Tea Party-backed group challenging voters in Ohio

Mon Sep 17, 2012 3:48 PM EDT

True the Vote's 2011 tax returns: The group wouldn't say who made these contributions.

However big its effect becomes on the 2012 election, True the Vote began as a relatively small effort started and supported by a Tea Party chapter in Texas. The group's stated mission is to train enough poll-watchers so a million volunteers are ready for November, enough to have at least one watcher in every precinct in America. A leader in True the Vote says the effect for voters should be "like driving and seeing the police following you." Meanwhile, in the months leading up to the general election, True the Vote has been challenging voter registrations in individual states.

True the Vote describes itself as mainly a grassroots effort. A couple weeks back, organizers of True the Vote sent their 2011 tax returns, from which we learned that the group got a few large contributions, but still took in only $136,957 that year. Though we still don't know what True the Vote has taken in this year, a terrific report by the New York Times gives a glimpse of the outfit works. In swing-state Ohio, for instance, much depends on a True the Vote partner named the Ohio Voter Integrity Project. From the Times:

[V]olunteers, known as the Ohio Voter Integrity Project, submitted challenges of 380 registered voters in Hamilton County, which includes Cincinnati. One of the voters, Teresa Sharp, received a notice from her local Board of Elections stating that her family’s right to vote had been challenged and ordering her to attend a hearing on Sept. 10.

"I've always voted," said Ms. Sharp, who had even been a poll worker. "Never had any problem."

At the hearing, she said she asked, "Why are you all harassing me?" She said she believed it was because "either they don’t want Obama in there or the fact that I'm black."

The Times notes that the Ohio Voter Integrity Project ended up taking back its challenge and apologizing to the family. So that was one, but Ohio Voter Integrity Project is challenging many, many registrations. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that True the Vote claims to have identified 730,000 suspect registrations in Ohio, 68,000 of them in local Hamilton County. As the Cincinnati paper reports it, the success rate on those challenges has not been high. The Ohio Voter Integrity Project filed papers as a "social welfare" nonprofit in April, which means we might be able to see tax returns from the project at some point, but probably not right away.

(See also our colleague Zach Roth's great reporting on voting rights in Ohio.)

— Filed under: ohio, voting-rights, true-the-vote

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Paul S. Campbell

Go ahead-stay home at election time. No need to get rid of incumbent republicans who are trying to kill domocracy.

2 votes

#26 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:00 PM EDT

DEG-329235

More bigotry actions by the tea party and the republican party.

1 vote

#27 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:03 PM EDT

10010 1111 10

If I see anyone trying to intimidate voters at my polling place they are going to find themselves face down in the street in a great deal of pain.

1 vote

#28 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:31 PM EDT

June Day

Melissa Harris-Perry did a great segment on this topic over the weekend and highlighted the report "Bullies at the Ballot Box" which contains a section covering election laws in the most-targeted swing states--

Bullies at the Ballot Box:
http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/BulliesAtTheBallotBox-Final.pdf

State Laws Governing Pre-Election Day Challenges, Page 33
State Laws Governing Election Day Challenges, Page 38
State Laws Governing Poll Watchers and Poll Observers, Page 44
State Laws Addressing Voter Intimidation, Inside and Outside the Polls,
Page 51

1 vote

#29 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:48 PM EDT

StrawberryWine

Anyone seen the latest on the Mother Jones site. What Romney thinks about 47% of Americans? Video footage showing the real guy. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/secret-video-romney-private-fundraiser

1 vote

#30 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 6:54 PM EDT

John Thomasvia Facebook

These loons are challenging voter registrations in my county Fairfield County, OH, south of Columbus.

My guess is that they're doing it because the county went pro-Obama, instead of of voting solidly Republican as in years past.

http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20120914/NEWS01/120914003?fb_comment_id=fbc_341279755966075_1983410_341319905962060

and also

http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012209150304

The Board of Elections was supposed to review the voter registrations today. (9/17) No news yet as to the outcome.

1 vote

#31 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:32 PM EDT

mpguy

I still want to know whose names are inside of the circles on that form.

#32 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:58 PM EDT

Christine Fisher

BTW, CA with all our ridiculous laws, actually has a well-written law about this particular subject. I'm now left wondering if one reason certain states are targeted is due to lack of recourse. Here's CA code 18543, which would make any person who knowingly engaged in Ohio's current TTV action a felon (and as we all know, felons lose their own right to vote).

18543.  (a) Every person who knowingly challenges a person's right
to vote without probable cause or on fraudulent or spurious grounds,
or who engages in mass, indiscriminate, and groundless challenging of
voters solely for the purpose of preventing voters from voting or to
delay the process of voting, or who fraudulently advises any person
that he or she is not eligible to vote or is not registered to vote
when in fact that person is eligible or is registered, or who
violates Section 14240, is punishable by imprisonment in the county
jail for not more than 12 months or in the state prison.
   (b) Every person who conspires to violate subdivision (a) is
guilty of a felony.

1 vote

#33 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 8:08 PM EDT

David McConachie

Is Romney including all of the troops fighting for America when he talks about families on food stamps should take personal responsibility? Does he think that the military personnel are living off of the government? I don't believe he took personal responsiblity when he should have spent some time in the service during the Viet Nam war.

1 vote

#34 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 8:37 PM EDT

Christine Fisher

I checked Florida's election code (and should probably mention that I am NOT a lawyer, I'm just able to read legalese from writing up one too many papers for friends). Because Florida is one of the states specified for extra care in Amendment XV, it carries an entire section devoted to equal rights and voting. A fair argument might be made that Florida's law does go against this existing law:

104.0515 sec.4: No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, and no standard, practice, or procedure, shall be imposed or applied by any political subdivision of this state to deny or abridge the right of any citizen to vote on account of race or color.

Since Florida's voter i.d. law does impact blacks, particularly the young and seniors, more than any other group, it should fail a test against their own state law - already in effect.

http://law.onecle.com/florida/electors-and-elections/104.0515.html

Florida ALSO has an existing law for "watching the watchers".

104.061 Corruptly influencing voting. (Section 1) Whoever by bribery, menace, threat, or other corruption whatsoever, either directly or indirectly, attempts to influence, deceive, or deter any elector in voting or interferes with him or her in the free exercise of the elector's right to vote at any election commits a felony...conviction.

http://law.onecle.com/florida/electors-and-elections/104.061.html

So if a person feels menaced, as though they are being overly-intently observed, they can report that person. I recommend that this information be given to poll workers. If you're in Florida, make some business cards at home, and put the phone number for local law enforcement on them. Whatever you do - don't approach these people directly!

1 vote

#35 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 8:52 PM EDT

Christine Fisher

P.S. If you're in Florida an want a lonk to an HTML-format list of voter laws, here's the main page: http://law.onecle.com/florida/electors-and-elections/chapter104.html

#36 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 8:54 PM EDT

Joshua1234

You know you are loosing when you have to do whatever you can to steal the vote. I live in PA so I know first hand, I have voter ID, but have had to help many people get a photo ID to be able to cast their ballot. With 1 PennDot location in the county that is only open 4 days a week it isn't easy. Voting is a Constitutional right!

1 vote

#37 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:59 PM EDT

Penny Duff

Well, if anyone can challenge, then all this group has to do is determine the race of the voter (or the sexual orientation or gender identity), and challenge that person. They could also include all women, since women voting for Obama are a much larger bloc than those voting for Romney. Also cross reference with Abortion Rights groups, intellectuals, union members, etc. The Republicans, lacking a conscience for the most part, should have no trouble with this type of screening--evidently they're already doing it.

#38 - Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:15 PM EDT

John Thomasvia Facebook

Here's what happened with the voter challenge in Fairfield County, OH -

http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20120918/NEWS01/209180302/Election-challenges-find-one-suspicious-registration-Fairfield-County?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage&nclick_check=1

LANCASTER -- In a review of 109 voter registration challenges filed with the Fairfield County Board of Elections, one was found suspicious and will be flagged for future investigation. Two people had died, the board found.
The rest of the challenges were found to be not valid.

One successful challenge dealt with a voter whose address on the registration card was different from an address the voter used to sign a petition in 2011.
"The voter will still be able to vote provisionally, but she will have to provide proof of her address," said Republican board member Allan Reid.

#39 - Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:56 AM EDT

Vic C

What we need to do is

1. Make them pay for each case lost. Immediately at the end of the court day.

2. After a reasonable number of wrongly charged cases, bar them from any further charges.

3. If they persist, disenfranchise all the officers in the group from voting themselves.

#40 - Wed Sep 19, 2012 1:03 PM EDT

gpabruce

Mitt the Twit had sat on a wall

Mitt and his mean mouth had a great fall

All of his dancing horses and all of his old white men

Couldn't put Mitts Candidacy back together again

1 vote

#41 - Wed Sep 19, 2012 1:31 PM EDT

John_in_Cincy

Observers in Ohio are permitted to do just that. If they approach or speak to you as a voter, or if you see them speaking to a poll worker, vote and lodge a complaint with the chief election judge, your board of elections and district attorney.

1 vote

#42 - Sat Oct 6, 2012 4:16 PM EDT

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