Posted by A reader faxed me a grainy copy of a voter suppression flier in SD-7. Click on it to see a larger copy.
Here’s the text:
Office of the Secretary of Electoral Elections
The Honorable Marion S. Barber
secretaryofelectoralelection@alabama.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DUE TO HIGH TURNOUT POLLING PLACES IN DISTRICT 7 TO OPERATE FOR TWO DAYS, ONE FOR EACH CANDIDATE
MONTGOMERY, AL – Alabama Secretary of Electoral Elections Marion S. Barber has decided due to heavy expected turnout in the 7th State Senate District race between State Rep. Laura Hall and Paul Sanford that there will be two days of voting in Madison County.
A coin flip took place at Huntsville City Hall at 5AM on Tuesday and Paul Sanford won the ability to have his voters go to the polls on Tuesday June 9th and Laura Hall’s voters should go to the polls on Wednesday June 10th.
Secretary Barber stated, “This is necessary due to the unexpected turnout in an election where we planned for low turnout.” She added, “We hope this doesn’t cause problems in Madison County but feel this is the best way to accommodate our voters.["]
Click on the flier below to see an larger copy.
If you or someone you know got one of these fliers, I’d be interested to know how it was received. Are these being passed along from friend to friend? Left under car windshields? It’s hard to imagine that the Secretary of State would get involved if this was simply a joke on a small scale.
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Danny, that flier is very similar to the one I saw in Baltimore in 2002.
What the heck is an electoral election?
There is no way that either side put this out by the way. It is poorly worded and would only take a second reading to know it was faux. If a candidate had put it out, they would have had to make it seem legit.
Who better to run our “electoral elections” than a Dallas Cowboys running back?
lol…
While there is the slightest bit of limited humor to this, that is a MAJOR federal law violation HUGE VIOLATION. Someone will go to jail over this if it was really disseminated to ANYONE. Joke or not, the feds do not think this kind of stuff is funny. I was active in the republican party when a few republicans thought it would be funny to set up a video camera outside some ’suspect’ voting centers. The feds showed up and said take it down or go to jail. As much as I hate to admit this, the only person who would benefit from such a stupid stunt is the republican Paul. It was he for whom you were supposed to vote for on Tuesday and the democrat on the second day of voting. Of course there was no second day of voting. I would not want to be the republican campaign person that did this in hopes of helping their candidate. I am certain the republican Paul will deny anything to do with that, as will his not so bright campaign manager.
This tells me all I needed to know. Republicans will lose this seat today. Very sad. The whole thing is very sad, on many levels.
I think Dale Jackson did this or he was talking about it this morning and I think he claimed it.
This was obviously NOT done by any campaign. It’s either a joke or it was done after someone saw Dale Jackson’s webpage.
It’s a copy of the flyer that that showed up in Virginia this past November.
You can see the Virginia here:
http://hamptonroads.com/node/485721
or here:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/03/virginia-bogus-flyer-grounded-police-consider-charges/
I’ll tell you what this could be:
IF this looked too close for comfort for Hall, she could use this to challenge the election with the Department of Justice. It’s a thought, just like all the others vocalized on here. But IF the polls were really tight going in . . .it would be worth having as a fall-back.
This election is worth millions over the next few years. Never underestimate the lengths those who seek power (and fear its loss) will go to.
Dale Jackson should be fired.
I’m not saying this is a good thing to do, but I don’t think it’s the kind of thing that lands you in federal PMITA prison, either.
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/11/officials-find-source-fake-election-flier-wont-press-charges
Danny – this was ALL Dale Jackson, no one else. Here’s a link to the story:
http://blog.al.com/breaking/2009/06/secretary_of_state_weighs_in_o.html
Then Dale Jackson should be sweating bullets. Considering the conservative slant of his radio show IF he sent this to anyone or distributed it to any one the FEDS will NOT find this funny. Word from a couple of Republican delegation folks up there is stay away from Dale for awhile.
Dunno about that JD Hogg, nothing burnishes the resume like a successful prosecution for voter suppression and the need to make sure there are no repeats in the 2010 elections.
Where did the sheet come from? Laura Hall’s headquaters.
That says it all.
Who else would be passing fliers out but Hall’s campaign? I mean really? If this was put up as a joke (obviously) by Jackson on his WEBSITE, someone had to download it, print it and pass it out (supposedly). Obviously no one in Sanford’s campaign did it. No one in his campaign was aware of it until heard about it on the news – they were busy getting the vote out. So, who else would be responsible for printing it and putting it out? It would be someone in Hall’s camp. Of course!
If DOJ or the Secretary of State has questions of Jackson, then the next obvious question would be WHO was responsible for distributing the material. That would be directed to the Democrats. Demographically, the Republicans had the advantage in the election and didn’t have to pull any underhanded stuff. Why would anyone in Sanford’s camp do anything to jeopardize the campaign after running a very clean campaign and working their tails off on a shoestring budget? Let’s look at it for what it is. The media is sensationalizing this and working the public into a feeding frenzy over this. While it’s not a good thing to do, the way it was written if one read it, it couldn’t possibly have been taken seriously. When have we EVER had a two-day election of any kind in this country?
Lisa,
This is the same kind of suppression material that has been used for decades. Whether you think it is reasonable to believe it doesn’t matter. It works, and it has been prosecuted before.
Everyone who says that it was only intended for the DJ website ignores the fact that someone took great pains to make this flyer look official. If the joke is just for a website, he could have put up a portion of a press release, not something that could be printed BY THE READERS OF DJ’S WEBSITE, most of whom are not supporters of Laura Hall.
Baudrillard,
I’m a journalist. I cover politics. I know what goes on. I’m not naive but I also know that there are two sides to every story. There is accountability and if Jackson gets hung out to dry on this, I’ll kiss someone’s rear at the intersection of Airport and Whitesburg at 5:00 p.m. on the day that happens.
Baudrillard,
I wanted to add one more thing; DOJ is corrupt as heck, also. Our “justice system” is not just. The average citizen is very naive when it comes to how they perceive how things work in our court system and how the Justice Department works. I feel pretty comfortable in saying this won’t come to anything. I could be wrong but I don’t think so. To begin with, Hall and the Democratic Party would do well to lobby NOT to have this made a big deal of with the Secretary of State which is where this will begin. The DOJ will NOT just “step in”. It is not in the best interest of the Democrats to say they are stupid enough to say their electorate don’t understand how to vote, when to vote, etc.
And, as a voter, I will say that if we have to revote this, the Republicans here will come out in MORE NUMBERS and Sanford will win with even larger numbers because the voters will be very angry. And, he has to be re-elected again in 2010. He will be re-elected again for that seat.
Lisa, I agree with most of what you have said. DJ will suffer no serious consequences, and that is unfortunate. This will not be revoted, in my estimation. The Dems would do well to put this issue on the table for 2010 and find a candidate who can take Sanford head-on with the issues.
I am surprised, however, that as a journalist you have so quickly bought into this notion that this all was some misguided “joke” that the Hall campaign capitalized on to their detriment. I still don’t see how “Obviously no one in Sanford’s campaign did it … they were busy getting the vote out.” As a journalist who covers politics, surely you must know that Hall’s people were busy getting votes out as well. You appear to be the one that is “sensationalizing this and working the public into a feeding frenzy,” only you are doing it without any facts to support the story line you are peddling. Not very good journalism, Lisa.
It was a prank. IF..people actually believed this to be true, I would question their intelligence and submit that they are truly unfit to vote in the first place. Voters should at least be smart enough to know the candidates’ issues and understand teh voting process. If not….please stay home!