Obama Campaign Violations, possible Disenfranchisement in OH (Breaking) (Upate x1 for clarity)

Just breaking out of Ohio:

Courtesy of Marc Ambinder the Obama campaign has sent poll monitors out to challenge Clinton voters across Ohio who but those monitors are not properly credentialed.

They are only carrying a letter from Paul Tewes, Obama's Ohio State Director. It turns out that you need to be registered with a local judge to be "monitoring" polls.

From the Secretary of State's office:

To be allowed access to a polling location an observer must be duly appointed as an official observer and have an official observer certificate issued pursuant to R.C. 3505.21, which in part states: "Observers appointed to a precinct may file their certificates of appointment with the presiding judge of the precinct at the meeting on the evening prior to the election, or with the presiding judge of the precinct on the day of the election." Someone who wants to observe may present the attached letter in addition to the official observer certificate, but they must have the official observer certificate to legally gain entry.

These workers who are not legally in the polling locations are being thrown out by the Democratic Secretary of State.

The tactic is being compared to what the Ohio Republicans did in 2004.  Since when did Democrats have to worry about other Democrats aggressively disenfranchising our core voters?

Tags: Barack Obama (all tags)

Comments

47 Comments

the irony

of the Clinton campaign accusing others of trying to disenfranchise.  

by highgrade 2008-03-04 09:06AM | 0 recs
Re: the irony

Yes, very ironic since they told over 2,000,000 Democrats in FL and MI that they don't matter and shouldn't exist. Oh, wait, that was also Obama.

by rcipw 2008-03-04 09:14AM | 0 recs
Re: the irony

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0 308/Ohio_official_rejects_Obama_pollwatc her_letter.html

This is a much clearer explanation of what is going on. Obama's campaign seems a little disorganized today.

by americanincanada 2008-03-04 09:16AM | 0 recs
Re: the irony

Taylor Marsh also has it front-paged:

http://taylormarsh.com

by KnowVox 2008-03-04 10:18AM | 0 recs
Re: the irony

Obama runs the DNC?  Or is it that Obama decided to move their elections in violation of DNC rules?

by NJIndependent 2008-03-04 09:18AM | 0 recs
Re: the irony

I agree. This is basic enforcement of election law.

Its in the public interest to have the records of voting officials maintained to know who was at the ballot box.  - Hardly disenfranchisement by any means.

by AbeFroman 2008-03-04 09:16AM | 0 recs
History repeats itself

Obama has tried these tricks before:

"Obama hired fellow Harvard Law alum and election law expert Thomas
Johnson to challenge the nominating petitions of four other
candidates, including the popular incumbent, Alice Palmer, a liberal
activist who had held the seat for several years, according to an
April 2007 Chicago Tribune report.

Obama found enough flaws in the petition sheets -- to appear on the
ballot, candidates needed 757 signatures from registered voters
living within the district -- to knock off all the other Democratic
contenders. He won the seat unopposed.

"A close examination of Obama's first campaign clouds the image he
has cultivated throughout his political career," wrote Tribune
political reporters David Jackson and Ray Long. "The man now running
for president on a message of giving a voice to the voiceless first
entered public office not by leveling the playing field, but by
clearing it."

http://www.houstonpress.com/2008-02-28/n ews/barack-obama-screamed-at-me/

by KnowVox 2008-03-04 10:20AM | 0 recs
oh noes!

Obama challenges fake signatures? How can it be?

Note that courts agreed with Obama, who only insisted they follow the law.

by mattw 2008-03-04 10:31AM | 0 recs
Law Breaking

Let's "hope" Obama will reprimand his supporters who are breaking the law.

by KnowVox 2008-03-04 10:33AM | 0 recs
That assumes they are

This isn't very well supported at all yet. I don't approve of bad tactics at the polls, but a few quotes from the Clinton campaign do not a conspiracy make.

The only real attempt to disenfranchise anyone I've seen so far is Hillary's Nevada lawsuit. (The failure of which, ironically, allowed her to "win" the state).

by mattw 2008-03-04 10:38AM | 0 recs
Re: That assumes they are

Uh, asking the courts to decide an issue cannot be okay when Obama does it but disenfranchisement when Hillary does it.  You can't be for the rule of law only when it advantages your candidate.

by Steve M 2008-03-04 11:13AM | 0 recs
Re: That assumes they are

Sorry, it isn't a court, Obama's challenge went to an election board.

Also, Obama was asking the board to enforce the rules; Hillary was asking the court to change the rules. There's a difference.

by mattw 2008-03-04 11:20AM | 0 recs
Re: That assumes they are

Courts enforce the law, they don't make the law.  If the court had ruled the way you didn't want it to, it wouldn't mean they had changed the rules, it would mean that you were mistaken about what the rules required.

by Steve M 2008-03-04 11:33AM | 0 recs
Re: That assumes they are

Okay, you definitely have a point there. That said, there's something hypocritical about only suing at the last moment after a union endorsement causes you to believe you'll lose an area. Then there's the question of the ethics of launching a lawsuit on incredibly specious grounds; contesting rules that everyone agreed to ahead of time.

by mattw 2008-03-04 11:41AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Camp. Violations/Disenfranchisement in O

Its minor but it must be looked into by the clinton camp.

I think Obama would probably lose Ohio by a larger margin than expected today .

The Nafta deal has hurt him.

And in Texas all the people I know down there who said obama would win last week , are all predicting today that Hillary Clinton would win there.

The reason was they pointed to for the momentum shift was the 3 am ad.

by lori 2008-03-04 09:07AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Camp. Violations/Disenfranchisement in O

Local Texas news anchors this morning were stunned at the turnout in large Hispanic districts.

I wonder what this means for tonights results?

by njsketch 2008-03-04 09:08AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Camp

Who does the 'not properly credentialed' refer to? The Clinton voters or the Obama challengers? How would anyone know who is or is not a Clinton voter? The story needs to be fleshed out, with clearer syntax. Sourcing would be nice also.

by DaleA 2008-03-04 09:07AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Camp

It is sourced to the Atlantic blog by Ambinder, who has scanned copies of all relevant materials.

The Obama election spoilers monitors aren't properly credentialed!

In terms of "who Clinton voters" are --- obviously you don't know for sure but this is typical disenfranchisement tactics based on profiling.

by rcipw 2008-03-04 09:12AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Camp.

Lynn Utrecht, chief campaign counsel for Sen. Hillary Clinton, said that she'd recieved reports from the field of Obama poll workers being kicked out of precincts for aggressively challenging voters. Adding it up, she said, "and it's a pattern."

And Tina Flournoy, a Clinton campaign adviser, compared the conduct to that of Republicans in the 2004 election.

"It's a pretty sad thing that people we now have to worry about are fellow Democrats," she said.

"The Secretary of state is wrong on the facts," said Obama spokesperson Dan Pfeiffer. "We are correctly credentialed and are calling now to correct any misunderstanding tot he contrary."

by americanincanada 2008-03-04 09:09AM | 0 recs
by americanincanada 2008-03-04 09:12AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Camp. Violations/Disenfranchisement

If true, you'd have to think that this will backfire.

by MediaFreeze 2008-03-04 09:19AM | 0 recs
overzealous supporters

always screw things up.

by sepulvedaj3 2008-03-04 09:21AM | 0 recs
Re: overzealous supporters

yeah, look at the formerly great orange site.

by DaleA 2008-03-04 09:34AM | 0 recs
Re: overzealous supporters

It is hilarious, I cross-posted the diary there and they think it should be deleted for all the 'lies' in it, being unclear, etc.

They can't even process the notion that Obama might be bending the rules, even a millimeter.

by rcipw 2008-03-04 09:46AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Camp. Violations/Disenfranchisement

There's nothing anywhere that claims they're trying to disenfranchise anybody.  That's your own editorialization that you've made on the situation.  There was just some confusion about the credentials to be a poll monitor.  PLEASE STOP LYING.

Could this be the final dying breath of the vile Clinton smear machine?  Dare we dream, dare we dream...

by NJIndependent 2008-03-04 09:24AM | 0 recs
Every primary rumors come out...

... unless it amounts to more than a few scattered incidents, I wouldn't worry about it.

However, reading through the comments on Politico and Ambinder is eye-opening. There some commenters are certain that this is a dirty disenfranchisement scheme dreamed up by the Clinton campaign and the corrupt Democratic Ohio elected officials.

How far we've come since 2004. Remember then, when the Bush-Cheney folks were going to send poll observers to challenge voters in Ohio, and there was a last-minute flurry of lawsuits about it? Then, we all agreed that these poll observers were being sent to prevent people from voting. Here, well, apparently not letting them in is somehow preventing them from voting.

by OrangeFur 2008-03-04 09:25AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Camp.

It's interesting that the rules were in place i Ohio long ago. there was even a directive issues on Feb 25 to clarify the rules and make sure everyone knew what they were.

Obama knew the rules as did his campaign. this stinks of desperation.

by americanincanada 2008-03-04 09:28AM | 0 recs
No It Doesn't

Poll watchers are standard operating procedure. Kicking them out of polling places is a GOP tactic. Disenfranchisement, give me a f***ing break.

by HatchInBrooklyn 2008-03-04 09:41AM | 0 recs
Re: No It Doesn't

In 2004, the GOP wanted to use them in Ohio to challenge voters and prevent them from voting.

by OrangeFur 2008-03-04 09:47AM | 0 recs
Re: No It Doesn't

I guess someone should tell the Secretary of State that she's employing a GOP tactic.

Ohio is allowed to make laws about who can and can't be a poll watcher, you know.  If they have requirements, Obama's supporters are required to follow them like anyone else.

by Steve M 2008-03-04 09:48AM | 0 recs
Re: No It Doesn't

Where the heck have you been? We've been lacking a voice of reason around here lately.

by LakersFan 2008-03-04 10:23AM | 0 recs
Re: No It Doesn't

I was trapped in the snowy Midwest for a while, you must have missed my "canvassing Ohio" post.  My family has also moved to a state where our vote might be a little more important than it was in NY, so hey, we're doing our part.

by Steve M 2008-03-04 11:15AM | 0 recs
Re: No It Doesn't

I did miss your post and will try to find it. Thanks for doing the legwork in Ohio. Good to have you back.

by LakersFan 2008-03-04 11:17AM | 0 recs
Re: No It Doesn't

My comment was a bit tongue in cheek, the reality is that I was in Ohio on business, and found out that one of my colleagues in the state was voting for Clinton and the other one was voting for Obama.

I made a post characterizing this as a personal poll of Ohio which showed a dead-even race!

by Steve M 2008-03-04 11:31AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Camp. Violations/

The Texas situation is much, much worse.

Obama poll workers handing out caucus sign in sheets and collecting them, telling people they don't have to come back tonight. It is not legal to hand out those form before the caucus opens.

by americanincanada 2008-03-04 10:04AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Camp. Violations/

link?

by rcipw 2008-03-04 10:12AM | 0 recs
NM

Found it at the Taylor March link you gave.

That is unbelievable!

We will have to see how they are being held accountable and what recourse the actual caucus participants have.

by rcipw 2008-03-04 10:23AM | 0 recs
Re: NM

Taylor March Marsh

by rcipw 2008-03-04 10:25AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Camp. Violations/

www.talkleft.com

by americanincanada 2008-03-04 10:30AM | 0 recs
Re: Houston Violation
No links top back up your claims? Oh wait, youre linfar....
by John in Chicago 2008-03-04 10:06AM | 0 recs
Obama Camp. Violations/Disenfranchisement

Un Be Lie-vable!

Every day more his campaign hypocrisy astounds me.

by LindaSFNM 2008-03-04 10:20AM | 0 recs
the poll watcher

in my precinct in West Oakland was doing election protection.

The precinct went overwhelmingly for Obama. There would have been absolutely no reason for an election protection lawyer to contest voters and I saw nothing of the sort and heard of nothing of the sort.

If the Clinton campaign wants to turn "election protection" legal volunteers into "voter disenfranchisement" they will have to provide proof and not smears.

Lynn Utrecht, chief campaign counsel for Sen. Hillary Clinton, said that she'd recieved reports from the field of Obama poll workers being kicked out of precincts for aggressively challenging voters. Adding it up, she said, "and it's a pattern."

And Tina Flournoy, a Clinton campaign adviser, compared the conduct to that of Republicans in the 2004 election.

"It's a pretty sad thing that people we now have to worry about are fellow Democrats," she said.

That's from your Ambinder link.  That's not proof. That's nothing but accusations at this point.

You need more than that to claim disenfranchisement, much less prove it.

by kid oakland 2008-03-04 10:27AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Camp. Violations/Disenfranchisement in O

Guess this is the CHANGE we can look forward to with him in WH.

by gunner 2008-03-04 10:36AM | 0 recs
Updated for clarity

by rcipw 2008-03-04 10:39AM | 0 recs
Re: Houston Violation

I live in Cleveland. I see today "Obama supporters" removed Hillary signs and literally sat on them. It was really really disgusting.

by praxis1 2008-03-04 11:06AM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Campaign Violations, possible Disenfranc

Since (at least most) voters are not wearing a sign saying, Hillary, the original post makes a huge leap in stating would-be Obama observers are there to (a) challenge, and (b) specifically thwart Clinton supporters.

by John in Cincy 2008-03-04 12:11PM | 0 recs
Re: Obama Campaign Violations, possible Disenfranc

It's vote suppression 101: you go to precincts where your opponent is likely to do well and challenge/intimidate as many voters as you can.  It has to be a buck-shot approach since you never know who someone is going to vote for (the lack of signs and all, as you mention).

by rcipw 2008-03-04 12:41PM | 0 recs

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