Friend signed petition to legalize pot, now she's a registered Republican!

[blue neen]

Please help DU'ers. My friend's daughter signed a petition at the Univ. of Pittsburgh to legalize marijuana. They used the info to register her as a Repug...she already was registered as a Democrat!

She's so upset. My friend called me to ask me what to do about this horrible scam. Does anyone have numbers to call?

I guess there were students all over the place signing this petition, now they are getting Voter ID cards saying they are Repugs!

HELP!
On edit: I just found this article in the Post Gazette:
http://www.pittsburghpostgazette.com/pg/04301/402432.stm

"In the face of mounting reports from college students who say they have had their party registrations and POLLING PLACES switched by apparent political scam artists, Gov. Ed Rendell yesterday said his office will refer allegations of possible voter registration fraud to the state attorney general's office."

[cheezus]

1. oh well, just more republican vote for Kerry

[bullimiami]

2. tell her not to fret

its just one more republican vote for kerry. she can switch her party back next year.

[Vincardog]

13. Or let her stay a registered Repug. She can vote Pat Pauylsen for Pres.

in their primary.

[IrateCitizen]

3. OK, what's it really matter right now, anyways?

Even if they're registered as Republicans, they can still vote in the election. And if they were registered Dems before, they can still vote for Kerry.

And all they have to do to change it back is to go to the Post Office and pick up a voter registration form, changing their party from Republican to whatever it was before.

[freedom_to_read]

4. i'm confused

why does it matter what party you are registered to? you can vote for whomever you choose.

unless they are trying to get her registered twice and then declare her registration invalid?

[blue neen]

20. It doesn't matter what party you're registered to,

if you did that of your own free will. It's so damn dishonest.

[ClintonTyree]

5. Call your local Demorcatic Headquarters ASAP.....

they did a piece about this last night on CBS News I think, it's happening all over the country.

[MsTryska]

25. *lmao* Well I guess the RNC

is gonna be sorely disappointed when all these registered republicans vote for Kerry, huh?

[mac56]

6. Secretary of State's office?

May be a good place to start.

Damn Republicans. They know they can't win a fair fight, so they resort to this krep.

[City Lights]

7. Did they just change her party affiliation, or was she one of the

students who is now registered under two different addresses and ineligible to vote?

[treading_water]

8. I hate to be cynical...

But she probably has a better chance of having her ballot counted now.

Report it for the scam it is, but don't change bother changing party affliation until after November 2.

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. It doesn't matter how you're registered --

nobody stands over you in the voting booth. Vote for who you want and change your registration after the election.

This presents an interesting scenario -- hundreds of thousands of registered Republicans switching their registration to Democrat after the elections.

[yellowcanine]

10. Doesn't matter - she is registered. Vote and change party label

later. Fight one battle at a time. She should just make sure she votes at the correct place. Call the election board to confirm.

[SnowGoose]

11. She can still vote for whomever she wants.

If she wants to vote in the Democratic primaries next time, she may want to get it corrected, but the only thing this do will during the current election cycle is piss off those who experience it, and ensure they don't vote GOP for a long, long time.

[Beetwasher]

12. Good! She Can Still Vote For Kerry

and if Bush steals it and starts rounding up Dems for Gitmo, she'll have some cover...

[ibegurpard]

14. See if you can find out what organization did the bait and switch

and report them. In the meantime, don't sweat it for your friend personally. It's nothing to worry about if people realize that they don't actually have to VOTE the way they're registered. My concern is that these snakes might be giving that impression to people who are very ignorant about politics and elections.

[DefenseLawyer]

15. Seems like a dirty trick, but

what does being a "registered republican" do to you (except make you want to shower incessantly)? Does it dictate what primary you can vote in in PA? Seems like something that could be easily changed before the next primary, so while it is a dirty trick it's not a very effective dirty trick

[blue neen]

17. She's just extremely upset that this scam is taking place.

It does dictate what primary you can vote in. I'm sure she can change her registration by next primary.

It's just that this whole thing is so f*cking wrong.

[dubyaD40web]

16. Did they also change her address?

I've read about them doing that too, so that when these "reregistered" people go to vote, they find out they're registered in a different city, and get screwed out of voting. Palast did a thing on this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3956129.stm#
then click on the "Watch Greg Palast's Newsnight report from Florida" link on the top right and go to about 6:30 into it to get to the part about this fun little scam.

F***ing republicans - they know they can't win an election based on policy or record, so they have to cheat and try to steal it again.

[BQueen]

28. Exactly , this is where it matters.

I couldn't figure it out initially, either. According to Palast as interviewed this am, it would invalidate the registration/vote (in fl anyway).

Either way, if they change your address and you don't know about it...how do you know where to vote and/or what if it's all the way on the other side of the state? or they challenge you if you go to the other polling place because you don't "really live there" --
and they would know that since they changed your address...

[blue neen]

35. Her mom said that she put her home address down.

I hope she will be okay because that's where she had her Dem registration.

However, that will not be the case for all of these students.

[BQueen]

40. Check with the Board of Elections ASAP

They may have changed the address over her signature. The way it got caught in Fla was that they changed the address of a BOE supervisor's daughter....

There may be a website for your state where you can check -- hard to say. you may want to try posting for info in the state forum here.

Also, found this on Froomkin (www.discourse.net) yesterday.

***My name is Keith Kritselis, and I have a website that I am trying to publicize.

Http://www.mypollingsite.com

The website’s goal is to help voters find their polling place. Our database of online poll locators has been slowly growing. We now can get 63% of the US population the exact location of their polling site in 4 clicks or less. For the other 37% we provide a local phone number where they can call to get the information they need. This service is free to the public, it has no political affiliation or agenda, and I truly believe that civic participation is the key to a responsive government. This is a small 1 man operation with no marketing dollars. Anything you can do to help get the word out would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

Keith Kritselis***

Maybe this site can help you verify your daughter's registration -- if it only indicates precinct, make sure it matches yours, at minimum.

[sherilocks]

37. That's the scam,

Not the change of party affiliation, but the change of address.

BTW, I tried to rerun the BBC video and everyone in the world must be watching it. Even with DSL, it slooooooooooooooooooow.

But, as I recall, they scammed the step-daughter of the Leon county supervisor elections the same way.

[zaj]

18. Sounds like there will be a LOT more "Repubs" voting for Kerry this year!

[seabeyond]

19. no she will lose her vote

she has to get a hold of someone. they are not just changing party, but it is creating two registrations so they are not allowed to vote at all. she needs to bring to attention today, so whatever happens, she will be able to have her vote count. too many kids meed to see if they are registered. if not, we are losing time, they need to get active

[treading_water]

26. I don't think that is the case here.

The poster infers that the student found out when she received her voter registration card.

Could be wrong though.

[progressivebydesign]

29. I don't think so... re-registering usually just supercedes the old one.

They do that for party affiliation and address changes. or do you think that when they signed her up, they checked NEW registration, not address change? That would be bad.

[tech3149]

21. I heard about this yesterday

Have her check to see if they also changed her precinct. That's another part of the ploy. The other person I heard this from had her registration changed from Westmoreland to Allegheny county. That part is designed to force using a provisional ballot which may be discarded, lost, or challenged.

[Buck Rabbit]

22. A good bet they are going to challenge her vote

by filing a phony registration card with errors on it that conflict with her original registration. Proably everyone who signed the petition had the same thing done to them.

She should contact the DNC. They claim to have 10,000 lawyers ready. I would have her ask them for advice.

[Orangepeel]

23. Don't panic

this happened at campuses all over Florida, too.

Tell her to check with the supervisor of elections office to make sure that there is no problem with her voting rights, just to make sure. But you don't have to vote for a candidate based on what party you are registered with.

I don't put anything past republicans, but I don't think this was a vote stopping scam. I think that people were paid based on the number of republicans they registered so they did it frauduently.

[blackcatpgh]

24. here's how it started

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04297/400512.stm

a volunteer for kerry who stopped by our house last night said that if students that have been scammed by this show up at their original designated polling place (assuming they had already been a registered democrat) and they're not on the list, they can use provisional ballots as long as they're still registered in pennsylvania.

i know i have a verrryyyy low post count, but i'm no freeper. i've lurked here for almost 2 years; i just don't post to boards much.

hope that helps, and good luck.

[progressivebydesign]

30. But.. what about the PROVISIONAL ballot issue?

WHere they are tossing the ballots if you DON'T live in the precinct where you voted?

[blackcatpgh]

31. i don't know

refer to posts 16 and 28 for better info.

this situation is absolutely disgusting.

[blue neen]

38. These scammers are trying to cause confusion and chaos.

They want these students to become so frustrated that they give up and don't vote.

Welcome to DU!

[blackcatpgh]

43. thanks for the welcome

and thanks to Buck Rabbit, too!

[Buck Rabbit]

39. That's informative. Thanks and welcome to posting at DU!

[newyawker99]

47. Hi blackcatpgh!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[CAcyclist]

49. Welcome!

:toast:

[progressivebydesign]

27. Can the OUR VOTE phone number be of use to her? n/t

[blue neen]

32. It would be great to have that number.

Thanks!

[BQueen]

42. 1-866-OURVOTE

also, see post 40 above, for a possible on-line solution....

edit for typo

[blue neen]

45. Thanks. I called and gave her that info.

[Renew Deal]

33. She should reregister as a Dem.

[Norquist Nemesis]

34. First thing's first...

Her daughter needs to determine where she is eligible to vote, then make sure she votes at that location.

Yes, it's dirty tricks and yes it needs to be taken care of. But above all, she needs to VOTE and she needs to make certain she knows WHERE she can vote so there's no suppression.

After the election, she can get her affiliation changed and fix her registration if she chooses.

[blue neen]

36. She's coming home to vote that day.

I don't know about the rest of these kids, though.

[Norquist Nemesis]

41. With the election six days away

my opinion is still to stick with whatever her registration is and cast her ballot. It sucks that she might have to delay a trip home by a few hours, but voting is the priority. By sticking with her current registration, stomach turning as it is, she won't run the risk of falling through the cracks with trying to re-register.

They will then have been successful in disenfranchising this girl's vote. Don't let them get away with it.

[zbdent]

44. Make sure she knows about provisional ballots

I smell a challenge to her voting status at the poll Tuesday . . .

[blue neen]

46. Good suggestion. I will do that.

I can't even believe how low these Repugs will stoop.

[John_H]

48. Easy: She signed the petition, smoked some pot laced with PCP, registered