Elections and law enforcement officials are investigating a growing number of potentially fraudulent voter registrations in Hampton Roads, just months before the November elections.
In Hampton, three people already have been charged with voter fraud.
The Norfolk voter registrar has turned over a number of suspicious voter applications to police and prosecutors and continues to flag others. In Virginia Beach, the registrar’s office is examining some questionable applications.
Statewide, 10 localities have reported irregularities to the State Board of Elections.
Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Jeff Frederick on Monday called on Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and Attorney General Bob McDonnell to open a statewide investigation into “what appears to be coordinated and widespread voter fraud activities.”
Hampton police last week charged Brittany Wyatt and Jessica Lemon, both 18-year-olds who live in Newport News, with one count of voter fraud, spokeswoman Cpl. Allison Good said. Anthony House, 22, was charged with four counts of voter fraud.
The three worked for a nonprofit group, Community Voters Project, hired to sign up voters. Employees were required to meet a daily quota of completed applications, Good said.
Information on at least 60 forms has been questioned by officials.
“I encourage people to take voter registration applications seriously,” said Elisa J. Long, general registrar in Norfolk. “Some people treat it like registering to win a car at Wal-Mart.”
“They are legal documents – you can be prosecuted for mishandling them.”
Voter fraud is a felony, and a conviction carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $2,500 fine.
Long said some of the irregularities spotted so far in Norfolk include multiple applications under a single name, applications taken over the phone and applications filled out and signed by someone other than the named registrant.
She said the applications under investigation in Norfolk were also collected by the Community Voters Project.
Frederick said voter registration fraud undermines democratic election principles.
He said the three people charged in Hampton were working for a “front group for a number of left-wing causes.” But Frederick denied any political motivation in calling for an investigation.
“All we’re doing, again, is to try to ensure the integrity of the process,” Frederick said.
Democrat state party chairman C. Richard “Dickie” Cranwell said Virginia does not have widespread voter fraud problems.
“Virginia has had a long, long tradition of a pristine election process,” he said, adding that those who suggest otherwise are “puffing political wares.”
Kaine and McDonnell representatives said the appropriate authorities – the State Board of Elections and local prosecutors – are handling the ongoing investigations.
An alert registrar in Hampton first noticed the discrepancies that were traced back to the three individuals facing charges, State Board of Elections Secretary Mary Rodrigues said.
“The system worked,” she said. “The safeguards are in place.”
Frederick also expressed concern that registration fraud could expose victims to identity theft. The forms require a Social Security number, birth date and address.
“People must exercise extreme caution when putting their private information into the hands of a stranger, for obvious reasons,” he said.
Staff writers Julian Walker and Cindy Clayton contributed to this story.
Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com
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Mary…
Yes, it is hard, but made even more so when the issue is as politicized as this one is. Voter ID is only burdensome for poor people. Poor people mostly vote Democratic.
We cannot even agree on what kind of machine to vote on in the country. It should be a simple matter to vote electronically with a paper receipt for recounts. But there are powerful people who eschew the paper backup, so it becomes another source of voting fraud.
Len!
How do people without picture ID's get registered to vote in the first place?
Maybe whatever they used then (electric bill? tax bills?) could be used again when they go to vote? I don't know--this is a very hard topic in this age of identity theft. Cheers, MGM
Voting is a right, not a privilege
There are a large number of people (mostly poor, some minorities, many elderly) who don't have the ID structure that most of us have. No driver's license, maybe born at home without proper documentation or that documentation was long ago lost, etc. They probably worked hard, never made much money and live a long ways from State Offices or Registrars and the like. Yet, they are citizens, and probably paid some payroll taxes, sales taxes, income taxes and all the other fees attributed to living here. They have a right, and a responsibility, to vote for someone to represent them in various local, state and federal governments.
Now if we have widespread voter fraud, we need to come up with a solution that is no more onerous for the poor than it is for the rest of us. And that, by the way, should include having elections either on a day off or Saturdays. Right now, working people have an hour or two in the morning and the same after work, whereas the the non-working have all day. Makes no sense.
Supreme Court already ruled
Dannyb, thank you for the link. Upon further research, in April of this year, the US Supreme Court upheld the Voter ID law of Indiana.
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-21.pdf
Justice Stevens (Oh My!) wrote the majority opinion and made some very remarkable statements (section II) that cut to the core of the issue...voter fraud.
I am very impressed with the opinion. Very balanced.
Phrog
I agree but http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297956,00.html
Supreme Court Will Hear Indiana Voter I.D. Discrimination Case
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to decide whether voter identification laws unfairly deter the poor and minorities from voting, stepping into a contentious partisan issue in advance of the 2008 elections.
The justices will hear arguments early next year in a challenge to an Indiana law that requires voters to present photo ID before casting their ballots. The state has defended the law as a way to combat voter fraud.
The state Democratic party and civil rights groups complained that the law unfairly targets poor and minority voters, without any evidence that in-person voter fraud exists in Indiana. The party argued that those voters tend to be Democrats.
dannyb
How does presenting a valid identification with proof of registry discriminate? I don't understand the logic in that. If a valid ID and proof of voter registration is presented, then you vote. Period.
Maybe I vote in a precinct that does have that issue.
Only one place to register.
I agree with dannyb.
If you want to get a drivers license you have to go to the DMV. If you want to get a pilots license you have to go to the FAA.
If you want to have the privilege to be a deciding vote for this country's destiny, you go to the registrar. We sure do know how to play fast and loose with how to making voting privileges available. It’s time for integrity in our election system. Show a PICTURE identification with proof of citizenship, it goes into a national database, and – whala – you only register once, you only register if you are a citizen, and you only register when you meet all the criteria. Please spare me of the “voting is a right” argument. Voting is not only a privilege, it is a responsibility and not to be taken lightly. You don’t get behind the wheel of a car and just drive – unless you are properly educated and licensed and know how to drive the car (I know, bad example for around here).
Mr. Brown
I agree 100%, but some say that asking for an ID discriminates against minorities. I'm surprised no one has challenged it here in VA. Though were I vote it is selectively enforced.
How do I expect my leader to act?
Politely say "excuse me" and get out and speak with his advisors to get a grip on the situation. He is not getting clear information when he is reading a children's book. And kiddy is a variation of kiddie.
It's spelled "kiddie"
Oh lord have mercy, here we go...what was Bush supposed to do? Scream and run and scare a bunch of kids? Instead he sat there calmly, as he shoud have, until the information was clear and he could make his exit. What am I saying, of course he can't do anything right, so you same people would've been criticizing him if he flipped out!
That's neither here nor there and has nothing to do with this article anyway. I agree with the poster who wrote about ACORN. Do some research. This story isn't a first...
caspar... "What would Gore have done?"
Would Gore have sat there frozen in fear, reading his little kiddy book like Bush did?
Simple
Show a legal picture ID and vote. No ID no vote. I guess then we’d never see another democrat steal an election if that was to happen.
That's just crazy...
...Wal-Mart doesn't give away cars
The 'old fashioned way...
To Michelle S.
It would be so refreshing to know there are many others in my own neighborhood that feel as I do about the state of our country. Alas, I encounter them only piecemeal in my travels about town.
However, all you've said may be very true, the system is antiquated.
I have to add "seriously corrupted" by those who would be 'elected' as the perpetuators and beneficiaries of the system. Sad!
Anyway, I also earn my living the 'old fashioned way', and it is not too far a stretch to say there aren't too many actually earning what they receive these days…Ergo, the over burdened system of entitlements. That's why they regularly appear to vote and further siphon off the system...another sad fact.
Re: this Comment Thread, those (Regular Citizens) that would love to have a say in the media stream are not allowed either the time or space to fully express their views…but it's beginning to happen just the same.
God Save America from itself!
Thanks for your response…
Hello, nomad215
You say you don't know me, but you can never be sure. Maybe we attend church or went to school together. Perhaps we live on the same block.
Like yourself, I was as an election official for many years. Yes, there are many with no clue as to how the system works, but at least they get out there. Where would our country be if we were to allow only the well-informed to participate in the election process? *shudder*
The electoral college is an antiquated system that, when created, was meant to go hand-in-hand with the popular vote. This idea is backed up by that 'of the people, by the people, for the people' notion set forth by our God-fearing founding fathers. Recent elections have proven the system is no longer valid/reliable.
To answer your burning questions, I receive my income from the following sources:
1. a paycheck which I wholeheartedly earn as an educator, and
2. dividends from various investments.
As for your suggestion I back up what I say with published facts, the Pilot leaves us too little room. Besides, so many others wait eagerly to set me straight, prove me wrong or just crack me up. Using published facts would take far too much of my time and take away fr
Voter Registration Scandal
What's the bigger scandal: A handful of college students who were careless so had to doctor voter registration forms in order to make their "quota" or a United States Department of Justice under the leadership of Ashcroft and Gonzalez that systematically frustrated the efforts of groups that tried to increase voter registration in mostly minority (read Democratic) communities? Bob McDonnell has an agenda; these young people are simply easy targets.
Yeah, but no one said it would be fair . . .
I tend to be an R most elections, but it doesn't at all make me mad nor surprise me that the amphitheater indie concerts have people with Obama pins on registering voters and prescreening them for their views.
Remember, if someone really wants to vote, there are places all over the city where they can drive themselves to register.
And there are probably venues where the R's could try the same registration thing, like symphony concerts.
In the end, there are people who will only register and vote if someone makes it totally effortless on their part. Meaning, the people at the indie concerts would have to stop by their house and drive them to the polls on election day! Cheers, MGM
We all know the party
just by them not putting it in the story. If it were Rep. it would be the Headline. geeze and little balance please!!
So maybe a few voters are mis-registered
It is plenty of time to have the mistakes corrected. What is wrong with registering new voters? Are you afraid of change-and better government? Come on-This is America not Iran! So is Virginia now going to purge voter lists?
It seems like the Voter Project was wrong to have a daily quota on number of registrations as this could encourage submitting false registrations.
As far as "johnl"'s comment on the NY state 15th congressional district, the results on Feb 5, 2008 were:
HRC: 60,573 votes, BHO: 53,165 votes.
The "Google" is amazing!
misspoke, sorry
Sorry, I didn't mean to say that there was no fraud. There was obviously fraud committed by these young people. Whether or not it's part of an organized conspiracy is what is in question.
jmo
matt22
I'm as anti-Obama as they come but I see no proof of fraud or conspiracy, neither in the news stories nor in your posts.
An investigation is being conducted and I'm satisfied to wait for the results before I make assumptions. If you are proven right I'll join you in your condemnation - but not before.
jmo
machine politics in a state he has to win
poster: "..One of the biggest problems with politics is that people make all kinds of accusations without proof. Let's get some proof before we compare this issue to southside Chicago politics, OK?"
---------------------------------
you have to admit that there appear to be some coincidences, no?
the Obama campaign, and the political media have all said that Virginia would be a key state for Obama to capture in November.
he just needs to get out the vote.
and that's where the 'non-profit' organization, operating in Newport News comes in.
does anyone know what Obama did as a community organizer? the same thing that these people are doing here.. he tried to get out the vote in Chicago, any way that he could.
voteI
I was recently at a concert at the va beach ampitheater and saw some kids dressed like hippies who probably had not showered in over a week signing up people to vote. They were decked out in their Obama gear and actually overheard some of them "pre screening" applicants before they gave them the sheet. They were making sure the applicant would vote for Obama and not Mccain.
Politics 2008
It takes a community to rig an election.
shallow analysis?
Maybe...But until proven otherwise I wont jump to the conclusion that liberals are involved in some deep conspiracy to taint the Hampton Roads voting pool. If there was proof otherwise I'd be among the first to point fingers.
One of the biggest problems with politics is that people make all kinds of accusations without proof. Let's get some proof before we compare this issue to southside Chicago politics, OK?
jmo
this is why
You should only be allowed to register downtown at the City Registrar.
Research ACORN
Those of you who believe this is getting blown out of proportion and it's just a couple of kids trying to make some cash need to do some research on ACORN (who is the backer for this front organization) and Saul Alinsky and the connection between them and the DNC.... It's not just local it's nationwide and you are being robbed of your voice in all elections...
No fear of young people voting at all!
I would love to see every elgible person vote, in fact I think they should. However, I think they should know what the issues are and what the views of the person they are voting for are before going to the polls. I would love to see young people get more interested in government at all levels so that they will be responsible and informed leaders. Instead we're ending up with a bunch of registered voters that have no clue who or what they are voting for. Ask ten people around you who the president, vice president, speaker, whip, their congressman, their senator, their mayor or their councel person is. Changes are few of them could answer more than one of the questions.
"Sounds to me like there are
"Sounds to me like there are some people who would like to limit who's eligible to vote suggesting that organizations such as "Rock the Vote" should not exist. It appears you may be afraid young people may not vote for your candidate. They may be more informed than you think."
I don't care who young people vote for, but I want to see them registered once to vote, not several times to vote in different states or with different names. Have you ever heard of honesty and integrity or have those concepts gone by the wayside and been replaced by the concept of "win at all costs even if you have to cheat?"
Community Organizers - et al!
Poster 'matt22', thanks for your perspective. It begins to sink in as the real truths are 'dug up' from the past.
HEY, what a coincidence! Obama is a former Chicago community organizer. hmmmmm.......
Be wary...be very wary of the direction of our country...and it's persistent separation away from that upon which we were founded - and still believe in.