FBI Investigating Voter Intimidation In Virginia
FBI Investigating Voter Intimidation In Virginia
The head of the Virginia Board of Elections, Jean Jensen, tells MSNBC that “the FBI is now investigating allegations of voter intimidation and voter suppression.” State officials have documented “dozens of phone calls that were made to heavily Democratic precincts in which the people who were receiving the calls were either given incorrect information about polling sites [or] misdirected about election laws.” Watch it:
Listen to one of misleading phone messages being left for Virginia voters here.
Transcript:
O’DONNELL: We begin this hour in Virginia where the hotly contested Senate race between Sen. George Allen and Democratic challenger Jim Webb now has a new wrinkle. The FBI is reportedly looking into possible voter intimidation in that state. Hardball’s David Shuster is in Richmond has the very latest. David, what can you tell us about this FBI investigation? What are the democrats alleging that the Republicans are doing?
SHUSTER: Well, let’s start with the Secretary of State as far as the Board of Elections is concerned. Jean Jensen who runs the board of elections confirms that the FBI is now investigating allegations of voter intimidation and voter suppression. State officials yesterday, after getting information initially from Democrats, said that they were able to document dozens of phone calls that were made to heavily Democratic precincts in which the people who were receiving the calls were either given incorrect information about polling sites, misdirected about election laws. And so the FBI has now interviewed state officials and state officials say the investigation continues. The Democrats, particularly the Webb campaign, they have issued a written statement saying that Republicans are behind an orchestrated effort to suppress and intimidate Democratic voters. Republicans say they don’t know anything about the investigation. A Republican official says that the GOP and the Allen campaign are focused on mobilizing voters and have not discouraged anyone from going to the polls. But as if investigation continues, slors, this is just the latest chapter in what has been a very, very nasty senate campaign here in Virginia.
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KKKarl’s October Surprise?
Maybe this is the only way ReichWingNuts know how to hold onto power. This is no longer the country I grew up in. I don’t know what it’s become, but I don’t like it.
ITMFA’s!!!
November 7th, 2006 at 12:01 pmI am surprised that voter fraud made the front page of CNN.com this morning. Rove needs amissing white girl or something quick.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:01 pmI am so glad the Dems are on this as we can NOT let this happen again. Thanks for sharing this, I am sharing with my blog audience as well, ASAP.
Time to take back CONGRESS!
David Goulart
November 7th, 2006 at 12:04 pmWickedGayBlog.com
[...] voter intimidation and voter suppression in Virginia. MORE: “dozens of phone calls that were made to heavily Democratic precincts in which the people who were receiving the calls were either given incorrect information about polling sites [or] misdirected about election laws.†Think Progress has the story. [...]
November 7th, 2006 at 12:05 pmThe Repugs are already starting to claim victory nationwide, what the hell is this???
Santorum and the Republicans Win by a Landslide!!!!
Is this for real???
November 7th, 2006 at 12:05 pmThis is great that this stuff is being reported as it happens, instead of weeks/months after the election.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:05 pmThe FBI is sent in to make it look good. They will be instructed by Rove to stop investigating and announce that there was no voter fraud.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:08 pmDaryll favors voter intimidation, just so long as it is his precious Republican party doing the intimidating. He doesn’t mind if his party suppresses the vote. After all, his party of “morals” must win by any means available. Because they are the moral party. Right, Daryll?
November 7th, 2006 at 12:08 pmThe only way that this is going to stop is when the head of the Republican and Democratic campaign committees are held personally, legally, and criminally responsible for the actions of their party before and during elections.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:10 pmThe Republican 25% Strategy of divide, suppress and conquer is simple. First, fire up the base with red meat issues, while using the proven conservative “distribution” channel of churches and single issue advocacy groups to get them to the polls. Second, drive down the participation of potential Democratic and independent voters through curbs on registration, onerous new ID requirements, and polling place eligibility challenges. Last but certainly not least for the Republican party of Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman, when in doubt, just cheat.
For the full story, see:
November 7th, 2006 at 12:10 pm“Divide, Suppress and Conquer: The GOP’s 25% Strategy for 2006.”
The Noose is afraid that Webb could beat him.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:12 pmDoubleSpeak Election Day Coverage:
http://www.doublespeakshow.com
http://www.doublespeakshow.com/2006/11/07/the-fbi-is-investigating/
November 7th, 2006 at 12:12 pm#5 that is a satyrical site, its a joke =)
November 7th, 2006 at 12:14 pmYes, but the FBI will not be able to change the outcome of the election. The damage to the integrity of the election has already occurred. Might be best for the election to be nullified and a new 100% honest one done on first Tuesday in December. GOP operatives and Karl Rove should be arrested for vote tampering and fraud!
November 7th, 2006 at 12:17 pmYou gotta figure they can trace that call.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:17 pmNote the GOP wording:
Republicans say they don’t know anything about the investigation.
NOT they don’t know anything about the voter suppression; just the investigation.
The next GOP statement will almost certainly be “We can’t comment on an ongoing investigation.”
A Republican official says that the GOP and the Allen campaign are focused on mobilizing voters and have not discouraged anyone from going to the polls.
Note again, a) an unnamed anonymous GOP official who b) says the GOP and Allen campaign haven’t discouraged anyone from going to the polls – NOT that they don’t know anything about it, didn’t hire any subcontractors, didn’t send out false info about other candidates. etc. etc.
I hope this takes Allen out. He is seriously unfit for office, with this lack of basic integrity.
But as others as noted, the GOP should thank their lucky stars that Allen was revealed as this problematic early on, and not during the presidential 2008 run he was apparently next gunning for.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:19 pmHoly Macaca !
November 7th, 2006 at 12:20 pmIf Sen. Santorum somehow claims he won, then that is 100% proof of GOP fraud, and Americans will have a right to take to the streets against GOP!
November 7th, 2006 at 12:22 pmIt’s a serious question: why do today’s conservatives hate our democracy?
November 7th, 2006 at 12:24 pmThe party of God can’t win without cheating.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:25 pm“Macaca Mafia” must be working overtime.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:25 pmHernando! Don’t panic! That is a pretty tight parody page. I say, look to patriotboy, I think it’s his good work.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:29 pm4.5 million votes suppressed before the election even began.
Diebold will do the rest.
Please don’t be too disappointed…but I said in 2000 that the political process WILL NOT reclaim the America we all once knew and loved.
We are now Nazi Germany and I’m afraid that the Republic is dead and gone.
Chimpy now wants to restrict travel rights of Americans. (Read digby) the doors are slamming shut on democracy.
America will become the most oppressive country in the history of the civilized world and we will go down in history as the Mongols did.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:33 pmVote or Die!
Doomsday!
Where is Rev.Jesse Jackasson?
I’m dissenfrenchfried!
I’m a troll please do not feed me.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:37 pmGeorge Allen’s only way of getting things done, through intimidation.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:37 pmSantorum could not win IN a landslide but only WITH a landslide that wiped out 50% of the Democratic voters in PA.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:38 pm#5…..
November 7th, 2006 at 12:39 pmRead the “disclaimer” at the bottom of the page, in which it states they’re writing the article prematurely, ’cause they’re trying to get ready for a party……..
( they must be having some difficulty rounding up enough male meth suppliers)
YOU won’t win. You can’t win. It’s not meant to be.
Democrats across the county will contemplating suicide this time tomorrow. I’ll be there to cheer you on.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:44 pm#5 Laughable klansman troglodyte site. Some mistake it as a spoof but these looney reich wing bloggers are out there and they have their own “reality”
I can’t wait to visit his site again tonight and skewer them with a bitch slap of reality.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:46 pmAllen is the bully in the schoolyard that demanded you give him whatever he asked for.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:47 pmHe’s a leftover KKK’er & proud of it.
Hey Macaca, we voted! Now get ready for your worst nightmare.
#28, I will take that wager LOSER
November 7th, 2006 at 12:47 pm#5 Hernando
It’s a parody site and it’s hilarious, too. Somebody posted this from their site a few weeks ago:
My Lord Is Not Huggable
November 7th, 2006 at 12:53 pm[...] The FBI is already investigating abuses in Virginia (video) where voters were told the election was cancelled or that they would be put in jail if they voted. If you’re a Republican you should understand that these tactics could literally bankrupt the GOP – in New Hampshire it’s possible that the National Republican Committee may have incurred $100 million in fines (quite the opening for JR’s Libertarian Party). In Indiana legal challenges have finally stopped these calls. [...]
November 7th, 2006 at 12:54 pmAllen is going to lose anyway. But I hope he gets a chance to know his future new roommate intimately. Criminals belong in jail, and this is nothing if not criminal.
November 7th, 2006 at 1:05 pmGiven the other definition of “Santorum”, shouldn’t it say that he won in a “mudslide”?
Thank you, thank you.. I’ll be here all week folks, try the shrimp.
November 7th, 2006 at 1:09 pmYou guys need to get a life and get back to work.
November 7th, 2006 at 1:09 pmlandslide > mudslide > mud pit > arm pit > armstrong > headstrong > headcase
OK, now we’ve got Santorum.
November 7th, 2006 at 1:19 pmThe phone company has these records, let’s subpoena them in court and prosecute these MFs
November 7th, 2006 at 1:28 pmI just voted, why don’t I feel empowered? We used the ink-dot technology where you make a little mark on the ballot instead of punching out a chad. Gotta say I think this approach may be even more insidious than touch screen machines, here’s why:
November 7th, 2006 at 1:29 pmThe powers that be must have realized people would quickly become averse to using machines that presented no tangible feedback or proof the vote was properly recorded. So as a compromise for the gullible masses they came up with a niffty hybrid solution; let them see their own marks – instilling confidence in the process – then use a Diebold optical scanner to tally the ballots. “That ought to put their little minds at rest.”
So, after lovingly placing marks on my precious ballot, I handed it over to a dour-faced poll worker and watched it disappear forever down the blackhole of the scanner. I firmly believe the havoc we witnessed in Florida in 2000 was created intentionally to justify HAVA (Help America Vote for republicans Act). This single act was certainly the most powerful step in the total fascist takeover of the US. The rest as they say, is history. Good luck to us all.
ITMFA’s!!!
Comment by JesusChrist_GodOfWAR — November 7, 2006 @ 12:01 pm
pardon my iggernance, but please translate
November 7th, 2006 at 1:29 pm#5 – Delirium! What a joke.
November 7th, 2006 at 1:31 pmPerhaps Crom, the gloomy god of Cimmeria will strike the authors with a lightning bolt for their impudence!
So this was Karl Rove’s ‘Ace in the Hole’. Spend hundreds of thousands dollars on false flag Robo-Calls to suppress the Democratic Vote.
If it works, when they are found out after the election, they’ll say “Sorry, we thought it was legal”, pay a few fines and laugh all the way back into control of Congress.
Great country, huh?
November 7th, 2006 at 1:41 pmIs this going to turn out like Dade county? You know, Democrats too stupid to vote.
November 7th, 2006 at 1:41 pmHere we see the true nature of the GOP operational strategy – not “Get out the Vote” but “Shut out the Vote”.
Liars, Criminals, Cheats. Indict them ALL.
November 7th, 2006 at 1:51 pm[...] Mainstream media has picked up on this, as has Think Progress. As MSNBC’s article states: News4 reported: “The viewer’s e-mail stated after he had voted, he received a call from an unknown caller who said they knew the voter was registered out of state and would be arrested if they voted today. The viewer’s e-mail stated he’s been registered to vote in Virginia for the last three years and has the Virginia Voter Registration card to prove it.†[...]
November 7th, 2006 at 2:01 pmThe company behind the Republican robo calls is Conquest Communication, located at 2812 Emerywood Parkway, Suite 103, Richmond, VA 23294. The phone number is 804-358-0560 and the fax number is 804-213-0797. Tell them what you think of their practices.
November 7th, 2006 at 2:08 pmSantorum by a Landslide
Safe to assume it’s a joke folks. Just look at the Blogroll.
November 7th, 2006 at 2:14 pmPointers to some of the better liberal news and satire out there.
This all reminds me of the evil tactics used in the novel “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair.
When I read that, I thought, “Geez, I’m glad things are better now.” I see that I was naieve to think that. Give one party control long enough and they’ll grab for all the power they can by any means necessary.
The founding fathers knew this. They tried to divide power in a way that would keep it permanently divided. This election will be a test of whether their experiment worked.
November 7th, 2006 at 2:22 pm#47, Steve, thanks for the info.
#5, that’s a satirical site (but it’s scary-funny.)
November 7th, 2006 at 2:47 pm#44 “Is this going to turn out like Dade county? You know, Democrats too stupid to vote.” Comment by Happy Guy
*********Dear Happy Guy – You reminded me of my dear little Aunt Sophie, who was getting to be a tad confused. Living in Palm Beach in 2000, 84 year old Sophie called her youngest sister, my mother, to fret over whether she had “voted for that anti-Semite, Pat Buchanan.” She had received a phone call from a company hired by the Dems to phone registered Dems and inquire if they “could have possibly made a mistake due to the confusing nature of the ballot.” (Of course, the telemarketer neglected to mention the ballot was designed by Dems.)
Poor Sophie! She forgot that her baby-sister bucked the family and cultural trend and was a Republican, so you can imagine her surprise when my mom said, “Sophie, I’m sure you cast your ballot for that shmuck Al Gore – his name isn’t remotely similar to Pat Buchanans’ and you do such a great job managing your multiple BINGO cards…..” Mom had such a way with words……
November 7th, 2006 at 3:35 pmThat’s a very cute family story Mighty.
November 7th, 2006 at 3:51 pmThat squid guy needs to stop putting up error messages.
November 7th, 2006 at 3:52 pm[...] In Maryland, the GOP is handing out fake sample ballots listing their candidate as the democrat. There are reports of armed voter intimidation and violence in various places across the country. The FBI is investigating allegations of voter intimidation and suppression in VA, by the Allen campaign. [...]
November 7th, 2006 at 4:19 pm#41 – RUCerious,
November 7th, 2006 at 4:20 pmITMFA translates to ‘Impeach The Mother F*ker Already’.
The Pedophile Republicans want to bang your children.
November 7th, 2006 at 5:25 pm[...] http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/07/voter-intimidation-virginia/ [...]
November 7th, 2006 at 6:33 pmFirst AP-CBS-CNN-ABC-FOX-NBC polls posted at Democrats Look to End GOP Rule of House
The Republicans will now try and work in their last-minute ’sudden surge of Republican voters’ – I wish I was a bookie taking bets right now. Who says the final tally will overturn the exit poll data?
Given the levels of outrage in the country, how about even odds that the exit poll data will agree with the final vote tally? Or are chances higher than that?
November 7th, 2006 at 7:12 pm[...] The FBI is Investigating Voter Intimidations in Virginia – from ThinkProgress [...]
November 7th, 2006 at 7:49 pm[...] So on that note it’s reassuring to hear the stories surfacing over the past week or so about the Republicans and their disgusting games (is that really a surprise from such a tyrannical party?) including, but not limited to launching an illegal spew of automated dialers harrassing people repeatedly under the guise of being automated calls from Democratic party candidates, pretending to be Democrats to gain “African-American” votes, target primarily Democratic areas with phonecalls providing misleading information concerning the polling sites and laws, and trying to enlist thousands of democrats for a secret mission on the day of the elections. [...]
November 7th, 2006 at 8:39 pm[...] Second to the robo-calling is the investigation into voter intimidation in Virginia. Voters, once again in a predominantly Democratic precinct, were called about incorrect information to polling places and/or misguided on laws regarding the election. -FBI Investigating Voter Intimidation In Virginia [...]
November 7th, 2006 at 11:51 pmALL THE DIRTY TRICKS OF THE REPUBLICANS WILL BE DOWNPLAYED OR IGNORED IF THERE IS NO CALL FOR … MEDIA REFORM… MEDIA REFORM… MEDIA REFORM!
November 8th, 2006 at 6:17 pmHow can I help those brave folks in Virginia? What kind of oversite is MoveOn giving to those crooks who will steal the election after the fact during their ‘canvassing’? I trust them not at all. They are brilliant in their amorality.
November 8th, 2006 at 6:52 pmthanks
I worked for 6 months calling folks all over the country, too hard to take this repeated theft of our Congress sitting down.
America needs to step away from these third-world voter intimidation tactics. We’re America – allow the voters to vote as they want to vote. How are we supposed to install a Democracy in the Middle East when our political parties behave like this?
Soon, we’ll have voter booth shoot-outs.
Ugh.
November 9th, 2006 at 8:47 am