Onslaught of dirty tricks as election day nears

[underpants]

Source: MSNBC

In the final hours of the campaign, bogus fliers, e-mails and calls increase

Complaints have surfaced in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Philadelphia where fliers have circulated, warning voters they could be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets or if they had criminal convictions.

Over the weekend in Virginia, bogus fliers with an authentic-looking commonwealth seal said fears of high voter turnout had prompted election officials to hold two elections — one on Tuesday for Republicans and another on Wednesday for Democrats.

In New Mexico, two Hispanic women filed a lawsuit last week claiming they were harassed by a private investigator working for a Republican lawyer who came to their homes and threatened to call immigration authorities, even though they are U.S. citizens.

In Pennsylvania, e-mails appeared linking Democrat Barack Obama to the Holocaust. "Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, Nov. 4," said the electronic message, paid for by an entity calling itself the Republican Federal Committee. "Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake."

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27508967?GT1=43001

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In Nevada, for example, Latino voters said they had received calls from people describing themselves as Obama volunteers, urging them to cast their ballot over the phone.

'Happens all the time'
Trying to mislead voters is nothing new.

"We see this every year," said Jonah Goldman of the advocacy group Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "It all happens around this time when there's too much other stuff going on in the campaigns, and it doesn't get investigated."

[leftchick]

1. 'Happens all the time'???

to whom? Certainly not repukes, and that is why it is never investigated.

[myrna minx]

2. Disgusting. K&R n/t

[Gato Moteado]

3. 2000 and 2004 all over again.....

republicans = human garbage. anyone care to disagree?

[Bake]

9. OK, just for the sake of argument ...

Nope. I just can't do it. You're right!!



Bake

[ogminlo]

4. Not gonna work this time!

[gratuitous]

5. "Dirty tricks"

Isn't it odd how these tricks are predominantly perpetrated on voters presumed to be of one party, rather than an equal opportunity sort of thing? The ONLY time it's mentioned as happening to Republicans is near the end of the story, recounting an episode from the Republican primaries. To any disinterested observer, it's obvious that the primaries are the warm up for the general for one party and one party only: Republicans are the perpetrators of dirty tricks designed to depress voter turnout.

Why can't NBC just come out and report this indisputable fact? Instead, we're treated to some ersatz even-handedness that tries to limn these dirty tricks as somehow a fact of life on both sides of the political aisle. They are actually the near exclusive province of the GOP, and have been for decades.

[PSPS]

8. That struck me too

An accurate headline would have included an accurate qualifier like "GOP Dirty Tricks" or "Republican Dirty Tricks." But what do you expect from MSGOP?

[nodehopper]

6. ...

[DeepModem Mom]

7. K&R

[mzmolly]

10. If I got a 'vote by phone' call I'd say sure, I'm voting for McCain.

Disgusting indeed.