Voting news

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Election Watchdog Group Compiles Stunning List of Recent Problems Facing Voters Nationwide

STATE OF THE VOTE: 17 DAYS TO GO
A Round-up of Problems Facing Voters Nationwide

Voter registration application backlogs.
The unprecedented registration and get-out-the-vote efforts by both parties, along with the historic nature of this election, promise to elicit a record number of voters on Election Day. Mountains of new voter registrations are causing backlogs in voter data entry - which partisans are using as reasons to keep these applicants from making it onto the rolls, as we've just seen in Ohio. Backlogs often force local election offices to send out verification and polling place information late or not at all.

In Colorado: election officials are struggling to verify thousands of voter registration forms before October 20 when early voting opens. In Georgia: a week ago, in DeKalb County about 30,000 registrations were sitting in boxes waiting to be entered. In New York, in Dutchess County, officials are telling voters that if their backlogged registrations aren't processed in time, they should request a court order to vote. In Alabama, a controversy is raging over who can be registered, contributing to the backlog of requests.MORE

Obama Legal Team Requests OPR/OIG Investigate Politicized DOJ Internal Rulebreaking

In a sharply worded letter yesterday, Obama's chief counsel urged immediate action from the DOJ. Bauer asks that Mukasey investigate "an emerging pattern of apparent unlawful coordination between the McCain campaign and the Department of Justice and state law enforcement agencies controlled by Republican officials."
Would Republicans unlawfully coordinate to game political advantage or knowingly flout the laws? Why, yes. Yes, they would.
Bauer's letter requests that the OIG and OPR investigate internal violations of DOJ policy (under US Atty. Manual Section 1-7.530, etc.), in addition to asking that a special prosecutor investigate.
Importantly, Bauer links recent anonymous DOJ officials leaking improperly to the press -- again -- to the very same conduct which led to the firing of several USAttys.
Bauer references prior findings of politicization at DOJ, including allegations of political manipulations. (I'm looking at you, Karl.)MORE

Breaking: Death Threats, Hack Attempts 'Barrage' OH Sec. of State's Office

The website of the Ohio Secretary of State is being set to "static mode" following a recent series of "security breach" attempts, as well as suspicious packages and a number of death threats sent to the office, according to a press release issued late this afternoon. (Posted in full at end of this article.) The threats against Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's office come in the wake of a rash of recent burglaries and vandalism at ACORN offices in Massachusetts and Seattle, as well as death threats delivered to a number of their workers following much-hyped media reports of "voter fraud" by the community organization. The attacks against the group escalated following the Republican Presidential nominee John McCain's comments about ACORN "voter fraud" at a recent rally, and his extraordinary allegation that ACORN was "on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy" at last week's Presidential debate.MORE