The Fix is in
 

At least in Oregon, Kerry is going to win in a landslide. Why do I think it's rigged? Read the following article...then note that ZERO I.D. is asked for when registering to vote here, and ZERO I.D. is asked for when voting. Also keep in mind that Oregon hands out voter registration forms with every new driver's license issued, and that Oregon DOES issue driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Oh, excuse me...to be politically correct, there are no illegal aliens in Oregon. Only "undocumented immigrants". ;) This article isn't internet partisan stuff...it's from a local paper that is considered "mainstream": The Albany, OR DEMOCRAT-HERALD...this evening's issue, 1 November 2004.


Flap arises over new voters in Portland

By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI
Associated Press Writer




PORTLAND — Democrats accused Republicans Sunday of trying to block thousands of young people's votes, following a formal request by GOP lawyers to review ballots cast by first-time voters in Oregon's most populous county.

In a letter issued Friday, attorneys for the Oregon Republican Party demanded that officials set aside ballots cast by new voters in Multnomah County who have not provided proof of identification.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said that the Republican demand flies in the face of Oregon law which does not require voters to show proof of identification when registering.

"This is not Florida. We are about empowering citizens,'' said Wyden, who helped draft the relevant portion of Oregon's election law.

He held a press conference Sunday in downtown Portland to counter the GOP request.

Statewide, 207,053 first-time voters registered after May and 73,226 of them are under the age of 25, according to numbers provided by Sunlight Data Systems, a database manager working for groups backing Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

Twenty percent of the new voters live in Multnomah County, home to liberal Portland.

"They are in effect asking this country to change the rules 14 days into our 18-day election,'' said Tim Nesbitt, the pro-Kerry president of the Oregon AFL-CIO. "Think of one team trying to change the rules late in a ball game and applying those new rules only on their opponents' home field,'' he said.

Two years after the voting controversy in Florida, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act, aimed at curbing voting irregularities. One of its many provisions was a requirement that voters show proof of identification when voting.

Oregon's congressional delegation took issue with that requirement because of Oregon's unique vote-by-mail system, which had previously allowed citizens to simply send in their ballots. It's more difficult for a person voting by mail to Xerox their driver's license and include it along with their mail-in ballot, than it is for a person voting at a polling booth to pull it out of their pocket and show to an elections official, the delegation argued.

The bipartisan "Oregon Compromise,'' drafted by Wyden and Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, added language which created an exception for Oregon as a way to preserve its unique vote-by-mail system.

Oregon Elections Director John Lindback said the state will fight the Republican request and stressed that the GOP concern is unfounded.

"For years in Oregon when a person signed their voter registration card, they were warned that if they didn't tell the truth they would be charged with a Class C Felony — that carries a $150,000 fine or up to five years in jail,'' said Lindback. "It's a very serious penalty and we believed that the warning was enough,'' he said.

He questioned the GOP's sincerity, given that the request for ballot segregation was only sent to Multnomah County.

"It looks like they're trying to stop votes from being counted in a highly liberal county. Why not in traditionally conservative counties like Baker or Umatilla or Malheur. It looks very partisan,'' Lindback said.

The Republican challenge is set out in a letter dated Friday signed by Matthew Lowe, an attorney in the Portland law firm of O'Donnell & Clark, which according to the letter represents the Oregon Republican Party and the Bush-Cheney 2004 re-election campaign. It is addressed to John Kauffman, director of elections in Multnomah County.

"The purpose of this letter is to demand that those ballots cast by persons who have yet to provide valid identification be set aside so that voter's registration can be reviewed and verified, and the ballots challenged if necessary,'' Lowe writes.

"In the event we cannot reach agreement on this matter, our client's only option will be to challenge each and every ballot cast in which a voter's identity — and qualifications — are still in question,'' the letter said.

Wyden said that although he is confident Oregon would prevail in a legal challenge, a lawsuit this close to the election would serve to discourage voters — especially young ones who, according to the senator, already feel as if their votes do not count.

"Florida was decided by 537 votes — and most college dorms are that size,'' said Wyden. "You bet that if a suit is filed tomorrow it could have a chilling effect, especially on younger voters.''

Kevin Mannix, chairman of the Oregon Republican Party, did not immediately return calls late Sunday afternoon.

It’s a bit late now for this time around unfortunately, but it seems like the most effective solution would be to find a few, or few hundred illegal voters & start slapping down those $150,000 fines or five year jail terms. That would be fairly effective, perhaps more so than allowing a photocopied (!!!) drivers license for ID verification.

It is a slightly odd that the lawsuit singles out one county only- “Twenty percent of the new voters live in Multnomah County”. Why wouldn’t the remaining 80% get the same attention?

If the Dems are going for voter fraud to win in OR, then they are in trouble. OR was always solid Kerry. I don't even think W campaigned there.

Population...Multnomah county IS Portland, the only city of any size in Oregon. From the article:

"It looks like they're trying to stop votes from being counted in a highly liberal county. Why not in traditionally conservative counties like Baker or Umatilla or Malheur. It looks very partisan,'' Lindback said.


This made me LOL! There are single precincts in Multnomah county with more "registered voters" than in these other 3 counties combined. We're talking high desert cattle ranch counties, maybe over 1,000 citizens of voting age each...maybe not. Ask RoninLB, he drove through this country...more cattle per square mile than people.

Wrong...he was here. I'm telling it to you straight out...IMHO, elections ARE rigged in Oregon, and have been for quite some time. The current mail election and registration laws would make the old time Chicago ward bosses rub their hands in glee.
I'll go out on a limb here...Kerry is going to "win" Oregon in much the same way a 3 card Monte street dealer always wins. Bush is gonna take it nationally. I don't play 3 card Monte...why vote in Oregon?

Found it on the Census website- 677,813 in Multnomah County, 3,559,596 in Oregon as a whole.

So Portland has 20% of the population & 20% of the new voter registrations. It still seems like a statewide issue, rather than being confined to one county.

Just guessing here, but easily over half, perhaps as much as 2/3. kind of like asking the same question about Honolulu & the rest of Hawaii....Eugene is next in size, a liberal college town. Salem, next in line, it's the state capitol. An Atlas should give you the numbers. The bottom line? Portland rules the rest of us. Some like this, some don't. That didn't bother me as much as suddenly believing that voting is a fruitless exercise...Hey, I wouldn't care as much about being in the minority if I knew that my vote was a legit one. Now that I think otherwise? Guess the only real vote I have left is with my feet...leave my home state.

Elections are rigged nearly everywhere. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool.

In volusia county where I lived during the 2K elections gore got negative seventeen thousand votes.

As you can imagine our county was one of several where gore wanted a recount. That slimly little lawyer using sue happy bastard.

Nope...check the surrounding counties...that's "Portland" in reality. Add Washington, Clackamas, Yamhill, & Multnomah together...what do you get then? Portland "area" alone has to be at least half...your numbers only reflect inside the city limits of Portland...these days, all these counties inside the "portland" area...

Wont Nader take a large portion of the vote in Oregon? Thats no good for Kerry, right? Im just glad this kind of thing isnt happening in Louisiana. The crap that has gone on in Florida, California, Oregon, and now Ohio makes Louisiana politics seem civilized and rational.

That's OK. When our armed Republican "Voter Motivation" squads show up it'll be all RIGHT.

What a whiner.

But can you link to a story about this negative vote count in 2000? That's fascinating...

Nader not on the ballot in Oregon. His supporters jumped through the hoops, got plenty of signatures, but our partisan Secretary of State, Bill Bradbury, rejected the signatures....said the petition pages weren't numbered properly. Aye, this is the rub...the very people who are entrusted to keep our elections on a level playing field are the ones who are tilting it.

I heard there were some problems but Mr. Nader was on my (computerized) ballot.

Juan, that tells me there is less to worry about in Florida than in Oregon...;)

;)

I think Pat Buchanan will do very well in Palm Beach, Florida again this time.

How can you have "negative votes". Did people punch in "I dont want to vote for Gore"?

Polls count votes 0 or 1 or 2 or ....n

Sounds cynical but I frankly don't get it. You might want to rephrase this.

It was a computer glitch, supposedly caused by bad computer chips. :rolleyes:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0310/S00211.htm

Must've been using Macs! :eek:

-Z.