Never Mind the Dead Voters, Beware of Election Commissioners!

I think having voter id laws are fine if they are not burdensome and fair to all. It’s never a bad idea to clean up corruption when it comes to elections. However I don’t think the urgency is commensurate with the actual size of the problem when it comes to fraudulent voters. I believe this is another distraction to get the general public to start bickering along political lines and draw attention away from a bigger problem.

In my opinion, the real problem with the integrity of our voting process, as in the following news example, is not enough oversight on the process itself and the people in charge. All you hear right now is how the voters, not the process or officials, are to blame. Pass more laws on the VOTERS instead of the process or the officials!

This story is a very recent example of what I am discussing. It happens to involve an election commissioner who is Republican. But this is not a statement for or against either party. I vote for people not parties. There are plenty of examples out there involving Democrats too. It is just the most recent example happening right now that I’ve seen. The main point I want to make is that the process and officials need more laws and oversight than individual voters do.

I’m sure many of you could post more examples of election office “mishaps” that could affect hundreds or possibly thousands of votes. Keep your eyes open in the weeks and months ahead!

Clearly upset with Governor Dave Heineman, Secretary of State John Gale and Election Commissioner Dave Phipps, Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) is calling for a federal investigation into possible “voter suppression” involving those closed polling places in Douglas County.

In a letter (see below) to U.S. Attorney Eric Holder, Nelson today cited “a series of disturbing actions” which according to Nelson “adversely affect those residents living in predominantly minority and low-income communities who wish to vote” in the May 15 Primary.

Dear Attorney General Holder:

Recently, a series of disturbing actions were taken by the Election Commissioner for Douglas County, Nebraska, compelling me to request an investigation of that office for possible voter suppression and abridgement of residents registered to vote in the Omaha metropolitan area.

Through an article printed in the March 22, 2012, edition of the Omaha World-Herald newspaper, it was learned that the number of polling sites in Omaha had been significantly decreased without any input from the community, allegedly as part of an effort to cut costs and reduce the budget of the Election Commissioner’s office. According to reports, 166 of the 352 polling locations will be closed. Numerous requests from community leaders to reconsider this decision were rejected. Additionally, concerns directed to both the Election Commissioner and Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman by Secretary of State John Gale regarding voter confusion caused by these changes during a presidential election year were either ignored or rejected outright.

Yet, just days later, the Election Commissioner mailed out more than 2,000 voter cards with incorrect polling site information, stating that he knew the information was incorrect, but mailing the misinformation to registered voters anyway. Upon this data being made public, the Election Commissioner stated that he would send additional notices containing correct polling sites, undoubtedly causing confusion for citizens receiving the mixed correspondence just weeks before the primary election to be held on May 15. While some voters will receive the corrected mailing and act accordingly, others may think it is a duplicate mailing and will, therefore, either not read it thoroughly or simply discard it, then go to the polling site on the original, incorrect card, only to learn they are at the wrong site. And still many more may just stay home due to these confusing double mailings.

After considerable media attention and pressure from the public, the Election Commissioner has now stated that he intends to send early voting forms to all registered voters in the county, at considerable expense. Some estimates of the cost to taxpayers to implement this plan exceed the costs saved by closing nearly half of the polling locations. This raises doubts regarding his stated rationale for closing polling places in the first place – an effort to save money.

The actions taken by the Douglas County Election Commissioner are of concern to me and my constituents because they are certain to adversely affect those residents living in predominantly minority and low-income communities who wish to vote in the upcoming elections.

Despite the concerns raised by the Nebraska Secretary of State, his office has rejected requests from public officials and others to investigate these actions. As a result, I am requesting a thorough investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice of the Douglas County Election Commissioner’s Office in Nebraska on the grounds of possible efforts to suppress or deny citizens living in Omaha, Nebraska, their constitutional right to vote under the protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1965.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska

A link to the entire story:

nebraska.watchdog.org...


In recent history probably the most memorable ballot fiasco was during the Bush/Gore election in 2000. Voter fraud was not the reason the U.S. Supreme Court had to intervene and decide the election. The problem, once again, involved the election offices, officials, and voting machine problems. I am always looking for the distraction in politics. Democrat or Republican, they are all masters of the spin and turning the people against one another, rather than becoming angry enough at the never ending corruption of the people running the show!

Progress can only happen on the really big issues of government fraud and manipulation when people wake up and focus their anger properly. If people see corruption within their chosen party, they need to get angry and demand change instead of parroting the spin put on issues by the political talking heads on television and radio. More people need to get their facts from a variety of sources rather than a favorite television or radio show!

Who cares if someone is Democrat or Republican, if they are not doing things right get them out! And if the law is allowing corruption to happen, then demand more laws for the officials! Another big step to reform could begin if people would free themselves from their allegiance to a group and stop voting strictly along party lines. In my opinion both parties have shown their deficiencies by refusing to work together for the people, and both parties are stacked with self serving politicians who promise the people one thing to get in office, then it’s all about the party and pleasing whatever big corporate interests are on their respective sides.

Apparently they didnt see.....

Obama's club wielding black panthers?

The same monkey business went on in Maine and Georgia just to list 2 other states. This is very common in the party
caucuses. What's even worse is the vote software that allows vote switching and add to that the fact that a company in Spain will be tabulating all votes in the US this fall.
THat's why I nearly choke every time I hear "Your voice, your vote" on ABC news.

reply to post by TZela

In my opinion, the real problem with the integrity of our voting process, as in the following news example, is not enough oversight on the process itself and the people in charge.

I believe that is part of the problem. But I also think this ridiculous "secret ballot" voting is also the problem, how can you attempt to repair the integrity of the system, while it's in no way transparent.

If I'm voting for party A, I feel there should be a record of that. Sure, this could potentially make a nice easy to access list to "enemies" if the government went rogue or whatever. I'm really not that worried. I'm more worried about the fact that once I vote, I'm the only record of who I voted for.

Once my ballot is cast, it's out of my hands, and I have to assume the people are counting it, but I have no way of proving it, because I'm the only record of who I voted for.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Wow! I had no idea. Would you be so kind as to provide me with more information.

reply to post by Shadowalker


Thanks for helping me make my point. The circus will go on as usual until people get angry at corruption within their own respective political parties. Bringing up Obama or Black Panthers are unrelated issues here. Bashing Obama won't make the problem in this story go away until people within their own party become fed up enough to acknowledge it. Would you have replied the same if the commissioner in the story was a Democrat?

Did the commissioner in this story intentionally try to influence the voting process? We may never know. But his actions were not ethical because he didn't work to fix the problem until he was pressured. A large number of polling places were closed without public input. That should bother everyone no matter what political party is involved.

Already an update to the story: www.kmtv.com...

Oh and I apologize Shadowalker, I guess we can fit Obama in to the story after all. But thank goodness so far no Black Panthers with clubs. But again, even though this particular story is focusing on an alleged Republican faux pas, I am still focused on the lack of laws and oversight that allow the process and officials to become game changers in elections. I would like to see both Republican and Democrat stories involving election office controversies posted and discussed.

Nebraska Dems cry foul over Douglas County changes
April 6, 2012, 5:17 p.m. CDT

AP
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — When Democrat Barack Obama became the first presidential candidate to split Nebraska's electoral votes by shaving off the state's 2nd District, Nebraska Republicans vowed it wouldn't happen again.

Now, state Democrats say Republicans have gone too far in an attempt to keep any of the state's five electoral votes from going to Obama in his re-election bid — a claim rebuffed by the state GOP.

Shortly after Obama's coup in 2008, Republicans pushed for a winner-take-all system in Nebraska — one of only two states that can split its electoral votes. The measure didn't find traction with lawmakers, as they were grappling with heavier issues such as budget shortfalls and immigration. What the GOP-dominated Legislature did manage last year was a redistricting effort, redrawing the Omaha-centric 2nd District to be more GOP-friendly.

www.nola.com...

Election offices are so careful when you go to work for election duty to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest by partnering workers of opposite parties when working during an election, and calling a balanced number of workers from each party. Although there is a deputy commissioner in Nebraska that could provide some oversight to the commissioner perhaps the duty of election commissioner needs to become an equally shared bipartisan duty of two people.

Originally posted by Luckyxfactor
reply to post by Asktheanimals

 

Wow! I had no idea. Would you be so kind as to provide me with more information.

Sure, check out these links.

www.blackboxvoting.org...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Until citizens wake up to the law and start doing their homework THEY will always be in control of you. Voting is a crime and yes hard to believe yet here is the proof fully grounded in law it is clear all you have to do is start reading and studying.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by drmeola


Thank you for providing the links! It might take me awhile to get through it all but sounds like very important information! I'm new to ATS so there is a lot of reading I am doing on past threads. Even though there seems to be a lot of politically motivated threads and posts on ATS when discussing these topics, mixed in there is a lot of good stuff to learn about government and history in general that you can't find in too many places.

reply to post by TZela


Welcome to ATS Tzela truth seeker,
All my PAC threads and articles are law based to help those in the so called patriot movement Unite under the only recognized lawful process of taking back the Union. I say Union because again most do not want the truth in law, a Country is one of the 50 States ie Countries making up the Union. The United States, America or any other form is NOT nor ever was a Country, this is part of the scam the PTB do not want you to understand. Once you start studying real and true law and not case law BS it is hard to stop learning the truth. I am here to help answer and point you towards the documents to help study any topic as covered in law, that second link is filled with PDFs to help you on your path to freedom and truth.

Again welcome to ATS. If you need links to the law book dictionaries, many found within the documents just ask will get them for you.

Outstanding post and relevant. I think this increases the scope of the political sportsmanship taking place in the federal realm and extends it all the way down to county level.

News like this supports the idea that my ballot is going to be brutally trashed after I fill in the bubbles.

How are we ever going to combat the apathy that this instills in everybody? It scares me when I ask my peers about the U.S. election process and they give me an answer reminiscent of Putin vs. Medvedev.

I don't want to seem brash, but try to follow my logic here: If corporate interest rules our policymakers, then our policy protects coporate interests. Most successful corporate interests are in other countries, because they're over-regulated here; therefore; our policy protects other countries, not America.