Hassling Voters Doesn't Make Friends or Win Elections

Update: The GOP’s Disingenuous Voter Challenge

By Dan Testa, 10-03-08

UPDATE: Taking issue with my blog, GOP Executive Director Jake Eaton called this morning to make the case that his party’s move to verify voter registration across the state is anything but “disingenuous.”

While many Democrats regard Schweitzer’s remarks about tampering with 2006 U.S. Senate election results as jokes, Eaton said he has heard many anecdotes from that election night that match up “far too closely” with what the governor told the attorney’s convention.

“I think there’s a lot of truth to what (Schweitzer) said,” Eaton added.

That the GOP is targeting voter registration in six traditionally Democratic-leaning counties is only because those are where Republicans found the greatest discrepancy in voter addresses, Eaton said, when comparing data from the statewide voter database with the National Change of Address database, a commercial software system for direct marketers.

“This was one of the projects that we decided to start on making sure all the voter registration is as tight as can be,” Eaton said.

The state GOP plans to challenge the voter registration in several other counties throughout Montana in the coming days, Eaton said, and it will include calls for voter address verification in traditionally Republican-leaning counties, though the number of challenged voters is likely to be smaller than the six counties already named.

“I wish that Yellowstone County would have been number one, that would have made the whole thing a lot easier, but I can’t argue with the data,” Eaton said. “We’re looking all across the state and trying to get this put together as quick as we can.”

In cross-referencing the thousands of names on the rolls, Eaton said he took care to eliminate challenging thousands of voter names that popped up due to clerical errors or simple discrepancies involving post office boxes or apartment numbers. Republicans initially came up with 20,000 discrepancies, he said, and eliminated 14,000 names from needing to be challenged. Eaton added that Republicans only began checking the names in September, when the news emerged about Schweitzer’s remarks.

Eaton does not think the challenged voters will be discouraged from voting as a result of the Republican inquiry.

“It’s not that much to go through to ensure the process is legitimate,” he said. “You confirm your address, and I don’t think that’s too much to ask of folks.”

When asked whether the challenged voters would be reminded of the governor’s remarks when being forced to verify their addresses in the weeks before the election, Eaton said they would.

“I think a lot of folks are going to make that connection and realize that this is kind of a consequence of Schweitzer’s action,” he said. “At the end of the day, I think to know the laws apply across the board equally to everybody is a pretty good thing for the state of an election.”

ORIGINAL POST: Gov. Brian Schweitzer clearly stepped in it when he bragged about tampering with the results of the 2006 U.S. Senate election at an attorneys’ convention in July. The resulting scandal may have even damaged him in his re-election bid, as a new poll shows Republican Roy Brown drawing within 15 points of the incumbent. But for the GOP to use Schweitzer’s remarks as a reason to challenge the eligibility of 6,000 voters in Democratic-leaning counties is utterly disingenuous.

The Missoulian’s Chelsi Moy and the Associated Press broke the story Thursday, in which Republicans are challenging the eligibility of 6,000 voters in Missoula, Butte-Silver Bow, Lewis and Clark, Deerlodge, Glacier and Hill counties who filled out a change-of-address card with the U.S. Postal Service in the past 18 months.

"With Schweitzer's recent comments about rigging the '06 election, that brought everyone in the state to a new level of suspicion and awareness of the integrity of our elections," state GOP executive director Jake Eaton was quoted as saying, adding that he wants people to register properly.

Baloney.

Many of these voters may have moved from one part of their county to another, and now they will be required to verify their address – adding one extra hassle to anyone leading a busy life who intends to vote. It's a tenuous argument for Republicans to make that Schweitzer's comments that he tried to "turn some dials" to help Jon Tester get elected justifies imposing impediments to voting on thousands of voters in traditionally Democratic areas and Native American counties.

And what’s the result of this going to be? Certainly not a more accurate voter count. There’s no electoral college among counties in Montana. Whether a person votes in the precinct where they currently live, or the one they recently moved from, the vote count remains the same, and doesn’t affect the election’s outcome.

For the election administrators in these counties, they’ve been saddled this week with mailing out thousands of notices to voters informing them that they need to verify their addresses. One administrator wants the GOP to pay for the postage. You could make a case for the necessity of these challenges to voter credentials among people who no longer live in Montana. But in Missoula, it looks as though only about 200 out of the 3,422 challenged voters live out of state and only 900 moved outside the county.

Roy Brown has, thus far, run a fair and honorable campaign against a strong incumbent governor. It’s a tough position to be in, and when news broke that Schweitzer was bragging about tainting Montana’s electoral integrity, I waited to see how the GOP would capitalize on this opportunity, delivered on a silver platter, to turn the race around.

But I just don’t see how presenting another hurdle for well-intentioned voters, regardless of party, is going to allow any Republican elected by, say, less than a 6,000-vote margin to govern effectively after a stunt like this. [End of article]

Comment By Rob Killian, 10-04-08

I am OUTRAGED at the Montana GOP. How could a group of politicians target certain democratic counties? They say it’s because that’s where the biggest discrepancies are, right. Maybe us Democrats have to move a little more frequently because of loss of job, tanking economy, or rising cost of living. I am not sure if I am correctly registered, and I get the feeling, through conversation with other students at UM that they feel the same way. I was really surprised to hear how many fellow students feared they would be mis-registered and contested. I guess the GOP doesn’t want any independently thinking people voting in this election. More bad press for an already bad strategy. Nice work guys. See you in a few years when your battle back to power becomes a little less slimy.

Comment By Tom, 10-04-08

“How could a group of politicians target certain democratic counties?”...Wasn’t a similar sentiment uttered by those looking at what VP Gore’s campaign tried to (and did) do in Florida during the 2000 election? Except, their efforts were after the fact...How quickly some seem to forget.

Comment By Gianni, 10-05-08

Testa,

Heavy stuff. Keep up the phenomenal work.

Giannia.

Comment By Carl, 10-05-08

My dog wants to vote. Is it ok to register her?

Comment By Carl, 10-05-08

look what’s going on in Ohio. There is no chance that this will be a “fair” election. obama has it already.

Comment By illustr8r, 10-05-08

My folks live in OH and they feel that the state is going to be the laughing stock of the country during this election. They fear their votes will be canceled out 3-1. The election officials are lifelong Dems and after all the belly aching to switch from paper ballots to electronic voting machines the Sec. of State wants to go back to paper! Must be easier to find a stash of “oh look, 100,000 uncounted ballots for Obama!” that way.

Comment By conrad carter, 10-05-08

Democrats everywhere have followed Gore’s lead and counted until they won. It needs to stop, along with illegal contributions from overseas. If there is nothing to hide then let them check.

Comment By Carl, 10-06-08

By decree of the almighty Prophet Obama campaign - there will be no “bad” news allowed. Only good news, only news worthy of uplifting his holiness Obama. Count every vote! As many times as it takes to “elect” [ya sure] The prophet Obama. Then all will be well. The sun will shine, the birds will sing, and we’ll all be rich and well. The media will report healing, happiness and otherwise blow sunshine and rainbows all over the place. Golly, I can hardly wait.

Comment By phil, 10-06-08

I believe that information has surfaced related to the Republican Party actively keeping legal voters from the polls in recent elections (black voters in Florida), inconsistent dybold voting machine results in Ohio, and stuffing voter rolls with the names of the deceased. None of these (and other) scandals have been linked to the Dems. It sounds strange that the Dems would suddenly start cheating after they were cheated out of two presidential elections. Maybe someone should check out the register in some of the “smaller, more backward counties, maybe the dead are still speaking out in Wolf Point.

Comment By Lucky, 10-06-08

I would just like to thank the GOP for discovering this apparent anomaly in the voting system. Who would have thought that only Democratic leaning counties would misrepresent their voters? I’m sure the GOP will succeed in removing a few voters from the lists, both Democrat and Republican, while at the same time really annoying thousands of legitimate voters. Oh well, nobody ever accused Republicans of being...... Well, you get my point.

Comment By illustr8r, 10-06-08

Ohio and other state voter fraud concerns:
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/10/02/voter-fraud-alert-more-thug-thizzlin-in-ohio/

Voter fraud in WA state:
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/02/voter-fraud-watch-could-acorn-scandal-in-washington-have-been-avoided-with-photo-id/

(sorry for the link from fox news. I know how some people feel about that.)

Comment By Carl, 10-07-08

Well! Shame on you! How dare you infer that there may be anything not perfectly above-board in bussing winos around Ohio to vote for Obama. [or any other buried news stories similar]. 5 Nov - I will take down my American flag.

Comment By do it, dillweed, 10-07-08

5 Nov - I will take down my American flag.
Good boy carl

Comment By illustr8r, 10-07-08

Oh, more voter fraud. This time in Nevada:

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/10/07/flash-acorn-offices-in-las-vegas-raided/

-and Wisconsin:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=802043

Yes, yet more examples of those ee-vil Repubs trying to steal the election... Is McCain a community organizer? Uh, no, that would be O.

And after the Bruce Springsteen concert for Obama at Ohio State they had instant voter registration and voting. No doubt the students who voted are not all local Ohioans who will then go back and vote in their home state-again.

Comment By Carl, 10-08-08

Notice CNN and ABC did not report the Nevada police raiding the ACORN offices, the fraudulent registrations etc. etc. I’m not surprised. Bribery, corruption, fraud will take this election. Victory belongs to the dishonest.

Comment By illustr8r, 10-08-08

Add Indiana to the Fraud list.
In Indianapolis, 105% of it’s population is registered to vote. D’oh!

http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/more_voter_registration_shenanigans_indianapolis_
has_105_of_its_population/

Comment By Gary, 10-10-08

It is incredible that a commentator who claims to have some savvy in politics would think that a voters should not have to reregister if they move. Even a move to an adjacent precinct could mean that they would vote for a different legislator. A move to another county would mean a completely different slate of county and state legislative candidates and maybe a different PSC candidate as well.

Comment By illustr8r, 10-11-08

When I go vote I bring my registration card and my drivers’ license. The nice people at the polling station always wave it away that they don’t need that but thank you for showing it. Ya know-why not? What is wrong with offering proof of who you are and where you live to validate your precinct and right to vote? What happened to common sense?

This article was printed from flatheadbeacon.com at the following URL: http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/the_gops_disingenuous_voter_challenge/5864/