Free Republic

When it comes to fierce and furious battles between the security of the ballot and the eligibility of voters, Lake County, Ind., is a microcosm of the nation. A month before the presidential election, Democrats and Republicans are facing off in the county, accusing each other of tainting the early-voting process. Indiana law allows citizens to register an absentee ballot by mail or in person. A federal judge today will hear Democrats' claims that Republicans are trying to suppress minority votes in cities favoring their candidate, Sen. Barack Obama. Republicans, meanwhile, charge outside of court that Democrats are filing false...

Reasons Why No One Should Vote for Obama Except His Family and Friends! Don Boys, Ph.D. Every person has a right to his own opinions but no one has a right to his own facts. The Obama facts that follow should limit those voting for him to his immediate family, a few friends, and of course all committed racists and socialists. Like all sane citizens, I want the best candidate to win the office of President. After all, we are all in the same boat and if one end goes down, we all go down. After a thorough examination of...

Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times. The actions do not seem to be coordinated by one party or the other, nor do they appear to be the result of election officials intentionally breaking rules, but are apparently the result of mistakes in the handling of the registrations and voter files as the states tried to comply with a...

What do Barack Obama, Cynthia Tucker and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) have in common? I’ll tell you a few facts and you decide. I’ll try not to load my words, as Cynthia Tucker did in her Sunday column blasting voter ID laws as the product of “pseudo-facts” and “overhyped allegations of voter fraud.” Readers of my column will, I hope, be outraged by their own thinking, not feelings emanating from pejorative terms. My introduction to ACORN was in the 1990s. When the savings and loan debacle occurred and large numbers of S&Ls had to be...

CLEVELAND - Two Ohio voters, including Domino's pizza worker Christopher Barkley , claimed yesterday that they were hounded by the community-activist group ACORN to register to vote several times, even though they made it clear they'd already signed up. Barkley estimated he'd registered to vote "10 to 15" times after canvassers for ACORN, whose political wing has endorsed Barack Obama, relentlessly pursued him and others. Claims such as his have sparked election officials to probe ACORN. "I kept getting approached by folks who asked me to register," Barkley said. "They'd ask me if I was registered. I'd say yes, and...

A reporter from a website called Palestra.net uncovered some shady activities during the "early voting" period in Ohio. They found major get-out-the-vote efforts involving the homeless, including the classic quote, "It's a perfect opportunity for them to come in, register at a temporary address like a homeless shelter or a YMCA or something like that. They can register at that address because they don't know where they're going to be tomorrow or next week." Not surprisingly, ACORN and other groups are involved. This reporter has been trying to get an interview with Ohio's democratic Secretary of State for a week...

Just in on Fox they are reporting about the ACORN voter fraud investigation underway and had voter applications showing the same name and different soc. sec. numbers and signatures used as examples of what they are finding. Amazing!

The Montana Republican party says they are withdrawing their challenge to almost 6,000 voter registrations. As we first reported last week, Republicans notified several counties that they were challenging voter registrations whose addresses didn't match the U.S. Postal Service database. Republican Party Executive Director Jacob Eaton said they were trying to guard against voter fraud. Challenged voters could have been forced to re-register or submit an affidavit proving their current address. The maneuver drew criticism from state and county election officials who had to investigate the claims. Nonpartisan voter rights groups said there was no proof of fraud in the...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq, Oct. 6, 2008 – Two Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers streamlined the voting process for hundreds of servicemembers and civilians here Oct. 3-5. Army Sgts. Asa Rubman and Rachel Littenberg, paralegal specialists assigned to Multinational Division Baghdad with the 4th Infantry Division’s Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, help servicemembers and civilians register to vote Oct. 4, 2008, at Forward Operating Base Falcon, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. David Hodge, Multinational Division Baghdad   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Sgts. Asa Rubman and Rachel Littenberg, paralegal specialists assigned to the...

You all may remember this thread, where I posted an amazing sign erected by the mortuary around the corner from my husband's job. Well, they have done it AGAIN! I must say that the owners of this establishment are right in the forefront of community service. And they're eliminating the middleman here.

There is only a month left until our next President is elected; it is crunch time. I would like to urge all of you to do whatever you can to be involved and get good Republicans, Conservatives, Republican Conservatives, and even McCain leaning independents and moderates to get out and vote. Send out e-mails to everyone you know. Remind them to vote, remind them what’s at stake, let them know the truth about Obama. Visit your states’ GOP website (click here), and see what volunteer opportunities they have available. Talk to people at work, remind them to vote, clear up...

Congressman Keith Ellison wants to make sure the people in his district know their voting rights.

Nearly 1,000 people cast their votes for the November election at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections on Sunday.

The crush is on. County clerks around New Mexico said Thursday that they're being bombarded with new voter registrations and requests for absentee ballots as the clock ticks toward next week's voter-registration deadline. "Colossal," Lynn Ellins, Doña Ana County elections bureau supervisor, said of the numbers. "We're not even counting them. We're measuring them by the feet," Sante Fe County's chief deputy for elections, Denise Lamb, said of the growing stack of absentee ballot requests now in her office. The number of New Mexicans registered to vote — more than 1.1 million as of Sept. 10 — has already eclipsed...

The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that disputed absentee ballot applications mailed to state voters by the McCain-Palin campaign should be accepted by local elections officials and directed State Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to reverse her position that boards reject them

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq, Oct. 1, 2008 – A delegation of secretaries of state and chief election officials from Pennsylvania, California, Indiana, Mississippi and Florida visited here yesterday to receive updates on the voting process for servicemembers serving in Iraq. Army Brig. Gen. Michael Lally, commander of 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, briefs secretaries of state from Pennsylvania, California, Indiana, Mississippi and Florida during their visit to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Sept. 30, 2008. The delegation visited Balad to promote voting by servicemembers and to learn about the installation's voting assistance program and servicemembers' voting experience. U.S. Army photo by...

PHOENIX — Starting Thursday, voters who are registered in Arizona but live overseas will be able to vote online through a unique Web-based system offered by the Secretary of State.

How to 'Render' without Surrender by John Zmirak 9/30/08 I know that I promised last week to continue my analysis of "Seven Key Aspects of Life Where Jesus Spoils Our Fun." And I will get back to it -- in fact, I'll do so relentlessly, seven times, until I've essentially written the core of my upcoming book on InsideCatholic's dime. I look forward to Anger Week more than Lust Week, and I even promise to type up something for Sloth Week that will be "good enough for government work." Mediocrity makes me feel right at home -- raised as I...

There is a controversy concerning absentee ballots brewing in Ohio. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Republican lawmakers are concerned that Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, has instructed voters to break Ohio law, which states that voters must be registered for 30 days prior to casting a vote to be considered a qualified elector. GOP officials claim that allowing Ohioans to register and cast an absentee ballot on the same day violates the law. However, Brunner claims that what controls under current law is when the ballots are counted, not when they are cast. She released a statement addressing the...

THE JEWISH VOTE ON NOVEMBER 4th A topic such as how Jews will vote in any election is always fraught with certain dangers, one of which is baseless charges of anti-Semitism. Why single out one religion for analysis and critiques, some people would say, when other religions are not subject to such scrutiny? First, that’s not even close to being true since the “Catholic vote,” for example, is often the subject of scrutiny and analysis, the Hindu, Zoroastrian, Sikh, and other religions not so much since they do not represent significant voting blocs in America. Catholics and Jews do represent...

“Many undecideds haven't really connected their negative feelings about race to Obama yet. Their view of Obama is unformed, and their negative feelings toward African-Americans could be easily triggered when they finally tune in.”

This is an excellent, powerful pro-life, pro-faith video directed at Catholic voters. I think non-Catholics of faith will also be interested in it.

An emerging movement to give non-citizens the right to vote in local elections should be resisted because it puts at risk national cohesion and the value of U.S. citizenship, according to a new report by a group that supports lower immigration.“The Constitution, the Congress and the courts have enshrined voting as a core indispensable element of American citizenship and democracy,” Stanley A. Renshon, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, said upon release of his paper, “Allowing Non-Citizens to Vote in the United States? Why Not.”Those who support non-citizen voting argue that it would actually be more democratic...

Here is the latest in the Ohio voting saga. I have added my articles on the two cases the Ohio courts will hear in the two suits: Voters sue secretary of state over absentee ballot flap Posted by Reginald Fields September 17, 2008 17:57PM Two Cincinnati voters have asked the Ohio Supreme Court to force the secretary of state to accept their absentee ballot requests despite the secretary's contention the applicants - like thousands of others across the state, including in Cuyahoga County - did not properly complete the forms. The absentee ballot applications were drawn up and mailed by...

For my Friends, Family and Clergy, Our political party system gives the voting public a political voice and a means to implement its priorities in self-governance. The power of the political party comes from the individuals they attract: the greater the numbers, the greater the power. When we choose our party affiliation, we add our voice to the party message, give our assent to their agenda and add to their power. The party platform, then, becomes the common mission of each party member. When was the last time we actually read our political party platform to see what our party...

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Barack Obama will portray himself Thursday night as an agent of change for mainstream America, but his eight-year voting record in the Illinois Senate shows the Democrat was on occasion an agent of isolation who took stands - particularly on anti-crime legislation - that put him to the left of his own party. Mr. Obama was the only member of the state Senate to vote against a bill to prohibit the early release of convicted criminal sexual abusers; was among only four who voted against bills to toughen criminal sentences and to increase penalties for "gangbangers" and dealers...

Ohio is an election battleground state with perennial problems at the polls. So what have election officials in some precincts of the state been doing to keep their voting machines safe from tampering?Taking the machines home with them and stashing them in their garages in the days before a big election.If it sounds like something pulled straight out of an episode of Saturday Night Live, or Borat for that matter, it’s not. The practice has become so widespread that it even has a nickname, “sleepovers.”Ohio, you may remember, has plenty of reason to be particularly vigilant about the security of...

Valdis Krebs networks patterns of political book buying This network visualization of political book buying is insanely amazing. I’ve asked Valdis for a mind meld, but I’m sure I don’t have enough capacity to absorb even a one-millionth of what I’d need to think the way Valdis does. Thank goodness he thinks the way he does:

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Take it from a longtime GOP volunteer, election judge, etc: VOTE EARLY, for 3 major reasons: 1) It cuts down on the political calls and door-knocks you'll get, and 2) It guards against last-minute emergencies robbing you of your chance to vote, and 3) The lines on voting day are going to be tremendous this year. More on (1): Campaigns use calling and knocking lists that are updated weekly, and even daily in the last weeks prior to election day. In our county, the clerk sends (to all interested campaigns) frequent, updated lists of who has voted absentee/early, and who...

‘Jim Crawford’ RepublicansThe GOP is working to keep eligible African-Americans from voting in several states. Jonathan Alter Newsweek Web Exclusive Updated: 2:37 PM ET Sep 11, 2008 It was a mainstay of Jim Crow segregation: for 100 years after the Civil War, Southern white Democrats kept eligible blacks from voting with poll taxes, literacy tests and property requirements. Starting in the 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court declared these assaults on the heart of American democracy unconstitutional. Now, with the help of a 2008 Supreme Court decision, Crawford vs. Marion County (Indiana) Election Board, white Republicans in some areas will keep...

McCain’s selection of Palin was certainly a bold and risky move. It will either work wonders or it will very seriously backfire. However, it’s fair to say that, based on what was the then-current trajectory, Obama was quite likely to win the White House in November if McCain did no more than make safe and traditional moves. McCain really needed to put all his chips on the table and go for all-or-nothing. There seems to be no doubt, among liberal and conservative pundits alike, that this is exactly what McCain has done. We’ll just have to see if it works....

A public-interest law firm wants the Department of Justice to investigate a new liberal political group that is allegedly threatening donors to conservative advocacy organizations. The official-looking document comes on the letterhead of "Accountable America" and begins with the large, ominous word "WARNING" in all capital letters. The document goes on to promise public exposure and criminal investigations of those who financially support conservative political action committees, even though their anonymity is protected by federal law. Tom Fitton, president of the public-interest law firm Judicial Watch, says intimidating voters or political donors is illegal. Fitton says his group believes the...

Late Night Call to Sign the Petition Urging Congressmen Back To The Hill Callbackcongress.Com

But a Catholic with a well-formed conscience will know that our moral values must be prioritized if we are to apply them wisely to the social order, and the "right to life," as the Church clearly teaches, must come first. For this reason, after wrestling with this quandary myself over the past few weeks, and sharing my thoughts with you (my readers) here in print, there is no longer any doubt in my mind that as things now stand, if Sen. Obama does not change his mind and heart on the abortion issue, then I think those who understand and...

Voting-rights advocates have been predicting New York would not be able to roll out new voting machines by September 2009, as ordered by federal court, but the state Board of Elections has now made it official. In its latest update to U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe, the board said it will not have enough time to complete testing and certifying voting machines (to replace its 20,000 or so mechanical-lever ones) before next year’s primary. The Board of Elections wrote in its weekly report (July 25) that its “activities and progress toward HAVA (Help America Vote Act) compliance are in...

I was talking to a friend yesterday afternoon (yes, people can still have a private conversation after church) about the political situation here in Illinois; told her that there were more registered Republicans than Democrats in the state. "Then why do they keep winning all the elections? she asked. "Because not enough Republicans get up on election day with a burning desire to make a dash to the polls to vote." The late Richard J. Daley said probably the only thing I ever agreed with him: some reporter asked him why so and so hadn't gotten elected. "Simple," said Daley....

A total of 24 states allow voters to change laws on their own by collecting signatures and putting initiatives on the ballot. It's healthy that the entrenched political class should face some real legislative competition from initiative-toting citizens. Unfortunately, some special interests have declared war on the initiative process, using tactics ranging from restrictive laws to outright thuggery. - Snip - The initiative is a reform born out of the Progressive Era, when there was general agreement that powerful interests had too much influence over legislators. It was adopted by most states in the Midwest and West, including Ohio and...

You heard it here first. John McCain will scuttle his campaign. Don’t know how, where or when, but all signs point to a health issue. That’s just a hunch. Something, however, is wrong. The man can’t seem to put it together. He’s shrinking by the minute and getting invisible. Barack Obama will have this match handed to him by disqualification. The opponent could not answer the bell. Or, the GOP, in emergency session, will have to step in to provide a candidate that is new, improved and lucid. As Obama sizzles over there, McCain fizzles over here. The man is...

…After reading the comments on “The Lesser of Two Evils” I realized most of them could be divided into two groups: The “Strugglers” and The “Settlers”. Good.This perfectly describes the conditions before and after the founding of America. The only problem in this case is that the settlers of that time came after the struggle, not before. As long as there have been elections there have been those making the claim in one form or the other that, “this is the most pivotal election in history”. Strangely enough, they were probably all correct! Each time we have the opportunity to...

......far-left radical activist group ACORN is embroiled in financial corruption and cover-up.... The NY Times reports that Dale Rathke - whose brother started the group back in 1970 to help low-income people - embezzled nearly $1M back in 1999 and 2000. ACORN disguised it on the books as a loan and let Rathke's family make restitution at $30,000 a year. (An anonymous donor reportedly has agreed to pick up the remaining $800,000 tab.) ACORN also kept Rathke on the payroll at $38,000-a-year.....the Times reports most of the people who covered-up the embezzlement are still working for ACORN. Michelle Malkin wrote...

Amid all the talk of new voters becoming involved in the election, hopefully one group of voters will not vote in November — non-citizens, many of whom are illegally registered to vote all over the country, particularly in the southwest. Although there is no reliable method to determine the exact number registered aliens, there is evidence that this is a significant and growing problem. The Government Accountability Office estimated that up to 3 percent of individuals called for jury duty from voter registration rolls in just one U.S. district court were not U.S. citizens. While that may not seem like...

In November 2004, Christian Wheeler stood in line at a local church and waited to cast his ballot in the US presidential election, which pitted President George W. Bush against the democratic candidate, John Kerry. As Wheeler waited, his thoughts began to wander. “I was thinking about the election and how Bush was highly affiliated with religion,” says Wheeler, “and it occurred to me that this church couldn’t possibly be a neutral location. This has to be affecting people’s thoughts.” So Wheeler, a professor of marketing at Stanford University in California, decided to study whether the location of a polling...

A new video on YouTube is taking the Internet by storm. Entitled "I'm Voting … Republican," the satirical clip depicts actors playing conservative Americans of all shapes and sizes explaining why they would vote for the GOP. "Arnold Jones" says he's voting Republican because "all other countries are inferior to us" -- and his wife, "Trudy Jones," adds, "and we should start as many wars as we need to keep it that way." A soldier in Iraq states that he's voting Republican "so I can stay in Iraq" -- and a young boy, labeled "future draftee," points a fake gun...

The residents of a Romanian village knowingly voted in a dead man as their mayor in Sunday's municipal election, preferring him to his living opponent. Neculai Ivascu, 57, who ran the village for almost two decades, died from liver disease just after voting began -- but still won the election by a margin of 23 votes.

This is a short, supposedly humorous video showing artificial "real Americans" telling why they are voting Republican. I am linking to it just to show you the utter lack of imagination on the left. They actually believe their own propaganda. The reasons they use to vote Republican run the full spectrum from stupid to racist AND stupid.

One hundred forty-three years ago, women's suffrage advocate Elizabeth Cady Stanton faced a conundrum: With the Civil War over, Stanton had to decide whether to support the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution, which enabled black men to vote -- at a time when white women such as herself still did not have that right. Stanton decided to oppose the amendments: "As the celestial gate to civil rights is slowly moving on its hinges, it becomes a serious question whether we had better stand aside and see Sambo walk into the kingdom first." The question of what to do...

The Pascua Yaqui Tribe's top casino executive encouraged tribal members to vote early last week by offering free meals at Casino del Sol worth up to $20 per vote. Like laws governing Arizona and federal elections, the tribe's code makes it unlawful to give anything of value to someone as an incentive to vote or to refrain from voting. CEO Wendell Long issued a memo on the eve of early voting for the Tribal Council that urged tribal gaming enterprise employees to clear it with supervisors and then "leave their work post to cast their vote." "As a small token...

By Burt Prelutsky If I am asked one question by my readers far more frequently than any other, it’s why do so many American Jews insist on aligning themselves with the far left. Believe me, being Jewish myself, it’s the question I most frequently ask myself. It’s certainly not because Jews are stupid, evil, unpatriotic or dependent on government handouts for their survival, four reasons that certainly explain why millions of my fellow Americans will eagerly line up to vote for any political crackpot so long as he or she is running as a Democrat. Having given it a great...

As the Indiana polls opened at 6:00 am on May 6, opponents of Indiana’s Photo ID law eagerly anticipated word from our more than 5,500 precincts that the state’s requirement that all voters show a photo ID at the polls was causing havoc. It’s what they told the United States Supreme Court would happen. To them, it was time to watch Indiana’s most highly anticipated presidential primary in generations collapse under the weight of the requirement. In Indiana, our election officials and voters are fully committed to increasing confidence in and the integrity of our elections. We have invested a...