Blogged by Brad from the road…
Okay, we retract our hundreds of articles with evidence that Voter Fraud (as opposed to Election Fraud) is exceedingly rare. At least when it comes to Republicans and Florida.
The St. Petersburg Times is reporting that Mitt Romney supporters stuffed the “ballot box” (actually touch-screen DRE voting machines) by voting multiple times at last week’s GOP straw poll in Tampa, FL, just prior to the Republican CNN/YouTube debate. Ironically enough, the video evidence, some of it posted at the end of this article, has been posted all over YouTube.
According to the Times…
Meanwhile, some Romney supporters openly admitted to using rolls of tickets to vote multiple times. Romney won the poll with 893 votes, while Paul finished with 534.
…
It was all caught on tape, and the local Paul supporters rushed to share their complaints with the rest of the world.
By week’s end, at least three videos hit YouTube, documenting Romney supporters – including prominent lawyer and lobbyist Fred Leonhardt – openly casting multiple votes.
In one video, a Clearwater woman and Paul supporter sat on a couch and accused Pinellas County GOP chairman and straw poll organizer Tony DiMatteo of threatening bodily harm if she didn’t stop complaining.
“Tony’s exact words on the phone to me was, ‘If you make a big deal out of this, you will get hurt,'” Sofie Lefebvre said in the video. “And I was shocked. At that point, I realized that there was a lot more corruption going on than we even realized before.”
…
DiMatteo dismissed the incident, calling it a non-issue that he refused to discuss any further.
“I’ve read some of those comments [angry ones, from Paul supporters accompanying several Youtube videos],” he said. “These are a bunch of people that need to get lives and don’t understand what really happened here.”
Granted, these GOP straw polls are phony from the get-go. The candidates buy tickets and give them out to supporters to show up and vote for them. They’re fund raisers for the local Republican parties. But, theoretically, it’s supposed to be one vote per ticket per person.
But these are Republicans. And this is Florida. So such rules concerning voting don’t much matter. (Isn’t that right, Ann Coulter?)
Besides, what better way to fire up the troops than by encouraging them to vote multiple times just before the upcoming primaries?!
The Ron Paul supporters have put tons of videos up at YouTube on this. Here are a few of the best we came across after going through a bunch of them. You’re welcome…
Watch the guy in the red tie vote over and over again, in “Mitt Robbery Straw Poll Scam” Parts 1 and 2…
Paul supporters at the event speaking out angrily…
…And documenting/heckling the multi-voters…
…And finally, putting it all to music in “Real Men Rig Straw Polls…Romney’s Theme”…
Not surprising, seen as the partay they’re affiliated with
This is actually a pretty big story, Romney is already suspected of fixing the Iowa straw poll and now there is so much evidence in the Florida Poll that not bringing up criminal charges is in itself criminal.
Cheating in FL straw poll prompts Criminal Complaint
http://njection.com/blogs/blog/archive/2007/12/03/cheating-in-fl-straw-poll-prompts-criminal-complaint.aspx
Brad, thank you for your efforts to expose what Republican leaders think of the principle of one vote per person and for your efforts to inform the public of the serious issues facing our country and threatening our way of life.
Pinellas County Republican leaders acting this way does not surprise me. I have been dealing with some of them for years. They act just like the national Republican leadership. Bush ignores and violates the Constitution. The courts do the same, and Congress ignores its duty to remove Bush, Cheney, and judges who undermine our Constitution, who violate the law, and who lie about the facts.
There are only a few members of Congress who have even tried to stand up against the corruption which threatens the very foundation of our country. Fortunately, two of these courageous members of Congress, Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, are running for President. However, the mainstream media (MSM) ignores them when it is not misrepresenting their positions or claiming that they have no chance. For example, CBS is doing a series of interviews with the “major†candidates, but CBS is not interviewing Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich. For an example of the amazing things that the MSM will lie about see http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5130063694565191849
It is not surprising that the Pinellas County Republican Party leaders would violate the principle of one vote per person to keep Ron Paul from winning its straw poll. The San Francisco Republican Party Straw Poll was just cancelled because its leaders saw too many Ron Paul supporters, and the leader said it would not be fair to let Ron Paul win the straw poll. See, http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0aa_1196870160 Republican leaders think fair elections are not fair!
Don’t think that it’s just the Republican leadership though. After all, the leaders of both parties have failed to act to make sure that we remain a representative democracy by ensuring that our votes are counted accurately. Our leaders have refused to act in spite of the efforts of thousands of activists who are calling for election reforms.
The exclusion of candidates who represent the grass roots goes on in the Democratic Party, too. In Florida, Democratic candidates who were anti-war got no support while the Democratic Party spent millions supporting former Republicans who were running as Democrats. Of course, these Democrats in name only also wanted to stay the course, keep the world safe for democracy (AKA dictators who do what we want), and fight the terrorists over there so that they won’t attack us over here.
For an example of how the Democratic Party treats a candidate who wants to restore election integrity and who wants to end the war, see http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8277764543286144839 and see John Russell’s campaign web site at http://johnrussellforcongress.com/
The leaders of both major parties are corrupt from top to bottom because they are bought and paid for by the same people who profit from war, inflation, high oil prices, and the prison industry. They do not care about our liberty or prosperity. They only care about their power and profits. Noam Chomsky, Michael Collins, and many others have been pointing this out for a very long time, but the cartel which controls the MSM has kept this from the public.
Of course, it should be obvious to anyone with half a brain, but far too many think that by ignoring the problem it will go away. How well did that work when fascists took over in Germany, Italy, Russia, and China? Did ignoring the problem protect anyone? No, it allowed millions to be tortured and killed? Do we want that to happen here to our families, friends, and children?
If not, then NOW is the time that we must take a stand against those who have undermined our Constitution, our liberty, and our prosperity for far too long. We need to take back our government before it is too late.
If you don’t want more of the same, get active right now. Send this to your friends, family, and contacts. Tell your neighbors. Register to vote. Vote on a paper ballots if possible. Take back control of your local party.
If there is no one running against your incumbent, then step up and run for office. Change parties to vote against or run against your incumbent if necessary. Remember, they have gerrymandered their districts so that they can usually only be beaten in the primary. Make election reform, ending the war, and restoring justice in our courts the issues that cannot be ignored any longer.
If you are still wondering whether you should act, see the following:
Naomi Wolf on The End of America
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/177.html
Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson Calls for Action
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/28179
Mark Adams speaks at the FCC Hearing in Tampa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAni0WoI7LI
Bill Faulkner and Mark Adams speak at the Voting System Reform Rally in Tallahassee, Florida on March 21, 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrNxSzw_qvI
John Russell and Mark Adams speak at the St. Petersburg peace rally on March 17, 2007 on why we are still at war when the vast majority of Americans are against it and what you can do about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG5krR3jbhs
Mark Adams on Op Ed News about How to Take Action on Holt and Fix Our Elections
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mark_ada_070919_how_to_take_action_o.htm
Links to speech titled “No Justice, No Peace” given by Mark A. Adams, Esquire JD/MBA at the National Judicial Reform Conference at Rice University in Houston, Texas on August 11, 2007.
Higher Quality Video http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5135583133302349969
Lower Quality Video http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5274592268158533722
Mark – OUTSTANDING!
These people sicken me. It is difficult to find the words adequate to express the level of contempt I feel for these corrupt, disgusting people.
As outrageous and corrupt as this activity was, the media’s silence and complicity in it is the real crime.
And please, people, do not any longer refer to them as the “mainstream” media —- they are not!
They are the Corporate-Controlled Media! Remember the phrase, and use it often. Take back the moral highground from these jackals!
Whhoooooooooaaaa! Holy Rocking-Eagles-a’Soaring!Thanks, Brad!! This is outstanding reporting with THRILLING implications/ the BEST potential application of this technology I can think of. Go, Ron Paul People, Go! GLORY-BE and JUICY HUZZAH to YOUTUBE! (The reason I still have faith in my fellow-men, hope for my species!)
Here is what I most adore about RON PAUL supporters: they NEVER have to be told that elections are rigged. To me, this is a GINORMOUS big deal. They get it. I don’t have to start with the stats/ defend my position/ explain I’m not crazy/ point them to the tons of documentation here at the BRADBLOG and DVN/ defend my fine EI friends who have worked so hard to bring this info to light.
This is largely because RON PAUL’s numbers have been gamed several times now, most notably (before THIS Tampa Bay Bread n’Circus) at the IOWA STRAW POLL where they voted on defunct DIEBOLDS which produced some gross anamolies. (They made tons of videos about that one, too/ lots of documentation.) PAUL’s delegates are often given the run-around at these events/ charged more than Romney’s people/ locked out of votes, etc.
But I have always wondered what would happen in this country when they try to steal vast, national swaths of the WHITE vote? Won’t THAT be the day this ELECTION CORRUPTION all breaks open wide with no way to backwards slide, tho?…
This is an inspiring example of how to organize/ raise money/ awareness working beyond our party limitations. You should see the cross section of strange bed-fellows Dr. PAUL has inspired to work together down here in Florida! Angry DEMS (annoying liberals)/ 2nd Ammendment Gun-Lovers (Rednecks)/ Disenfranchised Republicans (Heartless Conservatives) / Lingering Libertarians (third-party wing-nuts)/ Marginalized Minorities (the damnable poor)/ 9/11 Truthers (Conspiracy Theorists)/ Nevada BROTHELS …(the amoral wing of the American Political System) are kicking in the cash and time!
And in the interest of full disclosure, yes..even me (representing America’s horrified, independent voters recently angered enough by botched elections to register as REPUBLICANS just to support DR. PAUL for a number of sound reasons but especially since the FLORIDA DEM PRIMARIES are unlikely to count anyway thanks to recent wrangling between the State and DNC…sigh. Silly-billies.)
Made it into a brief comedy documentary:
“JEANNIE DEAN Registers Republican for RON PAUL: THE MUSICAL!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-pZTX7COHY
Thanks for weeding through these for us, Brad! I watched in my fuzzy bathrobe, alternatively whoooping with joy and disgust. (And, as always, GREAT WORK from Mr. Mark ‘don’t-let-the-ESQ-fool-you) Adams!…)
You don’t know Mitt . . . . . ROMNEY JEFFS “08” . . .
This is not evidence. This could well be contrived by anyone who wants to smear Romney. It means absolutely nothing. I’m convinced that Romney is the most honest of all the Republican candidates. He has enemies because he’s surrounded by a bunch of corrupt politicans and their followers, any of which may well have done thisE.