Posted on 10/26/2008 9:01:25 AM PDT by txradioguy
EDITOR’S NOTE: The publication of Byron York's "Bad Lands, Bad Votes," describing voting improprieties in South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson's 524-vote victory over Republican challenger John Thune, has set off a storm of debate, both in South Dakota and in Washington. Some Republicans have been outraged at their party's decision not to pursue the allegations and challenge Johnson's victory — especially in light of the GOP's precarious 51-49 majority in the Senate. But South Dakota attorney general Mark Barnett, a Republican with designs on the governor's office, has dismissed criticisms of voting in his state, calling the story "shoddy and irresponsible and sensationalistic and garbage." (Barnett made that statement without investigating most of the allegations in the article.) Until now, "Bad Lands, Bad Votes" has been available only to readers of National Review magazine. Today, NRO is publishing the entire story.
On Election Day, Noma Sazama knew something unusual was going on the moment she arrived at her polling place, the St. Thomas Parish Hall in Mission, South Dakota. Sazama, a member of the local election board, noticed several strangers in the room — an unusual sight in Mission, population 904, where most people know one another. It turned out the strangers were all lawyers, Democrats who had come to town to serve as poll watchers for the race between incumbent Democratic senator Tim Johnson and Republican John Thune. One was from Washington, D.C., another was from New York City, and a third was from California. "There were no locals, and I've never seen that happen before," says Sazama, who has lived in the area for 73 years.
According to Sazama, the Democratic team quickly set up shop in the Parish Hall kitchen, just a few feet from the tables where voters would cast their ballots. The party had rented dozens of vans and hired drivers to bring voters to the polls, and the out-of-state lawyers made the kitchen their transportation headquarters. "I saw this young man from New York with boxes of file cards," Sazama says. "They had the names and time-of-pickup and whether someone voted on them, and from those he would contact the drivers." It took her a few minutes to realize that the Democrats intended to run their get-out-the-vote effort from inside the polling place.
If you were thinking of sitting out this election, I hope you change your mind after reading this. EVERY vote is important this election.
Thanks for posting this.
We have to remember that to win these arguments and to convince the average voter that Democrat fraud and ‘army of lawyers’ tactics actually exist we have to give concrete evidence. The media spin has convinced most people that conservatives are ‘whining’ or ‘racist’ or the one that really gets under my skin - that ‘everybody does it’.
The Washington state governor race was just as suspect as the one written about here. We need to push the average voter to anger through facts and evidence. And there’s plenty of it...
“The media spin has convinced most people that conservatives are ‘whining’ or ‘racist’ or the one that really gets under my skin - that ‘everybody does it’.”
Not to mention the fact that the Dems continue the meme that if a Republican wins ANY election it’s “stolen” and if a Dem wins it’s the “will of the people”.
—and in case anyone is unaware, Tim Johnson, who had a brain hemorrhage ,can barely talk or walk, refuses to debate his opponent, will most likely be re-elected this year-—
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