July 29, 2005
Cleaning up the voter rolls, one illegal voter at a time

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation is challenging the registration of an illegally registered voter. What's interesting about this case is that the illegal voter happens to be a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at July 29, 2005 11:21 AM | Email This
Comments
1. Its O.K., Fletcher is a liberal democrat appointed by Jimmie Carter; make an exception.

Thank god the Judge wasn't an "ethically challenged" conservative appointed by Reagan or Bush.
Laws count when bad people break them don't you know?

Posted by: Amused by liberals on July 29, 2005 11:43 AM
2. This is too rich. LMAO!

Posted by: kim in vancouver on July 29, 2005 11:45 AM
3. Come on guys, this is an honest mistake! Anyone could do it. What is the big deal? It's a personal matter. Breaking the law only matters if you are one of the little people (or republican). Perjury doesn't matter for the head of the legal system, why should a silly little voter registration matter for someone on the highest court in the west?

Posted by: fred on July 29, 2005 11:57 AM
4. I'll bet you my Seattle-registered 2001 PT Cruiser that Judge Fletcher's vehicles are duly registered in Olympia so she doesn't have to put up with that stupid "why-won't-it-just die" overbudgeted Monorail extension project.

Posted by: ReVOTERguy on July 29, 2005 12:00 PM
5. This is not good for Sims and Logan.

Posted by: South County on July 29, 2005 12:23 PM
6. Blue Ribbon commission, please take a long walk off Pier 70. No need to re-register people and vote by mail will help confidence. Help what? More people breaking the law and registering falsely like this Judge? The 9th circuit is a joke...socialist circuit is more like it. I wouldn't be suprised in Liberal activits from other states haven't already done this.

Posted by: Dengle on July 29, 2005 01:04 PM
7. Sheesh - Thanks to Stefan's voter database, and stirred to action by an article by John Fund, I pointed out this possibility back in January. See my posting in the comments on Sound Politics (scroll down to comments ) or here: That's Regrettable.

Posted by: Regret on July 29, 2005 01:11 PM
8. Go get 'em! A judge doesn't need that kind of privacy; she probably just wanted to vote for the liberal Democrats in Seattle. I hope that she loses her judgeship over this or if that isn't possible, that she is heavily disciplined then loses her next election.

Posted by: Clean House on July 29, 2005 01:16 PM
9. If she doesn't re-register at her real residence address, then she loses her voter registration, for a start.

If she were an elected judge, such as our state superior and supreme court judges, the loss of her voter registration would automatically disqualify her from elected office, and thus, the bench.

Go, Bob!

Posted by: Good Grief on July 29, 2005 01:21 PM
10. I'm sure JDB has lots of witty retorts...

Posted by: doug on July 29, 2005 02:10 PM
11. doug,

You mean biteme/jdb?

Witty retorts? Nit-witty maybe.

Havien't heard much from the little twerp lately. I guess he lost interest after recently having his dumb a$$
handed back to him over and over again.
It was too much for him to have to be rational and make sense.

He is fun when he gets upset though because he shows his true talent for making up bald-faced lies and changing the subject.
Good liberal Democrat.

Posted by: Amused by liberal morons on July 29, 2005 02:37 PM
12. I sent the following to the SoS

Dear Secretary Reed:

While reading the Puget Sound Business Journal today, I found that you and your office are hiring a PR firm (advertiser) to sell the alleged "elections reforms" enacted in the previous legislation.
This sir, is a waste of tax payer dollars. Not unlike the dog and pony show carried out in the statewide tour embarked upon by yourself earlier this year.
The people you will be selling this to already believe we had a fair election and recount.
The felons don't care, the double voters don't care, the dementia patients don't care and Lord knows the dead don't care. You would be better advise to send a new voter registration in a self addressed stamped envelope to the registered voters of Washington State, with the instructions to photo copy ID and proof of signature to purge the rolls of the afore mentioned.
Please take this under advisement, it will get a lot more people to believe you care about reform than with a communications firm.
Sincerely

Posted by: Jim L on July 29, 2005 02:40 PM
13. If a state judge gets only a severe finger wagging over hit-and-run drunk driving, any hopes of this judge getting properly disciplined are lost. We will hear much oinking from the sky before the liberals ever start applying the standards they use on everyone else to themselves.

Posted by: Burdabee on July 29, 2005 05:07 PM
14. You know, when I complained to the SOS office about people like Tom Foley, who Stefan alerted us is registered at his FORMER ASSISTANT'S HOUSE, the woman at SOS told me that was by law acceptable. I imagine this challenge will go nowhere, therefore.

Is there any hope for this state? (YES, get Republican governor AND legislature in there and we'll get election law that doesn't disrespect the common sense of the citizens of this state)

Posted by: Michele on July 29, 2005 05:07 PM
15. The state doesn't seem real concerned that the dead rise up to vote in the elections, so something as minor as a false address isn't going to get the SOS office to do anything. Instead of the Secretary of State office it is more like the Same Old S*** office.

Silly conservatives, voting is for everyone!

Posted by: Burdabee on July 29, 2005 05:16 PM
16. Michele:

I always like your comments, and I have a lot of respect for your thoughts and your willingness to listen to other opinions, so I thought I would weigh in.

Foley may not be liked, but there's a difference between the Foleys' situation and the judge's.

Tom Foley was a qualified elector serving the State Department, but living abroad (as Ambassador to Japan), and he and his wife were no longer maintaining a physical address in their home state as they were living in Japan. In the case of a qualified elector living abroad, for voting purposes they must choose an address in which to be precincted. The only requirement is that it be within the home state. So the Foleys chose their former assistant's home in Spokane, in the same district they used to live, as she could forward any election mail to them.

If we didn't allow this provision of allowing qualified electors abroad to declare a domestic home address, we would disenfranchise tens of thousands of career military, their families, and persons working for the State Department.

The judge does not live abroad, actually has a physical address in the state, indeed, she has an address in King County, and so she has absolutely no good reason, nor any legal allowance to have registered at the old Federal Courthouse and not her own home.

I hope they throw the book at her.

Posted by: Good Grief on July 29, 2005 05:21 PM
17. I am willing to bet good money that this judge hides behind her robe and says "I can't register under my address because I may have to make a controvercial decision and I can't have my address public.

Which in of it's self, is a logical argument, but I'm guessing another program is in place for that other than using the admin building and getting mail at the courthouse.

Posted by: T.J. on July 29, 2005 05:32 PM
18. Good Grief: Thank you for your good input. I also remembered "Mr. Atlanta", whose registration Stefan tried to challenge. I can't imagine why it makes sense to keep that guy on the voter rolls, and KCE almost always comes up with some lame reason to keep them.

If Dean Logan doesn't by some miracle come up with some lame excuse for "Ms. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals", then by all means go ahead--throw da book at da judge :-)

Posted by: Michele on July 29, 2005 08:56 PM
19. Judge Betty B. Fletcher and her husband Robert L. Fletcher may have committed a Class C Felony as follows:

1. Falsely claiming their true and correct residence to be the King County Administration Building in Seattle. Please note, if Judge Fletcher and her husband actually were to secretly be residing in the King County Government's building, they would also be guilty of a conflict of interest in accepting favors from a local government. This would violate various ethics laws applicable to Federal judges.

2. Falsely claiming their true and correct mailing address to be the U.S. Courthouse Building.

I hope this judge and her husband are prosecuted and receive some jail time. Not too likely, given the lazy lackadaisical attitude of King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng's regime......

Posted by: SpaceNeedleBoy on July 29, 2005 09:37 PM
20. fellow folks,

Justin Case you haven't figured it out yet things ain'g gonna change. Wishing will not make it so. God, How I wishi it would. It' agoing to take pure and simpoe activism, protesting, crowds, letters to the E (editid for content, of course) to even begin to sway the minds of the benign thinkless. Betchas a dollar it ain't gonna happen.
Semper Fi
Mike

Posted by: mikef on July 29, 2005 09:45 PM
21. 9th circuit court of appeals?

Aren't the Republicans in congress trying to break up that lunatic mob? I think they are or were considering splitting the 9th circuit into 2 or more areas so as to better serve the large population they now cover....

It's probably an excellent time to send this information to the Republicans in congress who are involved with the 9th circuit split!....

Posted by: Deborah on July 29, 2005 10:10 PM
22. Wonderful!! Not surprised though!

Posted by: Laurie on July 30, 2005 07:23 AM
23. ReVOTERguy brings up an excellent point... where are their vehicles registered, and is that available to the public? If it is, it kinda defeats the purpose of the hiding your voter registration address for privacy excuse.

Posted by: Mike H on July 30, 2005 10:21 PM
24. The article below addresses voting by illegal aliens. This violation of the law has captured the limelight because it is so purely outrageous. Legal aliens, that is greencard holders, are not citizens and they are not entitled to vote. They can become voters, but only after being naturalized and becoming citizens.

Proof of citizenship before registering to vote is needed to protect the integrity of the ballot.

........................................................................................................
14 Illegal Aliens Reportedly Voted
KSL NewsRadio 1160 (Salt Lake City, UT), August 8, 2005
http://radio.ksl.com/index.php?sid=224157&nid=19

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Elections Division of the Lieutenant Governor's Office is looking into the report during last winter's legislative session that at least 14 illegal immigrants may have voted in an election.

The issue was raised during discussion of legislation on drivers' licenses for undocumented workers.

Legislative Auditor General John Schaff said more than 58,000 illegal immigrants had Utah drivers' licenses, nearly 400 of them used their license to register to vote in Utah, and a sampling of that group revealed at least 14 actually voted in an election.

As a result, the Legislature enacted a measure that provides undocumented workers may not get a regular driver's license but may get a driving privilege card that is not a valid form of identification.

Elections director Michael Cragun said he wants information on the possible illegal voters so county clerks can look at it and take appropriate action.

'If we find we've got someone who is not a citizen who has registered ... someone at the polling place can challenge their right to cast a ballot,' he said. 'As far as someone proven to be a noncitizen who did cast a ballot, that would be referred to the county attorney for prosecution.'

Schaff said he has received the Election Division's request for records but may only be able to release them to the attorney general's office.

Assistant Attorney General Thom Roberts said his office might try to obtain the information if the lieutenant governor can't.

While lawmakers originally said they'd seek a more in-depth audit, Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, who sponsored the legislation, has since said the audit served its purpose by identifying a problem and the legislation was designed to solve it. Bramble has said any follow-up should by handled by state investigative agencies.

A Department of Public Safety investigation, a joint effort with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. postal inspectors, has since been closed, according to Sgt. Dale Neal of Highway Patrol Investigation.

Neal said two suspects are being sought for federal mail and being in the country illegally. They allegedly charged people $800 to help them get a driver's license in Utah.

Activists on both sides of the immigration debate said they have tried unsuccessfully to gain access to the voter registration information mentioned in the auditor's survey.

Frank Cordova, director of Utah Coalition of La Raza, said the survey was inconclusive but 'has implicated the entire Latino community. They've made us all look suspicious and legally ineligible voters. That isn't true.'

Cordova said he and others have worked for several years to register voters and have worked closely with Salt Lake County elections officials. It has always been made clear that only citizens can vote, he said.

Cordova said he wants to know 'how many people registered, where they registered and if there is some fraud going on. Right now there's no answer to any of those.'

Russell Sias, vice chairman of Utahns for Immigration Reform and Enforcement, has also been trying to access the information. Sias believes there are more undocumented individuals voting than the audit suggests, and he would like to see a full audit of the state's voter rolls.

Posted by: martin ringhofer on August 8, 2005 04:11 PM
Post a comment
Name:


Email Address:


URL:


Comments:


Remember info?