State of the Union

The ACORN squirrel's back

And he apparently "hearts" Jennifer Brunner.  This was the scene across the street from a Joe Biden rally in Zanesville today.

Politico picked it up as well - along with the audio the squirrel was playing from the back of the truck.

No one will know my name

Voter fraud alert in Hamilton County

From The Cincinnati Enquirer:

A Connecticut man apparently registered to vote and cast a ballot in Hamilton County while visiting during the so-called "golden week" when anyone in Ohio could register and vote at the same time.

The man's ballot is being held at the request of a special prosecutor handling a voter-fraud investigation in Hamilton County.

What to Ohio Democrats have to say?

Gov. Ted Strickland:  "There is no evidence of voter fraud in Ohio and it offends me, quite frankly, that even some of the leaders within the Republican Party now are attempting to convey that impression in their criticism of Secretary Brunner and our voting system." (Gongwer News Service, 10/17/08)

Voter fraud alert in Columbiana County

From the Youngstown Vindicator:

Nancy Cope, the secretary of the county Republican Party, on Tuesday sent a complaint to the board about alleged improper voting.

She stated that Peter Grant Jr. of Washington state and Molly Thompson, formerly of North Carolina, moved to Ohio. The two registered to vote Sept. 30 and voted that day.

Ohio law requires that voters be permanent residents.

Grant and Thompson withdrew their votes Friday morning at the board, county officials said.

Here's the best part:

Cope said the pair gave their address as the home of Bea Delpapa, a poll worker who also is a presiding judge of a county precinct.

Gotta love those objective poll judges.

What's a little fraud among friends?

Notice the similarities between excuses provided by Democrats when it comes to catching double registrations or double ballots.

Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Director Jane Platten, on the board's inability to catch multiple ballots being sent to the same voter:

"If you have a database of 1.1 million voters, there's always the potential for operator error," Platten said Friday. "It happens, absolutely. We know we have duplicates in the system that we are consistently trying to minimize and clean up. But it cannot be absolutely pristine." (Plain Dealer)

An Ohio ACORN official, on the group's inability to catch multiple voter registrations:

Kris Harsh, ACORN's head Cleveland organizer, blamed the elections board for not scrutinizing ACORN's suspicious cards. He said the group can't be expected to catch everything.  "None of us have ever achieved perfection," Harsh said. (Plain Dealer)

So if the crazy activist groups are depending on the board to catch the fraud and the board admits it can't catch the fraud, who's guarding the hen house?

Vote fraud alert in Cuyahoga County

From The Plain Dealer:

As many as 100 Cuyahoga County voters appear to have received at least two absentee ballots for Tuesday's election, records show. ...

Most [voters] said they could not explain why they received a second ballot. But a Plain Dealer analysis of elections records found that nearly half the Cuyahoga County residents who received two ballots are registered twice.  The review also found up to 13 cases of double ballots in Franklin County and three in Summit County.

Even is someone is registered twice, how can a voter request one absentee ballot and get TWO?

One Cuyahoga resident receiving two ballots was Priscilla Mosby, 58, of Cleveland. She said Friday that she has been trying -- without success -- to clear up her double-registration with the Board of Elections for nine years.

"Every year they send me two ballots. I always tear one up and use the other to vote with," Mosby said. "Every year it's the same thing. I try to get it straightened out, but it never changes."

Of course, the Cuyahoga County board of elections remains under Jennifer Brunner's direct administrative authority, so she'll probably clear up these problems, oh... never. 

Of course, the Democrats who run the board say the "chance of voters casting two ballots is remote."  Right.  These are the same people who can't figure out they're sending two ballots to the same person.  How reassuring.

Brunner: Ohioans are racist

Here's Ohio's chief elections officer calling Southeast Ohioans racist and worrying about how it might impact the Democrat candidate. Certainly no bias here. 

Brunner protects her ACORN friends

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's connection to a top ACORN official raises troubling new questions about her refusal to disclose at least 200,000 questionable voter registrations being held by her office.

An investigation into ACORN's alleged fraudulent election activity revealed on Wednesday that one of its national directors, Karyn Gillette, collaborated with the Obama campaign to raise funds for the group's voter registration efforts.

Gillette is identified on Jennifer Brunner's 2006 campaign website as a consultant to Brunner, and a blog entry filed by Brunner's husband Rick adds that "our candidate had gone earlier in the day to have some meetings and work out of Karyn Gillette's office."  Rick Brunner also describes Gillette as "very helpful to the campaign." 

According to campaign finance reports, Gillette, a longtime fundraising consultant to Ohio Democrats, was paid $21,250 by Brunner's campaign.

An ACORN whistleblower testified in a Pennsylvania state court on Wednesday that "in November 2007 Project Vote development director Karyn Gillette told her she had direct contact with the Obama campaign and had obtained their donor lists."  Project Vote is the voter registration arm of ACORN. (Wall Street Journal, 10/29/08)

"Jennifer Brunner's ties to a top ACORN official, who is also accused of collaborating with the Obama campaign, suggest she's orchestrating a cover-up to protect her friends," said Ohio Republican Party Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine.  "This group has publicly testified that it's members engage in fraudulent election activity, and at least one voter said he was persuaded by ACORN to cast a bogus ballot.  It's time for Jennifer Brunner to stop the concealing the evidence and start restoring confidence in the integrity of Ohio's election."

Gillette is not Brunner's only tie to ACORN.  Members of the group's voter registration arm, Project Vote, regularly advise Brunner on election strategy, previously serving on her Voter Rights Institute and even recently issuing a news release claiming credit for Brunner's directive banning challenges to suspected fraudulent voter registrations. 

Another disgrace from the courts

What does this do for your confidence in Ohio's election system? 

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A federal judge in Ohio has ruled that counties must allow homeless voters to list park benches and other locations that aren't buildings as their addresses.

This ruling was made behind closed doors with Jennifer Brunner's attorneys.  Counsel for the Ohio General Assembly (which is party in the lawsuit) was kept out of the room as Brunner and her Democrat lawyers worked with the Clinton-appointed judge to draft this opinion. 

Palestra continues to uncover the fraud