March 30, 2006
"Two residents rebuked for vote fraud"

Yesterday's Port Townsend Leader published a story yesterday on the two Jefferson County double voters that we mentioned last week.

The Leader: "Two residents rebuked for vote fraud"

Kudos to Bob Edelman for doing the research on the double voters and bringing it to the attention of the Jefferson County Auditor. As lame as the Jefferson County Prosecutor's rebuke of the double voters was, it's still more than what, say, King County seems to be doing about election fraud.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at March 30, 2006 11:05 AM | Email This
Comments
1. "Voting twice will not be tolerated".

Oh really?

Posted by: Misty on March 30, 2006 11:40 AM
2. Carping about the 2004 election is no longer productive. Maybe the wiser thing to do would be to start working on un-seating Gregoire in the 2008 election for governor. Re-hashing the 2004 election is getting a little "long in the tooth."

Posted by: Libertarian on March 30, 2006 11:47 AM
3. Libertarian--
I understand your concern.....
However some folks are capable of "Multi-tasking" and Stefan is one of them
The problem, as I see it, is there has been so much "stonewalling" of Public Records by KingCo and other County's, that only now are we seeing more pieces of the puzzle.
I don't view Stefan as "carping about the 2004 Election"....rather, he is still putting the pressure on clean up past messes and CHEATING so by the time 2008 rolls around, we will have a much fairer election than 2004.
Stefan has already accomplished an incredible amount....due to Stefan there is a Statewide Voter Registration Database that is revealing more & more questionable CHEATING!!!
CHEATERS need to have their names in the paper (and Photo's too) to discourage others from CHEATING!!

Posted by: dude on March 30, 2006 12:08 PM
4. Far from being "carping", it's a reminder that we should not forget the Fraud of 2004 and it behooves us to stay awake on sentry duty keep our powder dry. Someone pretty smart once said that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. The main thing the lying, lousy, stinking 'Rats want to do is bury the travesty of the '04 fraud down the memory hole. We should not let that happen, because if we do, no matter how hard we work to unseat Fraudoire in '08, it won't do any good if the lousy 'Rats steal it again.

Posted by: Interested Observer on March 30, 2006 12:11 PM
5. I.O. sez:
"the price of liberty is eternal vigilance."

You are so, so RIGHT!
The problem the State Republican Party has had is a complete lack of leadership and trying to pander to the LEFTY'S rather than be vigilant toward our fundamental rights, like voting.
R's are generally pretty lazy....satisfied to see others doing all the heavy-lifting.
Hey, I blame myself for the mess we are in.
I could have and should be doing more.
A lot of R's sit around and complain....that's it. We need more GROUND TROOPS in order to free ourselves of the LEFTIST PINHEADED KLOWN stanglehold.

It's easy to blame newspapers. But when we KNOW where they are coming from, we must do what we can to circumvent them and go right to the people. HOPING newspapers will investigate and treat an issue fairly is naive and stupid.

Stefan has kept the pressure on in this Voting mess and we have seen tremendous progress...although still a long way to go.....especially if lame-a$$ Prosecutors DO NOTHING but talk loudly.

This Double-voting is just one of many issues on the horizon. It's not carping about the past. Far from it. It's blazing a trail to a better future. It's VIGILANCE!!

Posted by: Mr. Cynical on March 30, 2006 12:42 PM
6. How can a law have any meaning if nobody enforces the law? Do you have two ballots from the same person? Yes. Does the law say you can only vote once? Yes. Did the voter sign paperwork each time he voted? Yes. File the brief, drag their butts into court and let a jury decide. Give the law meaning (for a change).

Posted by: Doug on March 30, 2006 12:47 PM
7. Was it a rebuke, or a severe rebuke?

Rebuke=shake your finger vigorously at the offender, while repeating three times, "I rebuke thee!"

Severe rebuke=repeat.

Wasn't that a Steve Martin skit?

Posted by: South County on March 30, 2006 12:50 PM
8. The very act of signing the voter registrtations, multiple times, is in itself evidence of fraud. Just as signing a misgotten check is evidence of fraud. The act of signing is proof of the crime. The act of voting twice constitutes intent. Where are the lawyers on this blog.

Posted by: Snuffy on March 30, 2006 01:02 PM
9. As a Jefferson County resident I find it reprehensible that the two double voters were not charged and prosecuted. That would establish a precedent that other counties (King, etc.) would have difficulty violating.

The problem with Jeff Co is in its demographics. Pt. Townsend is a bit left of North Korea and the rest of the county (where I live) is rural (Republican) or affluent waterfront (mixture of old-money liberals and entrepreneurial conservatives). The Dems have the power and their leadership has no problem with "voting early and often".

Posted by: Saltherring on March 30, 2006 01:22 PM
10. So, I guess intention is, again, guessed at--I suppose those two voters didn't MEAN to break the law, and so they are excused, as long as they don't do it again?
Sigh...that's ridiculous. If there are not going to be any penalties, why even have a law? Perhaps it may be that these two misguided people don't deserve a felony (since somebody's crystal ball, or spirit guide, or something, told him or her that they 'meant well'), but no punishment at all? How about a fine, or some community service?

Posted by: pseudotsuga on March 30, 2006 01:33 PM
11. Really angry. The Queen costs the taxpayers billions, cost the government employees millions in payback for her union support, cost the school systems additional millions. And when a couple of double voters are finally nabbed after months of hard work by private citizens (Thank you Shark) rather then set an example, they are basically caught and released. Thus assuring the risk/reward will continue to favor the double voters. This insanity could only lead to future problems.

It is a felony to double vote. At worst their voting rights should be withdrawn until a stiff fine is paid. At best they should be spending jail time.

Posted by: Snuffy on March 30, 2006 01:53 PM
12. They were "rebuked" because they only voted once in Jefferson County. And the "rebuke" was because they were stupid enough to get caught - next time they have to get their act together and not get caught.

The prosecutor couldn't tell if it was an accidental mistake? How many people in this state do NOT know that they can only vote once per election? I know, I know, they did only vote once in Jefferson and once in King (Snohomish)....

Unenforced laws end up having ZERO meaning.

Posted by: SouthernRoots on March 30, 2006 02:03 PM
13. I can't believe the stupidity of the Jefferson County Prosecutor's letter. Let's see......"Voting twice will not be tolerated....." Well it just was. These people voted twice and it was tolerated. They got off with a letter. So if they vote twice again will the letter say "Voting twice again will really, really not be tolerated!"

If they don't think they can prove these voters intent in court this time, why do they think they can prove it if these people vote twice again.

Posted by: Born Right on March 30, 2006 02:20 PM
14. All: Let her know that this is a total sham--Here is the number for the Jeff County Prosecutors office : 360-385-9180.

You can call (as I did) and vent to them, letting them know how much she contradicted herself with this flimsy letter claiming they won't tolerate double voting when that's exactly what they're doing.

Let them know that you will not stand by and let them disenfranchise your legal vote by doing nothing to people who know they voted twice.

Posted by: Misty on March 30, 2006 04:14 PM
15. This kind of "maybe I will, maybe I won't, maybe I'll just play at upholding the law" attitude towards law enforement and prosecution undermines the whole legal system.

Suppose there is someone that they finally do get around to prosecuting for vote fraud. What will be exhibit A for the defense?

"Yerhonner, the defense would like to point out the following ten circumstances where other people have voted twice in this jurisdiction, been caught with all the evidence needed to have a slam-dunk case, and were not prosecuted by the prosecuting attorney for Jefferson County. We must ask why this case is different. Based on the circumstances, we assert that it is because the defendent is [black| hispanic| white| poor| rich| left-handed| gay| straight| bi| left-wing| right-wing| union-member| non-union-member| atheist| religious| snake handler]. Based on this, we wish to counter by charging the prosecuting office with Conspiracy to Deny Civil Rights under color of Law, which is a felony under US Code."

Law enforced unevenly is law enforce unfairly. If the government of Washington can't bear to operate under the requirements of its own Constitution, please let the people know so that we can dissolve it and institute a new government that will abide by it. As long as we're at it, let's move the capitol to Eastern Washington. My read of the WA Constitution says it can be moved with 2/3rds vote. I suggest the town of Republic.

Posted by: gmcraff on March 30, 2006 05:19 PM
16. Actually gmcraff Waterville could REALLY use the development. Republic is WAY too nice and would attract all of the Wackos.

Posted by: Smokie on March 30, 2006 05:43 PM
17. In Seaside California, (new home to Ray Corpus former Tacoma City Manager fired over the Brame scandal) a couple of years ago, they had a double voter. It turned out to be an 85-year-old man. The old man was charged and got probation. He could not make up his mind and voted for the (D) and the (R).

Posted by: Pacific Grove Phlash on March 30, 2006 11:13 PM
18. If they charged them as they should, these people would be convicted of a Felony and therefore lose their right to vote!

So, not not only am I disinfranchised from their original illegal vote, I will continue to be disinfranchised every election that these people vote in when they should not be allowed to!

Posted by: Right Wing Wacko on March 31, 2006 12:03 AM
19. So you right-wing Rethuglicans will, of course, be "rebuking" Ann Coulter (your racist, ignorant, heroine) for her deliberate vote fraud, right?

Posted by: Quiet Liberal on March 31, 2006 08:46 AM
20. If Ann Coulter did wrong, then she gets what she gets - but that is up to Palm Beach County, FLORIDA officials.

Interesting that you tout this case as an example - she is accused of voting in the wrong PRECINCT, not two counties. Right now, she has 30 days to explain how she made her mistake, these two people in Jefferson don't even have to do that!

Isn't it amazing that, in Florida, it is a level three felony to knowingly vote in the wrong precinct? Here, trying to get someone to vote in their proper precinct is called disenfanchisement.

Posted by: SouthernRoots on March 31, 2006 09:35 AM
21. Come on QL, you intellectual pigmy........what else do ya have?

Posted by: alphabet soup on March 31, 2006 03:01 PM
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