# Republicans destroying Democraat voter registrations?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [October 13, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971 "2004-10-13T06:07:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/1 "2004-10-13T06:07:38Z")
From Nevada, it’s GOP Dirty Election Trick #42,843:
> [@](#):
>
> [**Voter Registrations Possibly Trashed**](http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2421595&nav=168XRvNe)
>
> Employees of a private voter registration company allege that hundreds, perhaps thousands of voters who may think they are registered will be rudely surprised on election day. The company claims hundreds of registration forms were thrown in the trash.
>
> …The out-of-state firm has been in Las Vegas for the past few months, registering voters. It employed up to 300 part-time workers and collected hundreds of registrations per day, but former employees of the company say that Voters Outreach of Americaonly wanted Republican registrations.
>
> Two former workers say they personally witnessed **company supervisors rip up and trash registration forms signed by Democrats.**
>
> “We caught her taking Democrats out of my pile, handed them to her assistant and he ripped them up right in front of us. I grabbed some of them out of the garbage and she tells her assisatnt to get those from me,” said Eric Russell, former Voters Outreach employee.
>
> …\*\*The company has been largely, if not entirely funded, by the Republican National Committee.\*\*Similar complaints have been received in Reno where the registrar has asked the FBI to investigate.
Doesn’t this violate an election law or three? I mean, destroying voter registration forms is ugly enough, but having it done by a sock puppet for one of the major political parties… :eek:
I mean, geez, might as well just admit the US is a third-world dictatorship and end the charade, eh?
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/2 "2004-10-13T06:26:38Z")
> [@rjung](#):
>
> Doesn’t this violate an election law or three?
No doubt. The question is **who** is violating it. Certainly the guys who tore up the forms with their own hands, but anybody higher up the food chain might be able to plausibly (and perhaps even honestly) deny any responsibility. Including, in all likelihood, the members of the RNC.
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### Author:  [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/3 "2004-10-13T08:11:15Z")
Oregon too:
> [@](#):
>
> [Bradbury plans to investigate election complaint](http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1097647496301300.xml&storylist=orlocal)
>
> PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Secretary of State Bill Bradbury and Attorney General Hardy Myers plan to investigate allegations that a **paid canvasser might have destroyed voter registration forms**.
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> “There have been allegations made that someone threw out some voter registration forms that had been submitted to them,” Bradbury told The Associated Press late Tuesday. “This is a violation of the law and I will meet with the attorney general in the morning to talk about what we can do to pursue this, and to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
>
> Bradbury learned of the conduct from KGW-TV, which interviewed Mike Johnson, 20, a canvasser who said he was **instructed to only accept Republican registration forms. He told the TV reporter that he “might” destroy forms turned in by Democrats.**
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### Author:  [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/4 "2004-10-13T15:53:02Z")
If they’re just starting the investigations now, what do you suppose is the chance that they’ll get any results before the election? Not too likely, I’d say.
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### Author:  [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/5 "2004-10-13T16:03:17Z")
[Moderator Hat ON]
What’s the debate? Did you mean to put this in the Pit?
[Moderator Hat OFF]
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### Author:  [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/6 "2004-10-13T16:03:36Z")
> [@rjung](#):
>
> Doesn’t this violate an election law or three? I mean, destroying voter registration forms is ugly enough, but having it done by a sock puppet for one of the major political parties… :eek:
Republicans have no shame. Every time I am about to forget that, things like the above come up and remind me: They have no shame.
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### Author:  [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/7 "2004-10-13T16:05:38Z")
> [@Polerius](#):
>
> Republicans have no shame. Every time I am about to forget that, things like the above come up and remind me: They have no shame.
I forgot to say that there are a lot of conservative values that may be reasonable, and the conservative movement may not be bad, but the GOP, as a party, is morally bankrupt.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/8 "2004-10-13T16:14:07Z")
Sad you feel that way, **Polerius** , considering that the Democrats or their allies are taking part in similar atrocities.
I feel election fraud is a serious problem, whoever engages in it. And this example should be investigated and prosecuted if need be. Howevewr, if you express outrage fairly, you’re going to be a man without a party.
[Massive registration fraud in Colorado.](http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=8ac173fd-0abe-421a-011e-5ce7dfcf561e&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf)
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### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/9 "2004-10-13T16:17:24Z")
Simple problem- simple solution. Pass a federal law banning party designation on voter registration forms. If you don’t know who is who, then you can’t play games with the paper. Michigan does not put party affililiation on the form, and I can’t fathom why any state does.
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### Author:  [@pkd88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkd88)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/10 "2004-10-13T16:19:03Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#):
>
> Sad you feel that way, **Polerius** , considering that the Democrats or their allies are taking part in similar atrocities.
>
> I feel election fraud is a serious problem, whoever engages in it. And this example should be investigated and prosecuted if need be. Howevewr, if you express outrage fairly, you’re going to be a man without a party.
>
> [Massive registration fraud in Colorado.](http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=8ac173fd-0abe-421a-011e-5ce7dfcf561e&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf)
I don’t see any mention of Democrats or Republicans in your linked story.
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### Author:  [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/11 "2004-10-13T16:19:46Z")
**Mr. Moto** , could you clarify for me who was responsible for the fraud you referred to in the linked article, and which party was the victim of the fraud? I could not determine it from the text.
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### Author:  [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/12 "2004-10-13T16:20:24Z")
My question is, why wouldn’t they do something like that? When all they have to do to fend off the accusation is say, “Sounds like another cuckoo liberal conspiracy theory/more liberal hate speech/just a few bad apples” (pick one)
Show me one Republican muckity-muck who gives a flying F whether the election is tainted or questionable or not. Just so long as they win it, they’re happy to pay the fine later.
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### Author:  [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/13 "2004-10-13T16:20:29Z")
There is something seriously wrong with voter drives as a whole. In addition to the trashing, you also apparently have massive [fraud](http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=8ac173fd-0abe-421a-011e-5ce7dfcf561e&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf) . This is what happens when you have voter drives run by partisans, or by people being paid per voter.
Screw it, why don’t we just make each individual voter responsible for their own registration? Make the forms widely available, if volunteers want to help hand them out, that’s fine. But it comes down to each voter being 100% responsible for what’s on the form and getting it sent in, correctly and one time only. Unfortunately, with these drives, people give up that responsibility to others, and look what happens.
A friend of mine got screwed back in '92 at a “Rock the Vote” where his registration got lost, so he didn’t get to vote at all.
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### Author:  [@Airblairxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airblairxxx)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/14 "2004-10-13T16:20:43Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#):
>
> Sad you feel that way, **Polerius** , considering that the Democrats or their allies are taking part in similar atrocities.
>
> I feel election fraud is a serious problem, whoever engages in it. And this example should be investigated and prosecuted if need be. Howevewr, if you express outrage fairly, you’re going to be a man without a party.
>
> [Massive registration fraud in Colorado.](http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=8ac173fd-0abe-421a-011e-5ce7dfcf561e&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf)
Uhh, where does it say in that linked article that Democrats are behind the problems in Colorado?
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/15 "2004-10-13T16:26:26Z")
I said Democrats or their allies, and ACORN is surely not a right wing organization. It’s stridently liberal to left wing, and closely allied with organized labor.
Want more? Here you go.
[Milwaukee requests far more ballots than registered voters, in predominately Democratic city.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6237078/)
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/16 "2004-10-13T16:28:43Z")
The group ACORN, being concerned with issues of housing and poverty, is most commonly associated with the Democrat agenda. It might best be described as “progressive”.
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### Author:  [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/17 "2004-10-13T16:35:25Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#):
>
> Michigan does not put party affililiation on the form, and I can’t fathom why any state does.
I can only speak for Pennsylvania on this one. Our primary elections are party-specific. Don’t know why that is, though.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/18 "2004-10-13T16:40:30Z")
Whoa, hold on there, big horse. The substance of the accusation on that article is the suspicion of a Republican that shenanigans are involved. In terms of actual evidence, he’s talking out of his Nixon. He also appears to be troubled that so many poor people are being encouraged to vote. I can well understand his discomfort, and would cheerfully have him miserable.
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### Author:  [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/19 "2004-10-13T17:01:13Z")
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> The group ACORN, being concerned with issues of housing and poverty, is most commonly associated with the Democrat agenda. It might best be described as “progressive”.
No disagreement. The article was offered, however, as a counterpart to a Republican organization shredding Democratic registrations.
The article does not make clear how ACORN is specifically responsible for any fraud, other than paying workers per registrant.
First, does this in any way equal the shredding of registrations?
Secondly, is it alleged that ACORN is the only organization that pays workers per registrant?
Finally, what will be the outcome of the same person registering multiple times? Will it have a similar effect to the shredding of registrations?
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### Author:  [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/20 "2004-10-13T17:11:17Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#):
>
> The article does not make clear how ACORN is specifically responsible for any fraud, other than paying workers per registrant.
>
> Finally, what will be the outcome of the same person registering multiple times? Will it have a similar effect to the shredding of registrations?
Outside of paying money to the people who are committing fraud for the very act that is the fraud? More a crime of negligence than intent, but still not blameless. If you organize and pay for a voter drive, you should damn well be responsible for ensuring that the registrations are handled correctly.
Register multiple times, you can potentially vote multiple times. That has as much effect on an election as denying a person their vote. I’d still rank shredding higher, though.
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