ABC World News reported on ACORN but ignored voter suppression, including indictment of GOP official in NH case
SUMMARY: On World News, Jake Tapper reported on "accusations of voter fraud" against ACORN workers, noting that "ACORN officials said the primary problem isn't a few phony names on voter registrations, but real voters being prevented from casting their ballots." But World News did not report on the indictment of former RNC official James Tobin and in the past two weeks has not aired any reports on the issue of voter suppression.
In an October 14 report on ABC's World News about "accusations of voter fraud" against the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), ABC News senior political correspondent Jake Tapper noted that "ACORN officials said the primary problem isn't a few phony names on voter registrations, but real voters being prevented from casting their ballots." But while reporting on alleged instances of voter-registration fraud, World News did not report on the indictment -- reported earlier that day -- of former Republican National Committee official James Tobin, who allegedly lied to the FBI about his role in suppressing a get-out-the-vote campaign in New Hampshire in 2002. Nor has World News followed up* on a recent New York Times investigation finding that "[t]ens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law." More generally, in the past two weeks, World News has not aired any reports on allegations of voter suppression, despite Tapper's assertion in an October 10 Political Punch blog post titled "Voter Fraud, Voter Suppression" that "legitimate concerns" have arisen about "improper voter purges amounting to voter suppression."
He gave recent examples of voter suppression, including:
The U.S. Department of Justice, for instance, this week said that Georgia's actions to verify identity and citizenship appear to violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Brennan Center for Justice has issued a new report criticizing the way voter "purges" are conducted: "Officials strike voters from the rolls through a process that is shrouded in secrecy, prone to error, and vulnerable to manipulation."
The New York Times reviewed state records and Social Security records and concluded that "(t)ens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law" -- the six battleground states being Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada, and North Carolina.
Tapper also wrote, referring to voter-registration fraud and voter suppression: "There's a case to be made to voters that any news organization, candidate, or political party that acts as if one of these two issues is a problem, but ignores the other, is only concerned about their side winning, as opposed to caring about a clean and orderly and fair election."
In the past two weeks, World News has not reported on any of the voter-suppression stories Tapper highlighted.
According to an October 14 Associated Press article, Tobin was originally sentenced to 10 months in prison on "telephone harassment" charges in 2005 after being "accused of helping to arrange more than 800 hang-up calls that jammed get-out-the-vote phone lines set up by the New Hampshire Democratic Party and a local firefighters' union." Tobin's conviction was eventually overturned, but he was indicted October 9 "by a federal grand jury in Portland on two counts of making false statements about the incident to an FBI agent" about the phone-jamming plot.
The new indictment alleges that Tobin, in part, "knowingly and willfully made a false and fraudulent material statement, to wit, during an interview with a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tobin stated that it was [then-executive director of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee] Charles McGee's idea to contact [telephone service vendor] Allen Raymond to request his assistance in the phone jamming scheme, and that Tobin did not suggest that McGee call Raymond. In fact, as Tobin well knew, Tobin himself suggested to McGee that he call Allen Raymond, with whom McGee was not acquainted."
The AP further reported: "McGee and Raymond both pleaded guilty in the phone-jamming scheme and testified against Tobin. McGee served seven months in prison and Raymond served three months. The jamming also led to a lawsuit that was settled with Republicans paying the Democrats $135,000."
From the October 14 broadcast of ABC's World News with Charlie Gibson:
GIBSON: Election Day is three weeks from today, but there are already accusations of voter fraud. The charges, made by the McCain campaign, are directed at a group called ACORN. That's an association of community organizations, which has been filing registrations for new voters who may not be legitimate voters at all. So here's our senior political correspondent Jake Tapper.
[begin video clip]
TAPPER: In Nevada, election officials raided an ACORN office after finding fraudulent voter registration forms for members of the Dallas Cowboys' starting offense.
ROSS MILLER (Nevada secretary of State): What we can say with confidence is that Tony Romo is nowhere on our voter registration rolls.
TAPPER: There have been issues all over the country. An Ohio voter this week said he'd filled out 73 ACORN voter registrations in exchange for cigarettes and cash. Florida election officials rejected an ACORN application for Mickey Mouse. Today, John McCain attacked ACORN and tried to tie it to Barack Obama.
McCAIN: ACORN is tampering with America's most precious right. There has to be a full and complete investigation, but it has to be immediate. Senator Obama has had relations with ACORN in the past.
TAPPER: Obama acknowledged a relationship with ACORN, which advocates for low-income communities, but said it is not advising his campaign.
OBAMA: We've got the best voter registration and turnout and volunteer operation in politics right now, and we don't need ACORN's help.
TAPPER: Obama called McCain's attack a distraction from real issues.
OBAMA: This isn't a situation where there's actually people who are going to try to vote, because these are phony names.
TAPPER: ACORN officials today said they fired overzealous employees and worked with authorities to pinpoint the bad registrations, which they say are a small percentage of the 1.3 million new voters they've signed up.
KEVIN WHELAN (ACORN spokesperson): Elections officials need to verify each application. So if we think or suspect it's bad, we say that in the cover sheet we turn in.
McCAIN: Well, what makes America special is what's in this room tonight.
TAPPER: ACORN officials pointed out that in 2006, McCain was keynote speaker at a Miami rally they co-sponsored for immigration reform.
[end video clip]
TAPPER: ACORN officials said the primary problem isn't a few phony names on voter registrations, but real voters being prevented from casting their ballots.
Jake Tapper, ABC News, Oregon, Ohio.
*Media Matters for America searched the Nexis database for ABC News transcripts between October 1 and October 14, using the search terms:
World News AND vot!
World News AND rolls
World News AND register!
World News AND registr!
World News AND New York Times
World News AND Tobin
World News AND Brennan
World News AND suppres!
World News AND eligib!
World News AND elect!
anybody else wondering about the media silence on the fact that the california gop had exactly the same problem when they outsourced voter registration in 06 ?
Considering that their gov is a foreigner, why are they whining?
Dear Red States:
We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and
we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware,
that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe
this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the
people of the new country of New California.
To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave
states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the
Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You
get WorldCom. We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss. We get 85 percent of
America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We
get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay
their fair share.
Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the
Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a
bunch of single moms. Please be aware that Nuevo California will be
pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens
back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your
evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to
their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show
pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you
success in Iraq , and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not
willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.
With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent
of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple
and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of
America's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners)
90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most
of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and
condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal
Tech and MIT. With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to
cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected
health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100
percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent
of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all
televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the
University of Georgia. We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.
Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was
actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred
unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent
say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was
involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy bastards believe you
are people with higher morals then we lefties.
Finally, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed
they grow in Mexico
Peace out,
Blue States
NIce, Snoop. Is that yours?
I'm still in favor of turning Alaska into Konservistan, the rest of the red states can be for the people who they don't want. Like the Australia of Konservistan.
Fence off Texas. (Visas to any registered Dems.)
Hmm, I'd rather keep Alaska and fence off Texas. I prefer salmon to beef.
of course it isn't his. that stale old piece of diatribe has been out since you lost the 2004 election. Figured I'd point that out before you all stand stupified in awe of another piece of leftist plagiarism or at least lack of attribution- something which you all seem to scream about if it isn't one of your own sycophants.. or is that spelled PSYCHOphants? lol
.
Since I never saw the above 'letter' from the Blue States to the Red States before... I will leave my comments out.....
However, after reading several of your posts the last several days here at MMfA... I'm curious to ask you on whether you truely understand the whole ACORN thing that has started via the corporate owned rightwing media doing nothing more than grasping for straws as it pertains to ACORN, Obama, their connections, and the supposed 'fraud' that ACORN is alegedly trying to perpetrate?
Since ACORN is mandated under law to hand in each and every registration application to the state, I don't see how they are commiting fraud?
If someone fills it out using the name Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck
1) Do you think that someone will actually show up and try and vote claiming to be either one? Voter fraud would be if someone actually showed up and tried to vote claiming to be Mickey or Donald
2) Do you not trust local government in any form to believe that someone at the registrar's office won't pick up on that and toss it out?
3) Do you not see the assinine attempt here by the rightwing to try and make a firecracker into a mushroom cloud?
4) IF ACORN were to toss out those forms that had Mickey's or Donald's name on them, they (ACORN) would be facing fines and potential criminal charges... it is not up to them to decide what applications are legit or not, it is the government (that would be us)
5) The only fraud perpetrated were by those idiots that ACORN paid to have said forms filled out!
You can hate us lefties all you want and keep your head buried in the sand forever.... but please do yourself a favor and at least come to terms with the facts of each story before you post!
In other words, we get the Big Ten, the Pac-10, and the Big East, while red states get to keep the ACC, SEC, and Big-12.
So one naturalized citizen who's file is getting bounced around finds the ACLU and now MMfA is asserting voter suppression? One guy? Seriously?
Must be a slow week...
The reading comprehension's really coming along. TBone.
how can you tell when its obvious that yours hasn't?
Good question, MissDee. I'd suggest you ask the nearest grown-up.
I was giving Snoop a little good-natured ribbing because he posts quite a few pictures and items and sometimes leaves off the link or attribution (though it's usually obvious). I only give him a hard time because it makes it harder for me to bag on the repeated and deliberate plagiarism by the right wing nuts.
But I didn't expect you to pick up on any of that. You seem a bit slow.
Well good morning to you too, you self centered uppity b-word who only likes her black people driving her to the store and opening her doors for her!
Col. I've told you all that in the case of MissDeBoat you can't have a battle of wits with someone who is unarmed. She proves with every single post here that she is woefully unarmed.