Posted on 09/19/2008 3:12:20 AM PDT by Daffynition
Barack Obama's campaign website is recommending that voters remain registered in battleground states even though they may not be living there on Nov. 4.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is raising questions about how Sen. Obama’s (Ill.) campaign is urging its supporters to vote in purple states despite living in red or blue states this fall.
An RNC official said it is unclear whether that practice is illegal but argued that it is “out of compliance with the spirit of the law.”
However, Columbia University law professor and election law expert Nathaniel Persily stated that “there is no problem” with what Obama is doing. He noted that thousands of voters will be eligible this year to vote in one of two constituencies.
The Obama voter registration website asks people where they will be living on Election Day and makes a recommendation of whether they should switch their registration upon moving or whether they should remain registered at their old address and vote via absentee ballot.
For example, a prospective Obama voter who indicates that he will live in conservative-leaning Alabama on Election Day but is currently registered in the battleground state of Pennsylvania is informed that he has a choice where to vote but that it is “recommended” that he vote in Pennsylvania by absentee ballot. [A screengrab illustrating this scenario can be viewed here .] Meanwhile, voters moving from Alabama to Pennsylvania are informed that it is recommended that they vote in their new home state.
The website of Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) does not encourage Americans to vote in one state over another if they are eligible to vote in both.
“This isn’t done for any good government reason,” the RNC official said. “It is done for one reason only. They deem it as politically expedient to do this.
“They are encouraging voters who are taking up residence somewhere else to not vote there,” the RNC official argued, adding that the Obama campaign is “giving what amounts to legal guidance to voters and tell[ing] them this is OK.”
The Obama campaign responded that there is nothing improper about the website.
“Voters may still vote by absentee ballot if they meet the residency requirements of a state that they will not be present in on Nov. 4 — such as students,” said Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro. “The purpose of the website is to provide voters the necessary information about where and how to register, where to apply for an absentee ballot, or to check their polling location, with ease.”
The RNC is “taking a look at [its] options,” the GOP official told The Hill, arguing that the registration effort does not “square with their rhetoric” on the electoral process and “sheds light on how they view the voter.”
But Shapiro retorted that “repeated efforts have been made by partisan players to confuse students about the rules of eligibility for registering, and the campaign is determined to give students the correct information so that they have all the tools necessary to register and vote wherever they are eligible.”
Democrats are up to their same tricks, and pretty brazen about it too. Urging their criminal minded support base to vote twince , even though they don’t come right and say it is a sure sign of desperation.
I don’t know why a social security card isn’t improved with security features including a magnetic info strip like a bank card, which is swiped when you vote. It instantly registers you as having voted, and no matter where yo go, you just can’t vote again or else an alarm goes off.
Plus it would prevent illegal aliens from voting, because they wouldn’t be able to obtain a legal social security card.
If the GOP really wanted to be cynical, they would just toss free booze coupons out the window on election day morning, while driving through the Dhim neighborhoods. By 10AM they’d all be drunk for the day.
I bet Obama, Putin and Chavez would get along magnificently.
Won’t help him.
I thought one could only be a legal resident of ONE state.
WTH
This is just wrong.
For those FReepers in Tennessee, get your pile of rocks ready. You might even want to take a few practice throws.
Hmmmm...I live in Maryland and am registered to vote here but I own a home in Pennsylvania. Might have to see if I can register to vote in PA instead, even though my primary residence is in MD.
You might be able to do it, AS LONG AS YOU DON’T VOTE IN BOTH PLACES!
I think this happened in South Dakota a while back...Thune was winning until the votes starting coming in from Rapid City...suddenly, there were lots of votes against him...I think Indians crossed over their "lands" and voted where they were needed....they could claim that all the land belongs to them and they could vote anywhere....this is all just my opinion, my guess....
if you’re a Democrat you can. It’s not like anybody is going to do anything about it. Plus you can also vote in states you’ve never even visited.
Obama crawled out of the swamp of Chicago politics.
Well there is the rub. I will only vote in one place. They will vote in both, and also vote for their dead relatives and anybody else they find in the obituaries.
In actuality I am pretty sure I can’t register in PA because it is a vacation home which has a special tax category and I know for fact that because of that I’m not able to register a motor vehicle there. I assume that if you can’t register a vehicle you can’t register to vote either....but I do pay taxes. Taxation without representation????
LOL. Exactly. Is there a stinky whiff of double voting coming around.
I have started showing my driver’s license every time I vote, even though not required, as my own personal protest. Our little poll worker lady has gotten used to it. She agrees with me. Everyone should do it and tell the poll worker why.
Seems to me that they used a very successful, low tech approach to this in Iraq. The “Purple Finger”!!!
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.