Free Republic

Civil Rights Commissioner Peter Kirsanow warned Congress on Wednesday that President Obama’s deportation amnesty program, which will allow illegal immigrants to get Social Security numbers and driver’s licenses, will make it much easier for them to register and vote in U.S. elections — despite being ineligible to do so. Peter Kirsanow, a Bush appointee to the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights who has warned of dangers from mass illegal immigration, said the federal government does a poor job of helping states try to weed out ineligible voters, and once they have driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers it’s nearly impossible...

There were so many violations of election rules in last November's election for Magoffin County judge-executive that the results must be thrown out, a judge has ruled. Preston also concluded county workers acting under the direct supervision of Hardin illegally spread gravel on private driveways in at least four or five cases shortly before the election. Also, the decision cited evidence that a few people sold their votes. In one case, a man named Larry Douglas Perkins, who operates the Handi Mart at Falcon, said he saw Simon Marshall the day of the election. Marshall had a $50 bill and...

Democrat Keith Ellison thinks it’s difficult to vote in America and that it should be made far easier. Why does someone have to register to vote? Because voting is a privilege and it should be hard (relatively speaking) to vote in order to prevent voter fraud: About a hundred years ago, both political parties were caught STUFFING BALLOT BOXES with bogus votes, and the states decided to make it more difficult for a person to vote. So most of them set up a host of VOTING REQUIREMENTS, including REGISTRATION at least 10 to 30 days before an election. Most other...

[Editor's note: The original copy of this article incorrectly identified Rep. Ellison as a Democrat from Wisconsin. The oversight has been corrected, and a formal apology has been sent to the people of Wisconsin.]Forget about the Tuesday following the first Monday of November… Let’s just run an online poll for future public elections. Maybe we can set up a phone bank, kinda like PBS donation drives, for people without access to the internet. Heck, let’s just do a show of hands: Hillary or Jeb for 2016?Okay, that might be a slight over-simplification of what Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) was suggesting, but...

Illinois poverty on rise since 2010; four counties at greatest risk, says report Caitlin Wilson The number of Illinoisans living in poverty has risen steadily since 2010, with nearly 15 percent of residents living at or below the poverty line, a new report says, the highest mark since 1960. The Social Impact Research Center (SIRC) released a report detailing the statistics surrounding poverty in Illinois, finding that Illinois “has plenty of room for improvement” in comparison to other states when it comes to residents living in poverty, and that 14 of the state’s counties have more than 20,000 residents in...

During a House Oversight Committee hearing Thursday, Secretaries of State Kris Kobach from Kansas and Jon Husted of Ohio warned that a loophole in President Obama's executive action on illegal immigration could lead to millions of non-citizens obtaining the ability to vote in U.S. elections. "I want to bring to your attention my concern that the President’s recent Immigration Accountability Executive Actions will make it more difficult for elections officials to determine if all voters meet the primary standard for voting – U.S. citizenship. I am not here to debate immigration policy or the President’s executive actions. However, I am...

The FBI is investigating the way politics is conducted in The Bronx---in the aftermath of ousted Speaker Sheldon Silver's arrest on charges of bribes and kickbacks. Carl Heastie, a longtime Bronx political power, took over as Speaker. Federal investigators are looking at Bronx voter fraud and financial mismanagement....spurred by info provided to Manhattan US Atty Preet Bharara. Bharara was incensed when Gov. Cuomo abruptly shut down the Moreland Commission, which was investigating public corruption. Ruben Diaz Jr, Bronx borough president is considered Heastie’s mentor....alleged voter fraud includes alleged fake signatures on voter petitions and that some Bronx candidates were elected...

One of North Carolina’s most vocal critics of voter ID laws is finding itself in hot water, after a rash of complaints about alleged voting irregularities and illegal campaign activity within its own organization. The Winston-Salem branch of the North Carolina NAACP received complaints from members after a failed election oversight attempt by the state NAACP during elections last month: The complaint, signed by about 41 members, alleged that Ike Howard, who won the presidency in the election, and others distributed campaign literature in the building where the election was being held, a violation. The complaint also alleged that members voted on blank...

U.S. Senate Follows JW Lead on Obamacare FraudObama IRS Obstructs Justice?Election Integrity Battle Moves to Supreme CourtU.S. Senate Follows JW Lead on Obamacare Fraud Someone on Capitol Hill has taken notice of the lawsuit we filed last fall challenging members of Congress who are taking advantage of health benefits they are not entitled to claim. That someone is Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) who now chairs the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee. As a prominent figure in the new Republican majority, Vitter is well-positioned to investigate and expose illegal maneuverings that make it possible for elected officials, and their staff members,...

The mother of a mentally disabled man allegedly beaten at a Gordon facility that cared for disabled adults has filed suit seeking punitive damages. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by Betty Gill in Bibb County Superior Court, claims that her son, Joseph Allen Cason Jr., also was taken to vote in the 2013 Gordon city election, although he lived in another county. Employees, while acting in their scope of employment, allegedly took Cason and other residents to the polls to vote for the sister of the facility’s owner, who was running for mayor, according to the suit.

Anti-union forces claim UAW ‘stuffed’ ballot box. Workers in Alabama are staging a fourth attempt to kick the United Auto Workers (UAW) out of their plant following claims that stuffed ballot boxes derailed their last vote. Employees at the NTN-Bower Corporation, a ball bearings manufacturer, have unsuccessfully tried to boot the labor giant out of their factory for two years. Workers voted to decertify the UAW in an earlier election, but an Obama-appointed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) panel threw out the election. Another election was held in January of this year. The UAW prevailed, but it was later revealed...

A few weeks ago, Puerto Rican Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla made a surprise announcement that soon he would submit legislation that would give undocumented immigrants and other non-citizens the right to vote in island-wide elections. The move has been commended by immigrants’ rights groups, but is viewed by many on the island as a cheap move by an unpopular governor to try and fix the next election. It’s also left many people on the island asking: can the governor legally do it? The answer, it turns out, seems to be “yes.” Federal law doesn’t stop states or cities from allowing...

A Dothan woman facing eight felony absentee ballot fraud charges pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon to reduced misdemeanor charges. Janice Lee Hart, 64, pleaded guilty about midway through the prosecution’s evidence to eight misdemeanor counts of attempted absentee ballot fraud. Circuit Court Judge Brad Mendheim sentenced Hart to 12 months in the Houston County Jail for each charge, which he suspended in favor of two years probation for each charge. Mendheim ordered Hart to pay a $200 fine, a $25 victim’s compensation fee and court costs for each of the eight misdemeanor convictions. “You may not have any invovlment with any...

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The California State Senate held an "ethics refresher course" for its members after federal indictments were issued against two senators and a third was convicted. Senate leaders are hoping to regain the public's trust. The purpose of the course is to teach members and their staffs to avoid potentially compromising situations. It's the latest in a series of moves by senate leaders aimed at putting political distance between them and their colleagues facing criminal charges. The leader of California's state senate stopped all regular business on Wednesday so everyone could go "back to school" in a...

The Justice Department has been, to say no more, unhelpful regarding attempts to fully investigate and properly punish the politicization and corruption of the Internal Revenue Service. Given the department’s seeming complicity in the coverup, would it not be appropriate to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the IRS practice of suppressing the political activity of conservative groups? Civil forfeiture — the seizure of property suspected of being produced by, or involved with, crime — has become a lucrative business for lawless law enforcement. Civil forfeiture treats citizens worse than criminals, seizing the property of people neither convicted of nor...

The journalists at CBS This Morning on Monday compared the violent, bloody attacks on African Americans during civil rights marches in 1965 to voter ID laws passed by various states in the last few years. Co-anchor Norah O'Donnell talked to Oprah Winfrey, producer/star of the new film Selma. O'Donnell marveled, "...Given the Voting Rights Act, 1965, I went back and looked. Thirteen states have passed more restrictive voter ID laws in the last three years, that states are trying to make it harder to vote." [MP3 audio here.]Actor David Oyelowo, who plays Martin Luther King in the film, slammed the...

Secretary of state alleges violations The Colorado Secretary of State's Office alleges that Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall "violated state law in several ways" during the processing of ballots and the tallying of votes cast in the 2014 general election. Hall declined Friday to give a point-by-point response to those allegations, which included: •"She systematically discriminated against Republican election judges, by excluding people nominated by the Republican Party, and even appointing people not registered to vote." •"She prevented watchers from having a meaningful opportunity to observe and verify the signature review process, created an artificially cramped area for them to...

The Democrats say that there is no reason to require voters to present identification, nor is any other measure to curb voter fraud needed. They should meet one of their own, Opelousas, La., Mayor Don Cravins Sr. While speaking on Nov. 3, the day before the midterm elections, Cravins told a gathering, "If you 'early voted'" for Sen. Mary Landrieu, "go vote again tomorrow. One more time's not going to hurt." In Louisiana, voters can go to the polls early, which Cravins sees as an invitation to stuff the ballots. But he's not worried about breaking the law. In the...

Sen. Mary Landrieu has finally weighed in on the caught-on-tape call from a Louisiana Democratic official for supporters to commit voter fraud by casting more than one ballot in last month's election. You'll be relieved to know that she's reviewed the tape and has come to the conclusion that her (refreshingly candid!) chief of staff's father was just kidding. A local NBC affiliate addressed the controversy -- be sure to stay tuned for the decidedly un-amused reaction from average voters, and pardon the technical difficulties when the station attempts to playback Don Cravins Sr's problematic remarks: Sen Landrieu: It was...

As the dispute between the Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder and the Pueblo canvassing board over whether to certify the 2014 election results enters its third week, the Pueblo County commissioners Monday assured the lone Republican who won his election that, if it comes to it, they will appoint him to his office. Meanwhile, a representative for the Colorado Secretary of State’s office is scheduled to meet with the canvassing board Wednesday morning. And District Attorney Jeff Chostner told the commissioners that his office has begun to monitor the situation to be sure that political gamesmanship isn’t interfering with the...