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The deadline for voter registration in Pennsylvania is this Tuesday, October 9th. Help register people to vote:

Volunteer in Pennsylvania: http://OFA.BO/FxCvgG  

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Bank "activity" apparently a requirement for Wisconsin voter ID card

Not only are they shutting down DMV offices in Democratic and poorer districts in Wisconsin (whose new law requires picture ID), the following video shows that the DMV could refuse to issue an ID card if the voter’s bank account did not show enough "activity."

Via Raw Story:


Apparently, only the well off need apply. What country are we in again? It's getting hard to tell.
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VOTER REGISTRATION FRAUD!!!

I wonder if our good friends on the other side of the aisle, flushed as they are in the afterglow of ACORN-related "voter fraud", will even mention the voter registration fraud that's being alleged in their own corner.

From The Orange County Register:

Petitioners prowling parking lots and community college campuses tricked dozens of young Orange County voters into registering to vote as Republicans, an Orange County Register investigation has found.

The con occurred at the end of January and the beginning of February at places like Cypress College and Golden West College, and outside of discount stores like Wal-Mart and Food 4 Less. It appears to be the same kind of voter registration fraud that engulfed Orange County four years ago and landed eight signature gatherers in jail.

Since mid-March, at least 99 written complaints have been submitted to state elections officials by Orange County residents who say they were registered to vote Republican without their consent. The Register found an additional 74 voters who said they were duped or coerced into registering to vote as a Republican by signature gatherers who initially asked them to sign petitions for causes like legalizing marijuana, fighting cancer or cleaning up beaches.

Seems that the mechanics of this fraud are frighteningly familiar:

The voters are all residents of the 34th State Senate District in central Orange County, where the Republican Party has high hopes of ousting incumbent Democrat Lou Correa in the fall. Unlike the Democrats, the California Republican Party has a controversial policy of paying signature gatherers who sends them new GOP voter registration cards and the Republicans are offering as much as $8 for each new GOP registration in that district.

Many believe the $8 "bounty" gives petitioners an incentive to commit fraud.

And:

The Republican Party isn't likely to benefit from this scheme because many of the voters contacted by the Register said they don't vote Republican. The only beneficiaries appear to be the signature gatherers themselves.

Still. If it happened to ACORN it's a "Democrat Party" scandal.

But when the fraud is perpetuated for the Republican Party? When will we hear the outcry?

Anyone? Anyone? Beuller? Bueller?

Voter Registration Numbers

From Boston.com, it looks like Pennsylvania's Democrats have set some sort of voter registration record:

Democratic Party enrollment surged past the 4 million mark Monday, setting a state record on the last day Pennsylvanians had to register to vote in next month's presidential primary.

Now we've all read about Rush Limbaugh's "Project Chaos" (where he's cajoled Republicans into registering as Democrats here in PA in order to keep the process going) but the registration surge doesn't seem to be all cross-overs from God's Own Party:

The figures, which showed modest declines in the ranks of Republicans and independents, reflected intense interest in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination and recruitment efforts by both candidates, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.

But what about the numbers? The Democratic Party has swelled by 161,000 new voters while:

Registration in the GOP declined by about 1 percent, to 3,215,478 statewide.

Taking out my handy-dandy calculator, if 3.2 million represents the number of Republicans in this state AFTER being reduced by 1%, then that number must then be 99% of what it was. Doing the math, I think it means that we're only talking about 32,000 GOPers switching party affiliations, right?

Democrats have added 161,000 and Republicans have taken off 32,000. It's a gain of a little under 140,000. On the other hand, if those 32,000 are indeed to be found within the 161,000, then that means that one out of every five new "Democrats" is really a "Project chaos Republican."

If they're all following the Oxycontin-addict's edicts completely and will be voting for Senator Clinton in the primary, it might make things even more difficult for Senator Obama here.

On the other hand following, as we must, the law of unintended consequences, it might make things more difficult for other Republicans running in November. Take a look at this is from Public Radio Capital News. The purpose of Project Chaos is to throw the Democratic Presidential primary here in Pennsylvania into chaos - all those "Project Chaos Republicans" will presumably be switching back to the GOP sometime after April 22 - but not the new Democrats. They'll still be around. What might the impact be here for some House races here in PA?

Muhlenberg College Political Scientist Chris Borick agrees it will be a tough road for Democrats in the 5th District.

But he adds registration gains could help Democrats running against western Pennsylvania Republican Congressmen Tim Murphy and Phil English.

"What you saw in 2006 with the Altmire - Hart race is that a Democrat can unseat an incumbent Republican and be successful.”

Good news for whoever gets the nomination to run against Murphy and good news for Congressman Jason Altmire.