intentions for Ohio.
"A group of us came up with the idea at Oxford. It's an opportunity for a new get-out-the-vote effort," said Marc Gustafson, a 31-year-old New York City resident who is a Marshall Scholar at the University of Oxford in England.
The plan, he said, was hatched in January.
They formed a political action committee, based in New York, called Vote from Home, and registered it with the Federal Election Commission. They then raised more than $52,000, mostly in donations from friends and relatives, according to federal records.
They tried, unsuccessfully, to team up with Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's campaign, volunteer Daniel J. Hemel said.
By the end of July, they began trickling into Ohio. Some went to Cincinnati; others moved into the Brownlee Avenue house owned by Joel E. Speyer, an Ohio native who moved to New York in 2004.
They bought bunk beds and crammed into the three-bedroom house. They showed off photographs of their cozy quarters on their Web site, www.votefromhome08.com.
Group members said they were motivated to come to Ohio because of problems with long voting lines in traditionally Democratic precincts in 2004.
With subsequent changes in Ohio law that allowed early voting, the group wanted to get as many people as possible to cast a vote in Ohio.
They spent eight to 10 hours a day with clipboards and registration forms in store parking lots, at festivals, in shelters for the homeless and in churches.
"We are very clear about what our mission is: to make voting as easy as possible," said another member, Ross Baird. "Liberal organizations tend to expand voting access."
They lived off their fundraising donations, paying the owner of the house nearly $5,000 in rent. They shopped for food mostly at Wal-Mart but occasionally splurged at Whole Foods in Upper Arlington, federal campaign-finance records show.
They said their effort was bipartisan, yet at the house they openly displayed their preference for Obama. The house now is void of any overt favorite. Sheets cover the front window.
In August, they said their stay in Ohio would be temporary. Many said they planned to leave the state in October. Some had to return to school in England by Oct. 12. Others needed to get back to their jobs in other states.
But an unknown number of them remain. Three cars with out-of-state license plates were parked in the driveway late last week.
The first wave of volunteers arrived sometime in late July. Others followed in August, and at least one arrived in September and has since left. Federal disclosure reports show they made their first purchase in Ohio on July 23, spending $214 at Whole Foods.
The exact date of their arrival is one question investigators are trying to answer, because of Ohio's 30-day residency requirement to be eligible to vote.
The other issue under investigation is whether any members of the group really intended to make Ohio their home.
The difference between the Vote from Home group and out-of-state college students rests in intent. College students establish some roots. They open checking accounts and sign up for utilities. They get mail. They work. So they generally are eligible to vote from either their home or where they attend college.
"You have to have an intent to remain in the area," said Smith, the Capital University professor. "But proving it is very tough."
O'Brien has prosecuted two cases of voter fraud in the past two years. Both individuals were convicted and given probation.
Since 1953, only six people have been sent to prison for voter fraud in Ohio.
Dispatch reporter Mark Niquette contributed to this story.
jriepenhoff@dispatch.com
Guilty!
The only good thing to come out of this mess is that ACORN has had the light shone on it this election and whether or not McCain wins maybe their will be a loud roar from the public to fix this.
I guess all that "small print" on the registrations is nothing but bullsh*t.
"My take is that they haven't come here attempting to deceive anyone," O'Brien said. "They were under the impression they were entitled to vote. That's how they were reading the law."
Oh, just great, this prosecutor sounds like a real IDIOT.
The prosecutor here in Franklin County is a tool. A real RINO.
Does anyone here believe that these investigations will put the fear of God into these people trying to steal the election in Ohio? Seriously, let me have your opinion.
Yep. See my post # 6.
I know the area. Not where I would want to live, for sure. A semi-rough part of town.
Probably scared of his shadow and definitely doesn’t want anyone to call him a “racist.” I don’t think we can expect much. “The One” is untouchable.
Nothing will stop them. The mindset is the same as illegal aliens. They know they’re protected, especially in this case, by the race card.
The RATs are getting pretty brave about stealing elections because they know nobody will do anything about it. Some tool on TV said, “This isn’t vote fraud, it’s registration fraud.”
Yeah, it’s not vote fraud until after the election, when it’s too late.
Yes.
The law says they have to have the intention of staying in order to vote. Obviously they have no intention of staying and it is therefore purposeful breaking of the law.
BULL S**T!!!!!!
It's deeper than that. He let the Mayor of Columbus' wife off on probation (well, recommended it) for theft in office. She was working a state job paying $78,000 a year and was never showing up for work. He was in the media feeling sorry for her and kissing the 'Rat mayor's ass.
Are you from Ohio? Do you believe that this level of fraud can be overcome by legal voters to win it for Mac?
If McCain loses, America is lost. Period. Any "loud roars" will be squelched by the coming Thugocracy.
I deal with this kind of crap everyday. Probation is a joke. Most people violate their probation after their first meeting with their PO. Lately, I’ve encountered many cases where the courts just threw up their hands and said, “Aw! To hell with it!” and sent the perps on their merry way.
But I believe we'll win the state. Rural Ohio is the difference. Eleven million people live in Ohio, but fewer than five million are in the three largest metros (Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati.) McCain will squeak it out.
They certainly fit the leftist stereotype, judging from their website.
I have a silly related question; Why does ACORN bother to create so many bogus registrations if they’re not going to lead to votes?
“But I believe we’ll win the state. Rural Ohio is the difference.”
Don’t forget the hostile Amish...they are huge pro life conservative voters...plus they bake a mean apple pie.
I think creating controversy is a big part of it. When the forms are investigated and/or tossed out, the cries of racism and disenfranchisement start up, aided and abetted by the MSM.
We love our Amish. They are a huge tourist dollar draw, too.
Their facebook page is gone.
Shocking!
Because if one slips through they’ve managed to nullify “my” vote.
As the other poster said it’s partly to create confusion and allow for counter charges of suppression. It also inflates the number of “registered Democrats” which leads to misleading news stories about public sentiment and also incorrectly weighted poll results. And it certainly does lead to vote fraud as well.
Absolutely. As we saw in Florida, 537 is a very small number.
These people are giving our election laws the finger.
And there is no way to stop them.
Unless that finger is purple after voting.
“He was in the media feeling sorry for her and kissing the ‘Rat mayor’s ass.”
By the way, ever notice how BO and Mike Coleman look alike? They both appear to be used car salesmen! (My apologies to legit car salesmen.)
I think that's a great idea. But you know some ding-a-lings would scream about "The Mark of the Beast." The 'Rats would find religion in a hurry.
They could be brothers (so to speak!) They both have angry, hateful wives, that's for sure. But as far as I know, Obama's kids haven't tried to burn down his house (twice.)
“And there is no way to stop them.”
Yes there is. Find them. Take their pictures. Publish their addresses, their workplaces. Bring suit for infringement of 14th Amendment rights and fraud committed, including suit for damages and aggrieved harm.
GET THEM FIRED.
“The database will remind us when each voter is likely to have received his/her absentee ballot in the mail, at which point we will contact the voter and assist in the submission process.”
Sure you will.
The bogus registrations can be used to “create” votes. All it takes is a few crooked election workers alone with the voting equipment for a few minutes before they poll the results.
Yes, but if Obama wins, there'll never be an honest investigation. He is ACORN.
But many of them WILL lead to votes, and several already have in Ohio's early voting program. This election is being stolen even as we speak. And the media is a willing partner.
And we are betting the sovereignty of America that these bastards aren’t voting in more than one state. I would bet good money the criminal pricks are casting absentee or early votes in other states. Democrats are lairs and their party is a criminal enterprise. To me, this is one of the most serious crimes against ME in my responsibility as sovererign because it disenfranchises me. Shoot the bastards ... after a quick trial, of course.
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, faced a deadline of Friday to set up a system to provide local officials with names of newly registered voters whose driver's license numbers or Social Security numbers on voter registration forms don't match records in other government databases.
Ohio Republicans contended the information for counties would help prevent fraud. Brunner said the GOP is trying to disenfranchise voters.
I say the disenfranchise voters will be the votes that are cancelled out by the massive fraud.
This is interesting....a poster a few months ago commented on all the out of state license plates. I figured it was people moving in for jobs. Well yeah - sorta.
Agreed - if Obama pulls Ohio, it will be due to the massive fraud that will have taken place due to the efforts of ACORN. If this propels him to the presidency, he will be an illegitimate president.
Is that a real name ? tell me it's not a real name reporting stolen elections ...!
I agree.
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