FReepers Against Voter Fraud

"The right of citizens to vote and have their vote count is the cornerstone of our democracy - the necessary precondition of government of the people, by the people and for the people. Enforcing the laws that guarantee voting rights and punish voting fraud is the duty of the Department of Justice. More than mere law enforcement, our responsibility to protect the access to and integrity of elections is the responsibility of upholding freedom itself.

America is a nation whose founding documents and most inspired words uphold the ideal of democratic self-government as a model for the world. The opening phrases of the Declaration of Independence declare that governmental power, if it is to be just, must be derived from the consent of the governed. The Constitution begins, purposefully and deliberately, with these three words: "We the people . . ."

America has failed too often to uphold the right of every citizen's vote, once cast, to be counted fairly and equally. Votes have been bought, voters intimidated and ballot boxes stuffed. The polling process has been disrupted or not completed. Voters have been duped into signing absentee ballots believing they were applications for public relief. And the residents of cemeteries have infamously shown up at the polls on election day.

Today, it is more important than ever before that we embrace the privilege that makes us unique among the peoples, nations and societies of human history. Our way of life is not a given, and our freedom is not an accident. Liberty is a rare gift for which millions have worked and suffered and sacrificed and died. It now falls to us to guard this gift from those who would destroy it. It falls to us, the free, to ensure that the cornerstone of our freedom - government of the people, by the people, and for the people - does not perish from the earth."

It has been quite a month and overall a victorious one for Republicans. The new year looms bright on the horizon with the promise of much needed changes taking place now that we have the majority in both the House and Senate and with the opportunity to finally have some conservative judges seated who will uphold the Constitution rather than legislating the socialist agenda of the Democrats from the bench and Tiny Tommy Daschle and his obstructionist thugs have been spanked soundly and sent to their room in a manner of speaking.

While we had several days of delirious gloating, drunk on the thrill of a hard earned and well-deserved victory, we know all too well that the election and the events leading up to it were not without incident and once again the deck was stacked against us as the Democrats tried every trick in the book in a shameless effort at stealing yet another election. With the blatant disregard for the law so characteristic of them when it obstructs their designs, they managed to get a liberal kangaroo court to uphold the replacement of Torricelli on the ballot in New Jersey beyond the legal deadline for doing so for no other reason than having determined that the scandal and corruption surrounding Torricelli rendered him incapable of winning. In Minnesota, prior to Paul Wellstone's ill-fated final flight, a plan was uncovered that had Democrats busing in students from out of state to take advantage of Minnesota's same day voter registration and vote illegally for Paul Wellstone. Even as this was being revealed, the campaign was underway to push a similar same day registration legislation in Colorado and California, thereby opening new opportunities for illegal voting in those states. In South Dakota Democrat operatives (sorry, I cannot bring myself to use the word "Democratic") paid a field worker in excess of $12,000 over a period of 3 months to register native Americans on the reservations. It was later discovered that many registration cards that had been turned in by that worker had been written in the same handwriting. Among the newly registered was at least one who was recently deceased. This and other irreglarities that were uncovered in South Dakota has led to 1 out of 10 ballots there being under investigation. Fish need water, plants need sunshine, an addict needs a fix and Democrats need power and these three cases are just samples of the extent to which they will go to get it.

The idea for this thread was born following the Arkansas Hog Wild FReepers' discovery of organized intimidation tactics on the part of Democrat and NAACP operatives in Jefferson County, Arkansas as relayed by FReeper, stop_the_rats, a Republican poll watcher who gained undesired and unfair national notoriety during early voting, and by a Republican campaign worker who "infiltrated" the Clinton led, pre-election campaign "event" there. The original story was posted as part of the after-FReep report with more detail added in a post-election update. The story generated such outrage that the thread turned into a FReeper brainstorm as we labored over how we might counteract the dishonest methods employed by the Democrats to hijack elections. The effort yielded an abundance of references and it was generally agreed that voter fraud is, or at least should be, of great concern to all of us. There is a strong probability that the South Dakota election was stolen and in Arkansas the fraud machine was spinning out of control and may well have cost Tim Hutchinson his senate seat as well, despite the shadow cast over him in the wake of his divorce and remarriage. Chances are that we'll never know. Thankfully neither of these races ended up being the tie-breaker that would determine the balance of power in the Senate, but either could have been and had that been the case, you can bet it would have gotten really ugly and may have produced an entirely different outcome.

Even as the Democrats are still licking their wounds and wondering what on Earth happened on November 5, they are already scrambling and scheming and conniving as to ways to prevent our intercepting their next power grab in 2004. This is revealed in their ongoing efforts to block any attempt to validate a voter's legitimacy whether it be by requiring a legal form of ID at the polls, the repeal of motor voter legislation, cracking down on absentee balloting and early voting, doing away with same day registration or by the presence of poll watchers at polling places. In every case they play the race card crying "black voter intimidation" when in reality they are simply thrashing against the net that could trap those guilty of voting illegally thereby inhibiting travel on their familiar roads of voter fraud. Thankfully, Republicans were more diligent this year and undoubtedly made an impact. More questionable ballots were challenged, more questions raised, more accountability called for and more light shed on irregularities. Until recently, prosecution for voter fraud has been virtually unheard of, but that is starting to change. There have been hundreds of stories published over the past several weeks relating to voting irregularities and credible allegations of fraud. Some have led to criminal charges being filed and still others have led to investigations which are ongoing. While it is unlikely that all election fraud can be stopped, it is much harder for it operate under a spotlight, which is exactly why we must each do our part to make sure that the spotlight stays on those "shadowy" recesses where voting machines mysteriously vanish, ballot boxes are obscured from view and the demons of electoral darkness run amok.

It was suggested that the opening remarks of Attorney General John Ashcroft be used as the basis of our mission statement for this thread. In these precarious times when we are at war and we are threatened daily by terrorism, our liberty has become more precious than ever and we must be vigilant to protect it not only from foreign invaders, but also from those who would erode it from within by compromising the integrity of our elections. In order to succeed in a battle it is essential to know the enemy and attack at the point of greatest vulnerability. Included here is a list of links, which while by no means exhaustive, can serve to enlighten. Many of these stories are from Arkansas only because this was the springboard for this thread and we look forward to other FReepers adding stories from their own areas as well as any based in personal experience. The original thread also produced a wealth of resources as we discussed who we should contact if we became aware of voting irregularities or suspected fraud. Again the list of links is far from comprehensive and additions are welcome. Of course the whole point of this exercise is to get more conservative voters involved in changing the laws to close loopholes which make it easy to cheat, to promote the enforcement of existing election laws and to take part in the election process at the local level all with the goal of intercepting future fraud campaigns. In other words our goal is to STOP THE RATS FROM HIJACKING THE ELECTION PROCESS AND TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK!

Many thanks to all the wonderful FReepers who contributed their time, energy and ideas to produce the foundation for this thread:

Awareness- know thy enemy! If any of these links become outdated many of these articles are posted on the original FReep thread. If you let me know via FReepmail, I will make editorial adjustments accordingly before renewing the thread.

Access One reason the Democrats get away with as much as they do is because they make a lot of noise. It is time WE make some noise of our own. There are a number of individuals, organizations and media sources who support our Constitution and seek to protect the integrity of our elections. Here are a few of them. Rather than clutter the body of this thread with a long list of email addresses, I will post the websites. Most of these have contacts and email addresses on them.

Election Law Below is a very brief list of some election laws and guidelines which we have referenced recently. I am sure this section will grow considerably as others add their contributions.

Action What can FReepers do? For starters we can identify states that will have key races in the 2004 election. Is your state one of them? Let's start getting important information about the race, the candidates, the electoral history of the state, the laws in that state and how open they may leave the process to tampering, history of voter fraud in the state, conservative media outlets there, and whatever else you can think of that might be relevant to equip the electorate to head off problems in advance.

Democrats LIE! Their biggest and most effective lie is that Republicans are deliberately trying to prevent blacks and/or other minorities from voting. In effect, they're calling us racists. The truth is that it is them who seem to consider blacks and other minorities so inferior and ignorant and lackiing in initiative that they are incapable of voting without the benefit of THEIR "guidance" and "protection". Their greatest fear is that blacks will recognize how badly they've been duped and insulted by these people and leave the party in droves. We need to work with that. Black conservatives have perhaps the greatest responsibility for telling other black voters the truth about the Democrat party, although it is certainly something we should all work on.

Talk about election fraud. Bring it up whenever an opportunity presents itself. Keep a notebook at all times and if someone tells you anything pointing to vote fraud, get more details. Write down such things as county, precinct, candidates in the race, name of the witness and whatever else you can think of. If it seems credible, report it to someone.

Take part in the process. Here is a list of suggestions that stop_the_rats posted on another thread:

1. Plan to take election day off in 2004.
2. Be a poll worker. You get paid for this.
3. Be a poll watcher. Call your local Republican headquarters or the campaign office of one of your Republican candidates and volunteer to be a poll watcher.
4. Count absentee ballots. You get paid for this also.
5. Be a poll closer. It's a long day. Some people who can't poll watch because of work, could agree to come after work for 2 hours and close the polls to give poll watchers a break. Get final counts and make sure no "late" voters turn up.
6. Take lunches to poll workers and poll watchers.
7. Man the headquarters so if problems arise, poll workers or watchers have a place to call for help. Have a list of numbers: local election officals, state officals.
8. Find a person who will agree to "be in charge" of all the rules poll watchers and poll workers need to follow. Each state has rules and in some cases, state election representatives will come to your city and give a presentation.
9. Encourage others to get involved.
10. Smile; we have them worried!

Some might want to take it a step furthur, if that is an option in your area, and be an election judge. Or you may have specific talents and training that you could donate to the cause, such as legal assistance and advice.

Finally; ask questions. FReepers have an uncanny ability to ask the right questions in most any situation AND to find answers and we have an inexhaustable resource right here on Free Republic. Here are just a few questions to start with.

"How do we work to get cooperation between poll watchers and workers and clarify expectations on all sides BEFORE an election?"

"How can you prove fraud? What is legal in a given state (photos, tape recording, witness statements, compiling a list of names, video taping)?"

"If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)

FReepers; your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get out there and STOP THE RATS!

This was an interesting read.

Stopping Voter Fraud Made a BIG Difference!

Voters Chose a Change of Climate in Washington
By Mary Mostert, Analyst, Banner of Liberty (www.bannerofliberty.com)

November 5, 2002

This article was written on Monday before the election. I predicted, based on actions by Attorney General Ashcroft to stop voter fraud that has been rampant in the elections since passage of the Motor Voter Bill by a Democrat Congress and signed by Bill Clinton in 1993, that "not only will the Republicans keep the House of Representatives but also will pick up a couple of Senate seats. That will enable George W. Bush to get his judges approved and his policies supported in the Senate."

Mary Mostert

The November 5, 2002 midterm elections are over and, by the time this is read, most of the counting will be finished. In the last hours of the campaign in the Monday morning debate in Minnesota between former Democrat Vice-President Walter Mondale and Republican challenger Norman Coleman may very well go down in history as the bellwether event that mostly clearly illustrated the real issues of the 2002 elections.

Would voters continue to be swayed by Democrat class warfare arguments that had brought them victory for most of the 20th century or would voters opt for "changing the climate" in Washington to finding ways for Democrats and Republicans to work together to find solutions to national problems? In the debate between the Senate seat left vacant by the death of liberal Democrat Paul Wellstone, 74-year-old Mondale was a nearly perfect example of the class warfare school of thought in American politics and Coleman was a nearly perfect spokesperson for the George W. Bush notion of being a "uniter, not a divider."

Did the American people accept Bush’s vision for the future or did it keep the class warfare vision of their fathers and grandfathers in the 2002 election? On Saturday, November 2, (President Bush dealt with the issue in his radio address. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/11/20021103-2.html) He said,

"Since coming into office, I have sent to the Senate 32 nominees for the federal courts of appeals. These nominees are men and women with experience, intelligence, character and bipartisan home-state support. They represent the mainstream of American law and American values. Yet the Senate has confirmed only 14 of these 32 nominees. As of this week, 15 of my appeals court nominees will have been forced to wait over a year for a hearing, which is more than under the previous nine Presidents combined."
If the voters selected Democrats in the Senate, they voted to continue the judicial gridlock. If the voters selected Republicans in the Senate, they voted to allow Bush to choose judges. The 2002 election also quite possibly marked a new beginning in an effort to try to put an end to the voter fraud that had become so blatant and widespread by the year 2000 that it nearly affected the choice of President. The Atlanta-Journal reported following the 2000 election that while the dead in Georgia have "voted for years," their numbers were increasing rapidly. An estimated 15,000 dead people were on active voting rolls statewide in Georgia in 2000. The Journal tracked the votes cast by Democrat Alan Jay Mandel, "always a patriotic man" who had voted in every election after he had died in January 1997.

After something like five or six selective "recounts" in the Florida votes in 2000, the final "official" vote showed that the President had only a few hundred more votes than Al Gore. However, it was later proved that more than two thousand dead people, along with numerous illegal aliens and felons had voted in heavily Democrat precincts in Florida. However, those illegal votes were never subtracted from the "official" vote tallies.

The 1993 federal Motor Voter Law, passed by a Democrat controlled Congress and signed into law in May 1993, "vastly expanded the opportunities for ballot fraud" according to the National Center for Policy Analysis. (NCPA) The Motor Voter law made it easier for illegal aliens to register to vote and changed the way voting rolls are purged. Prior to the law being passed, county registrars automatically purged the rolls of people who hadn't voted for three years. Because Democrats complained that the automatic purges "might be diluting black voting strength", automatic purges were banned under the Motor Voter Law. Today’s voter rolls are loaded with dead people, voters who have moved elsewhere, illegal aliens and felons.

Of approximately eight million people had registered that way by December 2001 only about five percent of them usually bother to vote -- leaving a considerable pool of names available to those bent on election mischief. And, since most states don't require photo IDs at polling booths it is easy to vote in someone else's name, either in person or by absentee ballot.

In 1996, prior to the Clinton-Dole election, Clinton allowed thousands of illegal aliens, many of whom had criminal records, to become citizens and vote in the election. Hundreds of illegal aliens were recruited by Hermandad Mixicana Nacial to vote in the congressional race between Rep. Bob Dornan and challenger Loretta Sanchez in Southern California in 1996. Sanchez won the seat.

During 2002 Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe has run a systematic campaign to head off efforts to stop voter fraud by claiming such efforts were a "coordinated strategy to intimidate voters and suppress the vote." Requiring identification from people registering to vote, especially if they belong to a "minority" is considered "harassment" by McAuliffe.

This year every elected state and federal office in the state of South Dakota, except one senate seat, was voted on and South Dakota’s Democrats launched a massive voter registration drive in the State’s nine Indian reservations. However, two weeks before the election, the State Attorney General Mark Barnett said a federal probe by the FBI "uncovered the likely registration of dead people, people not old enough to vote and people who appear not to exist."

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle claimed the voter fraud investigation was "a concerted Republican effort to make allegations and launch initiatives intended to suppress Native American voting," On October 31st the Washington Times reported, - "Voter fraud has been reported this year in Arkansas, South Dakota, California, Louisiana, Nevada, Kentucky, Iowa, Arizona, Rhode Island, New York and Minnesota in federal and local elections."

State and federal officials are investigating suspected voter fraud in 25 South Dakota counties. One Democratic operative is linked to 1,750 applications for absentee ballots. Christine Iverson, spokeswoman for Republican Rep. John Thune who challenged Democrat Senator Tim Johnson quipped, "A dead woman signed up twice to vote in two different counties - very active this woman!" Attorney General Ashcroft announced Monday that he was sending "324 federal observers and 108 Justice Department personnel to 26 counties in 14 states" to monitor the general election.

Also, Ashcroft sent 70 Justice Department Civil Rights Division attorneys to monitor the election in: San Francisco, California; Waterbury, Connecticut; Broward, Duval, Miami-Dade, Orange and Osceola Counties, Florida; St. Louis, Missouri; San Juan County, New Mexico; Queens County, New York; and, Reading, Pennsylvania.

So, if voter fraud is kept under control, at this point I’m predicting that not only will the Republicans keep the House of Representatives but also will pick up a couple of Senate seats. That will enable George W. Bush to get his judges approved and his policies supported in the Senate.

http://www.bannerofliberty.com/BOL1-02MQC/11-6-2002.1.html

Tell 'em MUD sent ya...LOL!!!

DONE! BTW, if this is the guy, he's still wet behind the ears; in fact it's hard to tell by lookin', but I ain't sure he's reached pooberty yet ; )

Profile: Paul Fallavollita – A Four-Year Veteran
by Lisa A. Badon & Angeline G. Pearson
Paul Fallavollita is one of the few WAC tutors who has been around for four years. He began tutoring in August of 1995 and has been here ever since. Paul was placed in the WAC department by the work-study program. “I was happy because I didn’t make that choice, yet it was what I would have chosen, had I been able to choose.”
Since Paul has been a WAC tutor for a number of years, he has seen improvements in the writing centers. For example, he has witnessed the upgrading of the computers from Macs to Dell PCs during the fall of 1997.
Being a WAC tutor has helped Paul during his college years. “It’s kept me busy. But, it does spill over into other areas of your life…once people identify and associate you with the WAC Lab, people seek you out at 3 a.m. to help them with their papers.”
Even though Paul likes working in the WAC Lab, he has other interests as well. Paul enjoys political science and philosophy, which just happen to be his two majors. He also enjoys rock climbing. “It was one of the few physical activities I liked doing, even though I do not find the time anymore.” In addition, he is the senior resident assistant of Cabra Hall, which means that he supervises all of the other Cabra RAs.
Paul will be graduating in the spring of 1999 and will be going on to graduate school to get his master’s degree in political science.

FGS

Now this site is a resource! Don't forget to read the links. Some of them are damn good. Some are so good, in fact, I linked them here for easier access. Since some have actually been there taking heat at the center of the fire....you know who you are....you will really enjoy reading some of them.

http://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/how_elections_are_stolen.htm

How some elections are stolen!

Our job is to see that this kind of stuff does not go on in our precinct! The only way to spot it and stop it is to study it!

---Jerry Fennell

Some elections are stolen, manipulated with or have the outcome illegally interfered with not only inside the polls on Election Day, but outside the polls on Election Day. Some elections are determined outside the polls far before Election Day. If one can control any part or all of the election process (whom registers to vote, whom votes, for which candidate they vote, or the count) how can you lose?

Only a few votes per precinct can change the outcome of an election! “You don’t want to steal all the votes,” I was once told by an old election manipulator, “Just enough to win!” Stealing elections is an “Art.” “The best slight-of-hand men are not working in Los Vegas, but in some precincts counting paper ballots!”

Most elections, left on their own, are pretty close. Republicans have a base of about 40 percent and so do the Democrats. Therefore, the 20 percent in the middle determine who wins the election. Often that 20 percent does not have a motivation to vote, making the election even closer! In a close election, as we saw in Florida a few years ago, every vote is important.

If only half of the eligible potential voters register to vote and then only half of them vote, we are looking at a 25 percent adult turn out on Election Day. (50% + 1 = Victory) When this happens, it takes only about 12 to13 percent of the adult population to win an election! Who gets their 12 to 13 percent to the polls or who manipulates who registers, votes, or the count, wins! The fewer the number of votes an election manipulator has to work with the fewer the number of votes he has to change to effect the outcome. Again, he may not be trying to “win” your precinct in order to win the election. He may be only trying to lower the impact your precinct has on the election totals. If your precinct voted 70 percent Republican in the last election and suddenly voted 55 percent Democrat without any major population changes or having the boundaries redrawn, it would look kind of suspicious. A little change like voting only 60 or 65 percent Republican may go unnoticed. If he and others can change 10 votes or 10 percent in every precinct from candidate A to candidate B that is a 20 vote or unknown percent turnaround times the number of precincts involved! It adds up to victory for someone who was not chosen by the people and power in the wrong hands, hands that are not concerned with what is best for the city, state or nation!

We must each be familiar with the Nuts & Bolts of Election Fraud so that we can expose it and stop it! We must be familiar with the Election Laws in our area so that we can demand that our elections be managed legally, properly and fairly! We must demand changes when the laws are unfair!

Your have heard the rumors. You have read the newspaper stories. Now here is the Nuts & Bolts of how it is being done!:

1. Some elections are stolen before Election Day!
Gerrymanderinghttp://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/gerrymandering.htm

Registration Manipulationhttp://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/some_elections_are_stolen_before.htm
Absentee Ballotshttp://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/absentee_ballot_fraud.htm

2. Some elections are stolen outside the polls on Election Day!

3. Some elections are stolen inside the polls on Election Day!
Computer Fraudhttp://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/computer_fraud.htm
Voting the Bookshttp://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/voting_the_books.htm
Assistance Fraudhttp://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/assistance_frauds.htm
Computer Fraudhttp://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/computer_fraud.htm
Voting Machineshttp://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/voting_machines.htm

4. Checking Voting Patterns to detect Voter Fraud! http://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/checking_voting_patterns_to_dete.htm

5. Some elections are stolen after the polls close!http://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/after_the_polls_close.htm
The Counthttp://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/count.htm
Don't drink the water!http://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/dont_drink_the_water.htm
Counting Paper Ballotshttp://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/counting_paper_ballots.htm

6. The Challenge!http://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/challenging_a_voter.htm

7. The recount! No link given.

8. What to do if...http://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/what_to_do_if.htm

9. Recommended Reading:
The Battle Against Voter Fraud, Reader's Digest, 1969http://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/battle_against_voter_fraud.htm

Copyright – Precinct People, Jerry Fennell, Editor

The Chicago Rules of Election Fraudhttp://www.bandersnatch.com/chicago2.htm

Election Lawshttp://www.nara.gov/fedreg/elctcoll/provis.html

Types of Voting Systems.http://www.sos.state.mi.us/election/votesys/

Managed to forget this good link, so I will post it here. "Some Elections are stolen inside the polls on election day".

http://www.precinctpeople.com/MainPage/current/inside_the_precinct_polling_plac.htm

Inside the Precinct Polling Place on Election Day!

What’s normal inside the Polling Place?

The only way to be able to pick out something that is abnormal is to be familiar with what is normal! A normal day inside the precinct on Election Day should start about an hour before the polls open. Everyone (Republicans and Democrats) should arrive about the same time. If someone has arrived real early or spent the night in the polling place, then they have had time to arrange something. No one is to enter the building, or the voting room (it should be locked) until everyone is there or at least representatives of both parties arrive.

Everyone working on Election Day should have the proper papers appointing them as a Clerk or Poll Watcher. The Clerk papers come from the County or State and the Watcher papers can be from a candidate or party.

Bring your own cell phone on Election Day! Do not rely on “the school will have a phone in the office.” If there is a problem, you will have to leave the room to make a phone call. If there is a problem, you want to call your Republican Ballot Security Office and the County Election Headquarters. These phone numbers should have been given to you at your training meeting before Election Day.

Bring a video camera, or at least a regular camera. Have a notebook and pin. If you look ready for trouble, there may not be as much!

Bring a cooler with you own sandwiches and drinks or send out for lunch and dinner. Do not leave the room without a Republican representative! Do not except food or drink from anyone! Secure your own.

Do not take bathroom breaks unless there is a Republican representative left in the voting room! If you are the only Republican, don’t drink anything so you won’t have to go! Call your Republican Ballot Security Office and ask them to send someone to give you a break.

Upon entering the voting area make sure all the machines, computer terminals, punch tables were locked and secured. Look for any signs of tampering or forced opening. Together inspect the machines or terminals, the backs and face, to look for any markings or signs of tampering. If you don’t know what to look for, look for anything abnormal, out of place, odd!

The election administration materials and paperwork should arrive sealed or under lock and key. The Precinct Judge or Chairman should have the papers and keys. Together inspect the forms used to report the votes at the end of the day. They should be blank. Everyone should agree the forms are blank. They should be stored during the day where both parties can see them but secure from the public.

Voters should line up on one side of the room or in the hallway if in a school. There should be no campaigning or the passing out of ligature allowed inside the building. The polling place is a neutral area. No campaign posters allowed in the hallways or voting room. No signs are allowed outside the building for at least 100 yards (It differs from state to state). Don’t allow a Democrat clerk to park their car next to the main entrance with all their bumper stickers showing. Make them move their car away from the door.

Voters can wear campaign buttons and have campaign ligature on their person but only for personal use, not for passing around. A Republican and Democrat may have to stand in the hall to watch the line.

The room should be set up with at least two long tables facing the voting machines. You want to be able to see the machines from where you sit. The voting machines should be arraigned in a horseshoe against the walls of the room in front of you. You don’t want to leave enough room for someone to stand behind the machines or you want to leave a lot of room so you can see if someone is behind the machines. If you have close to equal numbers of Republican and Democrat Election Clerks, you should be seated at the table, Republican, Democrat, Republican, Democrat and so forth. This way you can check each other and provide balance, each watching the other.

If you are the only Republican in a room of ten Democrats, you are outnumbered!

The first two at the table (Republican and Democrat) should great the voter as they arrive and ask for their Voter Registration Card. If the voter does not have a card, he must show some form of picture ID. If he cannot then he must be challenged! Take the Voter Registration Card and match it up with the listing in the Voter Registration List for that precinct. In a large precinct the list and checkers may be divided into “A-L” and “M-Z” and so forth. When you are convinced that the person presenting the card or wanting to vote is that person listed in the book, pass the card on to the next two clerks.

The next two at the table should observe the voter signing in on the registration book. The signature should match the one on the Voter Registration Card.

The next two at the table should hand out the ballots or computer cards. The check in table should not approve voters faster than the machines are available for voting. You don’t want a bunch of approved voters standing around waiting for a machine to become available to vote.

The Floor Controllers (A Republican and a Democrat) will point out an open machine or terminal to the already approved voter. They should direct the floor traffic. They are the ones that will assist any voters who ask for help. No one voter should be helped alone. A Republican and Democrat should help all voters together. Together the face of the machines should be checked at least every half hour or after each voter has finished voting by the Floor Controllers.

In precincts that use paper ballots or computer cards a Republican and a Democrat should stand next to the Ballot Box. This is where all marked or punched ballots are deposited until the end of the day. The box should have been opened at the start of the day to make sure it was empty before the voting started, then locked and kept locked until the voting was over.

After voting, voters should leave the room without hanging around talking or disturbing other voters. Voters are limited to three minutes in the voting booth and should not have to stand in line too long.

There will be a morning rush (people going to work), a lunch rush, and an evening rush (people getting off work). Most polls are open from 7:00am to 7 or 8:00pm.

If you are working in a poll on Election Day and you are not registered to vote there you should make arrangements to vote by absentee ballot. If you have to leave to vote, call your Republican Ballot Security Office and arrange for someone to replace you while you go vote.

If you live in the precinct you are clerking or poll watching in, you can vote at anytime. Do not let the Democrats tell you that you cannot vote until the end of the day incase there are any “over votes”!

About 4:00pm, the Chairman should begin filling out the paperwork! There is a ton of it! Blanks where the name of the precinct needs to be filled in or the “who worked” paperwork can be started. Offer to help, this way you can observe.

After the polls close, close the doors to the room. The public is allowed to observe the counting of ballots and recording of the votes but they cannot interfere or disrupt the process.

Check the machines and shut them down. Record the votes working in teams of Republicans and Democrats. Work in teams in filling out the paper work.

The paper work should be sealed or locked before it is transported to the central election headquarters, usually the County Clerk’s Office or Court House.

Media and candidates may show up at anytime during the day. Be nice but try to rush the Democrat candidates along.

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