PA GOP Describes Special Election Irregularities in Letter to PA SOS

The Republican Party of Pennsylvania asked acting Secretary of the Commonwealth Robert Torres to investigate several "irregularities" during last Tuesday's special election in the 18th Congressional District.  Democrat Conor Lamb won the race by just 627 votes over Republican Richard Saccone, a small enough margin that even a relatively small number of confused or disenfranchised voters could change the outcome of the race.

An attorney and authorized campaign representative was prevented from observing vote counting in Allegheny County:

First, an authorized campaign attorney, Russell Giancola, presented several forms of permissible credentials but was prevented from observing the computation of the vote count in Allegheny County Tuesday night. . . . While attorney Giancola was finally able to obtain this compliance with the inappropriate preconditions, the delay deprived the campaign of the right to have counsel present during the computation reporting process.

Allegheny and Washington Counties failed to provide the notice to military and overseas voter required by the Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act.  Voting machines were not calibrated properly:

Third, we received multiple complaints throughout the 18th Congressional District regarding calibration issues involving the voting machines.  Numerous voters have called the Party and the Saccone campaign to complain that they selected Rick Saccone on the voting screen, only for Conor Lamb to appear on the confirmation screen.  It is our understanding that some of these issues were not resolved during the Special Election.

Poll workers failed to follow provisional ballot procedures:

Fourth, the Party received numerous complaints about voters not appearing on the voter rolls, and being denied the ability to cast a provisional ballot at their polling place.  In at least one instance, a voter was denied a provisional ballot at his precinct and directed to vote at his prior precinct in the neighboring county where he used to reside before moving several months ago.  This violates voters rights under the Help America Vote Act and Commonwealth's implementing statutes and regulations. In addition, given the closeness of this election, denial of the right to vote for even a small number of eligible voters could cast the outcome of this election into doubt.

When the Democrat-controlled Pennsylvania Supreme Court instituted a new congressional district map last month, it kept the previous lines for Special Election.  Both U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania declined to overturn that new map today (more about that on this blog tomorrow).  When voters tried to search for their polling place, they were incorrectly shown polling places under the new map:

Finally, as your office was made aware on election day, the Department of State's website www.votespa.com errantly directed voters to polling places matched to their address under the recently imposed Pennsylvania Supreme Court map . . . rather than the congressional district lines in use for the Special Election.  Since election day, we have heard from potential voters in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District who attempted to vote but were informed that they did not live in the district any longer. 

This illustrates some of the ills of court-ordered district maps - they create confusion for voters, generate administrative hassles (and opportunities for errors) for election officials, and disrupt constituencies mid-term.

We hope that the Pennsylvania Department of State takes these allegations seriously and investigates these irregularities so that the integrity of future elections is not called into question.

More Liberal Voter Suppression: This Time Military Voters

The liberal Center for American Progress has issued studies and claimed to be against voter suppression.  Yet, they have remained silent about the real voter suppression occurring in Philadelphia and now, even worse, they are actively advocating suppression of the military vote.   

The left-wing public policy group [Center for American Progress] issued a report Monday, “Election Security in All 50 States,” that called for stricter standards to prevent cybermeddling in elections by foreign governments, including banning military stationed abroad from submitting ballots via email or fax.

One state that allows such vote casting is Colorado. The center called on the state to “prohibit voters stationed or living overseas from returning voted ballots electronically.”

As Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams responded:

But Williams believes the Center for American Progress was wrong to ding Colorado for allowing voters who are stationed or live overseas to return their ballots electronically via email or fax.

“They don’t believe someone who works on a submarine should be allowed to vote,” Williams said. “We do.”

The report states: “Colorado should prohibit voters stationed or living overseas from returning voted ballots electronically. Regardless of the state’s secure ballot return system for electronically voted ballots, we recommend that all voted ballots be returned by mail or delivered in person.”

That’s not always possible, Williams said, and noted that Colorado has added safeguards for sending and receiving those ballots.

Colorado ranks second in the nation in the number of ballots transmitted to overseas voters based on its voting eligible population.

Just as Center for American Progress ignores voter suppression of non-Democrat voters in Philadelphia such as Green, Independent, and Republicans because it favors Democrats, it seems the reason for the attack on military voters is because they lean Republican:

 Conservatives were quick to blast the report’s recommendation as unworkable and politically motivated.

“You can bet that if the military historically voted Democrat instead of Republican, the Center for American Progress would not have a problem with it,” Peak said in a Monday post.

Voter suppression should be opposed by all regardless of party.  Whether it is intercity Green Party voters or our overseas military that is suppressed, no group should ignore or support voter suppression.  Shame on the Center for American Progress.  

Q and A with Florida Representative Paul Renner, a former RNLA Chapter Leader

1. Did being so involved in RNLA as a leading authority on military voting and a chapter leader help you?
   
   

Rep. Renner:  During my participation in RNLA, including as Chair of the Florida Chapter during the 2010 election, it became increasingly clear that our state legislatures play a critical role in making it easier to vote, but harder to cheat.  During the campaign, a number of our statewide RNLA members supported our campaign through donations and by making helpful introductions.  I stay in close contact with our RNLA members on potential areas for reform and will continue to seek their helpful ideas going forward.

2. Any favorite memories of your time with RNLA that you would like to share? 

Rep. Renner:  I especially enjoyed RNLA’s annual Election Law Conference.  It provides an opportunity to connect with like-minded attorneys around the country and visit them in their hometown.  Thanks to RNLA, I have visited San Antonio, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Grand Rapids and other great cities.  The conferences are a great resource.  If you have never attended, I strongly recommend that you do.

3. How did your experience in the military influence you?

Rep. Renner: Without question, my service in the military instilled in me a deep commitment to public service.  It also provided a level of discipline that serves you well when you are knocking on doors in the near 100 degree heat of our Florida summers.

4. What more needs to be done to ensure that our overseas military have the opportunity to vote?

Rep Renner: We need to continue to leverage technology and find a secure mechanism for military members to vote while preventing any opportunity for fraud.  Through the use of the military’s common access card (CAC) as well as fingerprint technology in use today, we should look for ways to eliminate the time delay experienced by men and women serving overseas who want to vote.  The time delay in sending and receiving a mailed absentee ballot often results in a vote that never gets counted.  Until we settle on a secure form of electronic voting for those serving overseas, we need to continue to work with DoD to expedite the delivery of mailed ballots.

5. What are your legislative priorities right now? What are you working on?

Rep. Renner: We have a great group of conservatives in the Florida House.  Those of us who are new to the chamber have been in discussions about big, consequential conservative reforms that we can promote, including tax and regulatory reform, expanding school choice, and working to restore federalism by pushing back against the federal government’s overreach.

6. How can Florida Republican lawyers help the legislature in the future?

Rep. Renner: We need our RNLA attorneys to provide ideas for policy reforms, support candidates running for office and even consider running themselves.

Will the Ebola Czar Abuse the Military Again?

Ron Klain is being criticized in some quarters for his lack of health care background for his being named Obama’s Ebola Czar.  For those with memories of the 2000 election cycle, there may be concerns about how he will treat the military. 

You see, Ron Klain was the General Counsel of the 2000 Gore Campaign Recount Committee where he led an unprecedented effort to disenfranchise military voters.  The position was so extreme even the Democrat Vice Presidential Nominee Joe Liebermann refused to back the position.  As chronicled in the 2001 book “At Any Cost” on the efforts of lawyers led by Klain:

And yet, incredibly, they continued to file hypertechnical objections to hundreds of ballots, refusing to withdraw them even in the face of overwhelming public opposition.  Gore officials vainly tried to distance themselves from these continued objections, but it was now clear that the Vice President’s own lawyers were explicitly directing the anti-military effort.

Klain was trying to win the presidency for Gore by disenfranchising our military!  Klain’s disdain for the military is relevant in his current role since our troops are literally in the front line in the fight against Ebola in Liberia. 

Whether Klain will properly respect and treat the military in his role as Ebola Czar is a legitimate question.  If his history in disenfranchising our troops is any indicator, we have reason to be worried.   

No More Democrat Hacks at FVAP

Christian Adams wrote a fascinating post last week on the Federal Voting Assistance Project (FVAP).  FVAP is in charge of the military vote and by any standard a failure.

Actual participation of military voters in the 2010 and 2012 election, as measured by cast ballots, was a joke.  Prisoners in Vermont participated at higher rates than the enlisted serving overseas.

Christian makes many good points in his article. I would only add the failures at FVAP at some level come down to partisanship.  As the military is perceived to vote more Republican, Democrat hack staffers are going to suppress the vote of those voters.  

Christian quotes an LA Times article that identified Paddy McGuire, the Deputy of the Election Official Assistance as a Democrat political “hack” and then describes what Paddy does now. 

Paddy McGuire knows that registering all soldiers at intake would favor Republicans, so they suppress this simple solution. Seems odd doesn't it, when anyone who applies for any kind of federal benefit - like food stamps, welfare payments and such - is asked if they want to register to vote - over and over again, each time they show up. Not newly enlisted military are disenfranchised and their votes are nixed because of poor leadership, incompetence and bureaucratic bungling. Voting rights are a hot topic in the mainstream media, but you won't find a single election law "blogger" or advocate outside of the Military Voter Protection Project advocating this simple solution of registration at intake for military voters.

FVAP needs qualified people with election experience above partisanship.  Until then, all those who write about vote suppression, should cover the suppression of the military vote by bureaucrats like Paddy McGuire at FVAP. 

The Military Voter’s Disenfranchisement

13.8 percent of military voters tried to vote but could not finish the process.  21.6 percent – which comprises over one-fifth of military voters - did not receive their ballots.  These were the results of a survey from the 2012 election conducted by the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Disenfranchisement of military voters is a tragedy that the government sought to avoid by passing legislation in 2010.  The Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act)'s intent is to protect military voters, but if the law is not implemented and enforced, it fails to serve that purpose.

The Justice Department failed to put pressure on critical states that were not sending out military ballots on time.  In Wisconsin and Michigan, there were counties that failed to send out their ballots.  The state authorities sued the localities and political campaigns tried to sue to enforce the law, but the Justice Department conveniently ignored these swing states.

The Obama administration has a history of ignoring military voters.  This can be seen in the 2010 election where the administration avoided critical states and tried to justify they were enforcing the law by focusing on small territories like Guam.

All military voters, including those in large swing states, deserve to receive their ballots and have the ability to complete the process.