What's wrong with America: 'Why should I pay a toll for someone else's bridge?'

[freshwest]

39. The GOP was not at all subtle in November:

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

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10821047

Good rapid response by King County Dems and WA State Dems to ballot theft
Washington State Democrats Chair Pelz Calls on Secretary of State Sam Reed to Denounce GOP Ballot Collection Tactics

Seattle -- Today, the Washington State Democrats called on Secretary of State Sam Reed to denounce the recently announced practice by the King County Republican Party of sending Republican operatives to collect ballots. The Washington State Republican Party and the campaign of Rob McKenna have recently been recruiting unknown paid canvassers to go door-to-door collecting ballots, leaving their delivery in the hands of partisan political operatives.

Reed, who recently gave $50,000 to the WSRP, should encourage the Republican party to direct voters to return their ballots through official means, either by mail, at a drop box, or at a mobile drop box. As Secretary of State, Reed is responsible for ensuring the independence and integrity of our elections, and this tactic by Republicans threatens that.

"This looks like a campaign that doesn't know how to run a get out the vote program and is panicking," said Washington State Democrats Chair Dwight Pelz. "Voters in King County have many ways in which to return their ballots, including by mail, in a drop box, or in a mobile drop box. Republicans should be encouraging people to return their ballot through official means, as we and the County have done, but instead they are creating a situation fraught with the opportunity of voter fraud."

"We've learned a lot about Rob McKenna's ethics this week -- from taxpayer-funded trips to Disneyland, to going door-to-door taking people's ballots away from them. This isn't how we conduct fair elections; Rob McKenna's campaign should cease this practice immediately."

The full text of the letter is below:

By Email and U.S. Mail

Hon. Sam Reed
Secretary of State
416 Sid Snyder Ave. S.W.
Legislative Building
Olympia, WA

Dear Secretary Reed:

I represent the Washington State Democratic Party. It has come to our attention that the King County Republican Party is informing voters that they can and should drop off voted ballots not at county election offices or U.S. mailboxes, but instead a temporary pick up locations staffed by Republican party operatives. Worse, these actions are being taken in direct contravention of guidance from the King County Elections Department. http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections.aspx.

This initiative is as ill-considered as it is unprecedented. There is a reason why nonpartisan election officials conduct our elections and the prospect of having partisan operatives collect voted ballots and return them to the elections office is chilling indeed. It is especially concerning in light of press reports from around the country about deliberate efforts by Republican Party officials to disenfranchise Democratic voters by collecting and then destroying their voter registration applications. See, e.g., http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57535950/man-charged-after-tossing-voter-registration-forms-in-virginia/.

Worse, state law makes it a felony for a person to either directly or indirectly offer anything of value to a voter in exchange for a vote. RCW 29A.84.620. The collection and delivery of ballots at the expense of the Republican Party seems a plain and clear violation of that statute.

As Washingtons chief elections officer, I ask that you defend our tradition of nonpartisan election administration and call upon the King County Republican Party to immediately cease and desist from this, frankly, badly misguided effort and consider appropriate legal action if that becomes necessary.

Very truly yours,

Kevin J. Hamilton
KJH:wbs
cc: Katie Blinn, Co-Director of Elections


Announcement by King County Elections

http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections/voting/ballotdropboxes/bdblocations.aspx

King County Elections strongly discourages giving possession or responsibility of your ballot to anyone other than USPS or official King County Elections drop locations.Voters may use the online ballot tracker to confirm that King County has received their ballot.
http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections/ballottracker

The activity of collecting ballots for delivery is not prohibited by law.

King County GOP is collecting ballots at multiple van drop locations in King County

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/politicsnorthwest/2012/11/04/democrats-complain-about-new-king-county-gop-get-out-the-vote-tactic/

“This initiative is as ill-considered as it is unprecedented,” Kevin J. Hamilton, a Washington State Democratic Party attorney, wrote Saturday to Secretary Reed. “There is a reason why nonpartisan election officials conduct our elections and the prospect of having partisan operatives collect voted ballots and return them to the elections office is chilling indeed.”

Reed did not immediately return telephone and email messages Sunday seeking comment.

In a news release, King County officials said the county “strongly discourages giving possession or responsibility for ballots to anyone other than USPS or official King County Elections drop locations.”

County Executive Dow Constantine, a Democrat, and Elections Director Sherril Huff held a news conference in West Seattle this morning to advise voters not to give their ballot to anyone they don’t know.

Send an e-mail to Secretary of State Sam Reed urging he stop paid Republican canvassers collecting signed filled out ballots of voters. This breaks the chain of custody of ballots and opens the process to abuse and fraud. His e-mail is [email protected] . Send a copy of e-mail to Sherril Huff at King County Elections. [email protected] . Thanks.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10821079

Republican voter suppression scam in WA State
From my email--

Voter suppression: Eleanor Munro of the MDC read an email message at the request of MDC Director Joan Burton. Ms Burton’s daughter received a phone call from the Washington State Democratic Voter Identification Committee (which does not exist) noting that because of printer errors she should not vote until she received a new ballot. She wanted to warn members of this effort to keep Democrats from voting.

FBI Voter Intimidation Hotline: [phone].



http://www.democraticunderground.com/10821019

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10821034

Police report says break-in at Democratic Party HQ suspicious
SEATTLE (AP) - A preliminary police report suggests an Election Day burglary at the headquarters of the state Democratic Party might be something other than a routine break-in.

The majority of items taken belonged to important campaign workers and the burglar attempted to make it look like a random crime, the report states.

Police are still investigating and won't speculate on why the office was targeted.

"Unless we know who the suspects are, it's kind of hard to figure out a motive," spokesman Mark Jamieson said Thursday.

Workers arriving about 5:30 a.m. Nov. 6 found the front door smashed. Police secured the building and found offices ransacked. In addition to the Democratic Party, the building held offices for Jay Inslee's campaign for governor and Organizing for America, the campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama.

A window had been broken to get into a director's office and confidential files were rifled through and moved. Other offices that were hit included the media coordinator and fundraising section. A trash can was dumped and used to haul away the stolen property.

More at Link:
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Break-in-at-Democratic-Party-headquarters-in-Seattle-suspicious-179514771.html
3

Sorry that's probably TMI, but we've been shocked by what's going on there. Of course we've been under attack since Bush took office - really under attack, financially, every other way from the GOP and they show no signs, between the churches taking people RW of stopping anything. It's insidious.

And I'm sorry you're losing a good one....