U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader calls alleged ballot tampering in Clackamas County 'sneaky, underhanded'

[Coyotl]

Source: Oregonian - By Yuxing Zheng, Nove 02, 2012

OREGON CITY -- U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader this afternoon blasted a case of possible ballot tampering in Clackamas County, saying the incident could undermine the integrity of Tuesday's results as well as Oregon's vote-by-mail system.

.....

Schrader, a Democrat running for re-election in the Fifth Congressional District, which includes Clackamas County, said the worker's actions, if proven, are "sneaky, underhanded, disrespectful and Machiavellian."

"That is absolutely the worst crime against humanity in this country that I can think of," Schrader said. "That person deserves the worst penalty that could possibly be given under the judicial system."

....

"It's going to put a big black mark on Oregon like Florida that makes up its election results without any integrity," he said. "The one thing we have in this country is a representative democracy, and right now, it's under siege. People don't trust the results. I don't want to end up like the Soviet Union."

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2012/11/us_rep_kurt_schrader_calls_all.html

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This story was first reported by Willamette Week and picked up by the Oregonian, but has yet to hit the AP wire.

We had the story here on DU almost immediately, and it is on Daily Kos and The Brad Blog too.
Oregon Department of Justice investigating potential ballot tampering at Clackamas County Elections
REC and discuss: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014288197

Representative Schrader is in a tight-race district in Oregon, and his re-election is now imperiled by this fraud.
We currently do not know how many ballots may have been affected or which races were impacted by the fraud.

This "election fraud" could invalidate the Oregon election this year!

[Downwinder]

1. "sneaky, underhanded, disrespectful and Machiavellian."

In a word "Republican."

[Supersedeas]

5. Republican and dirty

[WRH2]

2. Romney's kid in chargeof Ohio voting machines.

There have been stories of secret soft ware in 2008 and now the ownership has changes to a blatant conflict of interest. I just learned that Bane Capital owns clear Channel. wtf,a free press is crucial to democracy.
Am I the only one to see the absurdity of allowing this.

[Coyotl]

3. The U. S. Congress could be the fraud target in this close-race district

United States House election, 2010: Oregon District 5
Democratic Kurt Schrader 145,319 51.25%
Republican Scott Bruun 130,313 45.96%

This district was drawn to be a contested rather than partisan district.
District created January 3, 1983
Denny Smith .... Republican January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1991
Mike Kopetski ... Democratic January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1995
Jim Bunn ......... Republican January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997
Darlene Hooley . Democratic January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2009
Kurt Schrader ... Democratic January 3, 2009 – present

[Coyotl]

4. Vote fraud is extremely rare and always unacceptable by OR SoS Brown = April 20, 2010

Vote fraud is extremely rare and always unacceptable
Published: Tuesday, April 20, 2010, 7:00 AM - http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/04/vote_fraud_is_extremely_rare_a.html

Oregonians have many good reasons to be proud of our election system.

Our voter turnout is among the highest in the country. Our vote-by-mail system is admired ... Some people still fear that it's rife with fraud, including illegal immigrants registering and voting or thousands of deceased Oregonians still on the voter rolls and receiving ballots.

I listen carefully to these concerns, but the fact of the matter is they're wrong. Fraud is extremely rare in Oregon, and when it happens we take it very seriously. Oregonians have cast more than 15 million ballots by mail since 2000. In that time we have investigated thousands of fraud complaints, including examples of those mentioned above.

Those thousands of investigations resulted in nine prosecutions. ............ Perhaps the greatest deterrents are the penalties for a Class C felony. That's the crime when someone ineligible casts a ballot, votes under a false name, forges a signature on a ballot envelope or falsely registers to vote. If they do manage to get by our security checks, the Oregon Department of Justice will prosecute and then we're talking five years in prison, a $125,000 fine and, when appropriate, deportation.

....... . If you suspect any kind of fraud at all, you should call us at 503-986-1518 with as many details as possible. Believe me, we'll investigate.