WA: GOP Volunteers Going Door To Door In DEMOCRATIC King County TO COLLECT BALLOTS!!!

[kpete]

According to a story at the KOMO News web site and picked up by Publicola, Republican volunteers are going door to door in east King County offering to collect people's ballots:

It was Wednesday night that two men showed up at Steve McDonald's door to let him know they'd take his ballot to be counted.

"It was Halloween. There's a lot of tricksters around the neighborhood. I was thinking it was a joke, but they had a very serious look on their face," McDonald said.

The men offered to mail his ballot for him. As it turns out, McDonald had already voted, so the men left. Still, he said it was an odd experience.

"After someone leaves, you're kind of like, did I just get bamboozled? I didn't get bamboozled because they didn't take my ballot, but they sure knew a lot of information about me," he said.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/As-election-nears-state-GOP-using-unique-tactics-177044901.html

McKenna Camp Paying People to Collect Ballots; KC Elections Advises Voters to Send Ballots In Themselves
It's a novel idea, to say the least, to entrust a political party to handle ballots. King County is a Democratic stronghold, and with 1.7 million voters here, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee is counting on strong turnout in King County—though, we can't imagine he'd be happy about Republican foot soldiers working as ballot couriers.

http://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-profiles/publicola/articles/mckenna-camp-paying-people-to-collect-ballots-kc-elections-advises-voters-to-send-ballots-in-themselves

[MADem]

1. I really wish people would whip out their cellphones and photograph these assholes.

This shit needs to cease.

[LisaL]

3. Absolutely.

Take their photo and tell them you will call police.

[1monster]

4. And call 911. Election tampering is illegal.

[MADem]

9. That, too! nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

23. 911 is for life & limb emergencies. You can get fined for calling about elections. Call DA & media.

[jmondine]

12. I live in Eastern King County

You have my word that if they dare do this to me, I will take their picture, and then contact the FBI.

[MADem]

14. +1,000 !!!! nt

[defacto7]

20. also call the Democratic office in your area

and the local police. FBI is good but they take longer and have more bureaucracy. If you call all three, you will have covered short term as well as the long term enforcement. I'm not sure what anyone can do but it will put them on the record as well as put them on notice. They will probably stop at that point.

[jmondine]

32. Will do

[Zalatix]

28. Put their picture on Facebook or somewhere else, too. Expose them to the masses!

[jmondine]

33. You got it

At this point, it's doubtful it will happen to me. Hopefully, they've already been scared off by other informed, proactive voters.

[freshwest]

38. I was wondering, is the FBI the best to call? I'll take their picture and get their license plates.

The hunters will become the hunted.

[LisaL]

2. I hope people realize they shouldn't give their ballots to republicans.

Outrageous.

[jmondine]

15. Most of us here do

We shouldn't give our ballots to anyone. We should mail them or, even better, take them directly to official drop locations. The vast majority of us in King County know this. This is an act of desperation that will net the rethugs little. Still, I thank the OP for alerting us that these dirty tricks are happening even in a deep blue stronghold like ours.

[defacto7]

21. I would be mostly concerned about the elderly.

They are probably the main target.

[Marrah_G]

5. That should be VERY illegal

[HooptieWagon]

6. Not Florida.

I believe thats in Seattle. Florida does have regular fraud issues with absentee ballots, but its usually down in Miami-Dade.

[Fla_Democrat]

7. When did we get an extra county?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_counties_in_Florida

Or was one renamed?

[freshwest]

36. King County is in WA state and includes Seattle.

[The Blue Flower]

8. Not Florida--Washington

I just saw the story on the Seattle station.

[ecstatic]

10. I'm hoping that everyone knows by now that they will do anything

it takes to stop democrats from voting.

[Evergreen Emerald]

11. A number of stories of voter suppression...and not a one of them instigated

by a democrat. And not a one of them favors democrats.

They are reprehensible. And, frankly that eventually has to hurt them (I would hope).

[defacto7]

24. All these acts need to be advertised.

That's what would put it into perspective for other non-thinking republicans. They are bound to eventually wonder what their party is doing.

[renate]

13. I sure hope that by 2012 it is made a crime, with jail time, to mess with people's vote

I don't understand why it isn't already, but it's so widespread there must not be any consequences.

[Raster]

16. Volunteers, my ass. McKenna is a scumbag.

[freshwest]

37. Yes, he is! And they started making fake phone calls, claiming they were Dems to collect votes.

That didn't work so their brownshirts are going to people's homes. This was thorougly routed in the Gregoire-Rossi race, going after long established voters who had not moved. They were able to get media attention, others lost their votes.

[barbiegeek]

17. Report it

[mick063]

18. We need a movement

for campaign reform in all phases.

With respect to federal elections, we need standardized funding, registration, voting, ballot collection, and vote tallying.

This is fundamental. We cannot fix anything without a fair voice.

[defacto7]

25. hear, hear!

[Science Geek]

41. This!

I couldn't agree more, and would add 100% Paper ballots.

I'm a programmer and the thought of using a computer to vote with frightens the living hell out of me, it's simply a ludicrous idea.

[ErikJ]

19. Its LEGAL!? Here's the rest of the KOMO article.

The men weren't lying. They actually were from the Republican party, and they even called King County Elections to let them know what they were doing,.

"It is not prohibited by law. There is no a law prohibiting that activity, (but) we always recommend against it," said Sheril Huff of King County Elections.

The party told elections officials they planned on dropping the ballots in a drop box. One hundred GOP volunteers will be out again on Monday and maybe Tuesday, and they say getting the vote out is especially critical this year.

[LisaL]

22. Well I am sure the ballots from republicans will make it to the drop box.

I wish I could say the same about ballots from democrats.

[eridani]

27. Not necessarily. There is a security envelope and a mailing envelope

It would be hard to see through both to find out who voted for whom. There is no registration by party in WA, so voter ID is guesswork based on donation records, previous doorbelling and phonebanking results, etc. Frequent voters with strong party identification have long since dropped their ballots, so the McKenna folks are targeting less committed infrequent voters.

My guess is that they will make slightly better than even guesses about party ID, target mainly people they think might be Dems, and throw all the ballots away just to make sure. In King County, it would be worth it for them to disenfranchise a few of their own in order to disenfranchise a much larger number of Democrats.

Lori Sotelo, chair of the King County Republicans, took out affidavits that hundreds of people (she swore she knew them personally) had voted in 2004 without being eligible. (This was after a Dem won the governorship by 129 votes.) These were voters registered at mail box shops and various businesses. Some were homeless--one was outed and lost his job. Some used their mailbox as their mailing address for ballots. Others lived on the premises of their businesses, a fact that Ms Richtwit could not conceive of. Some were even Republicans, but she didn't care as long as most of the people she fingered were Democrats. King County Dems were on this ASAP, and made her look like cold shit warmed over.

[WinkyDink]

29. No guesses needed; everybody registered is on a list. That's how Party volunteers know whom to call.

[eridani]

34. In states without registration by party, those lists are based on GUESSWORK

It amounts to playing the odds. The classifications are periodically checked in post election surveys. In 2004, 10% of those rated as strong Democrats voted for Bush, and a similar percentage of strong Republicans voted for Kerry.

[WinkyDink]

39. What does "without registration by party" mean for Primaries?

[eridani]

40. Nothing, if you have the top two primary system

The final election is often between two Democrats and two Republicans.

[WinkyDink]

42. Okey-doke!

[defacto7]

26. Then there need's to be a counter DEM group

that follows and watches their actions. They need to be monitored and recorded.

[DFW]

30. I'd call the cops,

Hold them at gunpoint if you have one and have them arrested for election tampering. Indeed, take their photos and email them to all newspapers and TV stations in the area.

[ReallyIAmAnOptimist]

31. I'm worried this will cost WA-Dems the Governor's position...

...the race (Jay Inslee vs. Rob McKenna) is too close to withstand any tampering.
Our last two Governor races ended in recounts, and the Dems pulled through with just a few hundred vote lead.

This is nauseating.

(I'm in King County, 41st LD, past PCO)

[freshwest]

35. McKenna, Teabagger in wool's clothing working to steal the election.

No doubt only went to registered Democrats trying to steal their ballots and shred them. NO ONE in WA has ever needed anyone to come and pick up their ballots.

Dino Rossi's and GWB's crew tried to interfere with the WA state governor's race. GOP operatives challenged Democratic voters to make them have to file provisional ballots.

Their well-funded games resulted in the federal AG being fired for not helping the GOP overturn the election which had gone through 2 recounts and nothing was found wrong. More reform was done and we now have mail in.

NO ONE needs to be harrassed at home like this and I wish they'd taken names and addresses from them. If anyone calls or shows up at my door, I'm taking pictures and calling 911, whoever.