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Reports of Voter Fraud Continue to Hit Polling Stations Through Election Day (Here Are the Alleged Cases & We’ll Update All Day)
- Posted on November 6, 2012 at 12:35pm by
Liz Klimas
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Early voting had its share of voter fraud accusations, and continuing into Election Day proper has been no different.
Most of the stories thus far involve electronic voting machines changing votes for GOP candidate Mitt Romney to Democratic candidate Barack Obama. These instances, and the reverse, are generally chalked up to be calibration issues with the machine.
TheBlaze is keeping track of alleged voter fraud activity and issues voters are having at the polls today. Here is a running list of issues that have been reported so far:
Colorado
Fox News Insider reported that some in Pueblo, Colo., have seen the machines changing Romney votes to Obama on Tuesday. Watch the report:
Pennsylvania
The machines have also seen issues changing votes for Obama to Romney. A voter in central Pennsylvania — location has to be officially confirmed but the YouTube username is centralpavote — posted a video showing his vote for Obama being registered for Romney. Check it out:
The video description reads:
TheBlaze also reported that Republican election monitors were denied entrance to polling locations by their Democrat counterparts. A judge soon reinstated the inspectors’ right to be there.
A judge has also ordered officials at the polling station at Franklin Elementary School (Philadelphia’s Ward 35) to cover up a pro-Obama mural on the wall. TheBlaze’s Billy Hallowell reported:
Illinois
A voter in Obama’s ward in Chicago snapped a photo of a poll worker wearing an Obama hat and said the woman in front of her was allegedly given an extra ballot when she asked for it, according to the Weekly Standard.
New Jersey
With New Jersey residents being granted the ability to cast their vote on requested ballots via email and fax due to displacement from Hurricane Sandy, some are concerned that it could be a process vulnerable to voter fraud. These ballots sent via email need to be filled out by hand, signed and then scanned back into computers to be emailed or faxed. This method is how New Jersey allows its military and overseas residents to vote, but according to the New Jersey Times, a paper ballot is required to be mailed in as back up. It is reported that Sandy victims are not required to still send in paper ballots.
Nevada
TheBlaze reported Monday that a Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist met with two non-citizens who were encouraged to illegally register to vote and cast ballots.
Ohio
TheBlaze reported thousands of Tea Party members with the group True the Vote were denied by the Franklin County Board of Elections from “observer” positions at the more than 30 locations Tuesday due to a paperwork issue. U.S. News and World Report has more:
The Michigan Republican Party (via the Washington Times) is alleging that a poll watcher was threatened by a voter who said he had “a badge and a gun,” and proceeded to tell the poll watcher to leave the precinct. The poll watcher is reported to have left the location, but called 911 to report the threat. The GOP website reports that the Detroit Police didn’t respond to the call.
“Poll watchers, precinct workers and voters should not be put in danger when performing their duties, our Republic requires free and fair elections,” Michigan Republican Party Chairman Bobby Schostak said in a statement.
South Carolina
Some voters in South Carolina today are casting ballots on electronic machines that, according to the Columbia Free Times, are being are audited by the state legislature:
District of Columbia and metro area (Northern Virginia and Maryland)
WTOP reports, despite long lines, those in the D.C. metro area have had a relatively smooth Election Day thus far, although there were a couple issues that seemed to lengthen the wait. For example, those who showed up to Lee Hill Elementary School in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early morning told WTOP all of the electronic voting machines were broken. There were only 50 back-up, paper ballots available. WTOP reports hundreds were turned away at the time, but the issue was resolved by 8 a.m.
Florida
Florida voters might think they have until Wednesday 7 p.m. to cast their ballots of they don’t check their messages. An election office accidentally sent a robocall to more than 12,500 residents Tuesday saying they could vote “tomorrow”. The call should have been issued Monday. A corrective call was later sent, telling residents to ignore the previous message.
Provisional Ballots
A Blaze reader sent us this redacted screenshot from a Facebook page showing a person allegedly sending in an absentee ballot and casting a provisional ballot as well.
The reader told us the friend would have voted in California. Most states have provisions in place to ensure provisional ballots are not counted as a second vote. For example, California law states: “After the voter casts a provisional ballot, the elections official will check the records to ensure that the voter did not cast their vote-by-mail ballot.” It is also possible the person who made this Facebook comment could have been joking.
Provisional ballots are being used in some states when the eligibility of a voter is questioned. The person is still allowed to vote via a provisional ballot but these votes will not be factored into the final count until the voter has been verified, which will be days after the election.
In addition to this issue, TheBlaze has received several emails from readers who say they are registered voters but were not included in the registration books. Dawn Kaser in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, said that she hasn’t moved from her current address for more than six years, but when she went to vote this morning, the polling official couldn’t confirm her eligibility to vote. Kaser said she witnessed another person at the polls and a friend as well who weren’t registered when they said they should have been.
“My concern is who else is this happening to especially in Ohio?” Kaser said in an email to TheBlaze. Kaser was able to vote using a provisional ballot.
Deidra Hill from San Clemente, Calif., recounted a similar story in an email to TheBlaze. Hill said the workers allegedly received a partial roster of eligible voters.
“One man was not on any list but he said he had recently registered, so they let him vote not with a provisional ballot, but on the computer,” Hill described of a scene she witnessed. “What’s to keep him from also voting in his previous precinct?”
What to do if you witness voter fraud
Any polling issues can be reported to election officials at each location and to Election Protection at its voting hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE or through its app available for Android and iPhone.
If you have video, pictures or a story to share about alleged voter fraud happening at polling locations that you would like to share, please email them to lklimas@theblaze.com
This is an ongoing story and will be updated with reports of alleged voter fraud as they become available.
Related:
Most of the stories thus far involve electronic voting machines changing votes for GOP candidate Mitt Romney to Democratic candidate Barack Obama. These instances, and the reverse, are generally chalked up to be calibration issues with the machine.
Voting on an electric machine in Ohio. (Photo: J.D. Pooley/Getty Images)
Colorado
Fox News Insider reported that some in Pueblo, Colo., have seen the machines changing Romney votes to Obama on Tuesday. Watch the report:
Pennsylvania
The machines have also seen issues changing votes for Obama to Romney. A voter in central Pennsylvania — location has to be officially confirmed but the YouTube username is centralpavote — posted a video showing his vote for Obama being registered for Romney. Check it out:
The video description reads:
I initially selected Obama but Romney was highlighted. I assumed it was being picky so I deselected Romney and tried Obama again, this time more carefully, and still got Romney. Being a software developer, I immediately went into troubleshoot mode. I first thought the calibration was off and tried selecting Jill Stein to actually highlight Obama. Nope. Jill Stein was selected just fine. Next I deselected her and started at the top of Romney’s name and started tapping very closely together to find the ‘active areas’. From the top of Romney’s button down to the bottom of the black checkbox beside Obama’s name was all active for Romney. From the bottom of that same checkbox to the bottom of the Obama button (basically a small white sliver) is what let me choose Obama. Stein’s button was fine. All other buttons worked fine.According to a Reddit thread about this video, this case specifically is being looked into by CNN, NBC and BBC.
[...]
There is a lot of speculation that the footage is edited. I’m not a video guy, but if it’s possible to prove whether a video has been altered or not, I will GLADLY provide the raw footage to anyone who is willing to do so. The jumping frames are a result of the shitty camera app on my Android phone, nothing more.
TheBlaze also reported that Republican election monitors were denied entrance to polling locations by their Democrat counterparts. A judge soon reinstated the inspectors’ right to be there.
A judge has also ordered officials at the polling station at Franklin Elementary School (Philadelphia’s Ward 35) to cover up a pro-Obama mural on the wall. TheBlaze’s Billy Hallowell reported:
While some may dismiss the image or downplay its ability to impact voters, it appears to be a violation of Pennsylvania state election law. According to FOX News, the state’s electoral law states that, ”no person within a polling place may electioneer or solicit votes for any political party, political body, or candidate, nor may any unauthorized written or printed materials be posted within the polling place.”It has also been reported that Philly’s Ward 14 location has Black Panthers standing outside. See the photo sent to TheBlaze here.
Illinois
A voter in Obama’s ward in Chicago snapped a photo of a poll worker wearing an Obama hat and said the woman in front of her was allegedly given an extra ballot when she asked for it, according to the Weekly Standard.
This poll worker in Chicago’s 4th Ward was allegedly wearing an Obama hat. (Photo via Weekly Standard)
With New Jersey residents being granted the ability to cast their vote on requested ballots via email and fax due to displacement from Hurricane Sandy, some are concerned that it could be a process vulnerable to voter fraud. These ballots sent via email need to be filled out by hand, signed and then scanned back into computers to be emailed or faxed. This method is how New Jersey allows its military and overseas residents to vote, but according to the New Jersey Times, a paper ballot is required to be mailed in as back up. It is reported that Sandy victims are not required to still send in paper ballots.
Nevada
TheBlaze reported Monday that a Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist met with two non-citizens who were encouraged to illegally register to vote and cast ballots.
People wait in line to vote before the polling station at the Clark County Fire Training Center in Las Vegas. (Photo: David Becker/Getty Images)
TheBlaze reported thousands of Tea Party members with the group True the Vote were denied by the Franklin County Board of Elections from “observer” positions at the more than 30 locations Tuesday due to a paperwork issue. U.S. News and World Report has more:
“Observer appointments filed by the True the Vote group… were not properly filed and our Voting Location Managers were instructed not to honor any appointment on behalf of the True the Vote group,” Ben Piscitelli, spokesman for the Franklin County Board of Elections, told Whispers in an E-mail.Michigan
According to the local Columbus Dispatch, the Houston-based vote monitoring group was actually barred because “at least most of the candidates who supported the organization’s effort withdrew their backing.” The Dispatch says True the Vote originally obtained signatures of support from at least five candidates for county office, in accordance with Ohio state law.
The Michigan Republican Party (via the Washington Times) is alleging that a poll watcher was threatened by a voter who said he had “a badge and a gun,” and proceeded to tell the poll watcher to leave the precinct. The poll watcher is reported to have left the location, but called 911 to report the threat. The GOP website reports that the Detroit Police didn’t respond to the call.
“Poll watchers, precinct workers and voters should not be put in danger when performing their duties, our Republic requires free and fair elections,” Michigan Republican Party Chairman Bobby Schostak said in a statement.
South Carolina
Some voters in South Carolina today are casting ballots on electronic machines that, according to the Columbia Free Times, are being are audited by the state legislature:
While the elections agency has admitted that it has certified inaccurate results, the agency says the errors were never big enough to sway an election and that they have since fixed many of the problems and implemented new auditing tools.The Free Times reports the state seeing a record number of early absentee ballots being cast this year, perhaps due to a distrust in the electronic systems or in anticipation of the long lines many voters are experiencing today.
District of Columbia and metro area (Northern Virginia and Maryland)
WTOP reports, despite long lines, those in the D.C. metro area have had a relatively smooth Election Day thus far, although there were a couple issues that seemed to lengthen the wait. For example, those who showed up to Lee Hill Elementary School in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early morning told WTOP all of the electronic voting machines were broken. There were only 50 back-up, paper ballots available. WTOP reports hundreds were turned away at the time, but the issue was resolved by 8 a.m.
Florida
Florida voters might think they have until Wednesday 7 p.m. to cast their ballots of they don’t check their messages. An election office accidentally sent a robocall to more than 12,500 residents Tuesday saying they could vote “tomorrow”. The call should have been issued Monday. A corrective call was later sent, telling residents to ignore the previous message.
Provisional Ballots
A Blaze reader sent us this redacted screenshot from a Facebook page showing a person allegedly sending in an absentee ballot and casting a provisional ballot as well.
(Image: Blaze reader)
Provisional ballots are being used in some states when the eligibility of a voter is questioned. The person is still allowed to vote via a provisional ballot but these votes will not be factored into the final count until the voter has been verified, which will be days after the election.
In addition to this issue, TheBlaze has received several emails from readers who say they are registered voters but were not included in the registration books. Dawn Kaser in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, said that she hasn’t moved from her current address for more than six years, but when she went to vote this morning, the polling official couldn’t confirm her eligibility to vote. Kaser said she witnessed another person at the polls and a friend as well who weren’t registered when they said they should have been.
“My concern is who else is this happening to especially in Ohio?” Kaser said in an email to TheBlaze. Kaser was able to vote using a provisional ballot.
Deidra Hill from San Clemente, Calif., recounted a similar story in an email to TheBlaze. Hill said the workers allegedly received a partial roster of eligible voters.
“One man was not on any list but he said he had recently registered, so they let him vote not with a provisional ballot, but on the computer,” Hill described of a scene she witnessed. “What’s to keep him from also voting in his previous precinct?”
What to do if you witness voter fraud
Any polling issues can be reported to election officials at each location and to Election Protection at its voting hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE or through its app available for Android and iPhone.
If you have video, pictures or a story to share about alleged voter fraud happening at polling locations that you would like to share, please email them to lklimas@theblaze.com
This is an ongoing story and will be updated with reports of alleged voter fraud as they become available.
Related:
- Have You Heard of ‘Spigot Cities’ That May Pump Votes to Obama?
- More Electronic Voting Machines Changing Romney Votes to Obama: We Looked Into It and Here’s What a Vendor Told Us
- Houston Poll Watcher Says NAACP ‘Ringleader’ Was Accused of Touching Voting Machine
- Have You Heard About ‘Spigot Cities’ That May Pump Votes to Obama?
- Why Are Some States Dumping Their Electronic Voting Machines and Going Back to Paper?
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