Stealing an Election--Legally

There are probably other examples of how conservatives are trying to challenge the rights of new voters, who are being registered literally by the millions all over the country by both major parties, as well as several nonpartisan, grassroots organizations, but this was the first one I've come across. The scary thing is that the Republicans are now using 'legal' means to try and dismiss possibly hundreds of thousands of newly registered voters from the Ohio rolls.

I have a couple friends who actually worked on the ground in Ohio, registering and educating and mobilizing voters to the polls during the 2000 and 2004 elections. And from what they observed, what they saw on the doors and in neighborhoods--large numbers of people turning out to vote for the Democratic Presidential candidate (Gore or Kerry)--just didn't jive with what 'officially' happened in Ohio: the state swinging to Bush, giving him the electoral college votes he needed to win the election. Rolling Stone magazine and other sources have written about this and documented incidents of clear voter fraud in the 2004 election.

But now, conservatives are taking a slightly different tack. Whether you love or hate right-wingers, you gotta give them something, they are some clever, ruthless MFers. I shudder to think that this is just the beginning of the battles that will follow to discredit Democratic or otherwise anti-Republican/right wing elections officials, and to disenfranchise voters (especially those that are young and / or African-American, both of which will vote overwhelmingly for Obama in November). But the history of federal elections in the last eight years tells us that the Republicans will do whatever they need to to win. To quote one of my favorite and insightful comedians, Cedric the Entertainer, George W. Bush and his party didn't win the 2000 election, they "just thugged [their] way up into the White House. Like Suge Bush!"

And don't think they won't try it again. Join the effort to ensure a fair election and protect voters' rights to cast their ballot and have it counted.