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shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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 Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 3:31 pm Post subject: Washington Election Update |
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Well, that's 99 invalid votes. Keep Checking!!!
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002200702_webvoters08.html
| Quote: | King County moves to revoke felons' voter registrations
By Mike Carter
Seattle Times staff reporter
King County prosecutors are moving to revoke the voter registrations of 99 convicted felons who are believed to have cast illegal votes in the 2004 general election.
The action, announced by Prosecutor Norm Maleng at a news conference this morning, is the first in a series of purges designed to clear the list of felons who shouldn't have been on it in the first place.
Maleng said the 99 names were among 105 given to election officials by The Seattle Times. A Times investigation in January concluded that at least 129 convicted felons in King and Pierce counties had cast illegal ballots.
The newspaper named only a few of the felon voters in its story, but reporters had given a list to county election officials, who helped the newspaper confirm that the individuals had actually voted. Some of the names on that list were ultimately excluded from the Times' tally because of doubts about whether a good match existed between voters and felons with the same names and birthdates.
Of the 105 names, prosecutors determined four had legally had their voting rights restored. One had a misdemeanor in King County, and prosecutors were attempting to verify a felony in California. A sixth involved a voter whose son had the same name and had been removed from the rolls after a felony conviction.
Maleng said prosecutors will now focus on several hundred possible felon voters identified by the state Republican Party. That list was just released through discovery in the Republicans' lawsuit seeking to overturn the election of Democrat Christine Gregoire as governor. After three statewide vote counts, Gregoire was declared the winner over Republican candidate Dino Rossi by 129 votes. The GOP contends there were enough illegal votes cast – in addition to errors made by election workers — to nullify the election and force a new vote.
"This is just the first stage of a process that will continue as we receive and investigate allegations of felons who remain on our voter rolls," Maleng said.
Maleng and County Executive Ron Sims both acknowledged — but declined to elaborate on — flaws in the system that allowed the felons either to remain on voter rolls or to register after their convictions. Citizens convicted of felonies are automatically stripped of their right to vote. They can petition the court to have the right restored providing they have completed their prison sentence and paid all of their fines and restitution.
Courts are supposed to notify county election offices of every felony conviction. The election offices, however, have had a hard time matching those names to voter rolls, and often a felon's name is not removed from the voter registration roll. In some instances, felons re-register and county election officials say they don't have the resources to run criminal background checks on every new voter.
In addition, the lack of a reliable statewide system for tracking felons has made it hard for election officials in one county to know if a voter has a conviction in another county. Maleng said that issue is being addressed at the state level.
Sims pointed out that the county purged 600 felons from its list of more than 1 million registered voters before the election. However, Dan Satterberg, Maleng's chief of staff, acknowledged that is just a fraction of the thousands of felons convicted in King County every year.
So far, no criminal charges have been filed against any of the illegal voters. Maleng acknowledged that such prosecutions will be difficult but said his office is looking at every case.
The law requires prosecutors be able to prove a felon knew it would be wrong to vote before casting a ballot.
Satterberg said there is no mechanism in the court system to positively notify felons that they can't vote. |
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GoophyDog
PO1
Joined: 10 Jun 2004
Posts: 480
Location: Washington - The Evergreen State
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting that its just in King and Pierce counties. No one has yet addressed the mess in Snohomish. Personally, I think this state is going to look pretty darn silly before all this is over and unfortunately, the democrat party will be at the forefront of that picture. I can excuse some incompetance at the polls but if a party contrived these misdoings, it will be a long, long time before the trust and confidence of the voters will be regained.
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Tom Poole
Vice Admiral
Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Posts: 914
Location: America
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:41 pm Post subject: |
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If it's that easy for felons to register, it must be easier for illegal aliens to register. There oughta be a law.
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