Fraud File: States to Watch

NewsMax ^ | October 31 | Associated Press

[MissouriConservative]

WASHINGTON — Florida again. And Ohio and Iowa and New Mexico and maybe Wisconsin or one or two other battleground states. All are possible settings for a replay of the court contests and recounts that marked the 2000 election.

The neck-and-neck presidential election could end, as it almost always has through American history, with a clear winner and a gracious loser on Election Night. But armies of lawyers are ready for the alternative with an eye to fighting several Florida-style postelection legal wars at once. Lawyers set up command posts in key states weeks ago, and they have already filed dozens of lawsuits intended to clarify or change election rules before voters come to the polls.

Here are some states where the close election and other factors could combine to produce this year's versions of the 36-day Florida recount battle:

FLORIDA

Florida has a closely divided electorate and a fat pot of 27 Electoral College votes. Both President Bush and the Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry, could win the election by winning Florida. That fact, plus a history of mechanical and procedural problems, puts the state under special scrutiny this year.

Despite an overhaul of state voting procedures and eviction of the old punch card voting machines that produced the chads of 2000, Florida still has many of the old problems and some new ones.

Legal challenges could again involve faulty equipment, but complaints over registration rules, poll hours or provisional voting are more likely.

Politicians have been trading accusations over claims of fraud, missing absentee ballots and concerns that thousands of voter registrations will be challenged in what one lawyer calls "hand-to-hand combat at the precincts" on Nov. 2.

Thousands of absentee ballots may have gone astray in heavily Democratic Broward County, and election officials had to scramble to send new ones. Republicans claimed Thursday that 925 convicted felons without voting rights had either voted or requested absentee ballots.

Unlike in 2000, Florida now has a statewide recount law. Recounts are automatic if the result is within 0.5 percent of total votes cast.

OHIO

Scene of much of the legal skirmishing before the election, Ohio has some of the same dynamics as Florida. It's a big state, the polls show a very close race and 20 Electoral College votes are on the table.

No Republican has ever been elected president without taking Ohio; only two Democrats have in 100 years.

At least one of the controversies could form the basis for a new legal challenge after the election. Republicans questioned thousands of voter registrations, since mail sent to the listed addresses was returned. The GOP lost a federal appeal Friday to restart hearings challenging the registrations. Attorney General Jim Petro said stopping the hearings "has just thrown Ohio's electoral process into disarray and has opened the door to voter fraud."

A fresh challenge arose Thursday over the presence of polling-place witnesses who can question voters' identities. Democrats went to federal court trying to block those witnesses, saying voters who end up being disqualified would have no meaningful way to appeal.

IOWA

Although the state offers just seven electoral votes, campaigning has been heavy and legal maneuvering fierce. Iowa could be one of several states where the handling of provisional ballots becomes a legal issue after the election.

Provisional, or backup, ballots will be offered nationwide for this first time this year. The idea is to make sure eligible voters are not turned away from the polls because of a clerical error or some other mistake. Before the election, Democrats lost numerous legal challenges over whether to read the provisional ballot rules broadly enough to cover voters who mistakenly try to vote in the wrong precinct.

After several days of legal back-and-forth over that issue in Iowa this week, the state attorney general said election officials will set aside ballots cast in the wrong precincts, in the event a lawsuit later determines they are legal.

NEW MEXICO

The state, which has five electoral votes, looks like a good bet for a fight over rules for registering new voters, including large numbers of Hispanic citizens casting their first votes. There may be problems at the polls with voters who signed up by mail but did not include identification such as a partial Social Security number on the form. Those voters are supposed to show ID the first time they vote.

WISCONSIN

With 10 electoral votes, Wisconsin yield fights over liberal rules for absentee voting and voter registration. The state is one of only a handful that allow registration on Election Day.

PENNSYLVANIA

The Keystone state, with 21 electoral votes, could be the scene of racially charged confrontations on Election Day. Democrats have already complained that Republicans tried to confuse urban voters with an unsuccessful move to relocate polling places shortly before the election. Republicans said the polling places were not accessible to the disabled.

[Perdogg]

Don't forget Hawaii.

[Saundra Duffy]

And CALIFORNIA! We have so much voter fraud here it's PATHETIC!

[hispanarepublicana]

There may be problems at the polls with voters who signed up by mail but did not include identification such as a partial Social Security number on the form. Those voters are supposed to show ID the first time they vote.

Voters who were registered in the "2004 Registration Frenzy" will not withstand a winter storm w/snow and ice to vote tomorrow. I guarantee it.

[Diogenesis]

[Vortex]

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will keep us from voting for Bush.

[hoosiermama]

Voter Fraud Repository:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1229355/posts?page=305

Use as you see fit.....

[backhoe]

Crosslinked to:

Click the picture & goto "last" for the latest on Vote Fraud:

...and a note from your compiler of links- near the "last" are links about ACORN, Project Vote, PIGRIM, and other far-Left pressure groups who hide under the "activist" label while subverting representative government.

These nasty characters demean and dilute the value of everyone's vote.

The plan, besides their hope of throwing the election to sKerry, is to so thoroughly corrupt the election results that Mr. Bush will either not be taken seriously, or open to impeachment.

You had better take this stuff seriously- it is a dagger aimed at the heart of the Republic.

[Libertina]

Hmmm, interesting location in WA. If the Islamofacists get upset in Seattle they'll take it out on the libs. Wonder if that would get the lefties attention?

[Ditto]

Democrats have already complained that Republicans tried to confuse urban voters with an unsuccessful move to relocate polling places shortly before the election.

What a crock. There is not a single "Urban" district in Pennsylvania where Republicans control the County Election Board. If pooling places were moved, it was a Democrat that moved them.

[theDentist]

I'll make it shorter for you: watch every single state, all absentee votes (military particularly), and all recounts.

[TeleStraightShooter]

A good benchmark for which to gauge against would be New Jersey and Oregon.

Both are leaning Kerry, but the margin is under 5%.

If Bush was to win both of those (or virtually tie) and yet lose several of the states in question, it would be a strong indicator of fraud is said states.

[onehipdad]

Recounts are automatic if the result is within 0.5 percent of total votes cast.

Or if Kerry loses.