Posted on 10/19/2004 9:23:41 AM PDT by tame
Yesterday, I drove by the welfare department in Bakersfield, California to see if anyone was registering voters there (as sometimes is the case). Sure enough, there was a democrat voter registration table.
Now, hold your fire on the location. In all fairness, we Republicans have sometimes registered voters at the welfare office, though with probably far less of a natural constituency.
Anyways, I parked, walked up, and listened to a woman I will refer to as "Rat-lady" as she attempted to register voters. A woman I will refer to as Maisha came over to the table to register to vote. (Maisha may have been an employee of the Dept.)
Maisha indicated that she wanted to register as an independent, but Rat-lady told Maisha that she had to register as a Democrat since Rat-lady was working for the Democrat party.
I spoke up and told Rat-lady that she was wrong. I said that I am a Republican who registers voters for the GOP, and that Maisha can register any way she wants to.
I told both of them that it's not legal for Rat-lady to tell anyone that they "have to" register as a Democrat.
Rat-lady told me to "quit telling me how to do my job".
I said, "But what you're doing is illegal and I can report you to the elections office." [Secretary of State, etc.]
Rat-lady told me to "have at it" (which I later did by leaving a message re the incident on the voice mail of an elections official in Bakersfield).
Sometime during our exchange, and only after I said Rat-lady was doing something illegal, Rat-lady indicated that Maisha can take the registration form with her and mail it herself. I think Maisha did this, but I'm not sure.
Keep in mind this was the last day to register in California in order to be able to vote in the upcoming election.
Maisha seemed very concerned that if she did not register as a democrat, then Rat-lady would not turn in the voter registration card on time (I mentioned that was a real possibility).
Maisha also indicated she might register as a Democrat for now (if she gave the card back to Rat-lady to turn in) so she would not miss the deadline, and be able to vote in the upcoming election.
Bottom line: Maisha seemed intimidated by a very coercive Democrat.
But that's not all. Consider this irony: During the course of our exchange, Rat-lady took a stab at Republicans (since I mentioned I did voter Registration for them) by mentioning the alleged Democat voter registrations that were trashed in Las Vegas.
I then mentioned the story I read about [someone with ties to the NAACP] the rats' allegedly paying for voter registration cards with crack cocaine.
Meanwhile, Maisha was starting to laugh at the whole exchange.
Now, folks, Maisha was a black lady. And the Rat-lady seemed to want to disenfranchise Maisha's right to register with the party of her choice, or to register as an independent if she so chooses.
Do you think Jesse Jackson will be coming to fight alongside me against the 'rats in Bakersfield?
Good on you, tame.
Makes one wonder how often this type of intimidation took place up and down the state and even worse, how many of the acts went unchallenged.
It shows in the polls and it matters in most places for primarys
You did the right thing.
We're the Democratic Party and we approve of this message.
Of course you can. Registering as Dim or republican only affects primaries where you have to vote for which candidate of your party you want to run for election.
Good for you! Are you going to follow up on your call?
And how does anyone authenticate what your affiliation is if you appear at the polls during primaries? If one likes the president and has every intention of voting for him again would it not be fun to go and vote for Dean for example. I guess I still don't get it's significance?
How many people did she successfully dupe is what I wanna know...
If it was illegal, why didn't you call the cops? They could have come out and had a talk with her, and got some [bad] publicity for the Dems as well.
Not all illegal matters are police matters. they would have just told me there's nothing they can do, and then they would have referred me to the Secretary of State.
yes. i was not able to get her name, though. But i've seen her around, so if anyone cares it won't be difficult to ID her.
PERHAPS FREEPERS
WOULD WANT TO TAKE A PHOTO WITH THEIR CELL PHONES and, if possible get names etc. and then call the police and ask for an arrest.
Failing that, perhaps calling the local GOP and asking for someone to come and man a table for the other side.
I consider this a very serious violation of law but more important, now, a huge potential influence on a lot of idiot voters--which is the bigger problem, now.
Thanks for your intervention on this voter's behalf.
tha's creepy, (to say the least but fitting for 'rats)
and shields are righteous babes :o)
hehe I live in Bakersfield and used to work for Human Services as an Eligibility Worker. If the lady that wanted to register works there she is prolly sick of the handouts. I couldn't stand it anymore and quit.
This is an ecellent post and I think something else may be important for our efforts to get out the vote. I truly believe that there are a lot of people out here who have been bullied into registering as a Democrat. These people may also be under the impression that they have to vote Democrat because that's the way they registered.
Especially with younger voters and those who will be voting for the first time. I know when I was in college and went to vote, I was a little overwhelmed and would have easily been misguided by a person of seeming authority telling me some BS about the rules.
Get the word out that you can vote for anyone, regardless of your registration or party affiliation!!!
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.