Rush Limbo should be indicted for voter fraud

On Mar 21, 3:22 am, "Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names"

<PopUlist...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Will Rush Limbaugh Be Indicted for Voter Fraud?

> By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet

> Posted on March 21, 2008, Printed on March 21, 2008http://www.alternet.org/story/80392/

> As the board of election in Cuyahoga County,Ohio, where Cleveland is

> located, launches an investigation into illegalcrossovervotingin

> the state's 2008 presidential primary,

alse. News outlets were reporting that this was legal in Ohio before

the primary took place.

"Crossover voting is allowed as well.

That's where Republicans want to cast ballots for Democrats or vice-

versa.

However, such voters have to fill out and sign Form 10W, which says

you support the principles of that particular party.

"It's just something to make sure you want to vote in that side of the

primary," said John Williams, director of the Hamilton County Board of

Elections.

Poll workers record which ballot voters get by marking a "D" or "R" by

their names - and that designation can't be changed until the next

partisan primary in 2010.

"In Ohio we don't register with a party," said Williams. "At a Board

of Elections, we merely track voting history."

http://www.kypost.com/content/wcposhared/story.aspx?content_id=cac17cfa-4ee4-45a7-91d7-46cdd7383b92

"In Ohio, Texas primaries, independents, Republicans can vote"

"........The Illinois senator has mobilized his party's left wing, a

big help in caucus races where party activists and fired-up newbies

are key. And he's drawn crossover Republicans and independents to

primaries in which they are allowed to vote.

Ohio and Texas make it easy for them to do so. If they do, it could

boost Obama's vote.

Among independents, Obama is leading Clinton by 14 percentage points

in Ohio and by 13 in Texas, according to a Washington Post-ABC News

telephone poll taken Feb. 16-20."

http://www.examiner.com/a-1236065~In_Ohio__Texas_primaries__independents__Republicans_can_vote.html

> a big open question remains

> unanswered: Will county officials go after the ringleaders of

> apparently illegal electioneering where thousands of Republican voters

> swore -- under penalty of law -- allegiance to the Democratic Party in

> order to vote for Hillary Clinton?

>

> In case you missed it, Rush Limbaugh, the nation's top-rated talk

> radio host, was urging Republicans in Texas andOhioto skip their

> party's primary on March 4 and instead cast a vote for Hillary Clinton

> in order to prolong the fight between her and Barack Obama. And that

> Tuesday, as media in both states reported, thousands of Republicans

> did just what Limbaugh and others had suggested -- they changed

> parties to vote for Clinton.

>

> "I want Hillary to stay in this, Laura," Limbaugh told Laura Ingraham

> on Feb. 29, near the start of his Hillary crusade. "This is too good a

> soap opera. We need Barack Obama bloodied up politically, and it's

> obvious that the Republicans are not going to do it and don't have the

> stomach for it, as you probably know."

>

> And on Wednesday, the day after theOhioprimary, Fox News asked

> Clinton if she owed Limbaugh a thank you. "Be careful what you wish

> for, Rush," she replied. Later that day, Limbaugh played the Fox tape

> on his show and said, "How do you interpret this, folks? She could

> have said thank you. She could have said thank you! In fact, I was

> expecting in her victory speech last night to be thanked.

>

> "I helped give Mrs. Clinton the biggest and happiest moment and night

> of the campaign season so far, maybe her life, and she tells me, "Be

> careful what you wish for, Rush"? Why, that sounds like a threat, does

> it not? I've got a Democrat presidential candidate threatening your

> host. Why, I am stunned! After all I did ..."

>

> While this all makes for great talk radio and sounds like fun, there

> is one catch: What Limbaugh encouraged Republican voters to do inOhio

> was a fifth-degree felony in that state, punishable with a $2,500 fine

> and six to 12 months in jail. That is because in order to change party

> affiliation inOhio, voters have to fill out a form swearing

> allegiance to that party's principles "under penalty of election

> falsification."

>

> On Thursday, March 20, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the

> "Cuyahoga County Board of Election has launched an investigation that

> could lead to criminal charges against voters who maliciously switched

> parties for the March 4 presidential primary." According to the

> report, "One voter scribbled the following addendum to his pledge as a

> new Democrat: "For one day only."

>

> "Such an admission amounts to voter fraud," the report continued,

> attributing that conclusion to BOE member Sandy McNair, a Democrat.

> The report said the four-member board -- two Democrats and two

> Republicans -- had yet to vote on whether it would issue subpoenas,

> althoughOhio'ssecretary of state, Democrat Jennifer Brunner, is

> empowered to cast tie-breaking votes when the BOE is deadlocked.

>

> In 2008, 2.22 million Ohioans voted in the Democratic primary,

> compared to 1.27 million in 2000, according to unofficial results

> released by Brunner's office. In contrast, 1.01 million Ohioans voted

> in the 2008 Republican primary, compared to nearly 918,000 people in

> 2004.

>

> BothOhio'ssecretary of state and attorney general, both Democrats,

> were reluctant to embrace the prospect of voter fraud prosecutions.

>

> "Secretary of State Brunner has not been contacted by anyone regarding

> the prosecution of alleged impropercrossovervoting," Brunner

> spokesman Jeff Ortega said. "Prosecution of such activities is the

> exclusive domain of the county prosecutor or theOhioattorney

> general."

>

> "We will not make a blanket statement that we would never pursue a

> case such as that, but it would be our position that a case such as

> that would be very hard to prosecute," said Ted Hart, spokesman forOhioAttorney General Marc Dann, who added that a senior attorney in

> his office said it would be difficult to ascertain voters' motives on

> particular days. "The county prosecutor would have the first right of

> refusal."

>

> But Michael Slater of Project Vote, a nonpartisan group that designs

> voter registration drives for low-income people, said GOP meddling in

> theOhioDemocratic Primary was a clear-cut example of fraudulentvoting, which is how Republicans have defined the issue in recent

> years, as GOP advocates have urged state legislatures and Congress to

> adopt anti-fraud measures such as tougher voter ID laws.

>

> "Here we have a real instance of spurring people on to engage in

> illegal election activities with a real intent to affect the outcome,"

> Slater said. "That is voter fraud. People were encouraged to break the

> law. They had to declare allegiance to a political party and sign a

> document under penalty of perjury. Intent is what matters in voter

> fraud."

>

> For years, Republicans have literally made a federal case of voter

> fraud. The Bush Justice Department fired U.S. attorneys who would not

> prosecute cases of people who GOP politicos believed were

> impersonating voters to help Democratic candidates.

>

> Votingrights groups such as ACORN, or the Association of Community

> Organizations for Reform Now, which registers millions of low-income

> people in presidential election years, have been prosecuted by U.S.

> attorneys for voter fraud -- even after ACORN followed the law and

> alerted the FBI about mistakes made by its volunteers.

>

> After 2004, Republican-controlled legislatures in Florida andOhio

> passed laws, now overturned, curtailing voter registration drives

> under the guise of fighting voter fraud. Meanwhile, numerous states

> have passed new and tougher voter I.D. laws, all aimed at stopping

> people who purportedly were impersonating voters.

>

> "I think this is Rush and others inspiring people to commit voter

> fraud," Slater said. "They should be brought under investigation."

>

> AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political

> endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own.

>

> Steven Rosenfeld is a senior fellow at Alternet.org and co-author of

> "What Happened inOhio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the

> 2004 Election," with Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman (The New Press,

> 2006).

>

>