This is why a political office would have a bunch of completed absentee ballots

[Madam45for2923]

The Orange County, North Carolina Republican headquarters was struck by a firebomb over the weekend, and while that in and of itself is a pretty crappy thing to have happen regardless of the fact that it was a Republican campaign HQ, one piece of news that slipped out in the aftermath has been getting some attention. The North Carolina Republican spokesperson Emily Weeks told NBC News that it was possible that completed absentee ballots had been destroyed in the fire.

The problem with that statement is that, according to North Carolina law, there shouldn’t be completed absentee ballots at the party HQ. Absentee ballots are supposed to either be mailed to the county or delivered in person by the voter or a close relative. There is no legal reason that those ballots, if they were there, should have been anywhere near that office.

But a big stack of absentee ballots being where they shouldn’t be sounded familiar to me. I live in Dallas, and about fifteen years ago, the local alternative weekly, The Dallas Observer, published a series of stories about accusations of organized fraud using absentee ballots.

After a digging down, Observer reporter/columnist/curmudgeon Jim Schutze figured out the open secret of absentee balloting in South Dallas, and it wasn’t very pretty.

There were vote harvesters — people who would stake out specific neighborhoods and ‘vote the people’ in those neighborhoods. And it worked one of two ways. At the time in Texas, the county was required to publish a list of the people who had requested and been sent an absentee ballot within 72 of the request being granted. In those cases, the vote harvesters would know when those ballots were expected to arrive, and they’d arrive at the same time with an offer to ‘help’ the voter fill out the ballot.

Sometimes the vote harvesters cajoled or coerced the voter to vote the way the harvester wanted. Sometimes the harvester just filled out the ballot without regard as to who the voter wanted to vote for. And then, the harvester who was so nice to come over and help get the ballot filled out would offer to mail the ballot for the voter. The harvester would then leave with the completed/signed ballot.

Other times, the vote harvesters would be the ones who requested the absentee ballot in the first place...

Continues in link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/17/1583672/-This-is-why-a-political-office-would-have-a-bunch-of-completed-absentee-ballots

[longship]

1. That would be a felony in every state.

[Madam45for2923]

2. That's why their little stunt ought to backfire pretty soon & big league!

[Cracklin Charlie]

3. About 15 years ago.

In Dallas?

Was it perhaps during the presidential election of 2000?

Where is Ham Rove?

[ToxMarz]

4. In which case we wouldn't necessarily be dealing with vandals here

They may have been Democracy crime fighters, maybe even wore capes.

[Matthew Rose]

5. When I first heard about this I thought it could be an inside job.

Then a bit of vandalism at local Democratic Party HQ to throw investigators off.

[calimary]

12. Welcome to DU, Matthew Rose!

Last edited Tue Oct 18, 2016, 11:41 AM - Edit history (1)

I think that's what many of us thought. No proof of course, and the media certainly isn't interested in it, or in connecting the dots.

But if you look at the pattern of BEHAVIOR we've seen...

-- The violence and fistfights that break out almost routinely at Trump rallies;
-- The threats, some of which are seriously terrifying, against the Arizona Republic for daring to endorse Hillary;
http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/2016/10/16/publisher-response-to-threats-after-republic-endorsement-clinton-trump/92058964/
-- The vicious anger that's expressed by Trump people in AND outside of rallies - the loud roaring "Lock Her Up" shit;
-- The CHILDREN - the LITTLE KIDS (!) who are being taught and guided by the example of their elders to yell curse words in public, while dressed in t-shirts whose inscriptions depict violence and injurious name-calling ("Jail the Bitch&quot . As my late mother-in-law used to say, "they don't suck it out of their thumbs";
-- The loud cheering and fist-waving when Trump himself insinuates that "the 2nd Amendment people" might have a way to "fix" this problem;
-- The open talk about how maybe it's time for pitchforks and torches;
-- The physical demonstrations of hatred: vandalism to signs, , ripping off bumper stickers and campaign signs;
Want more examples?
-- The overt attempts by Trump supporters to intimidate and menace - through parade floats, for example;
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/04/1577726/-Trump-supporters-horrify-Aurora-IN-residents-with-parade-float-depicting-Clinton-execution?detail=email&link_id=3&can_id=3636e71630be75717376b82e2b7b5795&source=email-michelle-obama-drops-the-mic-and-sets-the-trap-for-another-donald-trump-3am-tweet-storm&email_referrer=michelle-obama-drops-the-mic-and-sets-the-trap-for-another-donald-trump-3am-tweet-storm&email_subject=michelle-obama-drops-the-mic-and-sets-the-trap-for-another-donald-trump-3am-tweet-storm
-- Trump supporters heckling a mother with her disabled daughter;
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/5/1578231/-Trump-supporters-heckled-mother-with-disabled-daughter-at-rally-Secret-Service-escorted-them-out#comment_63755930
-- ARMED Trump supporters menacing Democratic campaign workers outside their offices;
http://www.salon.com/2016/10/14/armed-donald-trump-supporters-caught-menacing-democratic-campaign-office/
-- Trump supporters threatening actual violence and insurrection if he doesn't win;
http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/johnwright/trump_supporters_warn_of_armed_revolt_if_he_loses_rigged_election_call_for_clinton_s_assassination
-- Anti-Semitism - Another Journalist Faces an Anti-Semitic Attack from a Donald Trump Supporter
http://link.washingtonpost.com/click/7892768.64595/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2FzaGluZ3RvbnBvc3QuY29tL25ld3MvdGhlLWZpeC93cC8yMDE2LzA0LzI5L2pvdXJuYWxpc3QtZmFjZXMtYmFycmFnZS1vZi1hbnRpLXNlbWl0aWMtYXR0YWNrcy1hZnRlci1wcm9maWxpbmctbWVsYW5pYS10cnVtcC1idXQtd2h5Lz93cGlzcmM9bmxfZml4JndwbW09MQ/54c1b8673b35d0c34e8fbe74Dfd9b64e2


Um... as the Mango Mussolini himself might say, "you tell ME."

I'm just looking strictly at the behavior BEING MANIFESTED here, on a distressingly frequent basis. What they DO. How they're not only talking (and threatening) but how they're acting out. Actions speaking louder than words, and all that. It plays out in front of our very eyes, on almost literally a daily basis. You NEVER saw this at any of the other candidates' rallies, whether it was other GOPers or Martin O'Malley or Bernie Sanders. And you've also NEVER seen even the barest hint of this kind of nastiness, divisiveness, aggression, menacing, confrontation, and outright violence at any Hillary Clinton rallies. It's the TRUMP people.

This all happens at TRUMP rallies. Where the object of their adoration has been known to encourage and egg on this behavior, to the point where he's actually promised to cover their legal fees if they get arrested for doing so. It's the TRUMP people.

So to me, this is just an extension of the anger and malevolence of the TRUMP campaign. From the top down. He's certainly acting out. And his followers are doing likewise. So I would not be one bit surprised if this latest incident is traced back to TRUMP people.

[niyad]

15. when you mentioned the little kids, my mind immediately went to wbc. what they

have the kids do there amounts to child abuse, as far as I am concerned. don't see a whole lot of difference between them and drumpfy's people.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. CBS News this morning said it was sample ballots destroyed in NC.

[Cosmocat]

7. I am 99.9% sure

it is something like this, and that the jackass who said absentee ballots were lost in the fire was doing what republicans do - engaging in reactive hyperbolic bullshit that they don't have the first fucking clue of the ramifications that might occur.

ALTHOUGH, you can't put anything past these idiots, and they are particularly good at projection, so in the context of their POTUS candidate running around screaming at the top of his lungs that the election is rigged ...

[Pacifist Patriot]

13. That was my first thought.

She was an idiot making an exaggerated claim to sound even more victimized having no idea what she was saying implicated her and the GOP in a crime. I've long since given up any expectation they actually know the laws in our states and our country. When you believe they don't apply to you, why know them, right?

[Cosmocat]

14. Yep

"When you believe they don't apply to you, why know them, right?"

The only thing these dolts know is "conservative good, liberal bad."

Everything else is a means to that end.

[getagrip_already]

11. idyouts

Sample ballots getting destroyed are like yard signs getting destroyed. Sure, you have to replace them, but there is no constitutional loss.

Actual ballots being lost is serious. Pieces of paper are just property loss.

[usaf-vet]

10. You have to have some kindling to start a fire...

.... paper is easier that wood. AND it's a win win win make a political false flag move and get rid of some trash laying around and deny voters the right to vote.