GOP Furious Arkansas AG Candidate Removed From Voting Rolls for Multi-State Registration, Voting

[BradBlog]

Source: BRAD BLOG



GOP Furious That Arkansas' Republican AG Candidate Removed From Voting Rolls After Confirmation of Multi-State Registration, Voting
WARNING: Amount of irony in this story may lead to head explosion...

UC Irvine law professor Rick Hasen says this development, which he describes as coming from the "Irony Dept", is just "too delicious".

Leslie Rutledge, the Republican candidate for Attorney General in Arkansas, has been discovered to have been registered to vote in multiple states in addition to Arkansas, and even voted by absentee ballot in Arkansas' general election in November of 2008 --- after she had registered to vote in Washington D.C. in July of the same year.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Rutledge has now been removed from Arkansas' voting rolls by the Pulaski County Clerk, after he confirmed that she was registered to vote in D.C., and Virginia. The removal may lead to her removal from the ballot as well.
…
But, believe it or not, none of that is the actual ironic part that Hasen was referring to in his piece on this today. Yes, it got even more ironic late today!...

FULL STORY: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10840

Read more: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10840

[rocktivity]

1. Don't they know an undercover sting when they see one?

Rutledge was obviously trying to prove that voter fraud is as rampant as ebola and that their suppression efforts are justified.

P.S. If you're the author of the piece, Brad, you're not limited to four paragraphs.


rocktivity

[LiberalFighter]

18. Every blogger wants to have people go to their website to increase their numbers.

[BradBlog]

38. Thanks, Rock...

Thanks, Rock. Over the past few years, I've had so many breaking news stories that I've posted here end up getting locked by the mods that, by and large, I've mostly stopped posting them here. When I occasionally do though, I try to be VERY CAREFUL not to give ANY reason to remove them!

[rocktivity]

40. Just make sure that your late breaking news IS late breaking news.

Articles of a more editorial nature should go to Good Reads, everything else General Discussion or Politics 2014.


rocktivity

[Voice for Peace]

46. Slipping a question in here... over many years I have registered to vote

in Washington, DC; in Massachusetts; in New Mexico;
absentee from Canada, etc. I've never cancelled any of
those registrations; but presumed when I've registered in
a new location, the system voids the others. Is this so?

Or am I still registered to vote in all of those places?

I am not interested in defending this awful lady but
is it possible she wasn't intentionally registering in
several different states for nefarious reasons? Just
moving a couple of times?

Thanks for any clarification and ALSO ESPECIALLY
for all of your good work on this.

[alarimer]

49. That's what I'd like to know too.

I've done the same thing.

Oddly enough, political candidates seem to always have my current address. I've gotten mailers for candidates in my old state of Texas long after I moved to North Carolina, with the correct current address on it. Did they not bother to check that they were sending this to someone outside the voting district? It seems to have stopped this go-round, though.

[happyslug]

50. Depends on the Jurisdiction on how they remove voters

I always joke about the time my parents moved back to Allegheny County (County seat is Pittsburgh PA) from neighboring Washington County. They had moved out of Allegheny County in 1954, and moved back in 1964. When they moved back they found they were still registered to vote in Allegheny County (they did not check if they had actually "Voted" in Allegheny County for that ten year period but they remained registered for the entire ten year period, when the law required anyone who did not vote for four consecutive elections, including primaries, were to be removed from the voting rolls).

This was a "problem" throughout the US, no way to see if someone was registered elsewhere so people could and did stay registered for years, even decades, after they had moved or died.

On the other hand, there is NO evidence that such multiple registered people actually voted EXCEPT where they could LEGALLY vote. The old Joke in Chicago was, the vote was not final till the cemeteries had voted, but when people LOOKED into such accusation of voting fraud, they could NOT find any (or if they found any, it was isolated cases, mostly by people who should have voted some place else but thought they were voting in the right place).

In the last 10-15 years they have been efforts to check if someone is registered some place else to remove them from the voting roles, but to my knowledge no state requires a person to "Un Register" him or herself from voting.

States actually started to actually pull voters who have not voting about 15 years ago, but mostly in the larger cities. This has escalated in recent years as states started to search the computer records of other states for duplicate voters. This is part of the GOP efforts to "Stop Voter Fraud".

This is a problem for the US Supreme Court says a person can became a resident of a State in less then 30 days (in some cases as you move to that state). Once a resident of that state you can register to vote. Thus it is possible to be registered to vote in multiple states at the same time and was NOT unusual prior to 2000.

Now many states have passed laws that you can ONLY be registered to vote in their state to be legally eligible to vote. In other states the laws are less clear (if you are NO longer a resident you can NOT vote, but does NOT address the issue of registration to vote, i.e. you may still be registered to vote even of you do NOT vote for it would be ILLEGAL for you to vote).

Please note I do NOT remember any big push to remove voters from the rolls till the 2000 election. In that election, given the huge turnout for Bill Clinton in the 1996 election by African American voters, efforts were made to see how that surge in voters could be trimmed. This increase after the 2000 elections for prior to that election it was believed Bush would get more voted then Gore, but it was also possible for Gore to get more Electoral votes then Bush. I remember reading article pushing that possibility and say Gore should leave Bush be President (the net did exist and I was on the net at that time, but these were articles in the Newspapers not articles on the net). When the opposite occurred, do to the massive turn out of African American Voters for Gore (and the Florida debacle) these same writers said Bush should be President (note the consistency here, Bush should be President whether he had the most votes or NOT).

This has been the attitude of the GOP ever since, reduce voter turnout of those parts of the population that do NOT vote GOP. The people who move the most often are the poorest section of society, they may move two or more times in a single year. Thus it is easy to catch such potential voters being registered in two different areas and the laws were passed to "catch" such dual registered voters and thus deny them the right to vote. The thrust was get them off the rolls and to make it easy to do so, but hard to get back on. i.e. removed from the Voting Rolls because you move, but to be re-registered you have to go to a the Voter registration office and do a new registration BEFORE the closing of such registrations for the election cycle.

Think about it. You are poor. Your landlord kicks you out for non payment of rent and you move a block away. Under the GOP policy you moved and your voter registration became void. You did not have to do anything else to get kick off the voting roles, just move. On the other hand if you want to re-registered you have to go to the county Courthouse and sign the registration form. Given the fact these people are poor, the jobs they have are NOT 9-5 AND away from the courthouse. It is hard for them to get off work so their could register.

Now Congress in the early 1990s made it easier to register to vote with the motor voter acts and other similar statutes, but the GOP have done all they can to undermine such registration every where their could.

Just a comment on voting rights and how they are being undermined for low income people, the people most likely to vote Democratic.

[MADem]

2. Her blue-white smile looks forced! Say, isn't this some of that "voter fraud" they're always crying

about?

No wonder they're so suspicious about that sort of cheating--THEY'RE the ones who are doing it!!!

Couldn't happen to a 'nicer' person!

"For the AG candidate of the party who likes to scream about voter fraud to be registered in two (or three) places at once is ironic and amusing on its own," writes Matt Campbell of Arkansas' "Blue Hog Review", which was on this story from the jump.

"However, the bigger implication is Article 19, section 3, of the Arkansas Constitution," he adds, which states: "No persons shall be elected to, or appointed to fill a vacancy in, any office who does not possess the qualifications of an elector." If Rutledge is not registered in Arkansas, she no longer "possess(es) the qualifications of an elector."

[Hoppy]

16. Forced smile? No, she's just constipated and can't wait for the photo shoot to be over

so she can hit the Jon and try again.

[Thinkingabout]

3. This seems to be happening a lot with Republicans.

WTH is Carol Engelbrecht, she is friends with Bruce Fleming who was running for office in Fort Bend County TX and he was registered in Texas & Pennsylvania. He owned a house in both states and thought if he did he could vote in both. This is voter fraud.

[Ash_F]

4. But but but, she's White!

?t=14s

[Voice for Peace]

47. oof.. haven't ever seen that movie but that clip was painful to watch.

[DontTreadOnMe]

5. The media needs to hound her as the poster child for VOTER FRAUD!

c'mon Dems... put on the gloves!

[Veilex]

7. It sounds like that'd be a winning move... however...

it would only serve to legitimize the myth of wide-spread voter fraud...even if it was a member of the GOP.

[BradBlog]

39. But...

...as her voter fraud was done via absentee ballot, polling place Photo ID wouldn't have stopped her.

[Veilex]

41. Interesting.

I'm not sure the GOP wouldn't still try to frame that in a way to gain a win.

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Someone pinched her and paid her in cash from the looks of that photo.

Second best thing that happened to me today, Reading this.
First? Watching the Rick Perry presser on ebola. He is going to have to have intelligent conversations with scientists on behalf of the people of Texas under a big HOT SPOT LIGHT and I hope he melts.

Love, Peace and the Righteous Fight.
~LMSP














THIRD BEST

sign saying

PLEASE PARDON MY MESS WE ARE HAVING A REMODEL

Location
Hong Kong

[calimary]

29. Thinking about the way that Dallas hospital botched the initial handling of this "Patient Zero,"

it seems entirely appropriate that their "fearless leader" should be known by the nickname "Governor Oops."

[Voice for Peace]

48. I like it.

Maybe Wendy Davis should be using it.

All the oopses.

[Jack Rabbit]

8. Thank you, Brad

I don't suppose there is racist voter suppression legislation in force in Arkansas, is there?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. Okay Brad,...next you'll tell us she's obsessed with "Voter Fraud".

[FlatStanley]

10. Why are these people never charged with a crime and prosecuted.

Romney skated. Anne Coulter skated.

But ACORN, which reported attempted fraud, was DEFUNDED and forced out of business.

I wonder if that defunding required a presidential signature. I don't know if a bill was required or if it was attached to a wholly unrelated piece of legislation.

[LibertyLover]

20. Because of 4 little words -

Money talks; money walks.

[valerief]

26. One word: fascism. nt

[freshwest]

51. Because the voters wanted it that way. Those who voted did, anyway. No surprise, really.

It ain't about a mood, it's about an act. Voting.

[FlatStanley]

52. These guys committed actual fraud. Surely they can be prosecuted.

[freshwest]

53. DeLay was prosecuted and let go by the GOP judges that the voters in TX elected. Voters cheered.

Perry was indicted in Texas and his supporters rallied behind him and those are voters. Siegelman was unfairly prosecuted (or so we think) and those who did it were voted in again.

Look at all the things the GOP has done. It proves that lawbreaking is no barrier to serving public office if voters go to the polls to show approval.

This is something some Democrats miss out on. We are the party of good governance, that believe the law should be applied equally. It took massive turnouts in the seventies to change laws that put limits on these people. Now we can't even (if DU is any judge) stir up the outrage at what the GOP is doing enough to get out to vote.

Yes, she really should be charged for this. But the GOP says no, they are outraged. Whether the states or districts involved have the funding to go after her, IDK. Do they have the prosecutors, judges and juries that would convict, maybe not. The tone of the GOP is lawbreaking because they want to remove the law and the government and leave us to fend for ourselves against the rich and powerful alone. All we have to resist with is our numbers and our willingness to vote them out of office so they stop subverting the rule of law.

JHMO.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

11. The words "GOP furious"

always make me smile. I just can't help myself.

[TrollBuster9090]

12. AT LAST! The GOP has finally found a legitimate case of VOTER FRAUD.

Better ask for IDs next time.

[NBachers]

13. Isn't that a stock photo?

[TrollBuster9090]

14. No, THIS is a stock photo.

And it has more integrity than she does.

[riqster]

25. Godfrey de Bouillion?

[Crash2Parties]

15. Just like the threat of rampant beastiality if marriage equality happened,

they are going to make *sure* voter fraud becomes reality, even if they have to do it themselves!

[calimary]

28. Welcome to DU, Crash2Parties!

Glad you're here! Great point you make! It's similar to those who insist government is bad and incompetent and awful and icky, and then they do everything they can to get elected - so they can get into office and PROVE THEIR POINT.

[Lochloosa]

17. And she will be going to jail when?

[sinkingfeeling]

19. She's also in trouble with ads coordinated between her campaign and a PAC.

http://www.southernprogressfund.org/category/latest-news/
(Middle of Page)

Rutledge and Republican Attorneys General Association in Hot Water?

Laws governing coordination between state campaigns and 527 Super PACs exist and there is growing evidence that Leslie Rutledge and the Republican Attorneys General Association are breaking them.

Since our last post about the Republican Attorneys General Association‘s (RAGA) very suspicious and equally generous ad buy (more than $400,000) on behalf of GOP AG candidate Leslie Rutledge, we have uncovered even more unsettling news about the Rutledge-RAGA ad.

There is nothing wrong with Super PACs; however, campaigns are barred by law from coordinating activities (i.e. TV ads) with them and Super PACs are barred from “expressly advocating” on behalf of candidates. Which begs the question we posed last week…how the heck does a Super PAC film and run an ad starring a candidate speaking directly to the camera without coordinating with said candidate and/or their campaign? How is the ad in question not “expressly advocating” for Rutledge when she is speaking her campaign message directly to the camera?


**************************
She's also got some of the stupidest, most lying ads on TV. But I can't locate them on the internet.

[progressoid]

21. Oh, c'mon. It was probably just an oversight. Leave the pretty white women alone!

[cascadiance]

22. Brad, so many Republicans are guilty now, I think they deserve a special web page to track them!

I'm sure you have the data of so many of them. At least one other of a number of them I remember now was the former Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White who was convicted of voter fraud some years ago too.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/indiana-sec-of-state-convicted-of-voter-fraud/

Indiana sec. of state convicted of voter fraud



Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White -- the man charged with upholding election integrity in Indiana -- was convicted of six felonies on Saturday, including three counts of voter fraud, two counts of perjury and one count of theft.

White, a Republican, could face up to three years in prison for each of the counts, the Indianapolis Star reports, and will be sentenced on February 23. The charges were based on accusations that White lied about where he lived while campaigning for secretary of state. The jury ruled he lied in order to keep receiving his salary from the Fishers Town Council even though he had moved out of his district.

Voter identification laws have become a popular cause among Republicans, and Indiana is one of nine states currently subject to these laws. Their supporters say they help prevent fraud, but opponents say requiring identification to vote places an unfair burden on young, low-income, and minority voters. Recently, the Justice Department stepped in to block South Carolina's new voter ID law.

The liberal blog ThinkProgress notes that a now-removed 2010 campaign website for White listed "election integrity" as one of the "major issues" of his campaign. "Charlie will protect and defend Indiana's Voter ID law to ensure our elections are fair and protect the most basic and precious right and responsibility of our democracy-voting," the website said.
...

Ann Coulter, Mitt Romney, are more that should be added!

A nice prominent web page would serve as a heavy reminder that perhaps their obsession with voter fraud is more of a reflection of guilty feelings about their own consciences along with wanting voter suppression than a realistic assessment of what others would do that aren't nuts like they are.

[BradBlog]

37. Been meaning to. But this one should work for the moment...

Been meaning to set up such a special page. Thanks for the reminder! Will try to get to that soon (and will add my new friend Leslie Rutledge to it!)

Until then, the bullet pointed items at the bottom of this story should do the trick for ya (and, yes, it already includes Romney, Coulter, etc.): http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9467

[cascadiance]

43. Here's another Republican to add to the list from nearby here in Portland...

http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/151246-former-county-elections-worker-pleads-guilty-to-fraud-charges

Not a prominent high ranking name, but the county clerk (a Republican) didn't provide enough camera scrutiny to prevent this from happening). If we could just show how endemic it is for Republicans, perhaps some of their rank and file might just start to wonder...

[yellowcanine]

23. To be fair, maybe Arkansas doesn't have dentists who can whiten teeth like that.

So she has to hang out in D.C. and VA to keep up the pearly smile.

[catbyte]

24. I checked out the pdf's of her voter registration & if I'm reading it right

she was a Democrat until 2006. Or am I misreading them? This whole faux outrage is hilariously delicious, though.

[calimary]

27. Hey, a sneak-around-the-rules attorney general? Sounds "perfect," doesn't it?

Man, that's the kind of AG I would certainly want for MY state (or country, thank you alberto gonzales..., thank you john mitchell...).

[tclambert]

30. Please tell me an arrest is imminent.

[SpankMe]

31. The hypocrisy...it burns.

Can you just imagine the right wing detonation that would happen if a Democratic candidate for office had the same registration irregularities as Ms. Rutledge? They'd use that one case to exonerate their whole voter suppression agenda. Plus they'd be calling for prosecution under voter fraud laws.

Ms. Rutledge will not see any prosecution. She'll only suffer being removed from the ballot.

[hootinholler]

32. kick for later and republican voter fraud n/t

[lark]

33. So voter fraud is totally OK with Repugs

as long as it's the Repugs that are committing the fraud.

[yurbud]

34. They are proving voter fraud exists

By committing it.

[Zambero]

35. But...But...ACORN!!!!!!!

Oh so you tell me they actually closed shop years ago? Well then....BENGHAZI!!!!!!!!!!! This voting fraud stuff going on in Arkansas, Virginia, D.C., whatever, regarding one measly person is too trite of an issue compared to the tried & true... BENGHAZI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[EEO]

36. Good. Crook.

[Dont call me Shirley]

42. VOTER FRAUD is a GOP crime!

This almost looks like a quietly encouraged activity in the GOP.

[Bartlet]

44. Not sure I understand

Why the GOP is upset, they are the ones who have been harping about "voter fraud" for years, using it to railroad voter disenfranchisement laws through. Now one of the their own is the fraudster and they cry foul?!?! Can we safely say that Republicans are by definition hypocrites?

[Kablooie]

45. Republican commitment to their ethics are just as deep as we've always suspected.

It's simply pure 'anything to win' politics without any moral or ethical standards behind it at all.