Posted on 12/30/2004 4:57:18 PM PST by freespirited
As we've mentioned before, hundreds of people in King County have registered to vote giving their "permanent residence" at an address where they obviously don't live.
In addition to bona fide homeless people who are permitted by agency rules to register at government buildings, we also find people who own and live in real homes who have registered at government buildings, and hundreds of people who have registered at private mailbox services and storage rental facilities. Many of these people voted absentee from out-of-state and overseas addresses. Their standing to vote in Washington State is highly questionable.
State law clearly defines a residence for voting purposes. I've discussed the issue of registering at uninhabited residences with two senior officials at the Secretary of State's office. Both believe this is illegal. although neither has statutory authority to issue opinions or take action to enforce this.
I also caught up with King County Superintendent of Elections Bill Huennekens, who has always been helpful and forthright in answering my questions, even when this might reveal errors and shortcomings in King County election procedures. The gist of his remarks was that registering at a private mailbox is not lawful, but his office has little statutory authority to deal with the problem. The registrars will not accept a residence address at a standard P.O. Box. There is no specific statute on this, but they use "common sense" in rejecting postal box addresses. By implication they could use common sense in rejecting private mail box residences, as does Pierce County [see the reader comment]. Huennekens claims that they can't know about all of the addresses that are private mail box services, but that they will and have rejected registrants who use the label PMB in their residence address. They have also tried to "clean up" such registrations by contacting the voters and requesting a valid address. (In fact, private mailbox services are regulated by the USPS, so a list must exist somewhere. Also, I see several current registrations where PMB is used in the "apartment number", among them very recent registrations and people who actually voted this election).
Huennekens also said that even if his office does find people who are registered at illegal addresses, he has no statutory authority to simply cancel their registrations, which is governed by RCW 29A.08 510,515,520.
The burden falls on the county prosecutor and on the legitimately registered voters to challenge the registrations of alleged illegally registered voters. In some cases, an improper registration can be grounds for a felony conviction.
As Bob Williams of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation e-mailed me yesterday regarding the residence issue:
Looks like you uncovered a big mess.
I think we have. It would interesting if the path to overturning this election is to prosecute dozens of people for registering to vote at illegal addresses. What are the Democrats going to do to protect governor-pretend Fraudoire's claim on the governorship? Supply lawyers to defend the rights of unknown people to vote at fictitious addresses? Intriguingly, one of the people in King County who has registered and voted at an illegal address is a very prominent citizen for whom a felony conviction (or even an investigation) for fraudulent voter registration could end their career. This is someone I think a lot of Democrats would feel bad about losing if they end up being sacrificed in this tsunami of illegitimate voting.
ping
As always, "I" is Stefan Sharkansky, not your humble Freeper.
I suggest that if people listed a FRAUDULENT false residence for voting, that they FORFEIT all rights to their former true and correct address, in addition to the jail time. Hey, Park Rangers get to do this when you trespass.... Maybe King County's "NEW" residents can pay off the national debt....
Fraud BUMP!
Intriguingly, one of the people in King County who has registered and voted at an illegal address is a very prominent citizen for whom a felony conviction (or even an investigation) for fraudulent voter registration could end their career.
Why not simply NAME the PARTY??? a reporter cannot be found guilty of LIBEL if the story is true.
Does anyone know how this affects active duty military?
When WA asks me for an address, I give them my old one & explain I no longer live there and then give my current address. My understanding is that this is legal for the military - after all, half of my career has been spent overseas with me having no property owned in the US - so I wouldn't be able to vote at all, federal or state, if I couldn't 'maintain a residence' at a place I'm not living (I'm currently stationed in Korea).
However, I talked to a woman the other day who spent a number of years in the WA Guard before going on active duty recently - she was told she couldn't get a WA ballot because she no longer owned property in WA.
And when I contacted the Rossi campaign, when I told them I didn't own property in WA any more, they stopped talking to me. It was, "Um, thanks...we'll contact you by email...click"
Have I been doing something wrong?
bump
I found the following law passed by your state legislature. Hope it helps.
RCW 29A.04.151
Residence.
"Residence" for the purpose of registering and voting means a person's permanent address where he or she physically resides and maintains his or her abode.
However, no person gains residence by reason of his or her presence or loses his or her residence by reason of his or her absence:
(1) While employed in the civil or military service of the state or of the United States;
(2) While engaged in the navigation of the waters of this state or the United States or the high seas;
(3) While a student at any institution of learning;
(4) While confined in any public prison.
Absence from the state on business shall not affect the question of residence of any person unless the right to vote has been claimed or exercised elsewhere.
Thanks! I feel better now...
Donks love electoral confusion, messed up ballots filled out by dolts, motor voter, absentee ballots, mail in ballots and all other chaos come election time. They know how to make it work for them.
Chicago style voting.
<< Intriguingly, one of the people in King County who has registered and voted at an illegal address is a very prominent citizen for whom a felony conviction [Or even an investigation] for fraudulent voter registration could end their career.
Why not simply NAME the PARTY??? The Truth is not libelous. >>
Be nice if he'd even used the correct Engish, starting with: "..... 'a very prominent citizen' [Singular!] for whom a felony conviction [Or even an investigation] for fraudulent voter registration could end HIS [Singular!] career.
I changed my voter registration last summer. I've quit accepting snail mail at my home address (how 19th century!) and only accept it at work. As a result of my application to be a delegate at the King Co. Republican Convention being denied because mail to my home was returned to the Party, I notified the Secretary of State that I still resided in the same place but now accept mail at my work address, which is also within the County. As a result I still vote in the polling place for my home address. I'm guessing that this false residence issue is something entirely different than my situation?
Yes, that would be my guess too. The abuse is using a government building or storage facility as your residence address when you have a real residence address.
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