# Republican operative dumps registration forms **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 6, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-operative-dumps-registration-forms/640081 "2012-11-06T14:45:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-operative-dumps-registration-forms/640081/1 "2012-11-06T14:45:24Z")
[_L.A. Times_](http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-voter-registration-gop-arrest-20121018,0,5352175.story): > [@](#): > > A man who was being paid to register voters by the Republican Party of Virginia was arrested Thursday after he was seen dumping eight registration forms into a dumpster. > > Colin Small, 31, was working as a supervisor as part of a registration operation in eight swing states financed by the Republican National Committee. Small, of Phoenixville, Pa., was first hired by Strategic Allied Consulting, a firm that was fired by the party after suspect voter forms surfaced in Florida and other states. [_U.S. News_](http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/10/19/man-arrested-for-destruction-of-voter-forms-in-virginia-has-gop-ties) > [@](#): > > According to his LinkedIn page, Small is a “grassroots field director” for the Republican National Committee, a position he has held for the last three months. But the Rockingham County Sheriff’s press release suggests Small worked indirectly for the RNC, and was actually employed by Pinpoint, an independent company hired by the Republican Party of Virginia to help register voters. [AlterNet](http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/gop-voter-registration-scandal-widens-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges) > [@](#): > > But there is more to the story, as evidence emerges to document that it ties into a still-expanding nationwide GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal that the BRAD BLOG first began reporting in late September , after we’d learned that the Republican Party of Florida had turned in more than 100 allegedly fraudulent and otherwise suspect voter registration forms in Palm Beach County. The story has continued to widen ever since, to a dozen Florida counties and several other states, now including Virginia, and even to the upper-echelons of the Republican Party itself. (Note: Small is 23, not 31.) Here in Washington, Republicans have been going door to door offering to turn in people’s ballots for them. [[KOMO News](http://www.komonews.com/news/local/As-election-nears-state-GOP-using-unique-tactics-177044901.html)] From [Daily Kos](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/03/1154572/-GOP-Offers-to-Collect-People-s-Ballots-In-Democratic-Stronghold-King-County-Washington): > [@](#): > > Yes, they could just be trying to collect ballots in largely Republican neighborhoods, and there are large swatches of them from Bothell down to Renton. That’s the charitable view. But given the GOP’s propensity for attempting to win by any means necessary in other states, I’m not inclined to be charitable. I’m beginning to see why Republicans go on so much about voter fraud. If they’re doing it, the democrats _must_ be doing it more! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-operative-dumps-registration-forms/640081/2 "2012-11-06T15:13:15Z")
[In Clackamas County, Oregon](http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2012/11/state_ballot_tampering_investi.html): > [@](#): > > State Department of Justice officials won’t talk about the criminal investigation into allegations that a temporary elections worker cast additional votes for Republicans in races voters left blank. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-operative-dumps-registration-forms/640081/3 "2012-11-06T15:30:15Z")
This is the sort of thing that needs to be crushed. Go for the harshest possible sentences, and as hard time, not minimum security. The higher up the transgressor, the longer the sentence. That would mean that the SecState of Ohio would be looking at life. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-operative-dumps-registration-forms/640081/4 "2012-11-06T16:22:51Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [In Clackamas County, Oregon](http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2012/11/state_ballot_tampering_investi.html): Clackamas County is the new Wasilla. This comes on the heels of all the bad publicity over the local water board, which has seen actual physical scuffles in the board meeting room, the firing of some members and an actual coup by others. This incident is much worse, of course, as nobody knows how many ballots were tampered with, and it could affect the balance in the state house of representatives. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-operative-dumps-registration-forms/640081/5 "2012-11-06T16:29:23Z")
To be sure, those committing any type of voter fraud should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. At the same time, people need to start taking a little more initiative and responsibility for the process. Don’t fill out a registration card and hand it to a total stranger. Mail it to the actual office that handles elections, or if possible drop it off in person. My local board of elections allows me to sign my current registration status, my absentee ballot requests and their status (I can see that they have received back my mail-in ballot and it is ready to be counted today), and when I have voted. Such information will not be available online for every person, but call your elections officials and ask. Know your polling place, the issues that will appear on the ballot, know what you will need to vote. Don’t listen to rumor or what you heard in line at the grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-operative-dumps-registration-forms/640081/6 "2012-11-06T16:34:47Z")
> [@howye](#): > > To be sure, those committing any type of voter fraud should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. At the same time, people need to start taking a little more initiative and responsibility for the process. Don’t fill out a registration card and hand it to a total stranger. Or how starting down the road of largely eliminating the need for registration and just automatically registering people who file any document with the local authorities confirming their addresses, like when they get a driver’s license or auto insurance or an auto title, or pay property taxes or a utility bill or register for school or college? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-operative-dumps-registration-forms/640081/7 "2012-11-06T16:35:24Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > This is the sort of thing that needs to be crushed. Go for the harshest possible sentences, and as hard time, not minimum security. The higher up the transgressor, the longer the sentence. That would mean that the SecState of Ohio would be looking at life. Sometimes I feel like these people should be stripped of their right to vote. If you participate in voter fraud, then clearly you have no idea what it means to be an American. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-operative-dumps-registration-forms/640081/8 "2012-11-06T17:10:34Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > This is the sort of thing that needs to be crushed. Go for the harshest possible sentences, and as hard time, not minimum security. The higher up the transgressor, the longer the sentence. That would mean that the SecState of Ohio would be looking at life. As a practical matter, the process would be along the lines of: 1. Catch low-level minion. 2. Offer low-level minion the options of rolling over on his higher-level minion boss or spending the next few years breaking rocks by day and being the Bride of Bubba by night. 3. Assuming the minion makes the sensible choice, lather-rinse-repeat until you get to the people planning the strategy and writing the checks. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-operative-dumps-registration-forms/640081/9 "2012-11-06T17:24:39Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Sometimes I feel like these people should be stripped of their right to vote. If you participate in voter fraud, then clearly you have no idea what it means to be an American. They should be deported. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-operative-dumps-registration-forms/640081/10 "2012-11-07T02:22:29Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Sometimes I feel like these people should be stripped of their right to vote. If you participate in voter fraud, then clearly you have no idea what it means to be an American. In the case of the Oregon election worker, tampering a ballot is a class C felony, so being convicted would mean losing their voting rights. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-operative-dumps-registration-forms/640081/11 "2012-11-07T03:11:54Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > As a practical matter, the process would be along the lines of: > > 1. Catch low-level minion. > > 2. Offer low-level minion the options of rolling over on his higher-level minion boss or spending the next few years breaking rocks by day and being the Bride of Bubba by night. > > 3. Assuming the minion makes the sensible choice, lather-rinse-repeat until you get to the people planning the strategy and writing the checks. This of course presupposes that it is a planned and organised strategy rather than just some moron thinking he is helping his “team”