|
Here, I
use the definition of Red States by the Swing State Project. Please
select your state of interest to proceed. (If there is no link, that
means there is no content for that state yet).
SOUTH
DAKOTA
11/2/04 [Permalink]
GOP in South Dakota
intimidates Native American voters by writing down their license plate
numbers - judge orders them to stop the practice
Via Demos,
here's a report in the Argus
Leader [link outdated - see this
alternate link sent by reader DB]:
Republican poll workers
in Lake Andes were intimidating Native American voters on Monday, a
federal judge ruled early today.
Republicans may not write down license plate numbers or follow Native
Americans from polling places during today's election, U.S. District
Judge Lawrence Piersol ruled in a temporary restraining order.
The ruling comes after Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle sued his opponent,
John Thune, and the GOP in federal court in Sioux Falls on Monday,
asking Piersol to stop what Democrats say was intimidation of voters.
"This ruling will hopefully ensure that every legitimate voter
can vote free of intimidation on Election Day," said Daschle
spokesman Dan Pfeiffer.
Piersol, whom Daschle chose for the federal bench, released his
opinion about 1:45 a.m. today after hearing one witness from each
side.
Daschle is depending on heavy turnout from Native American voters to
win an expected close election.
Republicans had not decided whether to appeal, as of early today.
"It's a total joke," said Dick Wadhams, Thune's campaign
manager. "What you've got is a situation where there is no
credible evidence presented and the judge bent over backward for his
long-time political pal."
Daschle charges that GOP poll observers have been crowding voters,
making notes as they voted and writing down license plate numbers of
cars bringing them to vote.
10/31/04 [Permalink]
GOP challenger John
Thune's campaign in South Dakota hits another low with disgusting
flyer with racist overtones; additionally his campaign was found
photographing Native American voters
Via Buzzflash,
Blue
Lemur/Raw Story points us to this report in Indian
Country (a picture of the flyer is in the original article) - bold
text is my emphasis:
A campaign flyer
from John Thune's campaign office started a groundswell of resentment
as it brought back some unpleasant memories of racism in South Dakota.
A flyer with a picture of prairie dogs on the front with the words
''The dogs are lining up to vote for Tom Daschle,'' appeared in many
western South Dakota mail boxes just a week before the election.
Prairie dogs are a major problem for ranchers in the state, and it has
become a campaign issue.
And to add fuel to the fire, Thune campaign workers were caught
taking photos of people who voted early on the Rosebud Reservation.
The problem for Indian country originated decades ago when many
stores in the state displayed signs that said, ''No Dogs or Indians
allowed.'' The inference that American Indians are equated with dogs
has carried on in the minds of many people middle aged and older, and
they have spoken of those memories to the younger people.
Many people have taken the flyer issue to the Democratic Party offices
on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservation and it was a major topic on
the Pine Ridge Radio station KILI on Oct. 28.
''I'm very surprised to hear there is a problem,'' said Dick
Wadhams, Thune's campaign manager. [eRiposte
note: Really!]
''Anyone who reads the piece will see that it has to do with prairie
dogs in South Dakota,'' he said. ''I'm sorry if someone took
offense.''
Prairie dogs are a problem on the Rosebud, Pine Ridge and other
reservations, as well as in the ranch country of western South Dakota,
but the tribes are trying to resolve the issue in a cultural way.
American Indians look at the prairie dog as a member of the animal
nation and show it respect. The prairie dogs in harmony with the
buffalo create a balanced ecosystem. The American Indians who are
ranchers also want a solution, but a sensible and culturally-sensitive
solution.
The prairie dog flyer comes on the heels of a letter sent by the
state Republican Party that implied that the 2002 election won by Sen.
Tim Johnson was stolen. Thune was his challenger and lost the election
by 524 votes. Even though the reservations were not mentioned in the
letter, people in the state associated the letter with American Indian
voters.
''This letter already made the association with the reservations and
American Indian voters.
''This flyer shows poor taste and judgment,'' said Robert Moore, chief
of staff for Rosebud Chairman Charles Colombe.
Moore said he remembers the story of his grandfather and grandmother
traveling in a wagon all day to go to town only to find the store
closed to them with the sign that read: ''No dogs and Indians
allowed.''
The flyer wouldn't have been so offensive had it used the words
prairie dog instead of just dog. Also inside the flyer the sentence:
''No wonder the varmints are heading to the polls to vote for him.''
As that flyer was put in the mail, there were more than 1,300 members
of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe that had already voted; at Pine Ridge more
than 1,000. So the inference is perceived, people said, that they are
the dogs that are showing up to vote. It is known that American
Indians vote Democratic more than Republican.
''This is a people to people issue, not a nation to nation issue. It's
a tragedy, people are feeling pain. If they call us dogs once again we
won't pay any attention to them,'' Moore said.
People said on the radio they know the flyer was about prairie dogs,
but the poor choice of words brought back memories of racial epithets.
''We are also a people who have issues with prairie dogs and also who
are trying to figure out how to pay for prescription drugs. We are not
only tribal members we are citizens of this state,'' Moore said.
Another major issue that surfaced regarding the Thune campaign was
that some people who identified themselves as Thune's campaign workers
were taking pictures of people who went to the auditor's office to
vote early.
''They don't want us to vote. We will be talking about this for years
because we don't want this to happen again,'' Moore said.
Thune's campaign office had no comment about the photos taken at the
voting location.
10/22/04 [Permalink]
Dirty Tricks and Fraud
against Democratic Senator Tom Daschle get real dirty in South
Dakota
Based on the use of specific wording
("S.T.D.") in the mailer accompanying the offensive sticker
(below) and the mass mailings which would have been quite difficult
for a random individual or small fry group to indulge in, Daschle
suggests College Republicans (who previously had sold T-shirts made
with the words "Get Rid of Your STD") are behind this -
potentially including those who were involved in the recent Jeff Thune
absentee
ballot scandal in the same state. Josh
Marshall provides a lead to this story:
Another
contender for
our Karl
Rove Dirty Trick's Watch?
You'll remember from
Josh Green's piece
on Rove's tactics in the current Atlantic Monthly, Rove has a
certain penchant, shall we say, for mounting whisper campaigns which
suggest that whatever candidate he happens to be running against at
the moment is gay.
(What is it with
these Republicans and gay sex?)
Well, it seems
someone in South Dakota has been sending
out stickers to churches in the state that read "Vote for
Daschle & Vote for SODOMY."
Maybe not Rove, of
course. But perhaps some young Rove acolyte learning the ropes?
Here is the Argus
Leader story:
A window sticker
scarcely larger than a standard photo print has the nation's top
elected Democrat and the state's Republican Party pressing
separately for a criminal investigation.
The white-on-blue sticker reads, "Vote for Daschle & Vote
for SODOMY." A disclaimer alerts readers that fees were
"Paid for by someone who loves Jesus and friends of swlJ. This
ad is not authorized by any candidate of (sic) candidate
committee."
The mass mailing went out earlier this month to churches statewide.
A select few homeowners with yard signs supporting Democratic Sen.
Tom Daschle also received copies in their mailboxes.
The anonymous disclaimer offers no real identity, and the return
address is that of Daschle's re-election headquarters.
Dan Pfeiffer, Daschle's deputy campaign manager, said that amounts
to mail fraud, one of the charges leveled against the South Dakota
Republican Party in a formal complaint to the Federal Election
Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. Pfeiffer said the
party is the only group in the state that could support such an
effort.
The Republican Party denies the allegation. That group's leaders
appealed to the FEC to sort out the matter, mailing their request to
the commission and to the South Dakota U.S. attorney's office.
Those who opened the envelopes saw the Web address of the Marriage
Amendment Project. The coalition's executive director, Shannon
Royce, said her nonprofit had nothing to do with the message and did
not authorize the use of its site name.
The phone numbers of the Daschle campaign and the senator's
toll-free constituent line in Washington, D.C., are provided, as
well.
Daschle's complaint adds phone harassment and misrepresentation of
campaign authority to the mail-fraud accusation.
An enclosed flier urges recipients to vote against Daschle if he
doesn't support a marriage amendment, an act to keep "under
God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and legislation that would
allow pastors to preach on political issues without fear of losing
their church's nonprofit status.
Possible link to students
Daschle's campaign links the state Republican Party to Augustana
College students who printed and sold T-shirts with the slogan
"Get Rid of Your STD." The acronym S.T.D.HQ., for
"Senator Tom Daschle Headquarters," appears in the first
line of the return address.
One of those students, Andrew Hodney, is a leader in Augustana's
chapter of the College Republican Federation and an employee of his
party's state organization.
Two other Augustana Republicans, Jennifer Giannonatti and Nathan
Mertz, resigned from their leadership roles in the state Federation
of College Republicans less than two weeks ago. They stepped down
after questions were raised about possible irregularities in
absentee ballot requests. Previously, both were contract workers for
the state GOP's Victory get-out-the-vote effort.
Broad in scope
"We believe well over 1,000 churches have received this
mailing, so the idea that a couple of college kids in their dorm
rooms did this is incredibly absurd," Pfeiffer said. The
complaint charges that students used the state Republican Party's
resources to get out the message.
The scope of the mailings "suggests they have a huge database
of information, the type of thing you would find at the South Dakota
Republican Party," Pfeiffer said. "I think it's an
incredible stretch to say that two groups, both using the same
slogan to attack Tom Daschle, are operating independently of each
other."
Dick Wadhams, campaign manager for Daschle's opponent, Republican
John Thune, said his candidate and staff members had no part in the
mailing.
Hodney said he and a friend printed the "STD" shirts on
their own and paid costs out of their own pockets. The first he'd
heard of the stickers, he said, was during a meeting with Bruce
Halverson, Augustana president.
"When your school's president asks to meet with you, you hope
it's to talk about scholarships or accolades, not to defend your
College Republicans chapter," said Hodney, a junior from
Aberdeen.
In his opinion, the complaint itself "seems to be based on
speculations."
"It sounds like a trend," he said. "They're using our
slogan, the campaign's address and another group's Web site. I don't
know who did it, and I don't know who would waste a few thousand
dollars upsetting people."
In that respect, at least, he, Pfeiffer and state Republican Party
leadership all agree.
"It makes no sense. Why would we send something that would
cause more harm than good?" asked Jason Glodt, the state GOP's
executive director. "Anyone who thinks that's getting votes
doesn't know anything about politics. It's repulsive and
unacceptable. For Daschle to try to attach our name is equally
repulsive."
Glodt calls the complaint against his group "completely
baseless," not to mention a few days late. He mailed the
Republican Party's investigation requests Monday, the day Daschle
campaign manager Steve Hildebrandt confronted him personally.
"It is truly remarkable that they're trying to stretch the link
between the initials of 'Senator Tom Daschle' to this," Glodt
said. "It's also 'Stop Tom Daschle' or any number of
things."
The envelopes carry a Sioux Falls postmark, with Oct. 5 as a common
date. Many had bad addresses and bounced back to the post office,
which forwarded them to Daschle campaign headquarters with a yellow
"Return to Sender" label.
...
Annac1aire
at Dailykos says this is an old GOP trick in SD:
This is an ooooooold
state GOP trick. In 2002, they fliered cars in church parking
lots - particularly Catholic churches - throughout South Dakota on the
Sunday before the election with the message "Thank Tim Johnson
(current SD Senator, ran against Thune) for his work to KEEP ABORTION
LEGAL" and his campaign's phone number. The fliers stated
they came from Johnson's office. This has been done at least
three other times I can think of, against candidates for statewide
office, and against candidates for state legislature. Republicans
blamed a "radical leftist organization" for the
fliers.
10/12/04
[Permalink] UPDATED
10/30/04
Illegal Handling of
Absentee Ballot Requests by GOP in South Dakota mushrooms into a scandal, amid resignations;
many ballot requests were not even submitted; six Republican notaries
charged with a Class 2 misdemeanor and three plead guilty Sdindc
at Dailykos originally reported this:
John
Thune's nephew was caught by KELO-TV
committing election fraud earlier today. The nephew of Tom
Daschle's opponent said, on camera, that he was a notary public and
had witnessed about 75 absentee ballot requests. The station
checked the state database of notaries, however, and it turns out he
is NOT a notary public.
KELO broke the story,
and it led the local news. Video
is available.
He
provided an update here. Remember, in South Dakota, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle is
in a race too close for comfort with Republican John Thune. Bold text
is my emphasis.
Earlier
this week, John Thune, the man challenging Tom Daschle in South
Dakota found himself in the midst of a family
voter fraud scandal. The Thune campaign dismissed the
report as a misstatement by a volunteer.
Now, it looks like
the fraud is much more widespread than previously reported. According
to today's Sioux Falls Argus
Leader, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General, are
investigating the allegedly illegal actions of Jeff Thune, John
Thune's nephew, and Rachel Hoff, a woman employed by the state
Republican party. The fraud is allegedly happening in a number
of communities across the state, and local auditors are holding
questionable documents that seem to be illegally notarized [by
Jeff Thune who apparently claimed falsely to registrants that he was
a Notary].
Voter fraud is indeed
serious, but there is real irony in John Thune breaking election
laws. You may remember that Thune
screamed voter fraud in his 2002 race in an effort to justify
tactics to suppress the minority vote on South Dakota's Native
American Reservations. The Republican Attorney general made
clear that there was no widespread voter fraud in 2002, but the
Republicans were out
in force on the reseravations on election day, attempting to
intimidate Native voters. They did the same during the Herseth
special election.
So now, it seems, the
chickens are coming home to roost. The guy who screamed about
voter fraud as a means to justify anti-Indain voter intimidation
tactics, is now engaging in voter fraud himself to try to beat Tom
Daschle.
I know that there
have been some here who wish that Tom Daschle would have made
different decisions as Democratic Leader. But we can all agree
that people like John Thune, who accuse others of voter fraud to
suppress minority voters while engaging in voter fraud themselves,
deserve to be beaten, badly.
Update [2004-10-9
14:53:5 by sdindc]: Another story on the investigation by law
enforcement officials of Thune's nephew in
Brookings.
As the Argus Leader points
out [bold text is my emphasis]:
Jeff Thune, the
candidate's nephew, set up a table earlier this week at South Dakota
State University to process applications. According to the South
Dakota secretary of state's Web site, he is not a certified notary
public, as required by state law.
Secretary of State Chris Nelson said Thursday he has asked Clyde
Calhoon, Brookings County state's attorney, to determine whether
Jeff Thune acted illegally.
...
It is a Class
1 misdemeanor for someone who is not a certified notary public to
notarize applications for absentee ballots.
Any application that was illegally processed may be declared void,
Nelson said.
...
Meanwhile,
stories of voter problems stretch beyond Brookings. Several
applications arrived in the Clay County auditor's office that were
filled out by University of South Dakota students who attended a
Sept. 20 meeting at a sorority house.
Laura Gulk was one of the USD students who applied to vote.
"There were three men," she said. "They asked me
what party I was affiliated with, and then they gave me an
application to fill out."
Gulk said she did not know the men and could not remember whether
they applied the notary seal. When the application showed up in the
auditor's office, Rachel M. Hoff's name appeared as the notary
public.
State law requires that the notary who affixes the seal witness the
person making the application.
Hoff is an employee of the state Republican Party. She could
not be reached for comment Thursday night.
Jen Gray, another USD student, said she was asked by two men at her
sorority house if she wanted to fill out an application. She did not
recall the men asking what her party affiliation and did not know if
they applied the seal when she was through.
When her application was processed, it, too, showed Hoff's name
and signature as the notary.
Dailykos
reports this today:
Some background:
The man in charge of South Dakota elections demanded answers about
questionable absentee ballot applications. KELOLAND news first
brought you the story Wednesday about applications that may have
been improperly notarized.
Hundreds of actual votes could be in question as a result of
this. Because if an absentee ballot request isn't valid, the
ballot won't be either. Secretary of State Chris Nelson wants to
keep that from happening. "I want to know what
happened," says Nelson.
Nelson asked the Brookings County State's Attorney to look into
reports a campaign volunteer, on the SDSU campus wasn't a
certified notary. Jeff Thune told KELOLAND TV his group notarized
75 absentee applications. But we checked. According to the state
Jeff Thune is not a certified notary. A spokesman for Thune's
campaign says Jeff Thune mis-spoke and didn't do anything wrong.
Except that Thune did not mispeak, and had, in fact done something
wrong. While criminal investigations are ongoing, the SD GOP did
some damage control and fired
a bunch of the people involved.
Tonight six people connected with the South Dakota republican
party have resigned over questions surrounding absentee ballot
applications.
The state director of the Republican Victory Program, Larry
Russell is one of them, along with state republican party employee
Eric Fahrendorf. Four independent contractors involved with the
absentee ballot applications also resigned. They are Joe Alick,
Nathan Mertz, Todd Schlekeway and Rachel Hoff.
Hoff was the notary whose signature and seal appeared on many
applications from KELOLAND college students. But several students
say only men were there when they filled out the forms.
Mount Marty student Cassandra Herout says, "All I know is
they were gonna have the form notarized or audited or something
before they sent it in. She was never present at all."
Jeff Thune doesn't appear to be in that bunch.
Now, the SD GOP has to verify each of the hundred of absentee
ballots, tying up time and money, all the while facing
investigations by both the secretary of state and attorney general's
offfices.
UPDATE 10/13/04:
Dailykos
also notes what former South Dakota Congressman Republican Bill
Janklow (who went to jail for a hit and run that killed someone) said:
And, being the state's most prominant Republican, these
words are huge [bold text is eRiposte emphasis]:
The former governor and congressman says the national GOP is
encouraging campaign workers to cheat. He says his ire is directed
at the Republican Party's Victory operation, which helps register
people and get them to the polls.
Janklow says his problem with the organization goes back to
2002 when he was a candidate for the US House.
UPDATE 10/16/04: Via
annac1aire
at Dailykos, here's an update on this scandal from the
Argus Leader - more College Republicans resign and 75 student
absentee ballot applications were never submitted by Thune to the
county auditor.
Seventy-five
applications for absentee ballots collected at South Dakota State
University by Jeff Thune, nephew of Republican Senate candidate John
Thune, were not completed and submitted to a county auditor, a state
Republican Party official said Friday.
"They were never notarized and never turned in, never filed with
an auditor," said Jason Glodt, the party's executive director.
That means the students who filled out the applications will have to
clear another hurdle to vote in the Nov. 2 general election.
In other developments Friday:
• The South Dakota Federation of College Republicans announced that
the chairman and executive director of the organization have resigned
amid questions about the absentee-ballot application process at
several South Dakota campuses.
• Three of the six state Republican Party workers who resigned late
last week are now working as field coordinators for the Republican
Party in Ohio, not for the Bush-Cheney campaign, according to Ohio
officials.
The controversy began last week after Jeff Thune set up a table in the
Larson Commons at SDSU to collect applications for absentee ballots.
He is not listed on a state register of certified notaries public, and
no notary was present when the applications were taken, according to
several students who filled them out.
The students said Jeff Thune told them their applications would be
notarized later.
An application for an absentee ballot must be accompanied by a copy of
a photo identification or a notarized statement confirming the voter's
identity.
State Republican Party employees are tracking down the 75 people who
applied for an absentee ballot with Jeff Thune to get photocopies of
their IDs so their applications can be made valid.
"It's a simple fix," Glodt said. "They are incomplete
until accompanied by a photo ID."
An investigation is under way in Brookings County, where the state
Division of Criminal Investigation has interviewed several people,
including Jeff Thune, who could not be reached for comment Friday
night.
The DCI report could come Monday, said Clyde Calhoon, Brookings County
state's attorney.
Jon Bierne, a DCI member, and Chris Nelson, secretary of state, said
there is no indication that Jeff Thune committed a crime.
Glodt agreed. "I don't believe he did anything wrong," Glodt
said. "He didn't notarize anything."
Reports of possible ballot-application irregularities have stretched
beyond Brookings to campuses in Clay, Yankton and Lawrence counties.
Students at those colleges have said young men obtained their
applications, but the documents were questioned when it was discovered
that several were notarized by Rachel Hoff of the state GOP's Victory
get-out-the-vote operation.
Six people involved with the Victory operation lost their jobs late
last week because of the questions about irregularities, including
Hoff and Larry Russell, Victory's executive director.
Russell and two of the others who resigned - Nathan Mertz and Todd
Schlekeway - are now working for the state Republican Party in Ohio,
said Jason Mauk, Ohio Republican Party spokesman.
"They are not with Bush-Cheney. They are working for the
party," Mauk said Friday. "Larry and the others are field
coordinators for our voter turnout in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland).
They work the phone banks, recruit and organize volunteer activities,
but they are not working in a supervisory capacity."
Brendon Cull, communications director for the Ohio Democratic Party
campaign, said he was surprised that the former campaign workers were
coming to Ohio.
"Clearly, these guys are bad enough actors that the GOP in South
Dakota didn't want them, and I don't really think they belong in
Ohio," Cull said. "Certainly, we hope they aren't up to
anything nefarious."
UPDATE 10/22/04: Via
Josh
Marshall, an update
in the Argus Leader:
Six Republican notary
publics face a misdemeanor charge in connection with absentee ballot
applications filled out on South Dakota college campuses, but
there's no evidence of voter fraud, Attorney General Larry Long said
Friday.
Long and Secretary of State Chris Nelson outlined a two-week
investigation in a document faxed to county auditors and state's
attorneys.
The document states "it is a near certainty that all absentee
voters that had their application notarized by one of the six
notaries" will be challenged in court.
"Lawyers who represent the Democrats have written to us and
told us that," Long told reporters.
Several attorneys have contacted him, he said.
He, Chris Nelson, Minnehaha County State's Attorney Dave Nelson and
Minnehaha County Auditor Sue Roust briefed reporters on the
investigation.
Five of the Republican notaries were charged in Minnehaha County
since the ballot applications were all processed in Sioux Falls,
even though some were gathered elsewhere.
Those five are: Joseph Alick, 28; Nathan Mertz, 20; Todd Schlekeway,
27; Rachel Hoff, 22; and Eric Fahrendorf, 24. Another GOP worker,
Jennifer Giannonatti, will be charged in Pennington County because
of ballots collected in Rapid City, Long said.
Campuses included in the investigation include South Dakota State,
University of South Dakota, Augustana College, Mount Marty College,
Black Hills State, Dakota State, Northern State and the School of
Mines & Technology.
Dave Nelson said the six are charged with improper use of a notary
commission, a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by up to a month in
jail and a $200 fine. They can also lose their notary licenses.
"Notary violations are very, very common" in government
and business, he said.
But unlike most cases that aren't prosecuted, the six were charged
because they made it possible for someone's vote not to count, Dave
Nelson said.
"The potential consequences of these acts are significant and
far reaching," he said.
The five charged in Sioux Falls are scheduled to make their first
court appearance next Friday. They are all cooperating, he said.
Most of the absentee ballot applications acquired by the Republican
get-out-the-vote effort were legal and there's no indication that
any unqualified voter tried to cast an absentee ballot, Long said.
The only people who broke the law are the six notaries who failed to
watch some people sign the documents, he said.
"Sometimes they did and sometimes they didn't," Long said.
"Everybody who's committed crimes has been charged," he
said. "We don't have any reason to believe there's anything
else out there."
The investigation didn't find a formal Republican Party policy that
encouraged workers to skirt the law, Long said. "What we found
was sloppy supervision." [eRiposte
note: Yeah, right! "Sloppy supervision".]
Larry Russell, who ran the GOP's get-out-the-vote program, resigned
earlier this month. Russell, who had sought the party's nomination
for a special U.S. House election in June, was replaced as head of
the Republican Victory operation by Herb Jones, manager of U.S.
Senate candidate John Thune's 2002 Senate bid.
Chris Nelson's office commissions the state's notaries, who are
legally public officials.
"There's six individuals that didn't take that responsibility
seriously and violated that trust," he said.
Chris Nelson said he wants to make sure no voter is disenfranchised
and that the Election Day vote count is not disrupted.
The document faxed to auditors asks them to compare voter
registration cards with absentee ballot applications to make sure
it's the same person. It also outlines how the local election board
should handle a challenge to a voter's identity.
Chris Nelson said that rarely happens but could this year.
According to Long and Chris Nelson's document, Hoff improperly
notarized 71 applications and about half of Giannonatti's 111 were
improper. The secretary of state said his office will contact those
182 applicants and ask each to submit a photo ID.
Alick improperly notarized about 60 applications. But since there's
no copy of the forms, all auditors have been asked to look for his
name, contact those applicants and ask for a copy of their photo ID.
Long and Chris Nelson said the investigation couldn't sort out all
applications done by Hoff, Giannonatti, Mertz, Fahrendorf and
Schlekeway, but the Republican Party wrote to about 1,400 applicants
and asked them to send in a photo copy of their ID to the county
auditor.
...
Long said he hopes that if any ballots are challenged in court, the
judge sides with the voter's right to be counted and agrees that the
solution was a valid way to fix problems caused by wayward notaries.
UPDATE 10/28/04
Via
jimbo2d2 at DailyKos, a report of a GOP official resigning after
being unhappy with the GOP's dirty tricks:
GOP
party official steps down
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -
With less than two weeks to go before next month's general
election, another South Dakota Republican Party leader is stepping
down.
Jan Nicolay, a member
of the party's executive board and a former state lawmaker, said
Thursday she is upset with some of the tactics being used in this
year's election.
Her resignation
comes in the wake of the recent resignations of six other people
connected to the party.
At issue are
questions students on some college campuses have raised about
whether absentee ballot applications were legally notarized.
Because of the
flap, Nicolay said some students have become disillusioned with
the political process and that's not right.
"It would be
easier to sit back and say and do nothing but at the same time I
couldn't do that," Nicolay told KELO-TV of Sioux Falls.
"I just think it's a disservice to the young people that are
probably for the first time getting involved or looking forward to
getting involved."
Nicolay said the
party did the right thing by enforcing a zero-tolerance policy,
but she said she still doesn't want to be involved anymore.
"I'm bothered.
We need to keep it clean. We need to protect this process. And
people that are involved in it need to understand that. The
candidates need to set the highest standard and say this is what
we need to do and I guess I don't think it's been done."
In a statement, the
party said it had already acted appropriately to address the
issues Nicolay raised.
UPDATE 10/30/04
Via Buzzflash, here's an
update:
Three
of the six people to be charged in connection with absentee ballot
applications pleaded guilty Friday in Sioux Falls.
A magistrate fined Joseph Alick, Todd Schlekeway and Rachel Hoff
$200 each and gave them a 30-day suspended jail sentence. They also
voluntarily gave up their notary public commissions.
Eric
Fahrendorf's hearing is set for Wednesday and Nathan Mertz's lawyer
rescheduled his first court appearance to Nov. 8.
The charges are misdemeanors.
Jennifer Giannonatti is to be charged in Rapid City, but no
complaint has yet been filed, officials said Friday.
The six former Republican campaign workers are accused of notarizing
some absentee ballot applications without seeing the voter sign the
document.
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