NEW GOP STRATEGY: F$CK WITH THE POLLS
From the New York Times courtesy of Eschaton:
Republican Party officials in Ohio took formal steps yesterday to place thousands of recruits inside polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters they suspect are not eligible to cast ballots.
Party officials say their effort is necessary to guard against fraud arising from aggressive moves by the Democrats to register tens of thousands of new voters in Ohio, seen as one of the most pivotal battlegrounds in the Nov. 2 elections.
Election officials in other swing states, from Arizona to Wisconsin and Florida, say they are bracing for similar efforts by Republicans to challenge new voters at polling places, reflecting months of disputes over voting procedures and the anticipation of an election as close as the one in 2000.
Ohio election officials said they had never seen so large a drive to prepare for Election Day challenges. They said they were scrambling yesterday to be ready for disruptions in the voting process as well as alarm and complaints among voters. Some officials said they worried that the challenges could discourage or even frighten others waiting to vote.
As if widespread GOP-sponsored registration fraud wasn't enough.
This move is typical of how the Republicans have both come to and wielded power, through bullying and semi-legal chicanery. It is well understood by Republicans that a heavy voter turnout favors Democrats--after all, most people understand that the Grand Old Party, by tradition, works against, not for, the regular guy. Anything the Republicans can do to supress numbers at the polls will help them. Of course, such thinking is anti-democracy, and therefore, anti-American.
If you believe in democracy, vote for Kerry.
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