As Election Nears, Dirty Tricks Grow More Common

As the election nears, examples of political dirty tricks are emerging with greater frequency.

On Tuesday, the Virginia Pilot reported that a phony Board of Elections flier was circulating the state "advising Republicans to vote on Nov. 4 and Democrats on Nov. 5." Voting, of course, is on the 4th only, creating fear among neutral observers and the Obama campaign that people were simply going to miss the opportunity to go to the polls.

Earlier this month, meanwhile, an anonymous flier was circulating in predominantly African-American neighborhoods in Philadelphia telling voters they could be arrested at the polls if they show up to vote with outstanding arrest warrants or unpaid parking tickets. This is also untrue.

Dirty tricks and phony fliers represent the dark underside of nearly every election. And certainly, when it comes to the current contest, these tactics started long ago. Last March, as Time Magazine noted, a letter was being sent around Colorado, warning that out-of-state students could not register if their parents claimed them as dependents in another state." One of the more common falsities making its way through email chains has warned voters in some states (updated below) that they will be turned away from the polls if they wore paraphernalia demonstrating their support for one particular candidate.

Since these antics are becoming more and more common we encourage readers to send in tips or episodes they have witnessed to the Huffington Post.

UPDATE: Several readers have pointed out that, in fact, several states do prohibit passive electioneering (buttons, t-shirts, etc.) in polling places. In Texas, for example, the law is as follows:

[A] person may not wear a badge, insignia, emblem, or other similar communicative device relating to a candidate, measure, or political party appearing on the ballot, or to the conduct of the election, in the polling place or within 100 feet of any outside door through which a voter may enter the building in which the polling place is located.

Comments

[LKV]

If you are registered to vote then you have the right to vote. We keep hearing the terms Socialist, Comunist used against Obama. Is not voter repression something like Dictatorship?

[cmonppl]

There's a chip that stores the totals in the new voting machines, that can be taken out and replaced in about seven minutes. The story has replayed on CNN several times in recent days, and it may be the real (and only) reason Obama could lose this race. Think about it ~ how hard would it be to plant people to pose as voting machine 'officials' make these changes?

[AussieMum]

I feel very sad that so much division and hate has come over a wondeful people. This election is not only so important to you but the rest of the world. We ditched our Prime Minister for the lies he told us on Iraq. We brought our boys out of Iraq and into Afganistan where our young people are dying in the war . You are not a banana republic. You are a world leader with intelligent people. We in Australia as in the rest of the world watch your election through the internet and hope that an enlightened choice will be forthcoming. Please I have watched Senator Mcccain and Senator Obama and there is no comparison. Does the fact that the Afganistan Governemnt has agreed to talk to the Taliban with the blessing of your President mean that Obama was right about talking. Peace to you and love from Australia.

[ranger5]

Nice sentiments, but I'm afraid that America is at risk of becoming the banana republic that you refer to. Consider the most common characteristics of a banana republic, i.e. ruled by a one-party totalitarian regime that supports entrenched oligarchs, which is in turn supported by the military and strong mercenary forces, an erratic economy that teeters on the brink of collapse, dirty-tricks, intimidation, and outright fraud at the polls during "elections" that are rigged to present the facade of democracy but are of course pre-determined, the willful disregard of the rule of law and the tenets of the nation's founding document, the willful use of blatant lies and propaganda to fool the people into buying into the party line, the policy-driven redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the wealthiest, the consolidation of all wealth into the hands of a small minority. This is what America has been turning into during the past 8 years. And the ruling party will stoop to ANYTHING to keep its hold on power. Yes, it's sad. But unless we the people fight back, America will continue to exist in name only.

[Haditup2here]

I've just listened to Rachel Maddow show and found out that voters under the age of 30 are not turning out in huge numbers during early voting. This is a HUGE MISTAKE given the amount of voter suppression during the election that is often targeted towards minorities and college students. If you are (or know) a college student who is registered and is in a state that has early voting, please go (or tell the student to go) to the polls NOW !! There is already discrepancies floating around where people are being turned away from the polls because their address or information for registration does not match their mailing address or their ID information. If you run into any of those issues, you can get them straightened out and vote during early voting. Some states like North Carolina will even allow you to register and vote on the same day before the election. However, if you wait until election day, you will be pushed towards a provisional ballot and there is a HIGHLY probable chance that your vote WILL NOT be counted. If you are in a state that does not have early voting, call and make sure that your information is correct, find out the laws in your state, and KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. Do NOT wait until the day before election to do this. DO IT NOW !! The McCain campaign is counting on a low voter turnout for those 24 and younger.

[NWBrunette]

Youth have been the most fickle and undisciplined political group ever. Hopefully they'll prove history wrong this time. Apparently they're not off to a good start. Come on young people!

[tedeger]

Do NOT accept a "Provisional Ballot." History shows that if they favor the Democrat they end up in the Dumpster. If offered a PB, refuse and DEMAND (as is your right) that your case be adjudged right then and there! (It won't hurt to threaten suit and take some names. Of course, all this should be done before 11/4.

[Hare]

For those of us who normally vote "Straight Democratic", please pay close attention!!!!!

Confirmed this weekend by a group of Obama volunteers that when voting for the presidential candidate this November, you have to make sure you punch Barack's name first, then proceed to punch "Straight Democratic" or else the vote for the president won't count.

[judyc]

this is incorrect information given by a troll.

[Chansmom]

Hmmm, now I feel stupid, but again, you just don't know since so many dirty tricks are being played. Thanks for the heads up.

[Emerald1943]

I believe this is true in North Carolina. There has been lots about this on Huffpost and other sources. You must vote for president separately from the straight ticket herein NC!

[Chansmom]

Hey, thanks! I just copied and pasted that to an email and asked it be passed on. It's so ridiculous that we have to be so concerned about voting the way we want, that we have to play games in casting our vote. Unfreaking believable!

[tedeger]

Best bet - don't vote straight ticket at all. Make EVERY choice individually. It doesn't take all that much longer, and your vote will more likely be counted. There are glitches buit in to trap the straight ticket voter.

[Culturemaven]

This is true in the district where I vote (California), you can't wear or carry anything relating to candidates or issues on the ballot. It's kind of silly, really.
I suppose I'll just remove my shirt when I arrive at the polling place ;>)

[katmad23]

http://wvgazette.com/News/200810180251

this freaks me out!!!!

[kothian1]

epicdialogue

you just still don't get it that "fake voters" can't materialize out of thin air at the polls, can you? Mickey and Donald are not going to show up. Comprendé? Voter Registration fraud is theft by deception, voter fraud is FRAUD. They are NOT the same thing. Come on pal, turn of Fox News and do some of your own research.

[huff-n-puff-post]

It's very simple.
The artificially high numbers of registered democrat voters is being used to demoralize Republican voters. In that way it affects the election no less than fraudulent democrat voters.

For every Republican that Obama can intimidate into not voting a democrat vote will count twice.

Gosh, Obamaites sure are gullible.

[ouroborous]

Even supposing this is true (and that's a big "supposing"), you are promoting a false equivalency.

The idea that "demoralizing" Republicans by registering "too many" Democrats is in any way the same as *actually disenfranchising* voters at the polls by intimidation, by sending out fraudulent mailers to confuse (mostly poor and ethnic) voters, or by attempting to remove millions of (mostly Democrat) voters from the voter registration rolls because a few hundred registrations might be false -- to claim that "demoralization" is in any way equivalent to outright vote suppression and voter fraud is either willfully ignorant or just plain slimy.

[krompessor]

Hey Huff...you­'re a troll, a crybaby Mcain employee..­..need a tissue?

Go read a book, try to learn something, stop embarrassing yourself with your ignorance.

[tedeger]

Since the disenfranchisers are uniformly members of the Atwater-Rove Dirty tricks mob, and ONLY likely Democrats are being targeted, it is quite obvious that the gullibility is that of any Republican who thinks that the GOP is not out to steal its third presidential election in a row. The ACTUAL "VOTE FRAUD" is 100% on the Republican side, as usual.

[pt001]

yeah yeah yeah
more crying from the right
funny how wealthy entitled people are always being oppressed by the "grubby masses"
your time is over!

[krocklin]

There is no excuse that Obama and the Democratic Party have not taken measures to assure that the vote count process is secure after all these years.
The elections were stolen in 2000 and 2004. By registration purging and by "flipping" votes on the electronic voter machines manufactured by Christian Right organizations.
It was bad enough that the Secretary of States in Ohio and Florida were also chairmen of the re-elect Bush/Cheney campaigns in those elections and that we had the hanging chads.
Also, it has been clear for years that voters in black areas had to wait in line for hours to vote while voters in white areas could do so in 15 minutes.

At this late date there are only a few voices and a few elected officials who have raised a hue and cry over all this.
You have to wonder if all this fulminating on blogs and talking head chatter on radio and TV has been overkill and less relevant than this issue.
Americans possibly are NOT that stupid. And the expanded media HAS presented the facts in a way that is obvious to a great majority of voters. Most voters are even MORE educated as a result than they have been in the past.
.
But will the vote totals reflect that?

[huff-n-puff-post]

Ask yourself this, why hasn't Obama and the democrats fixed the voting problem.
The answer is obvious.
Got it yet?
Need more time?

Either the problems don't exist and they know that or, and here's the biggy, they might actually want voter fraud. Either way, the dems make a big stink about Republican voter fraud, and that get's them votes, or they count on using the flaws in the system to get them votes.

[ouroborous]

Gosh, or maybe they CAN'T fix the problem because the GOP carefully stacked the election official positions in most jurisdictions with hardcore party loyalists who care more about their "team" winning than they do about a fair and peaceful election.

Your "either or" statement ignores reality.

[fiorastar]

Have you ever heard of Alberto Gonzales? Do a little research into what he's been planning, at the behest of Karl Rove-election theft master-and why he has been attending lovely hearings courtesy of Congress.

[Teutonicus]

reading and listening to your election desaster sounds like watching "elections" in Mugabe's Simbabwe. The US: a Banana Republic?! Looks like it from the outside world (Europe and Canada). Can't your country organize a flawless election? Don't become a laughing stock. Again!

[Ramus]

The U.S. is a Banana Republic.

[huff-n-puff-post]

No it isn't, yet..

[huff-n-puff-post]

No it isn't, not yet.

[huff-n-puff-post]

Check out how Obama has 'won' his previous campaigns.

[fiorastar]

Check out how Bush "won" his. The same guys are working for McCain now.

[GeoLee]

Yeah, we need international monitors to come and observe our elections.­..it seems the republicans must have learned some really good techniques from totalitarian regimes around the world.

[huff-n-puff-post]

Saddam Hussein had flawless elections.

Other than that kind, I don't of anywhere a flawless election process exists.

Just because your candidate, Obama, isn't running away with this one you think it's unfair?

Maybe, just maybe, the American voter isn't quite dumb enough to fall for the Obama Style of campaigning.

[ouroborous]

You mean, campaigning on the merits of fairness, campaigning on the issues rather than smears, and keeping the focus on how closely McCain's policies mirror the disastrously failed policies of George Bush 43?

If that's the Obama Style of campaigning, then sign me up.

[epicdialogue]

dirty trick...li­ke registering thousands of fake voters. thanks acorn.

[Phaedrus21]

If "Mickey Mouse" is registered to vote, do you really expect that Mickey is going to show up on election day?

There's a big difference between voter registration fraud and voter fraud. REAL voter fraud is trying to keep legitimate voters from having their say.

Guess which side is doing that?

[huff-n-puff-post]

UHHH, mmmmmm, ehrrrr, OBAMANS

By encouraging early voting - What if something changes their mind? They're stuck

The Why bother to vote campaign.

Buying all the media time limits the other side.

He who points the finger the most is probably the guilty one.

[StephenBarry]

I requested a ballot from London 6-8 weeks ago. Never came. Probably some Republican clerk in the mailroom threw them all out.

[huff-n-puff-post]

If you are registered in a democrat stronghold the probability is that a democrat clerk was simply incompetent.

Did you affix proper postage? The Brits are sticklers for that sort of thing.

[huff-n-puff-post]

Saying this over and over again - does not make it true.

You don't know or you won't admit why your ballot never came.

Blaming the Republicans for everything is one of Obama's favorite campaign tactics.
He doesn't care if his accusations are false and neither do Obamaites.

[ouroborous]

Yeah, it's not fair to blame the other party for every little problem.

So why do you keep doing it?

[tedeger]

Blaming the Republicans for the illegitimate acts they perform is only the truth. Take off your rosy glasses. The Republican vote theft operation is alive and well.

[WFV]

PA has relaxed its 'electioneering' rules and will now allow people to wear buttons, hats, shirts, etc. for their candidate, as long as they are not literally campaigning at the polling place. I was almost denied my vote in the primary due to a button on my bag I had even forgotten was there. Check with your local elections board, but they cannot send you away due to a shirt or button in PA anymore.

[vicbennett]

Racism excist and it's just something people have to intellectually except in order to get beyond it.

It is clear to see that there are many John McCain supporters that are willing to plot to kill a black man for being a patriot!

Barack Obama is the Patriot of today. He alone has spoken the words of a true patriot.
He has stood up for decent God fearing Americans, who come in the many shapes, sizes and colors of America.

It is clear that the Republican party of the past is no longer!

Without Americans comming together and respecting each other, America can not lead, and will be in no position to lead.

Maybe that is why the USA cannot even win two wars against a small insurgence.
America lacks the moral will!

Only with string leadership can America win.

Only with strong leadership can America move forward.

Not to mention, we need a leader who actually got good grades in school!
The time for idiots is over.

[huff-n-puff-post]

We don't know what grades Obama got in school.
He won't allow things like that to be released.

[ouroborous]

I quote: at Harvard Law School, Obama graduated Magna Cum Laude, which, according to the Havard Law School website, is awarded to the top 10% of Harvard Law School students.

I think Obama's grades were just fine.

Go find some more mud to sling... eventually something's GOTTA stick, right?

[EdWhite1]

And we try to export our brand of democracy to the world and DARE to denigrate other countries for their election foibles. We should be ashamed. Get out and vote on Nov 4, dont let anyone stop you, and if they do raise hell demanding your rights.

[Ramus]

and video it and put it on YouTube

[huff-n-puff-post]

Exit polls would be a snap if we had to dip our finger in either red or blue ink.

[huff-n-puff-post]

Yeah, let's get rid of the secret ballot. That way we can keep track of who voted for who and penalize voters that voted badly. This would be known as Trickle Up Politics.

That makes about as much sense as 'Trickle Up Economics'