WA woman protests easy voter rules by registering dog to vote

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: The Associated Press

SEATTLE — The second time Duncan M. MacDonald sent in an absentee ballot, an election worker in Federal Way called to ask about the paw print on the envelope. But it took three ballots before the prosecutor contacted the voting dog's owner.

Jane Balogh said she registered the Australian shepherd-terrier mix to vote in protest of a 2005 state voter-registration law that she says makes it too easy for noncitizens to vote.

She put her phone bill in Duncan's name, then used the phone bill as identification to register him as a voter.

"I wasn't trying to do anything fraudulent. I was trying to prove that our system is flawed. So I got myself in trouble," she says.

Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/377/story/142591.html

[enki23]

1. because we'd rather stop a hundred legitimate votes than allow one bad one.

so long as those legitimate votes were mostly from poor and minority voters.

[stellanoir]

2. Probably the only circumstance where "caging" would be sometimes be

appropriate.

(It's a joke so don't flame me PETA people)

[booley]

3. Of course, one little detail

As Palast has already shown us, there's nothing that requires absentee votes to be counted.

Indeed, chances are an absentee ballot won't be counted.

So did the dog really vote if his ballot probably just got thrown away?

[wakeme2008]

6. Not 100% true. In Florida they are

for the most part pre-counted before the election with members of all parties watching.

[keopeli]

4. I think we should make it easy to vote and have STIFF penalties for fraud.

People like this woman will sleep easier knowing that non-citizens who fraudulently register will go to jail for 5 years and pay $100,000 minimum.

Of course, this woman would ALSO be going to jail for 5 years for her own civil disobedience.

"I wasn't trying to do anything fraudulent." Oh yeah, then why did you actually cast a ballot for your dog? Were those your dog's real choices? Are you sure the bitch is a Republic, like you? And, when someone called to ask about the paw print, you don't think that was a good time to reveal your shenanigans? Instead, you went and did it again.

Sorry, honey, your little excuse holds no water.

[Maeve]

5. Agree completely

Okay, she wrote "VOID" on the ballots and didn't actually vote in the dog's name, but registering the beast was fraud...and I bet the dog isn't even of legal age! (Doggie years don't count!)

[LisaL]

7. The dog didn't actually vote because the woman wrote "void"

on the ballot.

[silverojo]

8. You're being hypocritical

Cindy Sheehan and many others before her have broken the law repeatedly to protest against government policies. You're only complaining because this woman has an opinion different from yours.

IIRC, we Dems are the ones who have been objecting to voting irregularities, so why complain about this protest? And please don't give me the BS about how the voting laws are discriminatory against the poor and "minorities" (read: illegal aliens, who shouldn't be voting in the first place). Poor people can't get welfare or ANY public assistance without the EXACT SAME DOCUMENTATION you need to register to vote.

Which you'd realize, if you actually knew something about being poor. I've been there, and experienced it first-hand. Until you've been on welfare, food stamps, or any form of public assistance, you don't know jack about being poor.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but the reality of poverty IS harsh....

[ProudDad]

11. Thanks for the right-wing Faux News talking point.

We don't get enough of them outside of this board... :sarcasm:

"Poor people can't get welfare or ANY public assistance without the EXACT SAME DOCUMENTATION you need to register to vote."


The BIG difference is that the Dems and the left have been complaining about VOTER SUPPRESSION and outright THEFT of elections enmass by the pukes.

The pukes and their fellow travelers have used the excuse of individual voter fraud, which their own Justice Dept. has determined DOESN'T HAPPEN with enough frequency to even bring more than a couple of token prosecutions, to perform their election stealing magic.

HELL, we can't even get most folks to vote once...why not allow anyone to vote by giving their name and address at the polling place and we can worry about those folks who want to vote more than once if it ever happens?

[KamaAina]

16. Huh? Minorities = illegal aliens?!

I don't believe I just read that! So all the people wrongfully purged from the Florida voter rolls by repuke-connected ChoicePoint were illegal aliens (some of us prefer the less fraught phrase "undocumented immigrants")?! I don't think so!

:wtf:

[sandnsea]

17. A vote is a RIGHT

Jesus fucking mother of god.

:argh:

[keopeli]

20. You've made a number of erroneous assumptions.

First, I don't say this because I disagree with her. I say this because I believe it. It should be easy to vote and the penalty for fraud against this right should be stiff. I've always thought this.

If she wants to commit civil disobedience, then she can face the penalties. That happens to anyone, regardless of party.

If you don't believe that voting laws have been written to disenfranchise people, then you need to do some reading about U.S. history.

You assume I've never been poor. It sounds like you feel sorry for yourself. Actually, I feel sorry for you. Being poor seems to have jaded you. My personal history is varied and, frankly, personal. Suffice to say that I understand what it is to be really poor, even without your exhortations, and your own comments would lead me to believe that you have a limited perspective on poverty itself. Nevertheless, I'm sorry for the suffering you seem to have endured.

Peace.

[northzax]

21. not hypocritical

one should not engage in civil disobediance without being willing to pay the legal penalty for breaking the law. Read "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" sometime.

[ButterflyBlood]

24. All minorities are illegal aliens?

wtf?

[TexasLawyer]

14. well said

I am just reading my Texas voter registration application, which asks among other things whether the applicant is a U.S. citizen and over 18 (I doubt the dog was either).

The application states in bold print right over the signature line: "I understand that giving false information to procure a voter registration is perjury, and a crime under state and federal law. Conviction of this crime may result in imprisonment up to 180 days, a fine up to $2,000, or both."

I imagine that her card made a similar warning. Sorry, lady. This was a fraudulent, perjured application, and the voting was fraudulent.

[damntexdem]

9. Dog-on-it, real voter fraud: better prosecute!

Make other rightwingers paws before they make this their pet project.

And the dog was part terrierist, to boot! Maybe we really do need a War on Terriers. ;-)

[ProudDad]

10. That dog would probably cast a more intelligent vote

than most of the sheeple can.

[Paulie]

12. It should, being the shepherd

shepherd of the sheeple... :)

But then again, it's not a Cat. :D

[datadiva]

13. This woman should be prosecuted.

Thats how you stop voter fraud.

[DBoon]

18. like pretending to rob a bank just to prove how easy it is?

and just because you left the money there, you should not be prosecuted?

[northzax]

22. can she prove she wrote VOID on the ballots?

probably not. I hope, as a good form of protest, she has records of everything she did, otherwise, throw the book at her. doing it once, just to prove a point, is fine, doing it over and over again is just plain stupid and criminal (let alone wasteful of the public money)

New flash: "WA Kills Husband in Sleep to Prove How Useless Laws Against Murder Are!"

[Ian David]

15. No doubt the dog likes Nader. n/t

[GoddessOfGuinness]

19. How in the hell did she get the phone bill in her dog's name?

Does he have a credit card too?

[marshall]

23. Which political party did she register him for?

That's the pertinent question.