The mess in Houston looks worse.  The registrar of election now admits there is a sizeable problem with fraudulent voter registrations in Harris County (TX).  The Houston Chronicle has more.

“Harris County Tax Assessor Collector [and voter registrar] Leo Vasquez accused a nonprofit group of submitting thousands of bogus voter registration applications in recent months in what he said appears to be a campaign to taint the voter rolls.

Vasquez said his office has received thousands of duplicate applications, including cases in which the office has received six applications for the same person. Other irregularities he cited in the more than 25,000 applications submitted by Houston Votes include cases of underage applicants and people who identified themselves as noncitizens.

“The integrity of the voter roll of Harris County, Texas, appears to be under an organized and systematic attack by the group operating under the name Houston Votes,” Vasquez said.”

The GBI has its hands full.  GPB has more.

Monday is the deadline for Pentagon decisions on the 12 jurisdictions seeking to escape the new protections for military voters.  The federal law mandates all ballots be sent 45 days in advance of the election.  These states failed to fix their laws and instead are asking to avoid new protections.  It is this simple: the grant of a waiver means that some servicemembers will not have their votes count.  No electronic internet remedy can help the teeth, even though it might help the tail.  There is still time for citizens to exercise their First Amendment right of petition and let the bureaucrats in charge of the decision know you don’t want any waivers granted.  The states are:

Massachusetts
Rhode Island
New York
Delaware
Maryland
D.C.
Wisconsin
Colorado
Alaska
Hawaii
Washington
Virgin Islands

The final few paragraphs of my latest Pajamas Media article tells you how you can petition for denials of waiver requests.  You can also demand that all guidance from DOJ and the waiver requests be made public:

“Maryland found time for designating September 15 through October 15 as ‘Hispanic Heritage Month,’ a ban on driving with cell phones, mandatory solar energy purchases for state utilities, a law to decrease how far away from shore people can hunt ducks … and saddest of all, a law allowing 16-year-olds to register to vote. Obviously Maryland has other priorities besides men and women serving overseas.

In the meantime, the public, particularly military families and veterans groups, have a right to petition their government and voice their opinion about the waivers. Citizens can reach FVAP and tell them to deny all waiver requests at 800-438-8683 or vote@fvap.gov. Citizens can petition the DOJ and tell them both to recommend against granting the waivers and to sue states who submitted them at (202) 307-2767 or rebecca.j.wertz@usdoj.gov.

Citizens have this right in a free and democratic government. Whether or not Washington cares enough to listen remains to be seen.”

Fox is doing a three part series on the MOVE Act and the waiver requests from 12 jurisdictions seeking to avoid complying with the new MOVE Act.  The decision whether or not to grant the waivers is due on Monday.  Meanwhile, Senator John Cornyn’s hold on Deputy Attorney General nominee James Cole is firmly still in place, and will likely get firmer if many waiver applications are granted on Monday, or, if DOJ doesn’t release publicly its guidance to the Pentagon regarding the 12 waiver requests.  I’m sure the most transparent adminstration in history will have the waiver guidance on their website by COB Monday.

The second part of the series will air Thursday at 6 p.m.

A judge has refused to dismiss voter fraud charges against some of the 12 charged with tampering with absentee ballots in the 2009 Atlantic City (NJ) mayor’s race.  The Press of Atlantic City has more.

“In October, Ronald Harris, 24, of Atlantic City, admitted he and others conspired to submit false documents involving messenger ballots in the primary. Harris, a registered Democrat, later told a reporter he only pleaded guilty out of fear.

Earlier this month, Ernest Storr, 44, not only admitted to breaking election laws during Small’s campaign, but said he did the same thing while helping then-Mayor Scott Evans in his unsuccessful bid in 2008. Although both campaigns were for Democrats, Storr is a registered Republican, according to voter records.

The 12 remaining defendants have until Monday to decide whether to take a plea deal or go to trial. Jury selection is set for Oct. 4.”

Allegations are that a candidate cast two votes.  More here from the Fayetteville Observer.

Full story here.  

Photo of vacant lot where six “voters” lived.

Full story: Today, the King Street Patriots, a group of citizen-volunteers in Harris County, Texas, announced their discovery of thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of incomplete, inaccurate or false voter registrations.  The group, represented by Liberty Institute, uncovered hundreds of properties, including vacant lots and nonexistent addresses, where six or more people claim to live.

“It’s apparent that King Street Patriots discovered voter fraud in Harris County, though we don’t know just how extensive it is,” said Kelly Shackelford, president/CEO for Liberty Institute and a constitutional scholar.  “King Street Patriots is double-checking all registrations leading up to the election, and will be releasing information each week on what they’ve uncovered.  There are those who are trying to intimidate King Street Patriots by attempting to vandalize their office and vehicles and monitoring the location of their offices and work.  It is unfortunate that our clients are now the focus of intimidation tactics. No one should be intimidated or punished for being a good citizen.”

King Street Patriots released statements today following Harris County‘s news conference announcing their discovery of what they called “voted fraud.”  The group, which works to ensure fair and free elections, found evidence suggesting that deputy voter registrars completed registration forms incorrectly, even registering some people without their permission who have not signed up to vote in the past ten years.

“If our elections are not fair, we are not truly free,” said Catherine Engelbrecht, president of King Street Patriots.  “Our True the Vote volunteers are working night and day to ensure that elections in Harris County are accurate and that no one’s vote is stolen.”

Milwaukee Journal has more.

“Maria Miles, 37, of Milwaukee, admitted to submitting multiple voter registration applications for some people and to scheming with other Association of Community Organization for Reform workers to sign people up several times in an effort to meet the organization’s voter registration quotas. Miles faces up to 3 ½ years in prison at her sentencing before Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Richard Sankovitz on Oct. 15.”

Cal Tech/MIT has published a report on the public support, or lack thereof, of various election reforms.  You can read the full report here.  Here is the important paragraph:

“We find that 57.5% of respondents support making Election Day a holiday but only 41.8% support the notion of moving Election Day to a weekend. The final two election reforms are received with the least enthusiasm. Absentee voting over the Internet was supported by roughly a third of the sample (30.1%), and voting by mail received even less support, 14.7%.”

One wonders what the cross tabs would be on the Election Day as a national holiday would be if public sector workers were not part of the sample.  Most businesses would not close on a national election day, but governments would.  This, of course, would also have a impact on election results with public sector employees getting a day off and most private sector employees still having to go to work in places like hospitals, factories, diners and gas stations.  But one thing is for sure, voting by mail is a dead letter, and internet voting gets hardly any more support.