# Republicans destroying Democraat voter registrations? **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/21 "2004-10-13T17:16:55Z")
[Moderator Hat ON] I’m going to move this to the Pit since there doesn’t seem to be anything to debate about (besides “are dems or pubs eviller?”), we already have a voting irregularities thread, and the OP is a bit ranty. [Moderator Hat OFF] ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/22 "2004-10-13T17:18:09Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > 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/) Requesting more ballots than there were registered voters in September (when people could still register) is as outrageous to you as ripping up and throwing out registrations based on party affiliation? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/23 "2004-10-13T17:19:32Z")
I love watching all of this selective outrage. My outrage isn’t so selective. I was pretty ticked off over the actions of my old congressman, the oh-so-corrupt Austin Murphy (Democrat). [I think exploiting old folks in a nursing home for absentee votes is pretty low.](http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19990622murphy6.asp) Murphy was sentenced to probation for this crime. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/24 "2004-10-13T17:21:15Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > 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/) Sorry, but the examples you gave are not even close to the one in the OP. In your first cite, there is no targeting of a specific group. It was a general screw-up. No Democratic malice there. In your second cite, the worst you can say about the Democrats in question is that they are doing voter regitration drives in predominantly-Democratic areas (while they say that they are simply targetting historically low-turnout areas). Even if the worst is true, it is a far cry from shredding the voter registrations of the opposing party. In any case, it’s not the specifics of each case. You may in fact find some isolated evidence of Democratic malice. Overall, though, it seems to me that it is the GOP which has no moral compunctions about doing anything to get elected. For example, today on Bush’s [website](http://www.georgewbush.com) > [@](#): > > Kerry’s characterization of terrorism as a ‘nuisance’ shows that he doesn’t recognize the threats facing this country It is completely dishonest to say that Kerry regards terrorism today as a nuisance. Yet they put that accusation right on their front page. As I said, they have no shame. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/25 "2004-10-13T17:31:12Z")
Changing the subject, are we, **Polerius**? Don’t you find it suspicious that the city is requesting 938,000 ballots? There are fewer than 600,000 people of all ages living in Milwaukee. The eligible voting population according to the 2000 census is only 425,990. There can’t be that many spoiled ballots. There can, however, be ballot stuffing like was seen here in the past, and in cities like Philadelphia as well. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/26 "2004-10-13T17:34:32Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > CDon’t you find it suspicious that the city is requesting 938,000 ballots? There are fewer than 600,000 people of all ages living in Milwaukee. The eligible voting population according to the 2000 census is only 425,990. > > There can’t be that many spoiled ballots. There can, however, be ballot stuffing like was seen here in the past, and in cities like Philadelphia as well. Let’s assume you’re right. The intent is to stuff ballot boxes. Why in the hell would you request more ballots than residents? To make sure you get caught? Do you think they’re stupid enough to submit more votes than there are residents? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/27 "2004-10-13T17:38:36Z")
> [@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) The problem with your comparison, Mr. Moto, is that it isn’t valid. The article you link to has no suggestion of partisanship, it’s about people trying to make money illigitimately. Polerius is exactly right. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/28 "2004-10-13T17:40:05Z")
They were stupid enough to do it in Philadelphia in the last race. Some precincts showed 100% turnout, with 99% of the vote going to Gore. There is no possible way this can legally happen. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/29 "2004-10-13T17:41:29Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > They were stupid enough to do it in Philadelphia in the last race. Some precincts showed 100% turnout, with 99% of the vote going to Gore. Cite? ---
**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:** [October 13, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/30 "2004-10-13T17:49:06Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Cite? [http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a41f7e24141.htm](http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a41f7e24141.htm) ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/31 "2004-10-13T17:52:24Z")
**Mr Moto** , do even bother reading your cites? That cite clearly shows that if indeed there was malice, than it was on the side of the Republican, Walker who won’t print the goddamn ballots. > [@](#): > > For November, the city requested about 2,500 ballots per ward. The overall total - 938,300 - is higher, due to additional absentee ballots requested. Two years ago, the county printed about 2,000 ballots per ward and in the 2000 presidential election it was 1,700 per ward. > > The county has agreed to print about 1,600 per ward, plus extras for wards where a heavy turnout is expected. > > City officials say that a cushion is needed because some ballots invariably are filled out wrong and deemed “spoiled” and because Wisconsin’s same-day registration law makes matters more unpredictable. > > “It isn’t an exact science,” Artison said. “The main thing you want to do is protect a voter from being disenfranchised.” So what the hell is the problem? They printed 2000/ward for the 2002 elections, 1,700/ward for the 2000 elections and now the Republican wants to cut it back to 1,600/ward . That is less than what the printed for the 2000 elections. That’s ridiculous. I think it’s pretty clear that there is more interest in this election than either of the last two, so plan accordingly. How is this evidence at all of Democratic shenanigans, despite your silly-ass gut feeling about ballot stuffing. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/32 "2004-10-13T17:53:27Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > Want more? Here you go. > > [Milwaukee requests far more ballots than registered voters, in predominately Democratic city.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6237078/) What the…? Let me get this straight. > [@](#): > > City officials said that they were trying to err on the side of no ballot shortages because some wards have run out in the past. […] > > For November, the city requested about 2,500 ballots per ward. The overall total - 938,300 - is higher, due to additional absentee ballots requested. Two years ago, the county printed about 2,000 ballots per ward and in the 2000 presidential election it was 1,700 per ward. The county has agreed to print about 1,600 per ward, plus extras for wards where a heavy turnout is expected. You can register at the polls, right? There have been instances of wards running out of ballots, preventing people from voting. The city wants to avoid this possibility by having extra ballots on hand. It’s been established that voter interest is much higher in this election than the last one, and yet the county wants to provide _less_ ballots than were available for the 2000 election. This looks like shenanigans on the part of Democrats to you? Even the Republican fellow who denied the request for the extra ballots didn’t try to pitch that. > [@](#): > > “I’m not accusing them of fraud,” Walker said of city election officials. Sorry, this reads more like Republican shenanigans to me. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/33 "2004-10-13T17:54:45Z")
Ooh. _Spooky._ ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/34 "2004-10-13T17:58:04Z")
And we both used “shenanigans”. I love that word! ---
**Author:** ![jeevmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@jeevmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeevmon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/35 "2004-10-13T17:59:01Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > 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. Not sure this is a good fix. The “volunteers” will simply look at other proxies for party affiliation to decide which ones get round-filed. Like, say, skin color. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/36 "2004-10-13T18:48:46Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [Error](http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a41f7e24141.htm) I wanted to find a credible source that reported this, so I Googled: Philadelphia 2000 registered voters Bronar and got - the above thread in freerepublic, - a page on [gunmuse.com](http://gunmuse.com) (hmmm) - a bunch of blogs I can’t say I trust these sources, especially when the subject is anti-Democrat. Can you find a decent source for this story? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/37 "2004-10-13T18:57:50Z")
> [@Gaudere](#): > > I’m going to move this to the Pit since there doesn’t seem to be anything to debate about (besides “are dems or pubs eviller?”), we already have a voting irregularities thread, and the OP is a bit ranty. I put it in GD simply because it involved politics, and I thought someone might have an opposing view that I missed – I was too busy picking up my jaw off the floor to write something deeper than “WTF?!?” Not that I’m disagreeing with the decision or anything, mind. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/38 "2004-10-13T19:37:19Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Can you find a decent source for this story? Nope. If \*\*Mr. Moto \*\* has a better cite, I’d love to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/39 "2004-10-13T19:51:20Z")
> [@jeevmon](#): > > Not sure this is a good fix. The “volunteers” will simply look at other proxies for party affiliation to decide which ones get round-filed. Like, say, skin color. Well, if you’re going to take party affiliation off the ballots, then why add race to them? Or do you mean they’d round-file ballots given by those whose skin color is inconvenient for their particular party? That could happen, though it would be trickier, once you’ve got a stack of applications. But yeah, I guess you could work out a system, if you were interested in pulling off the fraud. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971/40 "2004-10-13T20:11:54Z")
[New Republican Shennagins Blocked in Nevada](http://www.nola.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/politics-6/1097688242122000.xml&storylist=topstories) > [@](#): > > Elections officials have rebuffed an attempt by a former GOP operative to purge about 17,000 Democrats from the voter rolls in the battleground state of Nevada, where the two presidential candidates are in a dead heat. > Dan Burdish, former head of the state Republican Party, filed a challenge last week claiming the Democrats should be removed from the rolls because they were inactive voters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-destroying-democraat-voter-registrations/268971.md?page=3)