Posted on 06/23/2004 2:00:02 PM PDT by Marcus Alonzo Hanna
Felons Paid in Voter Registration Drive Political Group Paid Felons to Conduct Door-To-Door Voter Registration Drives in Least 3 States
The Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. June 23, 2004 A Democratic group crucial to John Kerry's presidential campaign has paid felons some convicted of sex offenses, assault and burglary to conduct door-to-door voter registration drives in at least three election swing states. America Coming Together, contending that convicted criminals deserve a second chance in society, employs felons as voter canvassers in major metropolitan areas in Missouri, Florida, Ohio and perhaps in other states among the 17 it is targeting in its drive. Some of the felons lived in halfway houses, and at least four returned to prison.
ACT canvassers ask residents which issues are important to them and, if they are not registered, sign them up as voters. They gather telephone numbers and other personal information, such as driver's license numbers or partial Social Security numbers, depending on what a state requires for voter registration.
Felons on probation or parole are ineligible to vote in many states. Doug Lewis, executive director of the Election Center, which represents election officials, said he is unaware of any laws against felons registering other people to vote.
A review of federal campaign finance and state criminal records by The Associated Press revealed that the names and hometowns of dozens of ACT employees in Missouri, Florida and Ohio matched those of people convicted of crimes such as burglary, forgery, drug dealing, assault and sex offenses.
Although it works against the re-election of President Bush, ACT is an independent group not affiliated with the Kerry campaign federal law forbids such coordination. Yet ACT is stocked with veteran Democratic political operatives, many with past ties to Kerry and his advisers.
ACT plans to spend about $100 million on initiatives to get out the vote for the presidential election, which likely will turn on how well Kerry and Bush can get their supporters to the polls.
ACT does not believe the felons it sends door to door pose a threat to the public, said Mo Elleithee, a Washington-based spokesman for the group.
"We believe it's important to give people a second chance," Elleithee said. "The fact that they are willing to do this work is a fairly serious indication that they want to become productive members of society."
Although ACT asks job applicants to cite their criminal history and hires some felons and not others, Elleithee would not reveal how many felons ACT has hired to canvass neighborhoods and register voters. They earn $8 to $12 per hour.
Elleithee confirmed that felons have been hired in Missouri, Florida and Ohio and said it is possible that felons have been hired in the other 14 states in which it's conducting its drive: Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Citing security concerns for the public and for the felons, the Missouri Department of Corrections in April banished ACT from its pool of potential employers for parolees in its halfway houses in Kansas City and St. Louis, department spokesman John Fougere said. Five ACT employees lived at the Kansas City Community Release Center and two others at the St. Louis Community Release Center earlier this year.
"From a public safety standpoint, we didn't want offenders to be in a situation where they would be handling that information," Fougere said. Officials also were concerned the door-to-door campaign would put felons at greater risk of false accusations, he said.
Among the ACT employees in Ohio was a woman convicted of sexual contact with a minor. She completed her parole 12 years ago.
"If she was still on parole that job wouldn't have been approved," said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Correction. "People who have been out of prison and haven't had any other problems with law enforcement, they should be given that second chance to be viable citizens."
In Florida, most felons released from prison are not on parole or probation. "If they're released from our custody and there is no other supervision ... we can't prohibit them from taking a job like this," said Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections.
ACT adopted a policy against employing violent felons this spring, Elleithee said, but he declined to release the policy or to describe what the group considered violent.
"We're constantly looking internally to better our hiring practices," he said. "But the bottom line is we would never hire anyone who we felt was a threat to anyone else."
At least two felons who were stationed at a Missouri halfway house have since moved into the community and are again employed by ACT "and are a tremendous part of our team," Elleithee said.
Four of ACT's former employees living at a Missouri halfway house have since been returned to prison two for drug violations, one for endangering the welfare of a child and another for walking away from the facility. None of the incidents was related to their work for ACT, Fougere said.
Associated Press Writers John McCarthy in Columbus, Ohio, and Mike Schneider in Orlando, Fla., contributed to this report.
Oh yeah, you really want a felon to have your social security number and DL number.
Soros-funded felons going door to door for Kerry...
The Soros ThreatThe Capitalist Threat
(1997 article by Soros)
"Arizona Democrats File Challenge to Nader (Claim felons used to get signatures)
Newsday.com and AP ^ | June 23, 2004 | JACQUES BILLEAUD
Posted on 06/23/2004 5:13:52 PM PDT by Mark
Arizona Democrats file challenge to Nader
By JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press Writer
June 23, 2004, 6:28 PM EDT
PHOENIX -- Two Arizona voters on Wednesday filed the first Democratic challenge to independent Ralph Nader's bid to get on a state's November presidential ballot.
The Democrats alleged that more than 70 percent of the 21,500 petition signatures recently filed for Nader are invalid, the Arizona Democratic Party said. Nader, a Winsted, Conn., native, needs 14,694 valid signatures to get on Arizona's ballot.
Democrats Dorothy Schultz and Betty Elizabeth Hughes also alleged in the complaint that some of those who circulated petitions for Nader didn't meet residency requirements and other qualifications, the party said. Several are prohibited from gathering signatures because they are convicted felons, according to the party."
Here are the dems filing a claim against the Nader people for doing what the democrats are planning to do - claiming the felons are prohibited because they are felons. Hmmmm?
I knew these guys weren't on the up and up. They came to my house, and I told them I was already registered. As they walked away, I inquired as to which candidate they were schilling for. The response was "Oh, were aren't backing any candidate, we are just registering people to vote".
I was expecting that they were Dems, so the answer kind of surprised me. What kind of political party has people in it that are afraid to tell others of their affiliation? Dems are not to be trusted with anything.
On a side note, before joining FR, I would never have inquired about affiliation, of paid attention to their name.
Received this in email and was shocked. Handing over your SSN and DL to felons and you can bet the people filling out the forms have no idea that these people are felons. Can you imagine have a burgular with your information especially if you live alone?
It is like it never stops! The RATs could care less about our political system and just want to corrupt it to regain power!
Shouldn't someone be reporting this to the Attorney General as voter fraud? And what about identity theft? We are told to NEVER divulge our SSN or other private data to anybody.
I agree, there is just NO WAY I would hand over this information to someone who just stops at my door!
Thanks for your info. Your instincts were right!
RE #32:
"Some enterprising lawyer could **OWN** ACT and Soros!!"
Who are you trying to kid? Don't you know who OWNS the American Bar Association?
Or is it the ABA who owns the DNC? I forget.
But I would not plan on any "justice" from the Judiciary if I were you. Besides; Soros can afford a better Lawyer than you or I can, so in all probablility litigation would be not only futile, but beyond our limited means.
For the democrats???? ... Not really
But I'll bet the folks these felon homes are going to would be in a bit of shock to find out
Email this one out
Re #44 (How appropriate!)
"You want my social at my door uninvited ? Sure it's-.44 cal. See ya !"
And see how long it takes the cops to get there to slap the cuffs on you for "brandishing" and "terrorizing" the poor hapless felon... who while enjoying his "second chance" can now ransack your home and have his way with your Family while you are safely off at jail and your .44 is in the Police Evidence locker. Is'nt that how it works nowadays?
RE #48:
" I think the votes should be checked against the criminal records, time consuming though."
I think so too, actually.
But...
We can think all we want to - it ain't happenin' though, is it?
Here in Maine they are prohibited from even asking a voter if they are a Citizen or not. Pretty cool deal... for Democrats.
I would hate to be one of those houses where they visited! Would give me the creeps!
Rapist supporters doing what comes natural. Supporting democrats.
....No mention of the ACLU being even the slightest bit concerned.
Not really. As far as the Democrats are concerned, this is par for the course. A ripe area for crime and corruption.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.