Voter Deception Continues Up to the Last Minutes of Election

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/11/04/voter-deception-continues-up-to-the-last-minutes-of-election/

by James Parks, Nov 4, 2008

Here is the latest of our updates on voting issues throughout the day. Share what’s going on at your polling place on our Open Thread here.

* The Minnesota Independent reports that three voters of Somali origin at a polling place in Minneapolis claim a translator working there was instructing people to vote for Republican Sen. Norm Coleman. The translator works on Coleman’s staff. The chief election judge eventually asked the translator to leave.

* The Election Protection coalition says its representatives have fielded complaints from voters who were informed that Election Day had been moved to Wednesday, Nov. 5. Some of the text messages are deliberately aimed at Democratic voters, saying that Obama supporters should cast ballots the day after Election Day, said Heather Smith, who’s been coordinating outreach efforts for Rock the Vote. The organization has fielded complaints of inaccurate text messages sent to Florida State University students and messages listing the wrong day to vote posted to several Facebook groups.

* Rock the Vote also said it has received complaints of fliers distributed in neighborhoods around Drexel University in Philadelphia warning that unpaid parking tickets could disqualify someone from voting.

* The Washington Post says it appears someone hacked into George Mason University’s e-mail system late last night and sent out a hoax message telling some 30,000 students and 5,000 employees at the Northern Virginia school that the election had been moved to Nov. 5. The short message, which looked as if it came from the office of Provost Peter N. Stearns, read: “Please note that election day has been moved to November 5th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.” University officials are working with the FBI to determine who is responsible for the hoax.