… Because the NY Times reported yesterday that swing states are illegally dropping thousands of voters from the voter rolls, especially in states where Obama has made a large effort to register new voters.
Here’s the nut:
Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times …
Although much attention this year has been focused on the millions of new voters being added to the rolls by the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama, there has been far less notice given to the number of voters being dropped from those same rolls.
States have been trying to follow the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and remove the names of voters who should no longer be listed; but for every voter added to the rolls in the past two months in some states, election officials have removed two, a review of the records shows.
This is especially true in Michigan, Colorado, Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio.
And speaking of Ohio, a NY Times editorial yesterday notes that Diebold electronic voting machines are dropping votes. Here’s the nut:
Election officials, who will have plenty on their minds on Nov. 4, have one more thing to worry about: Diebold electronic voting machines that drop votes. Ohio’s secretary of state raised the alarm after local officials reported problems with the March primary count. Diebold has since notified more than 30 states to be on the lookout for missing votes …
Computer scientists have shown that electronic voting machines are easy to hack. And voters report errors like vote flipping, in which the vote they cast for one candidate is recorded for another. Ohio’s secretary of state, Jennifer Brunner, is suing Diebold over the vote-dropping and noted that its machines crashed repeatedly during last year’s voting in Cuyahoga County.
Did I mention that Cuyahoga County is perhaps the key county in Ohio for Democrats to turn out Democrats?
And, while we’re at it, the Times reports this morning that the Obama campaigns has not been vetting its donors carefully enough. A small percentage of donations have come in from fictitious donors like “Test Person.” The Times, while noting there’s no evidence yet, raises the “ominous possibility” of fraud, “perhaps in order to donate beyond the maximum limits.”
Here’s the nut:
Even a contributor who used the name “Jgtj Jfggjjfgj,” and listed an address of “thjtrj” in “gjtjtjtjtjtjr, AP,” was able to contribute $370 in a series of $10 donations in August.
A pair of donors named “Derty West” and “Derty Poiiuy,” who listed “rewq, ME” as their addresses and “Qwertyyy” or “Qwerttyyu” as either their employer or occupation, contributed a combined $1,110 in July.
In some cases, campaign finance records showed refunds from the Obama campaign, presumably to donors’ credit cards, even as other contributions were accepted. Obama officials said most of their vetting occurred after a donation came in.
How long before we see the McCain campaigns titled “Derty West”? I’d be surprised if they didn’t have something out by lunch.
And speaking of those ads, in addition to mentioning Ayres at every stop, McCain-Palin is launching a new, national campaign linking Obama to Ayres. Here’s the nut, from ABC news:
New from the McCain campaign Friday: An ad that casually drops the L-word and touches on both Ayers to the economic distress, with Democrats portrayed as anti-regulation.
The ad:“Obama’s blind ambition. When convenient, he worked with terrorist Bill Ayers. When discovered, he lied. Obama. Blind ambition. Bad judgment. Congressional liberals fought for risky sub-prime loans. Congressional liberals fought against more regulation. Then, the housing market collapsed, costing you billions. In crisis, we need leadership, not bad judgment.”
This, from the candidate who once said: “I pledge again a respectful campaign. A respectful campaign based on the issues and based on the stark differences we have on the vision for the future of America.”
And Carville thinks this election is over?