Fri Oct 19, 2012, 02:57 PM

bemildred (67,505 posts)

Man working for firm under contract to Va. GOP charged with voter registration fraud

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by OKNancy (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: WaPo

A man working for a company under contract to the Republican Party of Virginia has been arrested for allegedly discarding Virginia voter registration forms.

Colin Small, 23, of Phoenixville, Pa., was arrested on Thursday by sheriff’s deputies in Rockingham County, in the state’s Shenandoah Valley, on 13 charges of voter registration fraud.

The alleged crime happened on Monday, when a business owner in Harrisonburg, Va., reported that someone had tossed eight voter registration forms in a dump bin behind his store.

The forms had been filled out, placed in a folder and stuffed into a bag, store owner Rob Johnson told a Richmond-area NBC affiliate and said in a posting on his Facebook page.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/republican-campaign-worker-charged-with-voter-registration-fraud/2012/10/19/c07cc378-1a01-11e2-94aa-9240e72ee00b_story.html

22 replies, 1407 views

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22 replies	Author	Time	Post
Man working for firm under contract to Va. GOP charged with voter registration fraud (Original post)	bemildred	Oct 2012	OP
One could assume all dem voter reg forms have been discarded in that state.	valerief	Oct 2012	#1
I'd go check. nt	bemildred	Oct 2012	#2
No way to tell for sure	Pat Riot	Oct 2012	#10
You can check if you are registered or not, which IS the issue. nt	bemildred	Oct 2012	#11
At least this article mentions his LinkedIn profile.	Hyper_Eye	Oct 2012	#3
Also a former congressional intern...or at least claims to be...	DreamGypsy	Oct 2012	#6
Maybe he was inflating his credentials ...	1StrongBlackMan	Oct 2012	#7
GOP voter registration scandal widens	Judi Lynn	Oct 2012	#21
i am old enough to remember a "third rate burglary attempt"	oldhippydude	Oct 2012	#4
Me too. And there is three weeks left, and he's "in the fold".	bemildred	Oct 2012	#9
What happened to the registration forms he tossed?	Gin	Oct 2012	#5
I agree	LiberalLovinLug	Oct 2012	#14
I hope the prosecutor offers him a deal if he cooperates further.	Hosnon	Oct 2012	#8
I almost feel sorry for him.	bemildred	Oct 2012	#12
don't feel sorry at all	Carolina	Oct 2012	#13
yep, which is why i don't believe that he took it upon himself to discard those forms..	frylock	Oct 2012	#15
Incompetent then. Throwing them away intact has gotten them in trouble before.	bemildred	Oct 2012	#17
I agree. He is young and probably impressionable. If someone told him to do this, they	Hosnon	Oct 2012	#16
Thanks.	bemildred	Oct 2012	#18
You might be right	Plucketeer	Oct 2012	#19
Yep. That's what I mean. nt	bemildred	Oct 2012	#20
Duplicate	OKNancy	Oct 2012	#22

Response to bemildred (Original post)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 02:59 PM

valerief (35,681 posts)

1. One could assume all dem voter reg forms have been discarded in that state.

Why think otherwise?

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Response to valerief (Reply #1)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:02 PM

bemildred (67,505 posts)

2. I'd go check. nt

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Response to bemildred (Reply #2)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:16 PM

Pat Riot (370 posts)

10. No way to tell for sure

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, VA has an open primary policy and voters do not put a party affiliation on the form.

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Response to Pat Riot (Reply #10)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:19 PM

bemildred (67,505 posts)

11. You can check if you are registered or not, which IS the issue. nt

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Response to bemildred (Original post)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:04 PM

Hyper_Eye (539 posts)

3. At least this article mentions his LinkedIn profile.

On his LinkedIn profile, Small is listed as a “Grassroots Field Director” for the Republican National Committee.

I still think this should be a bigger deal as I mentioned here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021582306

Does he work for the RNC or not?

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Response to Hyper_Eye (Reply #3)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:11 PM

DreamGypsy (1,134 posts)

6. Also a former congressional intern...or at least claims to be...

Last edited Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:14 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

Congressional Intern
U.S. House of Representatives

Government Agency; 10,001+ employees; Legislative Office industry

September 2011 – December 2011 (4 months) The Hon. Mike Kelly

Pennsylvania, well remembered for Rep. Mike Kelly Stands Behind Remark Comparing Birth Control Mandate To Pearl Harbor, 9/11

Small doesn't list voter suppression among his interests.

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Response to Hyper_Eye (Reply #3)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:12 PM

1StrongBlackMan (5,408 posts)

7. Maybe he was inflating his credentials ...

but hopefully he wasn't. Generally, Field Directors have direct contact with, and receive direction from, the base operation. And the prosecutor will press Small as to whether he was acting on his own, or on direction from a RNC superior.

When faced with jail time, I would only hope that he would have enough brains to take the Public Defender; rather than RNC attorney that will soon ride to his rescue ... free of charge.

Note to Small: That RNC attorney will sell you out to keep you quite.

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Response to Hyper_Eye (Reply #3)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 04:28 PM

Judi Lynn (77,616 posts)

21. GOP voter registration scandal widens

Friday, Oct 19, 2012 01:15 PM CDT
GOP voter registration scandal widens

A Virginia official is busted for tossing voter forms. Turns out he works for the national party, too
By Brad Friedman

A man originally reported to have been working for the Republican Party of Virginia was arrested by the Rockingham County, Va., Sheriff’s Office on Thursday and charged with attempting to destroy voter registration forms by tossing them into a dumpster behind a shopping center in Harrisonburg, Va.

“Prosecutors charged him with four counts of destruction of voter registration applications, eight counts of failing to disclose voter registration applications and one count of obstruction of justice,” according to a report late Thursday afternoon from TPM’s Ryan Reilly. More charges could be forthcoming, according to officials.

But there is more to the story, as evidence emerges to document that it ties into a still-expanding nationwide GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal that the BRAD BLOG first began reporting in late September, after we’d learned that the Republican Party of Florida had turned in more than 100 allegedly fraudulent and otherwise suspect voter registration forms in Palm Beach County. The story has continued to widen ever since, to a dozen Florida counties and several other states, now including Virginia, and even to the upper-echelons of the Republican Party itself.

The man arrested today was 23-year-old Colin Small of Phoenixville, Pa. As it turns out, he does not only work for the Virginia Republican Party. According to an online profile, he appears to be working for the Republican National Committee and, prior to that, served as an Intern for Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., in the U.S. House of Representatives.

More:
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/19/gop_voter_registration_scandal_widens/

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Response to bemildred (Original post)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:05 PM

oldhippydude (2,514 posts)

4. i am old enough to remember a "third rate burglary attempt"

Last edited Fri Oct 19, 2012, 04:03 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

that brought down an administration.. another drip from the faucet , that will become a steady stream... at some point the media will be unable to ignore....

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Response to oldhippydude (Reply #4)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:13 PM

bemildred (67,505 posts)

9. Me too. And there is three weeks left, and he's "in the fold".

Although I expect he will soon be discovered to have been acting on his own.

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Response to bemildred (Original post)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:06 PM

Gin (6,992 posts)

5. What happened to the registration forms he tossed?

Glad they got him...but the bigger issue is registering voters... IMO

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Response to Gin (Reply #5)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:24 PM

LiberalLovinLug (2,025 posts)

14. I agree

I wonder how many others he has tossed?
And what happens now if he has been doing this for awhile? They can't very well ask the people to re-register as they don't know who they are. One does wonder how many of, not only from his hand, but perhaps others that have trashed Democratic voter registrations. Its happened before.

I don't understand US voter registration I guess. Why do you have to announce who you are going to vote for, by identifying a party affiliation when you register? To me that just invites over-zealous party workers to do what this guy did.

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Response to bemildred (Original post)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:12 PM

Hosnon (7,422 posts)

8. I hope the prosecutor offers him a deal if he cooperates further.

Assuming there is a "further" and he isn't just a lazy SOB.

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Response to Hosnon (Reply #8)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:20 PM

bemildred (67,505 posts)

12. I almost feel sorry for him.

He just looks like a naive, mean, dumb kid.

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Response to bemildred (Reply #12)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:24 PM

Carolina (5,785 posts)

13. don't feel sorry at all

Last edited Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:24 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

Karl Rove was once like him!

Catch 'em early and punish 'em severely so we don't get more Roves

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Response to bemildred (Reply #12)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:25 PM

frylock (19,050 posts)

15. yep, which is why i don't believe that he took it upon himself to discard those forms..

he was likely ordered to do so.

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Response to frylock (Reply #15)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:30 PM

bemildred (67,505 posts)

17. Incompetent then. Throwing them away intact has gotten them in trouble before.

But yeah, incompetence, that works well here, doesn't it?

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Response to bemildred (Reply #12)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:27 PM

Hosnon (7,422 posts)

16. I agree. He is young and probably impressionable. If someone told him to do this, they

may have assured him that it was no big deal (or implied it).

However, he could have been politically motivated. If that's the case, he deserves what he is going to get.

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Response to Hosnon (Reply #16)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 03:36 PM

bemildred (67,505 posts)

18. Thanks.

Last edited Fri Oct 19, 2012, 04:02 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

I find excessive hating on people just fucks up my life, so I don't do it. I was kid once, and I cannot believe some of the shit I used to believe before I got out in the real world and got some corners knocked off.

I'm not saying he should not be accountable, but there is no need to get all worked up, he's done us a favor really.

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Response to bemildred (Reply #18)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 04:16 PM

Plucketeer (6,284 posts)

19. You might be right

I kinda get the impression this fellas in the same league as that oafish girl who innocently confessed she was part of a group trying to register Romney followers. She's - I'm sorry to say - about as clueless as the seniors my wife teaches civics to in high school.

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Response to Plucketeer (Reply #19)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 04:19 PM

bemildred (67,505 posts)

20. Yep. That's what I mean. nt

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Response to bemildred (Original post)

Fri Oct 19, 2012, 04:33 PM

OKNancy (29,949 posts)

22. Duplicate

Posted yesterday: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014271729

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