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RFK Jr., Mike Papantonio: "Is Your Vote Safe?"

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by: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ring of Fire

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed concern for the safety of the vote in the 2008 election. (Photo: wikimedia.org)

    Transcript from Ring of Fire on Air America Radio

    Bobby: "There are about 30 scams the Republicans are deliberately using, particularly in the swing states to get Democratic voters off the rolls. These scams originate in the so-called Help America Vote Act which was passed after the Florida debacle in the year 2000. It was originally suggested by Democrats and Republicans but it was passed by a Republican congress with a Republican senate and a Republican president. And instead of reforming what happened in Florida it basically institutionalized all the problems that happened in Florida. And institutionalized a series of impediments that make it very difficult for Democrats to register, for Democrats to vote and then for Democrats to have their vote counted.

    "One of these requirements under HAVA is called "the perfect match" and what that does is little known but it is devastating. A quarter of the voters in Colorado have just been removed from the rolls because of this - just this one scam. And what it does is they use a computer system to compare your registration application to all other government records of you in the state. So they'll look at your social security records, your motor vehicle records and any time you've had any interaction with the government and if there is any information on your voter registration that is different than the information on another government record that they find they remove you from the voting rolls.

    "For example, if I registered as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and yet my motor vehicle license said Robert Frances Kennedy Jr. I'd be removed from the rolls. If your initial is different, if you leave an initial out, if you leave a "Jr." out, if you leave a hyphen out in your name. And what they've done is a study in New York that said 80% of the errors are errors that were done by state clerks who are taking down this information. And particularly immigrant communities that people tend to vote Democratic, people have names … spell Muhammad with an "o" instead of a "u" (crosstalk)

    Pap: "Are the Democrats Suing to Stop This?"

    Bobby: "No, the Democrats are doing nothing to stop it. In New Jersey, which is a swing state, 300,000 voters in New Jersey were just sent letters saying that they are now ineligible to vote. New jersey is nice enough to actually notify them - most states will not even notify them. And New Jersey intends to send out 870,000 letters so that is three quarters of a million people off the voting rolls in a state that could decide this vote by 50,000 votes. And these are Democrats that are being pushed off the rolls.

    Bobby: "Let me tell you about one other of these scams people should know about. If you're a newly registered voter - and of course the Democrats have done these gigantic registration drives - 12 million people on registration - if you're a new voter you MUST include your license or some other state I.D. when you come to vote. What that means is that if you're a college kid (and college kids now - they're sending in absentee ballots - they're not going to the voting place, they do everything online or they do everything remotely - they don't dream of going to the precinct house voting on election day and waiting in a long line) so if they send in the absentee ballot and they don't include a color copy of their license their vote is going to be thrown into a trash can. And none of these people know this because you have had to read the law in order to know it. So there is no notification for when you fill out your registration form, so all of those 12 million people that the Democrats have registered: those ballots are going to be just thrown out.

    Pap: "And if Democrats won't talk about this how the hell's anybody gonna know about it? I'm involved with this kind of thing every day - I didn't know that until you just told me. The media is not talking about it. How in the hell is somebody gonna find this out? It's just incredible.

    Bobby: "Hopefully - Obama is getting 66 million dollars a month - hopefully somebody in the Democratic organization is going to pay some attention to this before election day.

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Comments

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I contacted the Alachua

I contacted the Alachua County (FL) Supervisor for Elections office about the color id requirement and this was their response: For voters who are registering for the first time, there is a special clause in Florida law known as “MARG” Voters, in which a handful of voters who register by mail (not at a drive or in person) must produce ID prior to casting a ballot. These voters are mailed letters explaining this when they register. If one of these voters wishes to vote by absentee and has not yet shown ID, they must include a copy (but not in color) of a valid voting ID, or come by our office and show us such identification. Again, any voter that this applies to is mailed a special absentee envelope with additional instructions explaining this requirement. No registered voter who files an update to their record, such as moving within the state of Florida, changing their party, or updating their name, will fall into this category. No voter who has cast a ballot before will fall into this category. Only the small number of new registrations who are mailed a letter from our office informing them that we will need to see their ID fall under these provisions set out in Florida Statutes 97.0535.

There is an article on

There is an article on alternet.org by Wendy Weiser of the Brennan Center saying that the Social Security Administration is planning on shutting down its databases for 3 days beginning on Oct. 11th. for maintenance. This could have an enormous impact on verifying voter registrations. She explains it well in the article. Once again, write letters, phone your congresswoman/man and get them to put a stop to this. Also just to get the info in Bobby's article out in public write letters to the editor of your local newspapers. Enough letters...it may get some attention.

Does anyone remember the

Does anyone remember the election that sent Lyndon Johnson tothe Senate the first time? One precinct in Texas voted 100% for him. Of course it was a cemetary but he was a Democrat.

It's time to stop

It's time to stop handwringing and bitching about our flawed system. We need to GET UP and do what we can. Our environment doesn't have a shelf life. People are losing their homes. I'm one of them. The neighbor kids next door, on food stamps, are malnourished. Do something! Tell everyone you know. Get the word out. We don't call it "grassroots" for nothing. Sure, our government might be full of would-be tyrants, but when has that been different? What matters is that WE want a Democracy. But we won't get a Democracy unless we fight for one, bottom up. STAND UP!

What's so great about

What's so great about democrats? If given the chance I'm sure they'd also do whatever necessary to cling to some pale reflection of legitimacy.

I came up with an idea to

I came up with an idea to make sure you vote counts and leaving a paper trail. I talked to a lawyer friend of mine and it can be done. Use absentee ballots. Fill it out but don't sign it, instead photo copy it and take original and copy to a notary public and sign both original and copy in front of a witness and have it signed and stamped. Hand deliver original to where the ballot is supposed to go making sure you tell the person responsible what you had done and that the photo copy is going to your candidate's local headquarters. If enough people did that we would have an accurate election.

Democratic processes DON'T

Democratic processes DON'T EXIST in fascist states. Fascists don't recognize democratic processes. Why do people keep pretending that the country is under democratic rule? Wake up and smell the fascism, people. The ONLY CURE is to remove the criminals from power and try them for their crimes. You can't VOTE fascists out of office.

CO Disenfranchisement

CO Disenfranchisement Overstated by RFK Jr. The Robert F. Kennedy Jr. quotation above is misleading. The situation RFK Jr. was probably referring to is the 19.4% figure removed 4 years ago, not 25% of voters who were "just removed." I just got off the phone after interviewing Rich Coolidge of the CO Secretary of State's office. He said CO has about 3 million registered voters. In the year 2007, just under 200,000 names came up as discrepant when they converted the data from county data to state data. The procedure is then to send these names to county board of elections who send letters to those voters telling them if they don't clear up the discrepancy their registration will be canceled. Another 90,000 moved from county to county within CO or out of state. Even if we add these two numbers together, it's about 10% of total registration, and it would be an exaggeration to say all those people were removed from the rolls, because they weren't. There were some additional names which came up as imprisoned or deceased, but that number is apparently less than these other two categories. As for the "just been removed" claim, Coolidge says that since January 1, 2008, just over 45,000 registrations have been canceled, and of those 25,000 have moved (and, as long as they re-register in the new location, not then lost as voters). But even if we count all 45,000 of those canceled registrations, if these figures are correct, that's 1.5% of the registered voters in CO, not 25%. I asked Rich Coolidge about the ethnic breakdown of these numbers and he said they don't have data by race so they don't know. I ran these figures by the folks in Greg Palast's office for a comment, and Zach Roberts said the Secretary of State's office had refused to return their phone calls or email. I haven't heard back from RFK Jr.'s office yet. Reality is bad enough. Let's be careful not to overstate. Sincerely, Sam Diener

While the practice of

While the practice of preventing voter fraud is a good thing, some of these initiatives sound like they go too far. However, none of the text explains why this is a republican attack on democrats. No data has been shown that the perfect match system is expelling a larger percentage of democrats that republicans, just that it exists.

I knew these election fraud

I knew these election fraud schemes were coming. The republicans won this way last time and now they are going to make damn sure it works even better this time. If my candidate loses I will accept the FAIR results. But ourcountry's elections are becoming a world joke.It is time to take to the streets. The PEOPLE need to rise up p and march! Maybe not with machetes like in Africa, but with arms raised in anger! I am ready to march for fair elections. I am frustrated at our leader and the people need show them the WE are the us. So let us call for Fair Election March by the concernedcitizens of each state to their capital next week. March for our constitutional right. March against corrution! Please all of you who read this start the March planning in your state. The people can do this even if our democratic leader chose to watch! Let's begin today!

Isn't the Democratic

Isn't the Democratic Party/Obama suing Michigan over voter caging? That's something, isn't it. I've heard on the radio that Democrats are ready to step up to the plate on these issues, that lawyers are ready to go. I have a solution: Democrats who've voted early should go to heavy Republican areas and challenge Repug voters at the polls. Payback!

Obama, be a fearless leader

Obama, be a fearless leader and do something about stolen votes. This Enron Administration has stolen just about everything. Point out how they stole the 2000 and 2004 Elections and prosecute before it's too late.

I'm not sure what to make of

I'm not sure what to make of the silence of the democratic party on this crucial issue. Why won't Obama and Biden talk about this? If they did, their statements may get news coverage and perhaps an investigation of one kind or another. Why do they bother registering 12 million voters knowing that the election apparatus has been rigged to exclude those voters? I suspect for one reason or another, many powerful democrats themselves may be complicit in all this, but I'm totally stumped when I attempt to come up with a plausible explanation as to why they'd be complicit in their own defeat in November. Has Bobby contacted the Obama campaign to discuss this issue and to fashion a strategy against the deliberate disenfranchisement of democratic voters?

If you're a citizen and not

If you're a citizen and not a convicted felon, you have the right to vote (and the restriction against felons is unconstitutional). Use it. If you don't, you have no right to bitch becuase you did nothing to try to change the system within the laws of the land. And keep a firearm at hand: the Second Amendment is the only Amendment left to fall back on when the wolves have gutted the Constitution and stripped you of the rest of your protections.

I hear the concern and

I hear the concern and outrage. Where was your voice, RFK Jr, when we needed it most... we all know Diebold helped elect W. - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/how-to-hack-a-diebold-vot_b_26301.html If the county does not come together for a march on Washington to change our voting system to one with a paper trail I have no hope for our "candidate of hope". Kathryn

The Democratic party isn't

The Democratic party isn't doing anything about this and the Obama campaign isn't either - they are run by people who don't think that the elections were stolen and/or that a bunch of lawyers can keep the elections from being stolen AFTER THE FACT. They refuse to work with verified voting activists who are onto these scams, and who know what to look for. Will we have to wait 4 to 8 years before we find out how this election was stolen from us? Howard Dean and Obama better get off their butts and start working with verified voting advocates NOW and not wait till it's too late!

Publicize their home

Publicize their home addresses. How about the time honored tradition of publicizing the private home addresses of these frauds and see what ensues. Upstanding small d democrats may want to given them a piece of their mind, or whatever is at hand. There's a time for polite questions, and a time for anger. This is the time for anger.

Is this Democracy or

Is this Democracy or what Is this the roll model country and the sample we are given other countries How much can Americans tolerate this lack of respect of their so called Leaders. Leaders of what and for what... Why allow the Constitution to be trashed to accommodate special group's interests. Please ... is there anyone to stop the election scam ... even knowing there is in progress?

NATIONAL GUARANTEE YOUR VOTE

NATIONAL GUARANTEE YOUR VOTE DAY Please join the MICAH Project and America in Solidarity on October 1, 2008 and text, email or phone all your readers/supporters/members to make sure that they check with their local or state election officials to make sure that they are actually still registered to vote. By joining this call you commit to prompt your members to action on this day, to both email those on their mailing lists and also to check upon their voting status. Let us have the people decide this election and not machines, dirty tricks or voter witch hunts. More information or to schedule an interview please contact Mike Collier-the MICAH Project micah.project (253) 627-0129 or Todd Iverson todd@mericasolidarity.org or check our wenb site: ww.americasolidaity.org

Provitional ballots seem to

Provitional ballots seem to be the way to go in the short term untill more attention can me paid to amending HAVA. From what I can tell in reading this section of the act, provisional ballots can be cast by anyone and will subject to more review and voter notification than even the standard registration process (under the new HAVA rules). Democratic registration efforts should focus on just getting everyone to vote using provisional ballots. What's the downside? And, a masive provisional ballot campaign could also be positioned as a voter protest agaist the corrupt purging practices currently underway!

If you are voted in by

If you are voted in by Democrats and you are doing nothing to make sure that every Democratic vote is counted then you are not worth being in office. This is what I emailed to my senators You should too. And don't be shy about calling them 202- 224 3121

The Democrats should have

The Democrats should have made the integrity of the vote their #1 priority as of November 8, 2000. They have done NOTHING about it as of today, September 23, 2008. You can't get much dumber than that. In order to win this presidential election, Obama would have to win by a landslide, because of the quantity of votes the Republicans will steal. Read Mark Crispin Miller's book, "Fooled Again".

What we have is what I am

What we have is what I am reading which I strongly recommend. This end to baloney is but an end to something which began with capitalism. What we have now are neo-conservatist-dominionist -evangelical- and the neo-conservative military industrial complex which hopes to triumph with the suspension of our Constitution. It is time to speak out and I am doing my best. My students at the university and colleagues are terrified as this entire take over by warlords whole have ruled our western civilization for over a hundred years have turned into con- artists. Bobby, if you want a story I have a great one. Its about what is happening behind the scenes here on the great plains of Kansas and the entire Ogallalah Aquifer - the biggest in the United States and now in danger of total pollution - Why? Look up the Pinion Canyon debacle - and then ask why the EPA is allowing toxins to drip into the acquifer - which feeds the world with its corn, wheat, and other. You will see that there is a direct relationship to this appalling action by the EPA - as the Army and Pentagon wishes to use eminent domaine, like some on both sides of the aisle - who will allow these corporate militarists with private profit - want millions more land - which they are burning the people out and flying airplanes so close to the tops of ranches that people are afraid. These people, here in southwest Colorado are fighting back - they do not wish to have the Army dump more crap into the water. These folks, I believe have the DNA of those who have continued this absurd and immoral privitization of our entire government for their profit. Yes, the Christian Right are like those who assisted the Nazis in the years leading up to the death camps of the jews. I know who these people are and so do many others and I thank you Bobby for speaking up for all of us. Let us pray we will all speak up.

What has Nina M. Wells,

What has Nina M. Wells, Democratic Secretary of State for New Jersey, had to say about the this threat? State Secretaries are responsible for making sure voters aren't disenfranchised...

Although I agree with the

Although I agree with the spirit of the article I am growing tiresome of the left vs. right/democrat vs republican/liberal vs conservative argument. We are all Americans and should not allow ourselves to be manipulated by this divide and conquer labeling of our beliefs. If you think it's hard to register to vote for some people think how hard it is for all Americans to forced into this two party system. The best part is that all third party candidates are forced out by an system run by Republicans and Democrats. WE SURE LIKE OUR MONOPOLIES HERE IN THE US AND WE LIKE BEST WHEN WE CALL THIS SCAM FAIR!

It's past time to outlaw the

It's past time to outlaw the republican party and put all of its leaders in jail.

What's even scarier, when I

What's even scarier, when I read this, is that it's illegal to make a color copy of your driver's license in the state where I live. I know this because I work for a copy shop and we can let people use a self-service BLACK & WHITE copier to do that but absolutely cannot make them on the color copiers, for what should be obvious reasons.