I don't see the story here.

Why should an organization, hired with republican money, spend any time or effort registering likely democratic voters?

Seems like common sense and good business judgment to me.

The RNC spending money to help register voters who may vote republican. I don't see anything wrong with that.
Volunteers were instructed to inquire about political leanings first. It's not as if they registered these people and then threw away their registrations, if not to their liking..

Did you forget the punchline here? If not, then I'm missing your point. If I'm trying to sell Chevrolets and a potential customer tells me he'd rather buy a Ford, am I obligated to refer him to the local Ford dealer?

Why is it cheating for a canvasser to ask someone who they support, and then thank them and walk away if they support the candidate that the canvasser opposes?

Personally, I would have told them that they are ineligible to vote....

Got to agree with the chorus here. Did the canvassers in question ever state that they were party-neutral? Did they accept government funds, use government buildings, accept free postage, ANYTHING that would constitute a government handout to a political party?

If so, this is unethical. If not, though, I don't see how it's anything more than a get-out-the-vote drive.

And thus the lying begins. (or should I say continues?) All in an effort to make a Bush win an illegitimate win. Can you say "2000" all over again.

After the reelection, can Asjcroft and a few US Attorneys investigate and indict the DNC and their 527's for systematic fraud using the RICO laws?

I meant Ashcroft.

Or AshKKroft - if your are koolaidoscpic Leftie.

The claim has been made that Sproul collected the registration forms and THEN tossed out the D ones, which is a different story. (Google it; it pops up all over the place.)

If true, very nasty.

Uhhh... it's a hell of a lot better than what the Dem 527's were doing in Colorado. If people were registering as Republican, they were taking the registrations and throwing them away.

To the best of my knowledge, there is absolutely not one thing wrong with registering members of a specific party. The problems arise if somebody is registered, and then their registration is discarded. Election law makes no mandate to register everyone, and it is entirely proper, and routine, to only register those from your own party.

Im not so sure the post was making the assumption something was wrong! I do think that its perfectly fair practice. It beats the heck out of registering them for crack right?

It's not illegal unless the canvasser works for the government (e.g. county clerk).

Or a 527 funded drive. No problem here unless democratic regs were weeded out and thrown away after the fact, I think.

And this is any different than registering voters at a Dave Matthews Band concert?

Ethical? Maybe. Illegal or wrong? Nope.

in ca, you are required to register anyone who wishes to be registered. in 2000 we had dems either refusing to sign or throwing out repub registrations. the practice in this story would be ok imo as the kerry supporter neither asked to be or was registered.

It's rough and tumble politics but I don't see how this can be called cheating.

I'm pretty dense though, so please explain.

TO: Jace
RE: Explanation

It might have something to do with not being the 'honest broker'.

This is just an example of my problem with this business of hiring mercenaries to register voters. It's too easy to gerimander the process.

My thought is that if people (1) lack the foresight to register in a timely manner, e.g., 30 days prior to the election, (2) don't bother to vote to maintain their registered status, (3) lack the personal motivation to go down and register, even when they go to get theri license renewed, (4) don't have proper photo identification or (5) have to have someone read the ballot to them....

...they probably shouldn't be in on the decision process in the first place.

Regards,

Chuck(le)

At least they were not handing out vials of crack or packs of Newports.

Yeah, I live in Toledo and no one offered me any crack, or hell even a martini, to register. Guess that's what I get for giving a damn and registering soon after I moved in.

You can tell these were Republicans. If they were Democrats, they wouldn't have said "thank you" before walking away.

Any party or independent group can use discretion in choosing who to accept from and who not to accept from when registering voters. People who work for the State government have no choice and MUST register all willing people. Furthermore, any independent group or party that discards and fails to file completed registered cards, may be guilty of a felony.
The problem with these independent groups that register voters is that these people are generally paid by the registration. This leads to all sorts of shenanigans.

TO: Anty
RE: Yeah....

"At least they were not handing out vials of crack..." -- Anty

...one less felony to be thrown at them, if this report is accurate.

If it IS accurate, I say let'm spend the next 5 years in the pen. That way they won't be out there pulling the same s--- next iteration.

Regards,

Chuck(le)

I don't believe that anyone should be allowed to register voters door to door. Too many opportunities for "indiscretions". If someone does not have the gumption to drag their behind down to town hall to register (with I.D. in hand thank you) they don't deserve the priviledge of voting.

I don't see a story here unless they are discarding completed registrations. That's bad.

My problem is WHY ARE WE PAYING PEOPLE TO REGISTER PEOPLE TO VOTE???????

If you do not have the urge, drive, gumption, or 2 minutes to register to vote then I DON'T WANT YOU TO VOTE! PLEASE STAY HOME ON NOV 2ND! It is not that hard to register to vote and by paying people to register voters we are only adding to the complexity of the system and thereby increasing the potential for election fraud.

Pay someone to drop leaflets at doors that point people to voter registration places (web sites, DMVs, etc.). That's productive.

This is so freakin' absurd!

OK. I'm done now. My blood pressure is falling again.

Actually thre are a number of potential legal problems with it. Voter registration activity is often done by 501(c) organizations on the condition that it be non-partisan. A 501(c) organization that holds a partisan vote drive is violating its tax status. Then there's the question of illegal campaign contributions. A non-partisan registration drive is not a campaign contribution. A partisan one may be. Third, it depends on what the state election laws say, whether refusal to register someone is illegal. Finally, it's just wrong. I don't agree with attempts by either party to manipulate the electoral process this way. And anyone who throws away someone's registration for partisan reasons should be thrown in jail.

Jason,
The article states they were hired by the RNC, so it's not a non-partisan group....

Also, according to the article there was no offer to register until "status" was determined, so there wasn't a refusal, just a failure to make an offer.

Again, I know nothing more than what is posted here, but I see nothing wrong with Republicans looking to register Republicans and Democrats looking to register Democrats. I don't think it's right after a registration is taken to do anything but process it.

I'm no expert, other than my recollection of the procedures we followed 20 years ago. The points made by Jason are valid. I believe a legally non-partisan organization, even those affiliated with a party, are obligated to process any one who wants to be registered regardless of the party chosen. Thus the qualifying question- Who do you support for president? As I recall, instead of asking who they support, we would volunteer that we were with the College Republicans and ask if they would like to register Republican or some such. Now, if they chose to register other than Republican, we were still obligated to take and process the form, but clearly there are ways to legally, and in my view ethically, weed the target audience.

TO: Lloyd
RE: A Latter-Day Diogenese

"I believe [in] a legally non-partisan organization..." -- Lloyd

Good luck. You're gonna need it.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
P.S. Care to by an old lamp? Cheap....

ERRATA: Diogenes not Diogenese.

I live in the heart of Pittsburgh's liberal East End. This is where you'll find the universities, Carnegie Museum/Library and the birthplace of public radio. Very left and very rich. There must be twenty Kerry signs for every Bush sign.

Last week, an odd couple came to my door. A young scruffy man was accompanied by a much older, slightly dingy woman. Sort of like Harold and Maude after three days on the park bench. They each sported Kerry buttons. Maude augmented her ensemble with an "OUT OF IRAQ. NOW!!" sticker pasted to the front of her dirty down-filled coat. It was 67 degrees.

When I opened the door. Harold asked if they could count on me to support Kerry for President. When I answered in the negative, they turned around and started to walk away. I called to them, "Hey, don't you want to try and change my mind?"

Harold turned around and asked,"Are you between 18 and 35?"

"No," I said.

"Are your registered?"

"Yes."

"Then we have nothing to talk about, now, do we?" answered Maude. She fished out what looked like a lingering piece of rice from her teeth, studied it for a few seconds and placed it back where it came from.

"But I'm an Independent," I offered.

"We only want Democrats," said Harold. And they both left my porch.

Draw your own conclusions.

Damn Daniel. You have got to be a novel writer, if you aren't already. I could just 'picture' how these to looked and behaved at your door.

And the "She fished out what looked like a lingering piece of rice from her teeth, studied it for a few seconds and placed it back where it came from." I mean this is Hemmingway stuff!

You forgot to tell us how you waited until they were at a safe distance then yelled "I hope you lose".

I believe a legally non-partisan organization, even those affiliated with a party...

Huh?

Jim,

Thanks for the compliment. A few days later I realized just how dangerous going against the uberparty would turn out to be. It seems that Maude came back in the dead of night and scratched out two small marks on the corner post of my porch. Since then I have had vagrants showing up on my doorstep daily asking for soup.

But I knew straight away that something was not exactly right. None of the travellers would take my Campbell's Cream of Mushroom and most opted for the Pepperidge Farms Clam Chowder. Now, they're demanding nothing but Miso Soup. Do you how hard it is to find bonito flakes and organic konbu at three o'clock in the morning?

I tell you, my life has become a living hell. Do yourself a favor; whatever the circumstances, don't in any way cross the Kerry people. They're like Moonies with a culinary degree.

For a little relief from this brain hurting election, at the expense of the politically humorless(you know who they are),
GoTo:

http://blog.gleeson.us/sean/2004/10/17/page_of_atonement

And:

http://blog.gleeson.us/sean/2004/10/16/apologizing_to_saddam_is_groovy

Daniel, the most fascinating thing is how you say where you live is very rich & very left. Same situation for me. We always hear about "rich Republicans", but I don't know any. All the rich are leftist, democrat, socialist, or even Marxists. The poor, the self-employed are the Republicans. What a change from 30-40 yrs ago

Yeah, Carl. To me, that's the most interesting aspect of American political life today. There must be some sociologist somewhere working on a thesis about it. But really, we should have been paying attention sooner. I think that the change has been a long time coming.

Don't get me wrong, we have a few rich Republicans around but they stay in their secret underground lairs most of the time.

What about the Colo. 527's I've seen nothing on destruction of Republican registrations, only the Sproul stuff.