Posted on 10/30/2006 8:42:33 PM PST by Tamzee
Pennsylvania Democrats will head into the midterm elections with a 600,000 edge among registered voters after out-gaining Republicans by some 50,000 in the past year.
The tally slightly widens the advantage Democrats had in the 2004 presidential election, when the state rolls reached a record 8.4 million registered voters and Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 580,000. The overall number fell substantially immediately after the election as the rolls were purged of inactive voters. Through Monday, the state had tallied 8.2 million registered voters.
This year's ballot features one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country, a gubernatorial election and — in several districts — tight congressional contests that could swing the balance in the U.S. House of Representatives. Both parties say they expect record turnouts for a midterm election.
(snip)
The biggest percentage jump within both counties, though, came among unaffiliated voters and those registered with minor parties. That number surged 10 percent in Lehigh and 11 percent in Northampton, boosting the total to a combined 64,000.
Because local elections boards are constantly removing voters from the rolls — because of people dying, moving or simply not voting — it's impossible to know how much of the changes in the rolls come from new registrants. Still, some political observers say the overall numbers paint a bleak picture for Republicans.
Franklin & Marshall College's G. Terry Madonna, though, said he is ''suspicious'' of voter registration numbers because he suspects many counties don't remove inactive voters. He pointed to Philadelphia County, which has more than a million registered voters, meaning that more than nine out of 10 people of voting age are registered, based on recent Census estimates.
''Typically we have 80 percent of eligible voters registered,'' said Madonna, director of the college's Center for Politics and Public Affairs.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
Good question! I dont see the republican leadership asking this question though if the democrats win next week.
What did you expose as an urban legend?
The registration numbers,
The claim that 9/10 of Philly is registered, or
The claim that 11/10 registered in Philly vote?
http://press.arrivenet.com/politics/article.php/677278.html
Philadelphia Identified As No. 1 Election Fraud 'Hot Spot' In America, Says Legislative Fund
Date : Tuesday, August 02, 2005
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In a report released today, the American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund ("ACVR Legislative Fund") identifies Philadelphia as the number one election fraud "hot spot" in America. The report, "Vote Fraud, Intimidation & Suppression In The 2004 Presidential Election," is the most comprehensive and authoritative review of the facts surrounding allegations of vote fraud, intimidation and suppression made during the 2004 presidential election. The report lists the top five election fraud "hot spots" in the country based on its findings and the cities' documented history of fraud and intimidation. ACVR Legislative Fund calls for immediate attention to these areas.
"Election after election, political parties, election officials and the news media act surprised when fraud, intimidation and suppression activities occur. Now everyone is on notice that there's a problem in Philadelphia and those who don't participate in a solution will be held accountable," said Brian Lunde, ACVR Legislative Fund board member.
ACVR Legislative Fund will work with national and state political parties, state legislators and local officials to create a process that supports local election officials in each of these "hot spot" cities and ensures that any effort to continue the historic pattern of fraud and intimidation in the 2006 election is exposed and stopped. Other "hot spots" identified in the report were Milwaukee, Seattle, St. Louis/East St. Louis and Cleveland.
Summary Of Philadelphia Findings:
-- Republican volunteers violently intimidated by union members, who assaulted the volunteers' vehicle and chased them in traffic.
-- At least 15 new registrants found to be deceased.
-- Many addresses listed for new registrants were in fact vacant lots and boarded-up buildings.
-- Polling places located in local bars, unsafe abandoned buildings, district office of Democrat state Sen. Vincent Fumo and private home decorated with Kerry sign in window.
-- 43 polling locations inaccessible to the handicapped and 17 in businesses or homes where voters could be intimidated.
-- ACT and MoveOn illegally distributed and collected absentee ballots from prison inmates in at least one Philadelphia prison, according to news reports.
-- City voter rolls nearly matched census estimates of the voting-age population.
-- ACORN reportedly put inaccurate information on voter registration forms.
Violence against GOP volunteers in Philadelphia addressed on page 29; City vote fraud/election irregularities section begins on page 62.
ACVR Legislative Fund sent a letter to national political party chairmen Howard Dean and Ken Mehlman today calling on them to identify issues of concern in Philadelphia and other "hot spot" cities by October 1, 2005. ACVR Legislative Fund also called on the national political parties to adopt a zero- tolerance policy against vote fraud and intimidation that commits them to pursuing and fully prosecuting individuals and allied organizations who commit vote fraud or who seek to deter anyone eligible from participating in the election through fraud or intimidation.
"No amount of legislative reform can effectively deter those who commit acts of fraud and intimidation if there is no punishment for the crime and these acts continue to be tolerated," said Mark F. "Thor" Hearne, ACVR Legislative Fund Counsel. "We must put a stop to vote fraud, intimidation and suppression in Philadelphia for people to regain confidence in our electoral process."
The report finds that thousands of Americans were disenfranchised by illegal votes cast and a coordinated effort by members of certain "nonpartisan" organizations to rig the election system through voter registration fraud in more than a dozen states. The report further finds that while Democrats routinely accuse Republicans of voter intimidation and suppression, neither party has a clean record on the issue. The report finds that paid Democrat operatives were far more involved in voter intimidation and suppression activities than were their Republican counterparts during the 2004 presidential election.
The report makes eight key recommendations that, if implemented, will secure the American election system so that all voters will have the ability to participate free of harassment and no legitimate voter will be disenfranchised by an illegal vote.
ACVR Legislative Fund was founded on the belief that public confidence in our electoral system is the cornerstone of our democracy. The organization was established primarily to further the common good and general welfare of citizens of the United States of America by educating the public about vote fraud, intimidation and discrimination which impacts the constitutional right of all citizens to participate in the electoral process. ACVR Legislative Fund is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that neither supports nor endorses any political party or candidate.
Please visit http://www.ac4vr.com to view the report in its entirety.
The second is false, the first is not far off the mark. The turnout is more like 50% of registered voters (some of which of course are deadwood). 700,000 folks "voted" in Philly in 2004. The population is something like 1.5 million.
It's plain to see then that the RATS have unpurged the rolls, and put all the dead and inactive back on. I wonder why all the dead and inactive go to the democrat side? Puzzling...
I am sure more than half the numbers are bogus. We all know how the Libs try to steal elections.
By the way, in 1952, almost a million voted in Philly. The population then was what - something like 2 million - with probably a higher percentage of under 21 persons, than are under 18 today?
You'd think they would at least count the number of people walking in and out of polling stations, and comparing those numbers to the actual numbers of ballots cast, to see how many had fake ballots tucked up their sleeves.
a discrepancy would be reason enough to have a re vote in that ward.
VOTE! D'ye hear me??? We'll WIN if we VOTE!!!
Time for the Tombstone Hand-Check!!!
I don't think it will be a problem because half the voters don't know who their voting for! Don't you remember Sean Hannity's show, The don't know anything and 50% will not vote at all.
We need a voter id law - - just like the one Rendell vetoed.
In our township there are more people registered to vote than there are people.
Only a dead person's family can contact the board of elections and have the person's name removed in PA. It is surely the last thing the bereaved are going to think about.
...and how many of those votes were registered by ACORN????
I'd be really interested to see some serious analysis on voter turnout and patterns, in states that have a new voter ID law.
I live in Buffalo, NY. Ditto.
The Morning Crawl is the New York Times of Allentown.
Signing them up and getting them out are two different animals.
Note this: "Census figures show that blacks and Latinos make up roughly 30 percent of Allentown's general population. Yet school district statistics show the two groups make up more than 70 percent of student enrollment." Allentown, in Lehigh Country, is PA's third largest city (surpassed Erie a few years ago).
So this doesn't surprise me. Puerto Ricans have been moving into these counties in droves for the past two decades. When they go get their drivers' licenses, the register to vote -- Democrat, of course.
Fortunately, after election analysis has shown that those who have registered to vote via Motor Voter do not actually turn out to vote in very large percentages.
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