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Here, I
use the definition of Swing 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).
VIRGINIA 11/1/04
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77. Dirty trick
previously reported in Pennsylvania also seen in email in Virginia. Fraudulent email
claims Republicans should vote on 11/2 and Democrats on 11/3. Reader
JT email this in:
Tonight I received
email from Mike Signer, the lawyer who is coordinating our election
protection team here. He mentioned that emails are circulating in
Virginia Beach from a "Mike Kennedy," with the subject
line: "American Greetings":
"Just a note to
say I hope you have registered to vote. I, in no way, want to
influence anyone's vote or try to impose my intellectual views
concerning the election. However, I do want to remind you of the
change made in the voting schedule due to the expected large turn
out this year.
Republicans will vote
on Tuesday, November 2nd.
Democrats will vote
on Wednesday, November 3rd."
I'd heard about that
email circulating in other parts of the country but didn't realize
it was being sent around in Virginia too. I'd think it's fraudulent
misrepresentation, and probably also violates some law or regulation
governing campaigning, although I'm a wireless telecommunications
lawyer --not an elections expert -- so I'm not sure.
10/21/04
[Permalink]
Virginia GOP State
Representative complains that Democratic Governor Mark Warner is
re-enfranchising ex-felons too fast and plans to bring up this issue
in next year's Gubernatorial campaign!
Via Votelaw, here's this
rather unbelievable report in the
Daily Press:
With Gov. Mark R.
Warner restoring the voting rights of felons at an unprecedented
pace, a Republican lawmaker is demanding an explanation and calling
for a legislative review.
Since Warner took office
in January 2002, he has given the vote back to 1,892 Virginia felons
who have served their prison time and completed probation. Virginia
is one of the most restrictive states for recover the voting rights
that are lost upon a felony conviction.
In a tersely worded letter to the Secretary of the Commonwealth's
office, Del. Brad Marrs, R-Chesterfield, asked for copies of the
files of all applications Warner has approved. The secretary's
office reviews the applications and sends them to the governor's
office.
Marrs asked the office to confirm a news report that Warner had
approved 65 reinstatements in the final week of September, "a
rate of 13 per business day or over 1{ per hour."
"If confirmed, these facts indicate that the level of review
being undertaken by your office is inadequate," Marrs wrote.
He also said that while efforts have been made to make it easier for
felons to regain the right to vote "as a matter of course at
the end of their incarcerations, the legislature has specifically
rejected those arguments. I believe the General Assembly would look
askance at any efforts to bypass its policy-making authority at this
point."
The governor has exclusive and unfettered constitutional authority
in Virginia to restore the civil rights of felons. Warner
streamlined voting-rights restoration for nonviolent felons after
hearing in his 2001 campaign for governor that people who had done
their time and were lawful citizens faced a daunting paper chase and
an indifferent or hostile bureaucracy in seeking their rights back.
"It was a very time-consuming and paper-intensive
process," said Kevin Hall, Warner's deputy press secretary.
"What we're doing is not automatic. The applications are still
closely reviewed, the records are checked and then it goes to the
governor's counsel and finally to the governor himself," Hall
said.
"The governor just feels that people who have paid their debt
to society and resumed productive, law-abiding lives should have the
opportunity to participate."
Of Warner's nearly 1,900 restorations, 1,100 have been this year,
said Secretary of the Commonwealth Anita A. Rimler. Warner has
denied 114 applications. She said Warner inherited more than 530
applications that previous administrations had failed to act upon.
"Some of these files had been submitted during Governor
(George) Allen's administration" that ended in 1998, she said.
Warner has already restored the voting rights to more inmates than
any governor in at least 34 years, according to records from
Rimler's office. Only Chuck Robb, who restored rights to 1,180
felons, topped 1,000. Warner's immediate predecessor, Jim Gilmore,
restored the fewest: 238.
Marrs demanded files from Rimler's office that show whose voting
rights Warner restored, why they had gone to prison and what their
lives had been like since their release. He also said he intended to
"organize a group of concerned legislators" to review the
files.
A bill that would have provided an alternative to gubernatorial
reinstatement for released felons who want to vote was approved
overwhelmingly by the Senate but died in the House in February. Had
it passed, Virginians would have voted next month on a
constitutional amendment necessary to make the change.
If lawmakers want to curb the governor's authority to restore voting
rights, that also requires a constitutional amendment.
The dispute is being burnished for partisan use in next year's
elections for governor and all 100 House seats.
"More realistically, this may be an issue for the next campaign
because it defines the attitudes of a governor toward crime and
criminals, and that may be something we need to point to and go to
(Democrat Tim) Kaine and (Republican Jerry) Kilgore and ask how
would you use this discretion," Marrs said.
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