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Has anyone recently tried to register you for the Presidential election?

aREDSKIN

By aREDSKIN
in The Tailgate

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aREDSKIN

aREDSKIN

Posted
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Felons Paid in Voter Registration Drive

Political Group Paid Felons to Conduct Door-To-Door Voter Registration Drives in Least 3 States

The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. June 23, 2004 — A Democratic group crucial to John Kerry's presidential campaign has paid felons some convicted of sex offenses, assault and burglary to conduct door-to-door voter registration drives in at least three election swing states.

America Coming Together, contending that convicted criminals deserve a second chance in society, employs felons as voter canvassers in major metropolitan areas in Missouri, Florida, Ohio and perhaps in other states among the 17 it is targeting in its drive. Some of the felons lived in halfway houses, and at least four returned to prison.

ACT canvassers ask residents which issues are important to them and, if they are not registered, sign them up as voters. They gather telephone numbers and other personal information, such as driver's license numbers or partial Social Security numbers, depending on what a state requires for voter registration.

Felons on probation or parole are ineligible to vote in many states. Doug Lewis, executive director of the Election Center, which represents election officials, said he is unaware of any laws against felons registering other people to vote.

A review of federal campaign finance and state criminal records by The Associated Press revealed that the names and hometowns of dozens of ACT employees in Missouri, Florida and Ohio matched those of people convicted of crimes such as burglary, forgery, drug dealing, assault and sex offenses.

Although it works against the re-election of President Bush, ACT is an independent group not affiliated with the Kerry campaign federal law forbids such coordination. Yet ACT is stocked with veteran Democratic political operatives, many with past ties to Kerry and his advisers.

ACT plans to spend about $100 million on initiatives to get out the vote for the presidential election, which likely will turn on how well Kerry and Bush can get their supporters to the polls.

ACT does not believe the felons it sends door to door pose a threat to the public, said Mo Elleithee, a Washington-based spokesman for the group.

"We believe it's important to give people a second chance," Elleithee said. "The fact that they are willing to do this work is a fairly serious indication that they want to become productive members of society."

Although ACT asks job applicants to cite their criminal history and hires some felons and not others, Elleithee would not reveal how many felons ACT has hired to canvass neighborhoods and register voters. They earn $8 to $12 per hour.

Elleithee confirmed that felons have been hired in Missouri, Florida and Ohio and said it is possible that felons have been hired in the other 14 states in which it's conducting its drive: Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Citing security concerns for the public and for the felons, the Missouri Department of Corrections in April banished ACT from its pool of potential employers for parolees in its halfway houses in Kansas City and St. Louis, department spokesman John Fougere said. Five ACT employees lived at the Kansas City Community Release Center and two others at the St. Louis Community Release Center earlier this year.

"From a public safety standpoint, we didn't want offenders to be in a situation where they would be handling that information," Fougere said. Officials also were concerned the door-to-door campaign would put felons at greater risk of false accusations, he said.

Among the ACT employees in Ohio was a woman convicted of sexual contact with a minor. She completed her parole 12 years ago.

"If she was still on parole that job wouldn't have been approved," said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Correction. "People who have been out of prison and haven't had any other problems with law enforcement, they should be given that second chance to be viable citizens."

In Florida, most felons released from prison are not on parole or probation. "If they're released from our custody and there is no other supervision ... we can't prohibit them from taking a job like this," said Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Corrections.

ACT adopted a policy against employing violent felons this spring, Elleithee said, but he declined to release the policy or to describe what the group considered violent.

"We're constantly looking internally to better our hiring practices," he said. "But the bottom line is we would never hire anyone who we felt was a threat to anyone else."

At least two felons who were stationed at a Missouri halfway house have since moved into the community and are again employed by ACT "and are a tremendous part of our team," Elleithee said.

Four of ACT's former employees living at a Missouri halfway house have since been returned to prison two for drug violations, one for endangering the welfare of a child and another for walking away from the facility. None of the incidents was related to their work for ACT, Fougere said.

Associated Press Writers John McCarthy in Columbus, Ohio, and Mike Schneider in Orlando, Fla., contributed to this report.

On the Net:

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040623_1735.html

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jbooma

jbooma

Posted
Posted
Originally posted by Destino

aRedskin, what is your problem with this? I don't see anything wrong with felons finding honest work after they've served their time. Seems to me this is just another example of the media trying to create a story.

the story is they are using them just for votes, talk about paying low wage, so after they are done then what?? they don't care at all about them and you know it

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Destino

Destino

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Originally posted by jbooma

the story is they are using them just for votes, talk about paying low wage, so after they are done then what?? they don't care at all about them and you know it

:blahblah:

That's pure partisanship right there jbooma. Baseless assumptions.

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jbooma

jbooma

Posted
Posted
Originally posted by Destino

:blahblah:

That's pure partisanship right there jbooma. Baseless assumptions.

its the truth, they are using cheap labor and after the election they will be done with them i would say the same if bush was doing it, you make it seem this is the first time this has happened :laugh:

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aREDSKIN

aREDSKIN

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Update:

Anti-Bush group to stop sending violent felons to homes

By DAVID A. LIEB

Associated Press Writer

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - A political group that paid felons to conduct door-to-door voter registration drives with the aim of ousting President Bush in the 2004 election pledged Thursday to weed out any employees convicted of violent or serious offenses.

America Coming Together announced a new policy for background checks after The Associated Press reported Wednesday that ACT had used people convicted of burglary, assault and sex offenses to canvass neighborhoods in at least three election swing states - Missouri, Florida and Ohio. It declined to define what it considers violent or serious offenses under the new policy.

Since spring, "our policy has been that we're not going to employ violent felons," the group's Washington-based spokesman Mo Elliethee said Thursday. "We're going to conduct this background check to ensure we're not."

ACT is an independent group not affiliated with the campaign of Democratic candidate John Kerry. Although federal law forbids a campaign to coordinate activities with such groups, veteran Democratic political operatives, many with past ties to Kerry and his advisers, work for ACT.

The Kerry campaign said Wednesday it was unaware of ACT's hiring practices and had nothing to do with them. ACT plans to spend about $100 million on initiatives to get out the vote in hopes of boosting Kerry's chances.

ACT employs about 1,000 canvassers in 17 swing states, paying them $8-$12 an hour to ask residents which issues are important to them and, if they are not registered, sign them up as voters. Employees gather telephone numbers and other personal information - birth dates, driver's license numbers or partial Social Security numbers, depending on each state's requirements for voter registration.

A review of federal campaign finance and state criminal records by The Associated Press revealed that the names and hometowns of dozens of ACT employees in Missouri, Florida and Ohio matched those of people convicted of crimes such as burglary, forgery, drug dealing, assault and sex offenses. At least seven parolees were still living at Missouri halfway houses when employed by ACT, and four of those later were returned to prison.

Elliethee said ACT would fire - or refuse to hire - anyone convicted of "violent or other serious offenses." He said the decision to start background checks was made during a Wednesday night meeting of the group's senior staff.

"We continue to believe people deserve a second chance, and we will continue to offer that chance for people who are re-entering society to participate in our program," he said. "But our policy is to not hire anyone who we deem not to be safe."

ACT also targets voters in major metropolitan areas in Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

ACT does not employ felons in West Virginia, officials with the group's state chapter and in Washington, DC, said Wednesday.

http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=39764

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Destino

Destino

Posted
Posted
Originally posted by jbooma

It is okay everyone can change their opinion when they are shown how wrong they were :)

I agree but that hasn't happened in this thread. I give credit when it's due like in our cyber spying thread.

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aREDSKIN

aREDSKIN

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Found an amuseingly ironic tie-in here in AZ:

Arizona Democrats file challenge to Nader

By JACQUES BILLEAUD

Associated Press Writer

June 23, 2004, 9:33 PM EDT

PHOENIX -- Two Arizona voters on Wednesday filed the first Democratic challenge to independent Ralph Nader's bid to get on a state's November presidential ballot.

The Democrats' lawsuit alleged that more than 70 percent of the 21,500 petition signatures recently filed for Nader are invalid. Nader, a Winsted, Conn., native, needs 14,694 valid signatures to get on Arizona's ballot.

Democrats Dorothy Schultz and Betty Elizabeth Hughes also alleged in the complaint that some of those who circulated petitions for Nader didn't meet residency requirements and other qualifications. Three of the petition circulators are prohibited from gathering signatures because they are convicted felons, the lawsuit said.

"If (Nader) is going to be on the ballot, it has to be in a legitimate way," said Arizona Democratic Chairman Jim Pederson.

The Arizona Democratic Party, which under state law cannot file the challenge in its name, said it supports the lawsuit. The complaint also alleges that Nader's campaign didn't adequately comply with a requirement to designate a running mate. Nader's filing listed a "stand-in," but he since has named longtime Green Party activist Peter Camejo.

Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese dismissed the complaint, which was filed in state court.

"I don't think it's a very credible challenge," he said.

Pederson said the party had informed Democrat John Kerry's campaign about the lawsuit.

"They said, 'You're on your own,' basically," but did not try to stop it, he said.

Allison Dobson, a Kerry spokeswoman, said the state party has a right to enforce the rules.

"We're abiding by them and it's only fair that others abide by them, too," Dobson said.

Yier Shi, a Republican National Committee spokesman, said the lawsuit will disenfranchise voters.

"The Arizona Democratic Party has found the time and energy to file a frivolous lawsuit that undermines the voting rights of 22,000 voters in Arizona," she said.

Many Democrats blame Nader, a Green Party presidential candidate in 2000, for taking away liberal votes from Democrat Al Gore and helping ensure President Bush's victory. Nader says Gore ran a poor campaign.

Nader is not yet on any state ballot. He has been endorsed by the national Reform Party, which has ballot lines in seven states, including the battlegrounds of Florida and Michigan. He also is seeking the endorsement of the Green Party, which has secured ballot access in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

His campaign said he expects to appear on the ballot in 45 states.

Last month, Nader filed a lawsuit in Texas to try to compete there, alleging a petition signature requirement is unconstitutional.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ct--nader0623jun23,0,378389.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

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Sarge

Sarge

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In my best Marlon Brando "Godfather" voice.

Felon: Yes Ma'am, I'm here to see if you'd like to register to vote.

Housewife: Why, yes I would.

Felon: Great, fill out this here form.

Housewife: Do you have a form to register me as Republican? THis form has DNC on it.

Felon: Sure. Here ya go.

Housewife: Hey, this is the same form. It still says DNC.

Felon: Ma'am, did I mention I just got out of the big house after five years for assaulting someone that tried my patience?

Housewife: Where do I sign?

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