Democrats Lure Voters to Polls With Free Food and Rides
Rides are okay, food though .....
Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, October 14, 2010, 5:36 AM
In Appalachia democrats buy votes with pork rinds. In West Virginia democrats buy votes with booze. In East St. Louis democrats buy votes with crack.
Here’s the latest… In South Dakota democrats are luring potential voters to the polls with free food and rides.
The Argus Leader reported:
Democrats in South Dakota are holding three early-vote rallies on reservations this week that will feature “feeds” to attract potential voters.
That activity continues a long tradition of pairing food with voter rallies in areas of the state where Democrats garner as much as 95 percent of the vote.
Strong Native American turnout has been the difference in statewide races in past years, and it could be critical in upcoming races. The emergence of early voting has only intensified efforts to get out the vote in Indian Country.
The practice of offering food at voting rallies can come close to violating the law.
“A lot of it depends on the context of how it’s being done,” Secretary of State Chris Nelson said. State law forbids candidates and campaigns from “offering anything of value” to get people to vote – not just to vote for a particular candidate or issue, but to vote in general.
In 1998, then-Attorney General Mark Barnett and then-U.S. Attorney Karen Schreier issued a written warning to political parties about offering “a meal, money, gifts or whatever” in exchange for voting. Barnett followed that with another letter five months later that said under state law, “any giveaways or incentives offered as an encouragement for people to vote are prohibited. The statute is very broad and should be so construed.”
Erin McCarrick, executive director of the South Dakota Democratic Party, said the events don’t cross the line.
“It’s not like you have to vote to get food,” she said.
The state party is hosting the feeds this week, along with the party’s local and statewide candidates, including Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and state Sen. Scott Heidepriem, the party’s candidate for governor.
Of course, this surprises no one.
gatewaypundit.firstthings.com
Trading Votes for Pork Rinds in Appalachia
Posted by Jim Hoft on Friday, March 3, 2006, 6:08 PM
The investigation began after residents of a government-subsidized housing complex said they were approached by a supporter of one of the candidates and offered cigarettes, liquor and in one case a bag of fried pork skins for their votes.!
Brit Hume’s Grapevine carried the story tonight,
VIDEO HERE
Ben Cooper was re-elected into office in May 2004.
Over one thousand felony accounts were handed out against the 14 individuals:
Fourteen individuals, including the mayor/town manager of Appalachia, a town councilman, and two law enforcement officials, were indicted by a Wise County grand jury on multiple counts stemming from an alleged conspiracy to conduct election fraud during the 2004 town elections.
The investigation into allegations of voter fraud evolved from early reports of attempted vote buying before town elections that reportedly involved items like bags of pork rinds, packs of cigarettes, and six-packs of beer.
The grand jury handed down a total of nearly 1,000 felony counts leveled against the 14 individuals on 269 alleged violations of law ranging from conspiracy, to tampering with absentee ballots, to forgery, to illegal seizure of private property by law enforcement officials for their own personal use. Drug trafficking by some individuals has also been alleged.
Those indicted include:
* Appalachia Mayor/Town Manager Ben Cooper
* Town Councilman Owen Anderson “Andy” Sharrett III
* Sharrett’s father, Appalachia Parks and Recreation Director Owen Anderson “Dude” Sharrett Jr.
* Sharrett’s brother, Adam Brody Sharrett
* Wife to Dude and mother of Andy and Adam Sharrett, Belinda Carolyn Sharrett, employed in a clerk position in Town Hall
* Dude Sharrett’s aunt, Betty Chloe Sharrett Bolling
* Dude Sharrett’s brother, Kevin Lee Sharrett of Indiana
* Dennis Martin “Boogie” Sharrett, another of Dude Sharrett’s brothers
269 felony indictments!
You just can’t make this stuff up!
Also today, Texas Rainmaker found that of the 13 members of Congress who have been sent to jail since 1976, 11 have been democrat.
gatewaypundit.firstthings.com
Democratic Vote Fraud in West Virginia
Posted by Jim Hoft on Tuesday, June 21, 2005, 5:03 AM
The Democrats in East St. Louis ought to be furious with this story about Democratic vote fraud in West Virginia. After all, in East St. Louis they’re only paid $5-$10!
As with past election fraud probes, the latest case targets solely Democrats, who dominate the voter rolls and local governments through the region. In Lincoln County, population 22,100, Democrats outnumber Republicans 4-to-1; the indictment focuses largely on the party’s primary elections, going back to 1990.
Funny that they have to bring up a Republican corruption charge from 1990! I thought this was about voter fraud?
Not that the GOP has clean hands. Republican former Gov. Arch Moore pleaded guilty to five corruption-related charges in 1990, including one that alleged he spent $100,000 in unreported campaign cash during his successful 1984 campaign.
In the 1990s, politicians in neighboring Logan County found themselves on the defensive. Two state legislators, the county assessor and a Circuit Court judge, among others, went to jail on corruption charges that included vote-buying.
The current case targets Circuit Court clerk Greg Stowers, 48, the son of Lincoln County’s longtime Democratic Party chairman; his deputy, Clifford Odell “Groundhog” Vance, 49; Jackie David Adkins, 36, a state highway worker; Wandell “Rocky” Adkins, 49, no relation; and Toney “Zeke” Dingess, 34.
All five have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors allege the defendants enlisted precinct captains to pay off voters and hand out slates listing the preferred candidates. Most votes were bought for $20 apiece, prosecutors said. The indictment also said Stowers drove to Kentucky and filled his pickup truck with booze for distribution to voters during the 1994 primary.
The indictment cites 16 voters who were allegedly paid off. Prosecutors have not said just how many voters, all told, were supposedly bought or how much was spent, but said the conspirators assembled $25,000 for one election alone to bribe voters.
So, their Democratic Party Representatives received $25,000. Well in East St. Louis they recieved $67,000 ! So what happened to all of the extra cash on the east side if they were only paying $5-$10 for votes?
gatewaypundit.firstthings.com
Cash, Crack, Dead People, Forgeries- ESL Voter Fraud
Posted by Jim Hoft on Tuesday, January 25, 2005, 3:27 PM
When Ugly gets Really Ugly…
McGlynn, a former chairman of the St. Clair County Republican Party, said he had received “specific information” that Democrats planned to buy votes, particularly in East St. Louis, with cash and crack cocaine. McGlynn declined to identify the Democratic officials who he said had provided him with that information.
Robert Sprague, the St. Clair County Democratic chairman, dismissed McGlynn’s allegations as “hogwash.” Sprague said the Democrats were planning an aggressive get-out-the-vote push for Tuesday but declined to describe those efforts in detail.
McGlynn said he had delivered to the St. Clair County clerk’s office and the East St. Louis Election Board lists of hundreds of registered voters that he had cross-referenced with names from local obituary pages. He described voter fraud as a “real, legitimate problem” with a long history in St. Clair County.
Last month, former East St. Louis election judge Leander Brooks received an 18-month prison term for forging the signatures on ballot applications in the November 2002 election, allowing unregistered or otherwise illegitimate voters to cast the ballots.
And in 2001, former East St. Louis City Councilman Michael Collins was sentenced to 18 months of probation for vote fraud involving the East St. Louis School Board election in 1995.
Murnane, with the Illinois Civil Justice League, said he also was suspicious about the Madison County Democratic Team’s plans for $62,000 that prominent asbestos attorney Randy Bono and his East Alton personal injury firm, SimmonsCooper, donated to the group on Friday (10/22/04).
“Why do they need all that money?” Murnane asked. “We are concerned with what kind of money that group will spend on Election Day activities – and what they will spend it on.”
gatewaypundit.firstthings.com |
