Voting “Irregularities” and Dirty Tricks Looming in Pennsylvania

[Time for change]

President Obama has apparently built up enough of an early voting (prior to Election Day) lead in the key swing states of Ohio, Iowa, and Nevada that Romney’s chances of winning the Electoral College have dimmed considerably in the past few days. Without those states, a Romney victory seems quite remote.

A win in Pennsylvania would go quite a ways towards getting him back on track. Though Obama has an apparently safe lead in Pennsylvania, enough election “irregularities” and dirty tricks could save the state and the election for Romney. Maybe that could explain the following:

Misinformation in African American areas of Philadelphia

Misinformation encouraging people in Philadelphia to cancel their own votes has been circulating on Tuesday, and Obama field operatives have begun trying to correct the rumor on the ground. The rumor, which has spread in urban and predominantly African American areas of Philadelphia that tilt towards Barack Obama, wrongly instructed voters to first select an "All Democratic" voting slate -- and then cast another vote specifically for Obama. That second vote has the effect of canceling the original vote, according to two Democratic sources in Philadelphia.

"Many voters are being told to vote for the President by BOTH checking the Straight Democrat Box and the Box for the President," explains an email from an Obama Voter Protection staffer targeting Philadelphia voters. That action cancels the vote, says the staffer, who instructed voters "to do one or the other, but not both."

The Obama campaign has voter protection staff and attorneys on the ground trying to clarify the situation…

Pennsylvania voting machine caught switching vote from Obama to Romney

An electronic voting machine in Pennsylvania has been taken out of service after a voter captured video of it changing a vote for Barack Obama into one for Mitt Romney.

Trying to purge black voters at the polls in three major cities

Poll workers in Pennsylvania wrongly telling voters they need photo ID to cast a ballot. According to the law, poll workers in Pennsylvania can ask voters for ID, but they are not required to show it in order to vote. However, that is not how the law is being enforced. Eric Marshall, co-director of Election Protection, says such problems are occurring across the state, although reports are that minority voters are being targeted in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. “Poll workers are asking black voters for ID but not white voters,” Marshall reported.

[drm604]

1. Sigh.

Sometimes I hate the human race.

[AzDar]

2. They lie, cheat, and steal.

Republicans are un-American pig-fuckers.

[Time for change]

4. You'll get no argument from me on that

That's why countering their voter suppression efforts effectively could make the difference in this election.

[brer cat]

6. Your new book

should be required reading for DOJ. This crap has GOT to stop.

[Time for change]

10. Thank you

[Beaverhausen]

3. My friend in suburban Philly magically dropped from the voter roll

She had to use a provisional ballot.

[Time for change]

9. That's the trick that probably gave Ohio to Bush in 2004,

more than any other single factor.

[edhopper]

5. Didn't the head of the Penn. House say

they would make sure Romney would win.

[amborin]

8. yes, said that

republicans are so evil, beyond belief; they have to be brought to justice

[Blue Idaho]

7. Destroy the crooked fucking machines.

Jail the crooks that rigged them.

[HopeHoops]

11. I didn't have any problems. I'm just outside Harrisburg, but in a whitebread area.

[Time for change]

12. Voter purging in PA

From Ari Berman:

Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, said voters were not on the rolls due to administrative errors or an unannounced voter purge. First-time student voters have also been facing major problems in the state. “At least several hundred first time voters going to polls near or on college campuses in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are reporting apparently being left off the rolls at the locations on their voting cards and having to vote by provisional ballot,” according to US PIRG. “Additionally, the confusion is creating particularly long lines, further endangering turn out for voters in those precincts.”

[Vattel]

13. Another basic structural problem that is unfair to Democrats

is that lines to vote are almost always longer in urban (i.e., blue) areas than suburban and rural (i.e., red) areas.

[Time for change]

14. It is sometimes much more than a structural problem

In Ohio in 2004 it was largely due to insufficient allocation of electronic voting machines, especially in Democratic precincts.