Posted on 10/15/2008 11:10:37 AM PDT by EBH
Posted by /Plain Dealer Washington Bureau Chief October 15, 2008 11:22AM
WASHINGTON -- Ohio's Republican U.S. senator has stepped into the fray over claims of attempted voter fraud, asking the Justice Department this morning to assist the Ohio secretary of state in investigating alleged law-breaking involving ACORN.
Jennifer Brunner, the secretary of state, has not asked for that help. But Voinovich's office says it can't hurt to have another set of eyes.
"It's necessary because there have been enough allegations out there, enough suggestions, and right now the people of Ohio don't have confidence" that the election will not be tainted, said Chris Paulitz, Voinovich's spokesman.
He said the senator's office is getting calls from Ohio citizens worried about the Nov. 4 election's integrity in light of revelations that some voter registrations turned in by ACORN were fraudulent. "People aren't convinced that everything is on the up and up, and there's no harm in bringing in the nation's top cop," Paulitz said.
In his letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Voinovich wrote:
"A number of my Ohio constituents have contacted my office to raise concerns regarding statements from ACORN representatives that the voter registration cannot be fraud-free, combined with various accounts about potentially fraudulent voter registration activities. I am deeply concerned about such allegations.
"I know that like me, you share the concern that even the appearance of impropriety and fraudulent voting practices can result in the loss of public confidence in our nation's election process. In 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act, with my strong support, to help restore confidence in the election process. Unfortunately, problems appear to remain, including the potential for significant fraudulent registration practices that have been reported by the media in a number of states.
"As you may know, in Ohio, the Secretary of State is the chief elections officer and oversees the election process. I am confident that Ohio's Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, is doing what she can to ensure the integrity of the voter registration and election process. I am writing to request that you work with Secretary Brunner to investigate swiftly any allegations of fraud in Ohio's voter registration process. If any investigation finds criminal violations, I am sure that you and Secretary Brunner will work to ensure the appropriate prosecution of such matters."
The Republican National Committee today has been noting claims of registration fraud in Ohio, Missouri, Minnesota, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and elsewhere. ACORN, which stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, acknowledges that some of the 1.3 million registrations it collected were fraudulent. But it says they were a tiny portion and that many were first detected by ACORN itself. Under some state laws, ACORN must turn over the bad registrations anyway, knowing that local elections boards will reject them.
Democrats, Barack Obama's campaign and several public interest groups say the elections boards and secretaries of state have systems that are working to safeguard the election's integrity. The fact that fraudulent registrations have been discovered is proof, they say.
Second Republican Senator to do so. Cornyn was first. More Republicans will follow suit.
The Republicans have got to hang this around the Dem’s necks and that right soon. ACORN = Libs. Libs = Dems. Over and over and over.
Hey George......when did you finally WAKE UP!! and WHER ARE THE OTHER SENATORS???? I guess they LIKE VOTER FRAUD???
EVERY REPUBLICAN SHOULD DO THIS....EN BLANC (SP?)!
Northeast Ohio PING, please! :-)
ACORN == 0bama == FRAUD
Voinovich is no Republican. Someone must have leaned hard on Voinovich, (RNC?), to get him to take action.
If we could find out how Voinovich votes, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him vote Obama.
How about if *all* ACORN registrations were quarantined until proven valid?
One of the ways the Republicans can hang this around the Democrat’s neck is to have every single Republican Senator and Representative call for the Department of Justice to get involved to insure a fair and legal vote and call for ALL Democrat Congressmen to JOIN THEM. Then point out the glaring silence. Ask them publically if they’re NOT for a legitimate election.
But this one is proud of having voted for "HAVA."
bttt. Best post of the day. You nailed it!
“Jennifer Brunner, the secretary of state, has not asked for that help.”
Given her recent history, I believe she needs some oversight as well.
Thank you. You know, it’s discouraging that this isn’t as obvious to our elected Congressmen. The chairman of the RNC along with the House Minority Leader and Senate equivalant need to give a press conference right after the debate tonight challenging the Democrats to join them in calling for a fair election. However, they haven’t shown the backbone or organizational skills to do that.
And I’m just a lowly engineer.
Agree. We must keep the pressure on IN ALL STATES in questions.. The RATS know they can’t win in a fair and honest election, which of course is why this is happening. In fact, these loser RATS have been doing this for a long time.
Not my Tennessee Senators. No sir. We are proud to have moderate, milquetoast, pantywaist Republicans here in TN. [GAG]
did the piece of crap cry?
Did you really just call the senator, another Christian brother, “crap”?
I’ll pray for you.
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