mechmat
10-15-2004, 12:59 PM
So it seems this is one of the most hottly contested elections in many years, and a lot of people will do anything they can to get thier candidate elected. But many people in my state seem to be resorting to illegal acts and dirty tricks to get an edge. Here are a few examples:
1.) We've all been bugged by the people hanging out at supermarkets, libraries, and just about any public place that has a lot of traffic trying to get us to register to vote this year. The problem is, this year a lot of these people were paid per person they register rather than per hour. This is illegal and all voters who registered through the people acting illegally were required to re-register.
2.) In an attempt to get rid of some Democratic votes, the head of the Nevada Republican party sent a list of 17,000 registered Democrats who had not updated their address information to the State Supreme Court, asking that their right to vote to be denied this year. These names were presented after registration was closed to make sure they could not update their information before the election. Their efforts were partially thwarted, as these people were told they could vote in national elections but not local elections.
3.) Last, but certainly not least, today a man who was hired by a group called Outreach For America to register voters said that hundreds of people that they received voter registration forms from had their forms destroyed because they marked the 'Democrat' box. The leader of this organization is also being investigated for similar practices in Oregon. The Nevada Democratic Party is currently suing the Clark County registrar to extend the voter registration deadline to allow these people to re-register.
My question is whether these types of practices are happening in other parts of the country by members of either party. I understand that both sides feel it is imperative that their candidate gets elected, but when some people resort to illegal practices they are undermining everything that is good about the democratic process.
And to those of you who live in Florida, has anything been done to in your state to improve the voting process and avoid the fiasco we had 4 years ago?
1.) We've all been bugged by the people hanging out at supermarkets, libraries, and just about any public place that has a lot of traffic trying to get us to register to vote this year. The problem is, this year a lot of these people were paid per person they register rather than per hour. This is illegal and all voters who registered through the people acting illegally were required to re-register.
2.) In an attempt to get rid of some Democratic votes, the head of the Nevada Republican party sent a list of 17,000 registered Democrats who had not updated their address information to the State Supreme Court, asking that their right to vote to be denied this year. These names were presented after registration was closed to make sure they could not update their information before the election. Their efforts were partially thwarted, as these people were told they could vote in national elections but not local elections.
3.) Last, but certainly not least, today a man who was hired by a group called Outreach For America to register voters said that hundreds of people that they received voter registration forms from had their forms destroyed because they marked the 'Democrat' box. The leader of this organization is also being investigated for similar practices in Oregon. The Nevada Democratic Party is currently suing the Clark County registrar to extend the voter registration deadline to allow these people to re-register.
My question is whether these types of practices are happening in other parts of the country by members of either party. I understand that both sides feel it is imperative that their candidate gets elected, but when some people resort to illegal practices they are undermining everything that is good about the democratic process.
And to those of you who live in Florida, has anything been done to in your state to improve the voting process and avoid the fiasco we had 4 years ago?