Has anyone gotten any absentee ballots in the mail from the McCain campaign?

[MrMickeysMom]

I'm listening to reports of this having been the case in "purple states"

Mailer is focused on Democratic voters. Mailer per se is not illegal, but when wrong city clerks return address is used, then what do you think the objective is here?

[tabatha]

1. Can someone get this to Obama?

[progressoid]

42. or your state Attorney General and/or Secy of State.

[MrMickeysMom]

2. I'm getting ready to visit the local HQ of the campaign-

What do you suggest?

[Bill McBlueState]

3. I got an absentee ballot request form

It was a form to request an Ohio ballot, mailed to me at my current address in Massachusetts. I last voted in Ohio in the 2000 election.

I know McCain wants us all to relive the last eight years, but this is ridiculous.

[MrMickeysMom]

5. Do you still have this?

What did you do?

[Bill McBlueState]

19. I think it's still in my recycle bin

Just treated it as more junk mail.

[MrMickeysMom]

21. Can ya pull it out and check out the legitimacy of the return address?

What you're looking for is county supervisor of elections, or city clerk that would be correct. If it's not,

IT'S CAGING!

[Bill McBlueState]

24. I'll try to dig it up when I get home

I know the zip code was the same one I had when I lived in Ohio, but I don't remember more than that right now.

[MrMickeysMom]

27. Tanks! eom

[Bill McBlueState]

22. but honestly...

If McCain wants Massachusetts Democrats to vote in Ohio instead, I'd be happy to look into ways to make that happen.

[MrMickeysMom]

25. I get the joke...

If it only were that simple.

This has to be kicked! Please!!!

[ginnyinWI]

41. my son in law and daughter each got one on separate days.

Neither has ever voted repub. They think it's hilarious.

[MrMickeysMom]

45. I guess what we need here is to ask a few questions:

1) Was there an accompanying request to return it to them?
2) Did it have the correct county clerk of elections address?
3) Will you call in to your local news source to alert them about this voter do's and don'ts?

[ginnyinWI]

58. they did have the correct address--I checked.

It was to the village clerk, not county. They didn't want it returned to them but to the clerk. So nothing is really wrong--it's just funny that they would send it to them and I wonder what mailing list they used, because it was certainly not a voter list. One of them isn't registered to vote.

[secondwind]

4. me opinion is that McCain is trying to capitalize on his "bounce", and is

encouraging Independents and other to vote by mail, thereby getting their vote in for him early, before they have a chance to change their minds!

[MrMickeysMom]

8. Do you also suspect caging?

The tip off should be the incorrect return clerks' office.

[coffeenap]

6. Being discussed on Thom Hartmanns show right now--by

the person subbing for him. He wants people to call in if they have seen this. Wisconsin, Florida, Virginia mentioned. (I am listening online at NovaMradio.com)

[MrMickeysMom]

10. Me, too, coffeenap. That's why I posted

I just need to follow through ...

[marlakay]

7. I got a letter from RNC asking for money

and giving a prepaid envelope. I have never voted for them or donated so they must be on drugs to think they can send this to dems!!

anyway I saved the envelope for today 9-11 used my tear off calendar page for today and wrote on the blank area, thanks for reminding me to donate to Obama I am going on his site now. Again thanks so much, put my first name and a happy face!!

And I am mailing it today.

[Union Thug]

12. I would take that envelope and stuff it full of those offensive fake

bills that had Obama's face on them... and then generously send them back.

[MrMickeysMom]

28. Excellent!

How fitting that is.

[JackintheGreen]

9. Got one here in PA

and I have to vote absentee this year. Johnnie is so thoughtful that I might just vote for him after all. :sarcasm:

[MrMickeysMom]

11. Is the return clerk's office correct for you? n/t

[JackintheGreen]

31. Oh, yeah...

I forgot to mention that. Actually, it is correct, so I thought nothing more about it. But otherwise it would be totally evil. He wouldn't do that...would he?

[MrMickeysMom]

35. ...

... I don't want to find out the hard way

:evilgrin:

[a kennedy]

13. Yes my husband got one.....

We live in Minnesota, right across the Mississippi River from Wisconsin. I just threw it away, but did think what the H*LL is this??? :shrug: then I got kinda mad. :mad: :mad: :mad:

[MrMickeysMom]

23. Well, I don't want you to go garbage hopping...

PU...

But, please alert others who might be getting it!

[EFerrari]

14. Vote suppression in the swing states, just as we predicted.

Is there a list of states yet? Where are you getting the info? :)

[MrMickeysMom]

16. Thom Hartmann show -

being hosted by "The Mike" Wisconsin guest talk host (listen to NovaM, I don't hear his name)

[MrMickeysMom]

29. Thom Hartmann show -

look down thread for call in number

[Gold Metal Flake]

15. "I don't want everybody to vote."

"How many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome — good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down." --Paul Weyrich


Watch him say it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglw

[wryter2000]

17. I'm hearing this on Hartmann's show right now

Substitute host. Just when I think they can't get any worse...

This needs to get out.

[undeterred]

18. I will drop it by the local McCain office with a heaping serving

of steaming labrador poop inside.

[MrMickeysMom]

26. No, that's too good

Go get some moose poop.

[undeterred]

39. I would have to drive to Minnesota for the nearest moose poop.

Really, this labrador poop. Its big stuff.

[MrMickeysMom]

20. If you happen to be listening to Thom Hartmann in real time, call

Lee Rayburn, sitting in for Thom today (with concerns if you were mailed one)

866-303-2270

[smokey nj]

30. Kick!

[MrMickeysMom]

33. Alright, smokey nj!

I'm ready to visit my local Obama HQ. If there's more news, I'll bring it back here... MMM

[radfringe]

32. suggestion

if anyone gets one of these ballots - do a google on the address. if it's a valid address, the clerk's office info should come up on "the google", even if it's a PO BOX

I told my partner to let her mom know about this and not to fill out any absentee ballot. she lives in FL, in a retirement community - easy mark for this kind of crap

[MrMickeysMom]

34. ... good one, too.

Thanks.

[alfredo]

36. Very rovian

[JitterbugPerfume]

37. my son in Michigan got one

it went straight to the trash bin

[stillcool]

38. We need to get some kind of..

a Public Service announcement out regarding all these mail shenanigans. Not only for caging purposes to challenge people's addresses when they show up at the polls, but also to deflect all the confusion that follows by the disinformation campaign that happens before every election. Oh Yeah...I checked my registration today!

[flamingdem]

40. k + R

[MiniMe]

43. Another thread that asks

Sorry, didn't realize you had already started a thread. Somebody received something.

[MrMickeysMom]

44. Hey, no problemo. Just keep kicking, folks...

Just got back from the local Obama for President office.

I'll be back later. It's worth telling everyone.

[MiniMe]

46. Who is paying the postage on this people?

Why would McCain spend the money on the mailing and the money on sending it in? There is something up with these. If you get one, save it. Take it to your local democratic election committees. Take them everything, including the envelope that it came in.

Although, I would be really tempted to send it back with a piece of paper that says "Why did I get an absentee ballot request when I didn't ask for it" just so McCain has to pay the postage for it.

[MiniMe]

47. DON'T PUT THESE IN THE TRASH BIN if you get one

Sorry, not really yelling. Save everything and take it every where you can think of. Take it to your local election board, ask why you were sent this from the McCain campaign. See what they say. Let us know. There is something that stinks about this, and I'm sure it has to do with election fraud. I'm not sure how, but there is no logical reason for McCain to spend any money trying to get democrats to vote.

[MrMickeysMom]

48. You might want to run with that Posted, MM

Smoking guns, you know...

I happen to be running for a local office, and I have generic absentee ballots and a deadline approaching. By calling the county elections division such as they are here in Allegheny county, or visiting them in other areas online, you should know those dates of deadlines for absentee ballots and a process for completeness.

We need to know what else is included with the absentee ballots people are getting.

[MiniMe]

49. I was going to leave it like that

But I didn't want people to think I was yelling at them. Good for you for running. Good Luck!

[MrMickeysMom]

53. Thanks, MM

The thing that made me run was that "all politics are local". Yet, when you look at local politics, you see it's just as uninformed, so you feel like you're looking down an even longer tunnel. The flip side is, you have a slightly bigger flashlight along the way.

Vigilance! Vigilance! Vigilance!

[MiniMe]

52. Hey MMM

There is somebody in this thread http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3975675&mesg_id=3975885 who is going to scan it for us soon. Hoping that may help you out. :hi:

[philly_bob]

50. In PA, I got call from Republicans asking if I wanted to get an absentee ballot n/t

[1]

51. i have one of them in my hand right now. (missouri)

it is not an absentee ballot, it is a "request for missouri absentee ballot" card. it asks personal information and the reason for the absentee ballot request.

the card is addressed to my county clerk. the address is correct. the card is not pre-paid, it requires a stamp.

[MiniMe]

54. Did you request it or did the McCain campaign send it?

[1]

56. sorry, i should have given more info...

about a week ago i got a phone call. a recorded voice told me that the mccain campaign would be sending an absentee ballot request to me and urged me to vote (the voice did not specify for who.)

a few days ago the mailer arrived. sent from john mccain 2008, p.o. box 16118, arlington, va 22215. on one side it says "dangerous times demand experience" with pictures of hugo chávez, osamma bin laden, kim jung il and another arab fellow who's name escapes me right now. the other side has a pic of mccain, a quote about terrorism, and my address.

inside were two blank absentee ballot request cards (looks like a standard government type form) that explains an absentee ballot and asks for name, address, phone, reason for request and signature. the back of the card is addressed to my county clerk (the address is correct) and requires a stamp. it is not pre-paid.

[1]

57. here is a pic of what i received. NOT MY PIC! this came from a thread in gd:p...

on the left is an image of that "governmental" looking absentee ballot request card that i recieved a few days ago.

(not my picture. i found this in gd:p from some dude's flickr post: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jarretmichael/2846819173)




the mailer in the picture above is different from the one i received (mine was all about terrorism, check my post above, and check the other thread linked in this thread for a scan of another mailer. that one was about "changing washington". i don't know what the one in this pic is about.) the mailer (the sides of which i described above) is printed on a light cardboard, folded in half and held together by two pieces of that round tape you can in the pic above. when you open the tape the "request for missouri absentee ballot" cards are inside.

the image above is a representation of the absentee ballot request that i received. the first part is a "i (state your name)" kind of thing, followed by the reason for the request, address and phone number stuff, ending with a "i do so swear that all statements made..." thing right before the signature line.

the address on the card to mail to my county clerk is correct. it does require that i pay the postage.

the only weird thing is...

i thought this was just a mass mailing to everybody like some sort of "coupon book, trying to get you to shop at the rite-aid kind of thing."

if this is really only being targeted at democrats? how does mccain know so much about me? that i am a democrat? where i live? where my election officials can be found?

that's fucking creepy. y'all might have to stop by and fit me for a tinfoil hat.

y'all might be right...

[MrMickeysMom]

55. Thanks. What this sounds like is a routine an application...

... which anyone can hand out (I do). I just wonder why they would be given benignly or otherwise to addressee's who may not have asked for them.

If it's within the county election division or whatever the proper jurustition, it sounds benign.

But, that doesn't match up to the other stories of the day.

We need to continue to stay on target, I think.

[ellacott]

59. I got an application for an absentee ballot yesterday

I live in Ohio. I just put it on my table and didn't really read. After reading these posts I'm going to look at it again when I get home.