From RedState earlier today:
In wards 7, 19, 51 in Philly, PA, the crowds are going wild. Inside several voting locations, individuals have poured white out onto the polling books and the poll workers are allowing voters to go into the polls and vote without first registering. Several individuals are on hand demanding that voters vote straight Democrat.
RNC lawyers have headed to the scene of the incidents, which are occurring in mostly hispanic precinct locations. The District Attorney has also been contacted.
More from the ground: Reports of voter intimidation by son-in-law of Philadelphia City Commissioner in 19th Ward. Carlos Mantos is not allowing Republican poll watchers with valid poll-watching certificates monitor polling places.
Here’s the video of Carlos Mantos preventing Republican poll watchers access. He insists that the ward is 100% Democrat anyway, so telling people to vote straight Democrat isn’t cheating Republicans. However, he argues, simply letting Republican poll watchers into the polling station could prevent Democrats from voting. Got that logic?
Hat tip: RedState.
Update: Today, I received an email from none other than Howard Dean warning me of Republican shenanigans at the voting booths:
There’s another thing I want you to be aware of as your and your neighbors head to the polls today.
There have already been widespread reports of voter suppression by Republican operatives, ranging from apparently legal harassment of Democratic voters to potentially illegal efforts to keep voters away from the voting booth.
This isn’t new for Republicans. It’s a cynical art that the Republican machine has refined for years, and each election brings new variations on old tactics that target minorities and minority-heavy areas.
[snip]
Democrats are committed to ensuring that every rightful voter has the freedom to cast his or her ballot free from intimidation or undue burden, and we’ve deployed voter protection teams across the country to make sure that’s possible today.
Just like Carlos Mantos in the video above, right Howard?
Ah, democracy in action.
“In New Jersey, Republican Tom Kean Jr.’s New Jersey campaign office was reported vandalized. A chain and padlock was placed on the door and keys were broken off in the locks at the side entrances.”
–
“Graffiti that included a Communist-style hammer and sickle along with the name of Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., was spray-painted on an overpass and a department store outside Springfield. Weldon’s campaign accused backers of Democratic challenger Joe Sestak.”
–
“In New Jersey, voters in at least seven jurisdictions attempting to vote for Republican Tom Kean Jr., and found their machines “locked” for Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, according to GOP Committee attorney Mark Sheridan, who called it a “disturbing and developing trend” emerging at the polls.
Sheridan said Republicans are trying to figure out if this is a result of computer error or malfeasance on the part of poll workers. He said it would be too much of a coincidence for anything other than “fraud.””
–
“In Louisville, Ky., one poll worker was arrested on charges of assault and interfering with an election after he allegedly choked a voter and tossed the voter out the door. Election officials called police, and the voter wanted to file charges, said Paula McCraney, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Clerk.”
–
“In Michigan, the Web site for Republican Senate candidate Mike Bouchard was shut down after being hacked. The campaign said the site has been inundated by a distributed denial of service attack that overwhelmed the server. Federal authorities were being contacted.”
Michael Bouchard’s website is being attacked.
From their site:
The Mike for Michigan website is being attacked by a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack.
So far we have indentified the following IP addresses as being sources of the attack:
66.82.9.55
66.82.9.56
For more information on this issue or on Mike’s campaign, please call:
248-566-1125
His other domain is completely down.
It cuts both ways:
The headquarters for Jay Fawcett’s campaign for Colorado’s 5th Congressional District was vandalized overnight and a death threat – the third such threat – was also emailed to Fawcett. Both incidents have been reported to the police.
As voters headed to the polls, Fawcett campaign volunteers arriving at campaign offices were greeted with a vile “Skunk” aroma, making it virtually impossible to conduct work there. The campaign is expecting more than 200 people to come through the offices today to help with Get Out The Vote and Poll Watching efforts.
I say round them all up and toss them all in jail.
I suggest that we take the budget spent on prosecuting and locking up marijuana users and use it to prosecute and lock up those who attempt to subvert our electoral process.
The marijuana users are mostly harmless, the election fraudsters are trying to undermine the basis of our government.
Election Manipulation in Philly
Isn’t this the link you were referring to?
Said video should be enough to arrest Carlos Mantos for interferring with the operations of a public polling place. electioneering, etc. Even in Chicago, such activity would get you arrested. Whomever is in charge of guaranteeing the safety and order of the vote should be seeing to this personally.
If this were a Republican ‘operative’, the outcry would be huge.
Yeah, Brian, phone games (which are pathetic and deplorable) are exactly the same as voter intimidation and barring observers from the polls.
So let me see, they have this clown on video violating federal and state law correct? When do we get to see the video of him being handcuffed and thrown in jail?
Yeah, Brian, direct voter intimidation and interfering with voting locations AT THE POLLING PLACES is just the same as robocalls.
Tell me, Brian, what’s it like being functionally brain dead?
This is just sick. I can’t believe the Mantos video. I can’t believe the stories where people are interfering, the fraud, the pure sliminess. It makes me sick.
Ha, typical! Rep voter intimidation tactics are mere annoyances. Dem voter intimidation tactics are felonies!
Well, the FBI calls Reps telling Dems they’ll be arrested for voting felonies also.
Are you really going to start a game of holier-than-thou on election fraud tactics?
I can’t wait for katie couric, charles gibson, and the other doufus on nbc (forget his name) to cover this story with zeal and gusto. They’ll get to the bottom of this!!!
This is just going to get worse every 2 years. Just think of the mayhem on the horizon in 2008!!
One way to stem the tide would be to make an example of this idiot. He should be arrested, then prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Stories like this need to be exposed and then followed through to their end, hopefully in jail time for the law-breaker.
And wow, Brian, what a weak attempt at denigrating Republicans. I bet you think “robo-calling” is just a Republican tactic as well.
Yeah, Brian, phone games (which are pathetic and deplorable) are exactly the same as voter intimidation and barring observers from the polls.
Poll Watcher: Latino Voters Harrassed in AZ
In VA, FBI Probing Voter Intimidation in Dem Areas
Voter Intimidation Charged in Yonkers
Come on guys, this issue is bigger than Reps vs. Dems… this is fraud… how about addressing the issue instead of trying to top each other with corruption stories?? We ALL need to be concerned about this.
Uh .. Brian can’t respond at this moment . He’s busy slashing tires to GOP vans because he doesn’t believe they are competant enough to be driving.
Brian, a loyal defender of the Party of PERPETUAL FRAUD.
So mantis and brian give us links to news stories alleging voter intimidation note no proof just allegations, meanwhile we have a Dhimmi operative on tape doing it which is conclusive proof and yet that does not matter because well we the Dhimmi’s say the Rethuglicans are doing it worse! Yeah right and dead people don’t vote Dhimmi in large numbers either!
Let’s not forget that the Dem agitators that you’re salivating over are isolated kooks. The robo-calls, however, were an organized campaign across 12 states, and were admittedly and proudly managed by the Republican national party. So which is the “Party of PERPETUAL FRAUD” again?
So mantis and brian give us links to news stories alleging voter intimidation note no proof just allegations,
Yeah… except the Republican national party has admitted it! And been told to knock it off by their local parties. Other than than, yeah, I guess there’s no proof.
It’s amazing how far Republican delusions will go.
This is massive voter fraud. The Democrats do this every time.
It’s time for the Dept of Justice to invoke the Voting Rights Act and put every big city under federal supervision, just like they do for entire states that had problems 40 years ago.
This is going on now. It gets worse every election. I want the feds in there NOW.
Don’t worry, Scott. The Feds are on it.
I’m just glad that, so far (fingers crossed) Florida isn’t the center of attention. Let’s see – in ’00 it was Florida, in ’04 it was Ohio. Which state will be the butt of everyone’s jokes or outrage this year? Virginia? Maryland? Pennsylvania?
You’ve got to be kidding me Mantis! Not one of the links you sent says anything about the intimidators being republicans! I guess cause the one guy was wearing an american flag bandana he MUST be a republican. And by the way Brian, you are an absolute fool thinking that only Republicans are “robo-calling”. I got one yesterday from none other than Bill Clinton.
First bit of advice is, neither party is innocent of this kind of stuff. Don’t be so partisan as to be blind to fraud and intimidation coming from your own party too.
Second bit of advice is, there are going to be charges and counter charges all day long. There are going to be a million allegations and rumors about both sides. Take all of them with a grain of salt. MOST will be completely untrue. This is like the fog of war. My first inclination is to be extremely skeptical of all of these reports until it can be independently confirmed.
Otherwise it is just noise.
That’s par for the course for Philly. Voting there has been corrupted (by the Dems) for the 30 years I have been following it. And it probably goes back at least 130 years.
Maybe the advent of small video cams & the Internets will finally help put an end to it.
Eric, you are absolutely correct. Except this post is about a case that is caught ON CAMERA. Yet the moonbats keep on spinnin’.
Try keeping up, Hogg. There’s nothing wrong with robo-calling, in states that allow it. I’m not even so concerned (as Jay was) with the GOP violating those bans. The fraud is (and for my own convenience I’m going to quote a comment from that thread that summarizes it nicely):
Some local Republican offices have told the RNCC to knock it off. The FBI is investigating it. So please explain again how I’m a “fool” for thinking this to be wrong.
Except this post is about a case that is caught ON CAMERA. Yet the moonbats keep on spinnin’.
And the fraudulent phone calls and threats were caught ON TAPE, plus the RNCC has admitted to it. Yet the hoggs keep on spinnin’…
So we have allegations on one side (Brian, Mantis) and video proof on the other…
Which holds more weight?
Stop trying to excuse bad behaivor with more bad behaivor. It’s pathetic. And that you are resorting to allegations made by political operatives and volunteers, even more so.
try to keep up brian, I said you’re a fool to think the Reps are the only ones doing it, not for thinking it’s wrong.
when did I spin brian? Not ONCE did I say they didn’t do it, not ONCE did I say it wasn’t wrong. You are so intellectually dishonast how do you ever expect to be listened to?
when did I spin brian? Not ONCE did I say they didn’t do it, not ONCE did I say it wasn’t wrong.
And not ONCE did anyone say that the people in the video didn’t do it. Not ONCE did anyone say that it wasn’t wrong. But yet you said, “Yet the moonbats keep on spinnin’.” So by your definition, not denying something is equivalent to spinning. And that, by your own admission, applied to you.
Wow, it’s one thing to flip flop actual statements over time, but I think you set a new record for self-contradiction.
try to keep up brian, I said you’re a fool to think the Reps are the only ones doing it, not for thinking it’s wrong.
Wow, you’re just lying outright now, aren’t you? I guess you think I can’t scroll up a few lines to read what you actually said. Let’s read back, shall we?
And by the way Brian, you are an absolute fool thinking that only Republicans are “robo-calling”.
So there are two options here. Either you are referring to normal, legal, honest (though annoying) robo-calling, in which case your comment is delusional and nonsensical, since I never claimed that Reps were the only ones doing it.
Or, you are referring to the illegal and deceptive robo-calling organized and run by the RNCC, targeting at least 12 states, reported by the NYT and WaPo, and being investigated by the FBI. In which case your comment is delusional and nonsensical, since the Republicans are the only ones doing it.
Either way, the result is that your comment was delusional and nonsensical. Try to keep up, eh?
And that you are resorting to allegations made by political operatives and volunteers, even more so.
Sorry, you’re the one being disingenuous by hand-waving away Republican malfeasance as “allegations made by political operatives”.
So we have allegations on one side (Brian, Mantis) and video proof on the other…
As previously stated, and reported in every news outlet of which could bother to avail yourself, the messages are caught on tape, the RNCC has admitted it, and the local Republican offices have denounced the behavior. But yeah, these are just “allegations” to you.
brian, posting on a thread about a dem. on camera, ignoring the blatant issue at hand and trying instead to infuse claims of repub. intimidation is the exact definition of spinning. the post is about a democrat getting caught, you are trying to spin that into “the republicans do it worse”.
Oh, here’s a good one. Republicans handing out sample ballots that fraudulently identify themselves as Democrats. I guess that’s how the Reps plan to win this year, by pretending to be Dems!
Brian, I can’t find any confirmation of your claim that the RNCC robocalls are being investigated by the FBI. Can you back up that claim? Can you also back up the claim that it is illegal?
And while you’re at it can you at least do us the courtesy and FORMALLY denounce the subject of the thread? That being Democrats admitting on tape to intimidating voters. You actually have NOT denounced the Democrat’s fraud and intimidation attempts. Instead, all you’ve done is point fingers at the Republicans for something that may not even be illegal.
“Oh, here’s a good one. Republicans handing out sample ballots that fraudulently identify themselves as Democrats. I guess that’s how the Reps plan to win this year, by pretending to be Dems!”
That’s the fog of war thing I was talking about Brian. Reading that article I get the distinct impression that the whole story is left out.
The first paragraph says this:”Inaccurate sample ballots describing Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Senate candidate Michael S. Steele as Democrats were handed out to voters in at least four polling sites in Prince George’s County this morning.”
Come on doesn’t that sound more like a printing snafu than anything else?
eric, brian is just pissed that the dems didn’t think of it first. of course I think that they probably did, decades ago, and the reps. are just taking a page from their playbook. Not to excuse it, I don’t like it one bit.
Oh they did. A robocall is nothing but an automated campaign ad. I remember getting one a few years ago recorded by Ed Asner acusing the the Republicans of flat out wanting to get rid of Social Security.
Both parties do it. It is annoying and when they are deceptive they are wrong no matter who does it. But they are unfortunately legal.
yup, but somehow it is wrong when the reps. do it. for the democrats its ok.
Brian, I can’t find any confirmation of your claim that the RNCC robocalls are being investigated by the FBI. Can you back up that claim? Can you also back up the claim that it is illegal?
I’ve posted the link twice in this thread already, but here it is again. And I also noted before that Jay himself has documented the illegal calling in NH.
And while you’re at it can you at least do us the courtesy and FORMALLY denounce the subject of the thread?
I’ve already referred to those people as isolated kooks, but if it makes it more clear, I hereby formally denounce the subject of this thread. Now, I expect that y’all will denounce the multiple instances of Republican fraud documented here?
How about we all denounce fraud and intimidation by both our sides. What a concept!! Let’s see you the real kool aid drinkers are now.
OK, hugh, I formally denounce fraud and intimidation by both our sides. Now, brian, saying that your sides fraud is just isolated kooks while the republicans is an institutional problem, THAT is spinning.
Both parties do it. It is annoying
Yes. Legal robo-calls that follow the rules are merely annoying, and both parties do it.
and when they are deceptive they are wrong no matter who does it. But they are unfortunately legal.
Not always. When they violate do-not-call laws, they’re not legal. When they violate FCC rules, they’re not legal. When they threaten voters with being arrested if they try to vote, they’re not legal.
saying that your sides fraud is just isolated kooks while the republicans is an institutional problem, THAT is spinning.
No, spinning is making a baseless statement without any supportive facts. I’ve given lots of links to facts that support every statement I’ve made. Where’re yours?
Fraud is fraud and there is no degree of fraud when it comes to an election. Any attempt by anyone, in anyway, to disenfranchise someone is a disgrace, democrat or republican.
Do some of you realize you’re arguing “degrees” of fraud? What the hell is that??? It sounds like a schoolyard argument here today. Oh, gosh, I forgot. It sounds that way everyday.
you’ve sent links to washington post articles brian! hardly “facts” that support your statements. and try looking up “spin” for god’s sake, I don’t think you quite grasp the concept.
hugh, if by “you” you are speaking of brian than you are correct. I believe myself and others have agreed, fraud is fraud and is wrong no matter what. brian on the other hand believes it is a case of isolated kooks versus the GOP.
“How about we all denounce fraud and intimidation by both our sides.” AMEN! I absolutely agree!
“y’all will denounce the multiple instances of Republican fraud documented here?”
First off that is NOT documented Republican fraud. All you have listed is an ALLEGATION of voter intimidation that is being investigated by the FBI.
Second, that is NOT the same activity that was admitted to by the RNCC. There is no evidence that the two are the same other than a telephone is involved.
You cannot at this time conclusively state anything other than there is alleged intimidation going on. You have no evidence that this is tied to the Republican party any more than the “isolated kook” as you call the guy in the video above is tied to the DNCC.
“Not always. When they violate do-not-call laws, they’re not legal.”
There is an exemption in the Do Not Call for political solicitations. go to FAQ #30