The House State Government & Tribal Affairs Committee is now hearing two bills that passed out of the Senate --
SB 5561 - "Allowing voter registration up to and on election day"
and
SB 5566 - "Providing for privacy protection for certain voter registration information" (= allowing elections officials to conceal errors and fraud from public scrutiny)
For example, election officials are pushing this bill to prohibit disclosure of proof that they "accidentally" counted two ballots from the same voter:
Watch the slow disintegration of elections integrity LIVE on TVW.
UPDATE: The committee's ranking Republican Rep. Bruce Chandler says NO to same-day voter registration.
Posted by: Cato on March 27, 2007 10:40 AM
about these "reforms" is that I don't have to be planted in Chicago after I die to continue voting in elections. I bet one could be dead and run for office and vote. Heck, one could probably vote early and often from the grave. This will eventually lead to massive corruption. Posted by: WVH on March 27, 2007 12:16 PM
Remember, in politics, all is not as it may appear to be.
This Bill & vote should be used by every R running in the next election. If it passes & Gregoire signs it...it will be a disaster for her.
Sometimes you have to just let them stand knee deep in the Septic Tank for a few minutes until they get comfortable...then dump a bucket of steaming, runny poop on their noggins.
Posted by: dude on March 27, 2007 01:19 PMThey are so sure they have complete control over the process they are not even vaguely trying to be subtle about it anymore.
After the soapbox proves futile and the ballot box is hopelessly corrupt, the answer gets really ugly, but has been known to work. Sigh. Is the power sickness so great they grow this arrogant, blind and stupid?
/embarrassed for them since they can't manage and depressed as to where this kind of thing inevitably ends up :-(.
Posted by: Fox3 on March 27, 2007 01:22 PMThe should be called the relected the Queen for life bills.
Posted by: JCM on March 27, 2007 01:23 PMWhat do mean "will eventually?" We already have massive corruption without these bills. This will just make it official and legal.
- Oregon voters hold elections exclusively by mail.
- They don't have any Mail-In Ballot conspiracy theorists in Oregon.
- We have Mail-In Ballot conspiracy theorists in Washington State.
- There has never been a problem with mail-in elections in Oregon.
Therefore we can conclude:
Mail-In Ballot conspiracy theorists are the cause of mail-in election problems in Washington State.
Why do we have the oath if it means nothing? Posted by: Diedre on March 27, 2007 03:04 PM
Only someone like Cato can see a ton of evidence like double voting, people voting mail ballots and provisional ballots, etc and conclude it must have been caused by something like global warming (cue Cato's buddy David Matthews).
I'm using the exact same logic you gave me during the gay marriage is the leading cause of out-of-wedlock children debate we had a while back.
Do you really have a 'a ton of evidence'. I've seen proof of a few isolated cases.
The FBI passed on it, the US Attorney passed on it, you likely agreed with it when it happened happened in Ohio. I don't know what it will take for the conspiracy theorists to move on, maybe the 2008 election?
Granted I don't agree with either of the bills presented. I've emailed my representatives about them. I just think it's time for people to get over the fact Rossi lost. If Rossi had won I doubt Stefan or you would give a damn about possible election fraud.
I'm not sure what point you are even making about the mail ballots. No one here has said that vote by mail causes fraud - it just enables it.
Posted by: Palouse on March 27, 2007 03:46 PMNews for you Palouse:
The very act of voting enables voter fraud.
Is it your contention that the existence of mail ballots is completely unrelated to vote fraud? This despite the fact that there is evidence of people voting both by mail and a provisional ballot? Or people who have voted two mail ballots? Or people who have voted other people's ballots? It would have been pretty difficult to pull off that fraud if mail ballots didn't exist.
Only you can see plain evidence and conclude that it must be completely unrelated. But perhaps you're right, the mail ballot fraud was caused by global warming.
Posted by: Palouse on March 27, 2007 04:30 PMIs it your contention that the existence of mail ballots is completely unrelated to vote fraud?
Nope, I have said nothing of the sort. Mail voting can lead to fraud, but the very act of voting can lead to fraud, see Stefan's personal experience.
I have no problem with mail-in-voting. I do it myself. I disagree with these bills because I believe there should be much more transparency across the board for both mail and regular voting.
See this lovely illustration which details one way to achieve greater transparency.
The existence of mail ballots makes fraud easier. I did not say it was the cause of it. You are using absolutes to try to prove something, and it simply does not apply, in this case or in the previous discussion. Just like I never said that gay marriage CAUSES out of wedlock births, but it does change society's view of marriage and led to more out of wedlock births. The effect is not black and white like you choose to frame it - it is a contributing factor.
Instead you choose to warp the argument and say something completely unrelated, that perhaps fraud is caused by voting itself or some other unknown factor (the weather?), which is silly. Of course there would be no vote fraud if voting didn't exist. I have never implied there is a direct causation in either argument.
But in any case, I agree, neither of these bills should be passed, unless it's the Democrats' view that vote fraud is acceptable.
Posted by: Palouse on March 28, 2007 07:44 AMThat's right, you never said it but the article you defended said it for you.
perhaps fraud is caused by voting itself or some other unknown factor (the weather?),
Maybe human stupidity? Maybe faulty ballot boxes? Maybe corrupt officials? Maybe limiting the number of ballot boxes in certain historically left/right leaning districts? There are lots of ways to perpetrate voter fraud that don't involve mail-in-balloting. I can see where your coming from but with so many ways to commit fraud I fail to see how mailing is any less secure than anything else.
You want to see election fraud, look south to Mexico where the counting computers mysteriously fail when the opposing party has a slight lead. When the machines come back on several hours later the ruling party candidate has a several thousand vote lead and summarily wins the election.
Posted by: Cato on March 28, 2007 10:46 AMYou obviously did not read either article I posted then, or just chose to interpret it that way for your own purposes.
I fail to see how mailing is any less secure than anything else.
Seriously? You seem like you've been reading this website for a while. Take a look at some of the archive posts about mail ballot problems. If everyone was required to vote at the polls and show ID, fraud would be virtually eliminated.
Posted by: Palouse on March 28, 2007 11:06 AMI see, now your in favor of discriminating against our American soldiers who are serving across the world and cannot show ID or vote at a polling booth because they're halfway around the world fighting for your freedom. Way to go Palouse.