Cruz Defends 'Voting Violation' Mailer

kwwl.com ^ | January 31

[Helicondelta]

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is defending a campaign mailer that Iowa's secretary of state says misrepresents election law.

The mailer bills itself as a "voting violation" notice and tells the recipient it's been sent due to "low expected voter turnout in your area." It then grades the recipient's voting history and that of several neighbors, citing public records.

Cruz told reporters in Sioux City, Iowa, on Saturday that the mailing is "routine."

He says he won't apologize

[AFret.]

I’m very disappointed in Cruz. Thought he was much more than he’s turning out to be.

---

The fact that Raphael is not even qualified to be President is the least of his worries now....

[PJBankard]

It is called a postmark. And if the postmark is fake, that means that someone took the time to hand deliver it into someone’s mailbox, which is significantly more creepy.

[Pikachu_Dad]

Says who? I haven’t seen anything first hand.

Looked at the press secretary and the campaign tweets and sites.

Nothing.

I have seen folks making that claim. Haven’t seen any support for that claim.

Not buying that a campaign wasted money on a general turnout mailer when they would only be targeting supporters for this caucus.

This is not some general election us or the democrat race. This is a ten candidate free for all.

Campaigns are only targeting getting out their supporters.

This claim does not smell right.

[AFret.]

but Cruz already admitted sending them and refused to apologize.

“It’s Settled”..

[Kenny]

This is why Trump is better off taking his own council, these advisors are imbeciles. Now Cruz is between a hard place and a rock, he sticks by the mailers and the scandal grows or he apologizes and looks weak.

I think to this day Christine O’Donnell unknowingly hired a mole. How else to explain a competent political consultant pushing that “I am not a witch” ad.

[Lumper20]

Yes, the records are available to political candidates as per the Gov in Iowa. However it is Cruz’s use of the Info and his misrepresentations.

[Ransomed]

I doubt they are googling each person, but I take it they somehow narrowed it down to supposed low frequency voters who would vote for Cruz. Unless it was simply an age thing, and they figure old folks would fall for this and vote Cruz so they just sent one to old folks who don’t vote. Otherwise seems like it would increase turnout generally and supposedly that helps Trump.

Freegards

[CodeToad]

Ted Cruz, by sending these "Voting Violation" mailers, in my opinion, violated the following federal election laws. Many States have similar laws.

The following is an image of a mailer Senator Ted Cruz sent out intimidating and threatening voters. It contains voter information and the information of the voter's neighbors.

It threatens "follow up notices" with no doubt information about if the voter voted in the caucus.

It attempts to intimidate voters by threatening public disclosure to neighbors of a person's voting record.

One must ask what does Senator Ted Cruz expect the person receiving this notice should do to their neighbors for not voting as Senator Ted Cruz demands, and what might happen to the voter if the neighbors are informed they have not voted as Senator Ted Cruz expects?

These are direct threats and intimidations in violation of federal election, civil rights, and postal laws.

The following PDF document link outlines the federal election laws and the government's position on such matters for the purposes of prosecution.

Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses Seventh Edition, May 2007

The following sections are from the above document. I've condensed and apraphrased the document to the important words.

42 U.S. Code § 1973gg-10 - Criminal penalties (violation of election law)
A person in any election for Federal office knowingly and willfully intimidates, threatens, or coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any person for registering to vote, or voting, or attempting to register or vote; urging or aiding any person to register to vote, to vote, or to attempt to register or vote; shall be fined or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

18 U.S. Code § 594 - Intimidation of voters
Whoever intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, or of causing such other person to vote for, or not to vote for, any candidate for the office of President or Vice President shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

[Atlantan]

The postal stamp says “Caucus on Feb. 1”.

[mkjessup]

It is well to remember that we are all one drunken post away from the same fate.

Indeed.

[Kenny]

Re: Texas senate seat he’s going to have his hands full. All the stuff, natural born citizen, undisclosed bank loans, flip-flopping on amnesty that’s haunted him in these primaries will come up in the TX election as well.

[mkjessup]

It is my understanding that GGG is only suspended until after the Iowa caucuses. As for 'Chauncey' and his "Jesus is for Cruz" tagline, I've seen no evidence of him being zotted.

LibbyLu however swims with the zot-fish.

[Mariner]

"Routine"

Well, there you have it folks.

It's routine for Ted Cruz to appear as a snivly hall monitor and snitch that nobody likes.

The most smarmy man in America, is routinely smarmy.

I'm sure he routinely went out of his way to show that he aced the test, got straight A's and was every teachers pet.

I also sure he was routinely rejected by women and routinely pantsed in high school.

Did I mention it was routine to laugh at him derisively?

[Mozilla]

Cruz made a campaign violation.

[Mariner]

"LibbyLu however swims with the zot-fish. "

It must have happened yesterday...link?

Did she go out with a foaming-at-the-mouth flair?

[KGeorge]

I didn’t know that about the time when Rafael, Sr left Cuba matching up. :-/
I guess I’m not surprised. (So much of this stuff just disappears into the ether)

I did know that about lying/ replacing one addiction for another from people I’ve known who had drinking problems.

Cruz definitely has a problem with the truth.

[RKBA Democrat]

Godgunsguts rode the lightning as well.

[mkjessup]

Did she go out with a foaming-at-the-mouth flair?

Actually her Opus was rather lame like she is, but it generated over 700 posts at this point, 99 percent of them filled with fun, frolic and hilarity!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3390867/posts

[poconopundit]

...Having grown up in the shadow of the great curmudgeon, I know of no higher journalistic award. Excellent, AndyJackson.   Good to hear there are other H. L. Mencken fans in FReeper World.   Are you a journalist or live in Baltimore? For those not familiar the Bad Boy of Baltimore, I highly recommend The Impossible H. L. Mencken, a well-edited collection of Mencken's finest work by Marion Elizabeth Rodgers. Reading Mencken, you begin to appreciate what real journalism is. But Mencken was not only a journalist; he was also the most respected literary critic of his time.

[Vaquero]

It's not horrible but it's certainly not a smart move...

Not a great move.....agreed. Also anything to connect him with Beck is a truly awful move