As Bucks County goes, so likely will the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania within 2% in both statewide races this year. With about 640,000 residents and over 5% of the state’s voters, it is the fourth-most-populous county of PA and is located in suburban, exurban, and rural areas northeast and north of Philadelphia most of the way to the Lehigh Valley. It is whiter, wealthier, more Asian, and lower in unemployment than the state average. Stunning new evidence came to light this afternoon that the GOP-controlled Board of Elections tampered with Republican absentee ballot applications, altering and fixing those that were incorrect or incomplete to keep them from being rejected. At the same time, the GOP Board has been rejecting hundreds of Democratic applications, often based on the same problems that they fixed on the Republican applications.
The new revelations continue to demonstrate a deeply troubling pattern by Mike Fitzpatrick’s GOP allies to target Bucks County Democratic applications for rejection and suppressing the Democratic vote. Over 600 absentee ballot applications have been rejected by the GOP Board – over 80% of which were from Democratic voters. In other words, the partisan Board of Elections has rejected 6 Democratic applications for every 1 Republican. Former County Commissioner Fitzpatrick is in a rematch for the US House seat that he lost after one term in 2006 to Patrick Murphy (a great man whom I knew and admired at King’s College, Wilkes-Barre) by a fraction of a percent. The 8th Congressional district includes Bucks and nearby areas of Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties. The Democrats captured the registration edge early in 2008, although the Republicans retain the commissioner majority and all row offices in Bucks.
Michelle Merrick, a registered Republican from Bensalem, submitted an application for an absentee ballot, which included incorrect and missing information. The Board of Elections actually corrected the application for her. Michelle registered to vote under her maiden name “Michelle Merrick,” but she filled out the application under her married name, “Michelle Rubin.” In an attempt to salvage the application, the Board of Elections altered the application to read “Michelle Rubin Merrick.” Despite the Board of Elections’ blatant attempt to salvage this Republican’s absentee ballot application vote, she still failed to include her birthdate, which should have invalidated her application. It didn’t. Meanwhile, Democratic applications have been denied for innocuous mistakes relating to the date of birth, like filling in “today’s date” instead. But unlike Michelle, they will not have the opportunity to vote absentee or have their voice heard in Tuesday’s election – simply because of their political party.
Among the Democrats rejected was Wade Messer. In the space for birthdate, Wade made a mistake and wrote in the date that he filled out the application: 8/15/10. But Wade is a registered Democrat, and he didn’t get the same special treatment as Michelle. Wade’s ballot application was rejected. Scott Leossy made the same mistake, putting the date he applied – 8/25/10 – on the line for the applicant’s date of birth. But Scott is a registered Democrat and he didn’t get the same special treatment as Michelle. Scott’s ballot application was rejected. These facts add to the pattern of GOP voter fraud and partisan politics at the Republican-controlled Board of Elections, coming on the heels of revelations that GOP candidates Mike Fitzpatrick and Rob Ciervo sent a letter to Bucks County voters instructing parents on how to commit voter fraud on behalf of their kids. http://www.politicspa.com/gop-…
What is alarming in this case are the double standards employed in a blatantly-partisan manner. I’m afraid that these revelations are a little too late to prevent Fitzpatrick from winning, but any criminal actions in this case must not go unpunished! We must urge US Attorney General Eric Holder to use the Justice Department to investigate this matter aggressively.
Florida 2000. Ohio 2004. Bucks County and Washoe County, NV 2010. Virginia 2012? Rigged elections are as American as apple pie in the 21st century. This shit has to cease! Kindly take action.—BDH
Meanwhile, donate to fraud investigator/journalist Greg Palast at http://www.gregpalast.com/store/ so that you can read the comic “Steal Back Your Vote.”