Voter Suppression Attempts in San Mateo County? Around Town, posted by Hmmm, a resident of East Palo Alto, on Nov 6, 2012 at 11:45 am
Peninsula Interfaith Action (PIA) is reporting that a group called Election Integrity Project will be deploying "poll observers" to polls in language-minority and student communities in San Mateo County asking people if they have their Drivers License or Social Security Card with them. Neither of these are required in order to vote. Asking someone about them is a form or voter intimidation and suppression. This group is targeting very specific counties in CA and ours is one of them. Has anyone here heard about this group or see them at any polling place?
Posted by VoxPop, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 6, 2012 at 12:04 pm
It's an organization founded by Judicial Watch, a right-wing organization that has received millions of dollars from foundations tied to conservative billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife since the start of 2001. Although it defines itself as non-partisan, this organization operates as a platform for the conservative Heritage Foundation, the right wing Breitbart.com, and the Tea Party groups True the Vote and the non-profit iCaucus. Do a search on them, there's lots of information on the Web.
Posted by Jimmy, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 6, 2012 at 12:15 pm
All voters, at walk-in voting places, should be required to have state-verified identification, period. It should be VERY difficult to attempt voter fraud!
Posted by resident, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Nov 6, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Until states are required to issue IDs to all residents, requiring voters to own state IDs are just a scam to suppress voting. Drivers licenses are not required if you do not drive (and lots of voters do not drive).
Voter eligibility should be verified when you apply to vote, not when you actually vote.
Posted by Jimmy, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 6, 2012 at 12:49 pm
>Voter eligibility should be verified when you apply to vote, not when you actually vote.
How would that work? I could lie about my name and address. I should need to PROVE that I have passed a state-level identification hurdle. The purity of the vote is essential to trust in the democratic system. Once this trust is lost, it is a slippery slope to the barricades.
>Can you point to ANY arrests and convictions for voter fraud in our county?
Can you show me any serious attempts at verification of the idenities of all the voters? How can there be arrests, unless there is a credible standard?
This is a no-brainer. All voters should be requird to prove their citizenship and location. It is basic to democracy. If this is not done, it is a form of voter suppression, due to the erosion of trust in the system.
Posted by Jimmy, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 6, 2012 at 1:38 pm
>There is a standard. It's called the "law."
Not if the law is not enforced. The law states that citizens, only, can vote, and then only if they live in the precinct. If there is not proof of citizenship, and location, there can be no enforcement of the law.
Posted by voting RIGHTS, a resident of Los Altos, on Nov 6, 2012 at 2:42 pm
"Not if the law is not enforced."
What???? The law IS enforced, you and the fringe just think there are legions of illegals voting, and there aren't! Just because you want to spread fear of some silly bogus right wing talking point that has no basis is reality, doesn't mean the law is being broken.
You have no proof, because it isn't actually happening, so you play silly word games.
Posted by Jimmy, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Nov 6, 2012 at 8:34 pm
>There is virtually no voter fraud.
You have zero basis to make this statement.
Analogy: There are a bunch of home thefts, in a given neighborhood, but the citizens of that neighborhood don't bother to report those thefts to the police, because they don't think it will matter, because the cops won't bother to pursue the thieves. Result: The official resposne will be that that there are no thefts reported, and it is not a problem.
Posted by Team BLUE, a member of the Palo Verde School community, on Nov 6, 2012 at 8:41 pm
">There is virtually no voter fraud. You have zero basis to make this statement. "
Yes, we have far greater basis for that statement than your claim "there is voter fraud".
By the way, your guys lost tonight. Big time.
Life is good.
Congratulations PRESIDENT ELECT Obama. And all the new Democratic Senators, including Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Baldwin, etc... While the numbers didn't change too much, the senate just became FAR MORE PROGRESSIVE.
See ya later Todd Akin, Mourdock, and Scott Brown!
Posted by resident, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Nov 6, 2012 at 8:58 pm
Unlikely that the voter supression people in California were trying to affect the presidential election, since Obama was way ahead in California. More likely they were trying to bias some of the anti-corporation propositions. Hard to tell if they were successful right now.
Posted by Ducatigirl, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 7, 2012 at 1:23 pm
In all the time I have lived in Palo Alto, I have twicw been asked for my CDL; both times I had forgotten my voter guide, which is acceptable s voter ID.
However, when I lived in the East Bay for seven years, I was asked for my CDL in addition to my voter guide. The reason given by the pollworkers was always that there had been several attempts of voter fraud in Alameda County.
I do not know San Mateo County, other than Menlo Park, but could it be that there have been attempts at fraud there? Or that there is excessive worry about attempts?
Posted by Overwhelm Suppression with huge numbers, a resident of Mountain View, on Nov 7, 2012 at 1:43 pm
Ducatgirl: if there were actual instances of voter fraud, one side otr the other would have been trumpeting it far and wide, as well as had the district attorney involved.
Voter Fraud is non-existent, a red herring to try and drive down legitimate voter participation.
Posted by resident, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Nov 7, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Voter intimidation is always fraud. That goes double when the intimidators are not election officials. The two men in the news report ran off when local election officials spotted them and called the police.
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