10-18-2008, 03:57 PM
I served as a voter registrar in the last election cycle, but I've been too busy with my "real" job to do anything this cycle. Anyway, it's the registrar's job to verify the voter's US citizenship and place of residence, and the registrar co-signs the registration application. Willard should have a list of all the voter registrars deputized through her office, though I believe she is legally obligated to process applications turned in by other registrars. For example, I'm deputized in Lake County, but I can register voters at my workplace in Cook County. IIRC, I would still send the form to Willard, who would then forward it to the proper county. Any applications that come in from anyone other than your deputized registrars should be doubly scrutinized as a matter of course.
Now...I don't want to trivialize this matter, but just because a bunch of bogus registrations came in, it doesn't necessarily follow that there will be massive fraud at the polls. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say that the person who filled out these registration applications was getting paid by the number, leading him/her to fabricate voters out of whole cloth. It's questionable whether each false registration will automatically result in a person showing up at the polls on Election Day claiming to be "Princess" or "Fido."
Also, my partisan spidey-sense is tingling on this one. In a year when we're looking at a possible electoral landslide for the Democratic candidate, NOW all of a sudden we have REPUBLICAN election officials oh-so-concerned about election fraud. Where were they 4 years ago when hundreds of urban Ohio voters were disenfranchised because of sparsely-distributed and broken-down voting machines? Where were they 8 years ago when we had the debacle in Florida? How come they're up in arms over someone registering a goldfish, but there's not a peep of outrage when someone is turned away at the polls because he's been mistakenly identified as a felon and purged from the rolls?
I hereby address this shout-out to Ms. Helander: HEY, WILLARD! I'm still a deputized registrar. If you want someone to help you sort through those applications and verify addresses, CALL ME. In other words, put up or shut up.
Oh, and another thing: I have a friend who early-voted at the Libertyville Township location, and there was *NO* ballot box judge, meaning that anyone who over/under-voted wasn't rightfully informed of their right to re-cast their ballot. Ahem, someone needs to make sure her own house is in order before casting aspersions on others. :twisted:
Now...I don't want to trivialize this matter, but just because a bunch of bogus registrations came in, it doesn't necessarily follow that there will be massive fraud at the polls. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say that the person who filled out these registration applications was getting paid by the number, leading him/her to fabricate voters out of whole cloth. It's questionable whether each false registration will automatically result in a person showing up at the polls on Election Day claiming to be "Princess" or "Fido."
Also, my partisan spidey-sense is tingling on this one. In a year when we're looking at a possible electoral landslide for the Democratic candidate, NOW all of a sudden we have REPUBLICAN election officials oh-so-concerned about election fraud. Where were they 4 years ago when hundreds of urban Ohio voters were disenfranchised because of sparsely-distributed and broken-down voting machines? Where were they 8 years ago when we had the debacle in Florida? How come they're up in arms over someone registering a goldfish, but there's not a peep of outrage when someone is turned away at the polls because he's been mistakenly identified as a felon and purged from the rolls?
I hereby address this shout-out to Ms. Helander: HEY, WILLARD! I'm still a deputized registrar. If you want someone to help you sort through those applications and verify addresses, CALL ME. In other words, put up or shut up.
Oh, and another thing: I have a friend who early-voted at the Libertyville Township location, and there was *NO* ballot box judge, meaning that anyone who over/under-voted wasn't rightfully informed of their right to re-cast their ballot. Ahem, someone needs to make sure her own house is in order before casting aspersions on others. :twisted: