Tag Archive for: voter registration

Florida County Republican Registrations Report—September 2023

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Note: the registrations numbers in this writing refer to active registrations, a subset of total registrations.

Florida Republicans continue the trend of making relative gains in voter registrations as Republican registrations relative to Democrat registrations increased by 25,445 registrations in August and by 300,518 registrations since the book closing for the 2022 general election. Florida Republicans now have a 606,468 relative registrations advantage over the Democrats. Republican registrations were 37.51% of total registrations and Republicans now enjoy a 4.46% of total registrations advantage over the Democrats (see attached tables).

The Democrats lost 62,986 additional registrations in June, 369,353 registrations since the 2022 book closing, and 701,278 registrations since the 2020 election. The Republican registrations decreased by 37,541 in June, and the number of registrations which are neither Republican nor Democrat decreased by 69,783 registrations in August (see chart).

Every Florida County has had a gain in the Republican percentage of total registrations since the 2022 election (see Table 3)!

Note: There have been some relatively large shrinkages in the number of registrations in Florida Counties. The law was changed to make it easier to shift voters into the inactive voter category, a category where the process of removing voters from the voter rolls is initiated. The decreases in the number of registrations should end when the supervisors of elections complete the job of making the transfers in accordance with the new measures.

The Republican Main Thing

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” — Stephen R. Covey

Keeping the main thing the main thing is great advice. Republicans and Democrats have a differing “main thing” in the pursuit of getting people elected. Which party has the better “main thing”?

Democrats’ “main thing” is to improve their underlying political support by growing the relative numbers in the demographics which tend to vote Democrat. Secondary to this are the Democrat candidates and their associated campaigns. Republicans have chosen candidates, and their associated campaigns, as their “main thing”. Republicans lack any secondary efforts to grow the relative numbers in the demographics which tend to vote Republican.

The Democrats keep their focus on growing the relative numbers in the demographics that tend to vote Democrat and therefore have less concern about having poor candidates. The 2020 Presidential Election is a good example of this strategy. Their poor candidate won the election. They had a similar situation in a 2022 national senate race in Pennsylvania.

This inability of Republicans to win with their “main thing” has been demonstrated in recent losses in Georgia, a state previously carried by the Republican presidential candidate by 5.09% in 2016, 7.80% in 2012, and 5.2% in 2008. Republicans lost Georgia in the 2020 Presidential election by .23%, and two senate elections in a January 5th, 2021, runoff by margins of 1.22% and 2.08%. Republicans had nearly two years to come up with a formula to win back one of the lost Georgia senate seats in the 2022 general election. The Republicans, demonstrating their lack of strategy to grow their base, could not pull it off, losing the senate seat by 2.80%, a larger loss than the losses of early 2021!

A lack of strategy to grow the Republican base causes the Republican 2024 presidential primary effort to being akin to Nero fiddling while Rome burned. Resources which should be used by Republicans to implement strategies to grow the relative numbers in the demographics that tend to vote Republican are instead being used in self-seeking endeavors to become the next Republican presidential nominee. A Republican presidential nominee leading an effort to grow the Republican base by growing those demographics that tend to vote Republican is nowhere to be found!

The reason most Republicans vote Republican is that the Republican Pary is viewed as the party most supportive of The Constitution. The Constitution cannot stand without widespread political support. Republicans have not won the popular presidential vote since 2004, signaling decreasing political support for The Constitution. Republican factions, stuck in the Republican “main thing” paradigm of candidates and their campaigns, are failing to address this challenge to The Constitution.

The true reason for this loss of support for The Constitution is the Democrats having a better “main thing” strategy. The main thing for Republicans is to replace their “main thing” of having a laser focus on candidates, and their respective campaigns, with policy efforts which grow the relative numbers in demographics that tend to vote Republican!

A Much-Needed Republican Effort to Gain the Vote of the Alienated

A politically significant Democrat demographic is those voters who rent their housing. In times of rising home prices, rising interest rates and increasing rents, such as those being experienced since President Biden took office, it is easy to understand why those voters who rent their housing become alienated voters. Higher rents result in renters having less wealth. Homeowners who are shielded from higher interest rates owing to their possession of low-rate fixed interest rate mortgages obtained when interest rates were lower, see their wealth increase as the value of their homes increases and their mortgage payments stay the same.

The inability of renters to purchase housing are generally the result of policies championed by most Democrats, and too often by Republicans, yet it is the Democrats who gain politically by these policies as the Democrats are generally the recipients of the vote of the alienated! The demographic of those who rent their housing is an ever-growing demographic and the primary source of the political gains made by the Democrats over the past few decades! An indication of lost Republican market share is that Reagan lost one state in 1984, George H.W. Bush lost ten states in 1988, George W. Bush lost 20 states in 2000. And President Trump lost 25 states in 2020.

For Republicans to capture the vote of the alienated renter requires Republicans to champion polies that remove impediments to renters becoming homeowners. It should be pointed out to renters that Democrats politically prosper by making it difficult for renters of average means to purchase their first home!

Republican politicians also need to point out these housing related realities to Republican voters to build political support for lower rates of rentership. Republicans should not be seduced by the unearned wealth that homeowners gain by governmental policies that inhibit the real estate market from producing entry level owner-occupied housing.

©2023. Steve Meyer. All rights reserved.

It’s Naive to Think Not One of the Millions of Aliens in the U.S. is Voting

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It’s now officially an issue: illegal aliens are voting. President Donald Trump has announced a major investigation into the charges and counter charges surrounding this phenomenon. At Judicial Watch, however, it’s nothing new. We’ve had our eye on this for years, and our Election Integrity Project  was active in monitoring polling places in the most recent election.

I was interviewed some time ago (when the issue was first raised around the November election) by Breitbart Daily News about illegal voting, and I want to share that with you. Here is a report at Breitbart on the interview:

On…Breitbart News Daily, SiriusXM host Alex Marlow asked Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton about a study from the Center for Immigration Studies that revealed that “there could be as many as 43 million non-citizens in the United States right now.” Fitton had previously spotlighted this study on Twitter as evidence of potential voter fraud issues.

“There’s 43 million people who are not citizens and are ineligible to vote, but a good percentage of them do register to vote. And of those that do, some vote,” Fitton explained.

“Most tend to vote Democrat. It’s a fact,” he continued. “There’s been a study out of Old Dominion University that shows it is enough of a vote to sway elections, one way or another. It may have resulted in election, specifically, of Al Franken to the United States Senate, and all the bad things politically or public policy-wise that happened as a result, like Obamacare and things like that.”

“Are we supposed to be so naive as to think that tens of millions of people are here, present in the United States, and none of them are illegally voting?” Fitton asked. “In states where you don’t have voter ID, in states where most voter registration, you’re not required to certify citizenship, other than signing and saying you’re a citizen?”

“It happens repeatedly where you have these voter registrations signed by aliens because they shouldn’t be voting, so they’re registered to vote – and the irony is, once they’re registered to vote, voter ID ain’t gonna protect you,” he noted, “because they have the ID necessary to vote, once they’re registered. So you have many non-citizens voting in elections, and they vote in large numbers in a way to sway elections.”

“The number of non-citizens in the United States are at record proportions – about as big as it’s been in 105 years, according, I think, to CIS, the Center for Immigration Studies,” he observed. “It is looking at U.S. Census data, and there’s just been this massive uptick, just even the last few years.”

“And it’s not just illegal aliens. We’re talking about aliens who are here legally, who are also voting illegally,  potentially,” he added. “That’s why we’re gonna be in Virginia, trying to monitor elections, because we know this is an issue. This is one of the issues that can lead to voter fraud and a stolen election.”

The Washington Times published a big story today following up on this issue and featuring JW:

But conservative activists say the liberal media are ignoring evidence – that noncitizen voting is illegal and, thus, fraud. They say the Justice Department in the Obama administration was more concerned with preventing states from cleansing rosters of dead and inactive voters than in mounting any investigation into fraud.

“Most voters are never asked for voter ID, so it is dishonest to suggest that with the tens of millions of illegal and legal aliens here, there is no voter fraud,” said Tom Fitton, who heads the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch. “If the key Old Dominion study results on the 2008 election are applied to 2016 – 1.41 million aliens may have voted illegally, with 1.13 million voting for Democrats.”

“A federal voter fraud investigation is long overdue,” Mr. Fitton said. “It would be a simple matter of analyzing voter registration databases against federal databases of aliens and deceased individuals. Why is the left afraid to even ask the questions? The jig is up.”

President Trump is right.  A full-scale, non-partisan federal voter fraud investigation is long overdue.  I’m not aware of any systematic federal investigation of voter fraud – ever.  Initially, such an investigation would be a simple matter of analyzing voter registration databases against federal databases of aliens and deceased individuals.

Judicial Watch’s Election Integrity team, headed up by Robert Popper, former deputy chief of the Voting Section in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, would be more than happy to help.

In the meantime, you can sample our comprehensive efforts on election integrity here.

Enterprise Florida: Economic Development or Corporate Welfare?

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Today, Integrity Florida, an independent ethics watchdog group, in partnership with Americans for Prosperity – Florida, released a research report titled “Enterprise Florida: Economic Development or Corporate Welfare”.

According to co-authors Ben Wilcox and Dan Krassner, “The report illustrates Enterprise Florida’s apparent conflicts of interest, appearance of pay-to-play and its practice of picking of winners and losers in the marketplace.”

The report states:

“Floridians have entrusted Enterprise Florida, a public–private partnership focused on economic development, with significant public resources to deliver high quality job creation results, yet the organization has failed to accomplish its goals. Why has Enterprise Florida struggled as an economic development program? To better understand its operations, we take a close look at the incentive agreements executed by Enterprise Florida in the 2012 fiscal year. We selected 2012 because it presents the most recent data. It’s also a year that the Florida Secretary of Commerce has boasted of being an exemplar of success, referring to previous years’ efforts as “marginal at best.”

In addition to illustrating the failure to meet legislative expectations, this report documents Enterprise Florida’s apparent conflicts of interest, the appearance of a pay-to-play scheme for winning favorable treatment and its repeated practice of picking winners and losers in the marketplace through targeted business, favoritism, and selective incentive deals.” [My emphasis]

The report finds:

1. Enterprise Florida has failed to meet its job creation objective: In 1992, the Florida Legislature created Enterprise Florida with an initial objective of creating 200,000 high-wage jobs by 2005. After operating for twenty years and despite negotiating more than 1,600 transactions involving economic development incentive agreements worth more than $1.7 billion,iv Enterprise Florida reports that only 103,544 jobs have been delivered since 1995 – half of their original target and eight years beyond its original target date.

2. Enterprise Florida has failed to obtain its required level of private sector support: As a public-private partnership, Enterprise Florida is expected to obtain private sector support to help pay for its costs of operation. The Florida Legislature required Enterprise Florida to obtain 50% private sector contributions by Fiscal Year 2000-01. As of Fiscal Year 2010-11, more than 85% of Enterprise Florida’s funding comes from government and less than 15% comes from the private sector.

3. Enterprise Florida has the appearance of pay-to-play: Enterprise Florida, while subject to the dominion and control of the Florida Legislature,viii collects on average $50,000 each from corporate members for about half of the seats on the organization’s board of directors.ix Several Enterprise Florida board member companies received incentive agreements and vendor contracts following negotiations with Enterprise Florida staff during the 2012 fiscal year giving the appearance of pay-to-play.

4. Enterprise Florida has apparent conflicts of interest: The Enterprise Florida Board of Directors and the organization’s staff have a relationship that may be a conflict of interest. Enterprise Florida staff bonus pay of nearly $500,000 ($427,500 for staff, $70,000 for President/CEO) in 2012 was provided by Enterprise Florida board member companies that were also Enterprise Florida vendors and others that were recipients of incentive deals in the 2012 fiscal year.

5. Enterprise Florida is picking winners and losers: A number of executed agreements detailed in the 2012 Enterprise Florida Incentives Report demonstrate clear state government favoritism of some companies and industries. Enterprise Florida issues unnecessary benefits packages to entice businesses that should already be attracted Florida’s business friendly environment. These benefits are not necessarily enjoyed by competitors across an industry or all businesses moving to or expanding in Florida.

Click here to read the full report.

Florida Secretary of State releases voting recommendations, says nothing about voter fraud

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Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner released his recommendations on voting. What is most notable is that the word “fraud” appears only once on page seven of a twelve page report.

The Detzner report states, “Additionally, some Florida counties continue to operate without utilizing technological advances, such as electronic poll books, which can shorten the time it takes to do voter intake and minimize the possibility of dual voting fraud.” No other mention is made of the numerous allegations, lawsuits and documented examples of voter fraud during the 2012 election cycle.

Why does the report not deal in more detail with voter fraud and voting transparency?

Because the mandate for the report from Governor Scott was, “… making recommendations to increase the accessibility and efficiency in Florida Elections.” The mandate was not to insure all votes cast are counted once and only once.

The report states:

“Secretary Detzner and a team of Department of State employees from the department’s Office of the Secretary, Office of the General Counsel and the Division of Elections’ Bureau of Voter Registration Services and Bureau of Voting Systems Certification traveled throughout Florida to meet with county supervisors of elections and their staffs and receive their input on how to improve Florida’s election system. Secretary Detzner also sought out and received valuable input from other elected officials and knowledgeable Floridians and organizations such as the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections and the League of Women Voters. The Secretary also considered input from Florida voters, poll workers, Miami-Dade’s Election Task Force, the Miami-Dade Grand Jury report and Division of Elections’ staff.” [My emphasis]

Those consulted are those with a vested interest in, lobbyists for and those who control the voting system. The report states, “During Secretary Detzner’s fact-finding efforts, supervisors of elections and others agreed the 2012 General Election was a fair election as a whole.”

True The Vote has a different view of the St. Lucie County voting system . “This dramatic recount [in St. Lucie County] was an extraordinary example of how our elections can suffer systematic failure,” True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said. “We run the risk seeing episodes like this becoming ordinary if citizens do not demand answers and hold election officials accountable. The American people own the voting system – we have the right to ask tough questions when we witness the failure of one of America’s core functions.

St. Lucie County is not mention in the Detzner report.

Patricia Mazzei in her Miami Herald column titled “Miami-Dade grand jury: Absentee voting fraud clouds confidence in tight election results” wrote, “To prove their point, grand jurors made an astounding revelation: A county software vendor discovered that a clandestine, untraceable computer program submitted more than 2,500 fraudulent, “phantom” requests for voters who had not applied for absentee ballots in the August primary.”

“With several narrow victories in races in the 2012 Primary and General Elections, the general sentiment that undetected fraud is occurring is a major problem for this Grand Jury and the citizens of this community,’’ the jurors wrote. “Can the public have confidence in the election results of those close races? We are not certain they can.” Read more here.

The Detzner report concludes that expanded early voting is the panacea. No where is voter fraud nor ways to prevent it addressed in any detail.

To read the full twelve page report click here.

TRUE THE VOTE SUES ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA

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HOUSTON, TX. February 4, 2013 –True the Vote announced today that it filed a lawsuit against the St. Lucie County, Florida Supervisor of Elections, to enforce record inspection rights under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) and the Florida Constitution.

True the Vote demands that all records pertaining to the recent 18th Congressional District election and subsequent recounts between Rep. Allen West and Patrick Murphy be reviewed in order to perform a comprehensive third-party audit (True the Vote, Inc. v. Gertrude Walker in her official capacity as St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections, Civil Action (No 2:13cv14046.)).

Watch the video announcement:

True the Vote seeks to compel St. Lucie County election authorities to grant complete inspection rights to all election records pertaining to the 18th District race and voter registration records under federal and state law. In addition, True the Vote demands that the court order the Supervisor of Elections to preserve all records. If granted access, TTV will determine a precise vote count, document any illegal participation in the election and offer solutions to prevent similar failures in future recounts.

“This dramatic recount was an extraordinary example of how our elections can suffer systematic failure,” True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said. “We run the risk seeing episodes like this becoming ordinary if citizens do not demand answers and hold election officials accountable. The American people own the voting system – we have the right to ask tough questions when we witness the failure of one of America’s core functions.

“The clock is ticking on the opportunity for a comprehensive, outside audit of this recount,” Engelbrecht continued. “Each passing day heightens the risk of critical documents being disposed of. If you thought voter fraud could erode America’s confidence in elections, unchecked incompetence in the vote tabulation process will destroy all faith remaining in our systems.”

“Gone are the days when Motor Voter is a law used only by a couple of special interest groups. The law requires physical inspections, I hope we reach a quick agreement,” attorney J. Christian Adams of the Election Law Center said.

On November 6, St. Lucie County election administrators admitted that ballot tabulation machines suffered a malfunction, preventing early vote totals from being properly counted. County workers were forced to hand-feed ballots into tabulation machines as a result.

On November 8, West demanded a full recount of early votes and copies of poll sign-in records to compare voter participation against ballots cast. West’s requests were denied and ignored, respectively.

On November 9, West demanded that a Florida state court impound all ballots and voting machines, but made no claims of the sort True the Vote makes today in federal court. West’s requests in state court were denied.

On November 10, St. Lucie County “unofficially certified” the vote count for CD-18 and publicly acknowledged “uncertainty” over the early vote totals. St. Lucie County called an emergency meeting to “recount all ballots cast during early voting.” The county later reversed itself, only performing a partial retabulation. After the partial retabulation, the lead for Patrick Murphy decreased.

On November 13, Defendant Gertrude Walker held a press conference admitting that her staff acted with “haste” and that “mistakes were made” throughout the tabulation and partial recount process. Florida Division of Elections auditors were dispatched to investigate how 799 votes disappeared or changed hands during the partial recount.

On November 16, Defendant Walker claimed to find 306 early votes in a box at her office that had not been counted. The St. Lucie County Canvassing Board ordered a recount of all early votes, with a deadline set for noon on November 18.

On November 17, the full recount operation was relocated to a privately-owned property. County workers were evicted from the premises late at night, suspending the recount until the next morning.

On November 18, County workers failed to meet the deadline, instead certifying the original November 10 tabulation, which officials claimed “uncertainty” over the accuracy of the results.

True the Vote later demanded to review poll books, “voter credit” lists, felon files and others to perform a comprehensive audit of the CD-18 tabulations. Inspection rights were not granted and so this lawsuit was made necessary.

“My clients are demanding that Walker immediately allow an in person public inspection of all records relating to the election in Florida’s 18th Congressional District between Allen West and Patrick Murphy,” local counsel Michael A. Barnett said.

True the Vote filed its complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida – Fort Pierce Division.

Click here to read True the Vote’s filing.

True The Vote (TTV) a nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots organization focused on preserving election integrity is operated by citizens for citizens, to inspire and equip volunteers for involvement at every stage of our electoral process. TTV empowers organizations and individuals across the nation to actively protect the rights of legitimate voters, regardless of their political party affiliation. For more information, please visit www.truethevote.org.

True The Vote NOW (TTVN) is a public policy organization dedicated to reforming our voting systems at state and federal levels. True the Vote NOWpromotes solutions that increase citizen engagement and restore faith in our elections. For more information, please visit www.truethevotenow.org.

Voto Honesto (TTV) es una organización sin fines de lucro, no partidaria, enfocada en preservar la integridad en las elecciones y operada por ciudadanos para ciudadanos, ara inspirar y equipar a voluntarios para envolverse en cada una de las etapas del proceso electoral. TTT capacita a organizaciones e individuos a través de la nación para activamente proteger los derechos de los votantes legítimos, sin importar a que partido político perteneces. Para más información, por favor visite www.truethevote.org.

Update: Massive Voter Fraud in St. Lucie County, FL Called into Question – 141% Turnout

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Click on the link below for the official St Lucie County, FL 2012 election results. Only one precinct had less than 113% turnout. The unofficial vote count is 175,554 registered voters 247,713 vote cards cast (141.10% ). The National SEAL Museum, a St. Lucie county polling place, had 158.85% voter turn out, the highest in the county.

When asked about the 141% Supervisor of  Elections Gertrude Walker stated, “They may have had something like that in Palm Beach County, but we’ve never seen that here.”

Statement of Votes Cast St. Lucie County 2012 General Election November 6, 2012*

Supervisor Walker has posted this notice on her official website:

THE CANVASSING BOARD MEETING SCHEDULED FOR THE RECOUNT ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2012 AT 7:00 AM HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012 AT 7:00 AM AT THE SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS OFFICE, 4132 OKEECHOBEE ROAD MALL ENTRANCE 2.

It appears that Allen West is justified in asking for a lock-down on the ballot boxes and machines in St. Lucie County. According to the November 7th Supervisor of  Elections report Allen B. West garnered 52,625 votes in St.Lucie county and Patrick Murphy 65,896 votes.

*SOVC For Jurisdiction Wide, All Counters, All Races UNOFFICIAL RESULTS WITHOUT PROVISIONAL

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 11, 1012

We at Watchdog Wire – Florida appreciate the large number of comments to this post.

Some of the more recent comments call into question the definition of “cards” versus ballots.

According to Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent, “Cards are pages, ballots are the full ballot consisting of both pages.”

The 2012 Presidential Ballot in Florida consisted of two pages. Both pages were two sided giving voters the opportunity to vote for candidates for public office on page 1 and 11 Constitutional ballot initiatives on page 2. The issue being correctly discussed is: Does each ballot consist of two cards? If yes, then there would be two times the number of cards as votes cast or in the case of St. Lucie County 175,554 times 2 there would be an expected 351,108 cards (two page ballots) cast.

However, according to the SOE there were 247,713 or 141.10% of cards cast. A valid question is what happened to the other 58.9% of cards cast? The SOE will be recounting ballots on November 13th and is required to submit her certification of the election on November 15th. We will update this post then with the final results.

In 2010 Florida experienced problems with long ballots, it may be this issue has returned in 2012.

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 12, 2012

Tim Edson, Campaign Manager for the Allen West for Congress campaign stated in an email:

“Today the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections, after promising to recount all early votes, counted only ballots from the last three days of early voting, netting Allen West over 500 votes. The problem is those aren’t the first three days of early voting—the days the Supervisor of Elections originally said were compromised by faulty data cards in the machines.

We will continue to fight for a recount of all early votes. In addition, we will ensure that the public is able to view the poll book sign-ins to ensure the number of early votes cast match the numbers of voters who checked-in to vote.

Nothing coming out of Supervisor of Elections Gertrude Walker’s office adds up, stories are constantly changing, and the hostile attitude of the Supervisor is disturbing. What originally looked like dangerous incompetence is looking more and more like a willful attempt to steal an election.”

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 15, 2012

Tim Edson, Campaign Manager for the Allen West states in an email:

On Sunday the St. Lucie Supervisor of Elections conducted a partial recount of early voting. As a result of that count, the total number of votes dropped by 799. Then on Monday the Supervisor of Elections explained the drop by saying 3,650 votes were double counted on Election Night and 1,950 were not counted at all. Basic math tells us that removing 3,600 double counted votes and adding 1,950 does not add up to a drop of 799 votes, but rather a drop of about 1,700.

Of course, the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections could clear up a lot of this fuzzy math if she would simply release the poll sign-in books so Floridians could see if the number of voters who checked into vote corroborates the number of votes cast. She refuses to do so.

TRUE THE VOTE STATEMENT REGARDING ONGOING RECOUNT ISSUES IN THE FL-18 CONGRESSIONAL RACE

HOUSTON, TX. November 15, 2012― True the Vote (TTV), the nonpartisan election integrity organization, today commented on the ongoing dispute over vote counts in St. Lucie County, potentially affecting the outcome of the Florida 18th Congressional District’s election.

“True the Vote commends Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner’s decision to dispatch auditors to St. Lucie County,” True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said. “Between Florida’s recent election history, questionable vote counts, misinformation and partisan emotion, total transparency is the only solution for all parties involved.

“Florida voters deserve a full, unfiltered explanation of the facts. One cannot know whether all the numbers add up if poll books are kept from public inspection. Understanding precise voter check-ins and corresponding ballots cast will answer many questions.

“Secretary Detzner, Governor Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi have shown great leadership on a national scale in promoting election integrity. The State of Florida takes great care in ensuring that voter rolls are maintained in accordance with federal election laws and has also committed to prosecuting interstate voter fraud.

“True the Vote is watching these recount proceedings very closely, as should every American who values the sanctity of their vote. We encourage citizens in the district to volunteer as poll watchers and to remain engaged until all vagaries have been resolved. Total transparency should be agreeable to all parties involved; if not, one must question why.”

True The Vote (TTV) a nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots organization focused on preserving election integrity is operated by citizens for citizens, to inspire and equip volunteers for involvement at every stage of our electoral process. TTV empowers organizations and individuals across the nation to actively protect the rights of legitimate voters, regardless of their political party affiliation. For more information, please visit www.truethevote.org.

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 16, 2012

GOP leaders back West’s call for recount

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 17, 2012

ST. LUCIE COUNTY CANVASSING BOARD ORDERS RETABULATION OF ALL EARLY VOTES IN ALLEN WEST RACE

Election Official: Mistakes Have Been Made in Allen West Race

RELATED COLUMNS:

West challenges results as Florida declares vote-tally over amid recounts and irregularities

ELECTION FRAUD…FLORIDA STYLE

St. Lucie County election results posted, after hours of delay.

‘WE HAVE SOME VERY SERIOUS CHALLENGES TO MAKE’: ALLEN WEST CAMPAIGN LAWYER SAYS ‘ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE OF CONCESSION’

 Video: Angry crowd reacts to ‘misleading recount’ in Allen West race

The Decline and Fall of Registered Democrats

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According to the Florida Division of Elections there has been a steady decline in the number of registered Democrats since 2008, while during the same period Republicans have gained 66,434 voters. Since 2009 the number of voters registering as Republican has been gradually increasing. The greatest increase in registered voters was in the “Other” category. There has been an overall increase in the number of registered voters in Florida.

YEAR                REPUBLICAN         DEMOCRAT       OTHER            TOTAL
2008                  4,106,743                  4,800,890             2,504,290         11,411,923
August, 2012    4,173,177                  4,627,929             2,782,261         11,583,367

Difference        +66,434                     -172,961               +277,971           +171,444

President Obama won Florida in 2008 by a margin of 204,577 votes. The Democrat Party of Florida has since 2008 seen a decrease in the number of registered Democrats of 172,961.

The combination of increased numbers of registered Republicans and the decrease in registered Democrats exceeds President Obama’s margin of victory by 34,818 or a margin of .003 registered voters. Can you say close election in Florida?

Additionally, the margin between registered Republicans and Democrats has narrowed since 2008. In 2008 the difference between the two parties was 694,147. As of August 2012 that has been reduced to 454,725. While there remains more registered Democrats than Republicans in Florida the gap has closed since President Obama was elected.

Both political parties will be wooing the “Other” voters in 2012. That appears to be where all the data mining will occur. If you are an “Other” voter expect to receive more direct mail pieces, more robo-calls and more pressure to vote on November 6, 2012.

The cut off date to register to vote in the November 2012 general election is Monday, October 8, 2012.

DHS Stonewalls Florida on access to SAVE Database

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Nearly a month has passed since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security agreed to grant Florida access to the federal citizenship database (also known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, or SAVE). Florida still cannot access the SAVE system to identify and remove non-citizens from the voting rolls, and we are now less than three months away from the 2012 general election.

Given the Department of Homeland Security’s failure to execute an agreement over the last month, after agreeing to provide Florida access to SAVE, attorneys representing the State of Florida and its citizens are now preparing all appropriate legal options to ensure that an agreement is executed in a timely manner and prevent the irreparable harm that will result if non-citizens are not removed from the voting rolls.

Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner is releasing an obsolete list of potential non-citizens registered as voters that was generated months ago. Governor Scott supports the decision to release the list. However, as the Department of State has said, the list is a preliminary and unverified former working document that is being provided upon request. The data has not been verified or vetted for credibility or reliability by the Florida Department of State. This information is now outdated, should be considered obsolete, and will not be used as the basis for any action by the Florida Department of State. Accordingly, removing non-citizens from the voting rolls requires additional analysis and specific procedures governed by state law to accurately determine voter eligibility.

Given the sensitivity of this information and citizens’ right to privacy, as well as the proximity to a major primary election next week, anyone who obtains these public records must handle them with the utmost caution. Some have rightly raised concerns about the irresponsible use of these names and other accompanying personal information for political and other purposes. The Governor shares these concerns and further cautions all recipients of this list to act responsibly.

Florida Group Reaches Out to Evangelicals

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The United West (TUW), a group of academic activists, is now reaching out to Evangelicals in Florida. The outreach is focused on educating Evangelicals on national security issues, Israel and threats against freedom of religion. Tom Trento, President of TUW states, “We will ask Evangelicals to register and vote in the primaries on August 14 and general election on November 6, 2012. We do not tell them how to vote but encourage them to vote.”

Tom Trento notes, “In the 2008 Presidential election one million Florida Evangelicals either did not register or did not vote. This is a travesty and must be addressed. We are addressing this issue in the swing state of Florida.

NewsMax reports, “Some 17 million Evangelicals failed to vote in 2008 when Democrat Barack Obama beat the GOP’s John McCain — and now the fight is on to get them there this November,” Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed says.

November’s election is critical, Reed said, because President Barack Obama is “somebody who’s called for more government, more spending, more bureaucracy. He seems to think the answer to everything that ails America is more government and bigger government.” Reed also said he believes the Obama administration is engaged in an attack on religious freedom.

According to The United West, Florida accounts for nearly 6% of the national Evangelical vote and they are concentrated in a key state. President Obama and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney have visited Florida numerous times, underlining the importance of the state in November. It was the Florida primary that helped propel Governor Romney to become the presumptive Republican nominee. Governor Romney spent over $15 million to win the Florida Republican presidential primary. Over 8.1 million Floridians voted on the 2008 Presidential ballot; had the aforementioned one million evangelicals voted they would have made up 12.5% of the electorate.

Trento states, “President Obama won Florida in 2008 by 204,577 votes. He took key areas, such as Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties by a plus 47,000 votes. It is important to insure the faith based community is well informed, registers and votes. That is what we do as academic activists – inform the public on important issues. If Evangelicals register and vote it can make a huge difference in who takes Florida in November.”

Faith-based issues are becoming a more important part of the national dialogue, including President Obama’s recent announcement that he supports gay marriage. Florida Proposition 2–“The Marriage Amendment“–was passed in 2008 by a margin of 61% to 39% and is now in the state Constitution. As more information is revealed about the Affordable Health Law and its impact on businesses, organizations and churches providing health services more are becoming engaged. Evangelicals are now paying attention.

According to NewsMax, “Conservative Christians and Evangelical conservatives will play a big role in the upcoming election,” Reed said, “and they support Romney by about 60 percent, compared to previous support for John McCain (73 percent) and George W. Bush (78 percent) … the Evangelical vote, which has historically been between 20 and 23 percent of the electorate, turns out in the largest numbers ever seen in a presidential election.”

With long lines at Chick-Fil-A last week will Florida see long lines at the polls in November? Only time will tell what the faith based value voters will do in Florida.

RELATED COLUMNS:

Rasmussen: 87% Oppose Letting Government Officials Play Politics In the Marketplace

Rasmussen: 61% Hold Favorable Opinion of Chick-fil-A

Fraud in Florida – Dual Registered Voters

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Absentee ballots are being delivered this week to the mail boxes of Florida voters in preparation for the August 14th primary. Retired FBI Special Agent Stu Senneff writes in an email, “Of particular interest to me is the subject of ‘voter fraud’ on a national basis but since I live here, specifically the possibility of voter fraud in Florida. Actually, I became interested subsequent to the Bush – Gore 2000 presidential election. Since Florida has a veritable plethora of home owners who spend part of the year in another state, I believed it not only possible but probable that persons could register to vote in more than one state. It is a simple matter to vote by absentee ballot in one or both of the states in which one resides.”

Russ Buettner, New York Daily News staff writer, wrote in an August 2004 article titled “Registered to Vote in City & Fla.“, “Some 46,000 New Yorkers are registered to vote in both the city [of New York] and Florida, a shocking finding that exposes both states to potential abuses that could alter the outcome of elections, a Daily News investigation shows.”

“Registering in two places is illegal in both states, but the massive snowbird scandal goes undetected because election officials don’t check rolls across state lines. The News found that between 400 and 1,000 registered voters have voted twice in at least one election, a federal offense punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. One was Norman Siegel, 84, who is registered as a Republican in both Pinellas Park, Fla., and Briarwood, Queens. Siegel has voted twice in seven elections, including the last four presidential races, records show,” writes Buettner.

Former FBI Special Agent Senneff notes, “As a police officer and subsequently an FBI Agent, if I wanted to check to see if a person was wanted anywhere in the United States, I could simply provide the necessary background information and within a matter of seconds ascertain a person’s status. If I use my credit card in order to make a purchase, records are immediately checked with regard to the legitimacy of the credit card. . . I have often wondered why no such system exists on a Federal level for voting and indeed believed the lack of checking nationally may well have resulted in massive voter fraud over the years.”

Kathy Dent, Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections, responding to Senneff’s concern states, “Until we have a national voter registration database, we have no way of determining who is registered in more than one state. Florida does let other states know when a person registers here and they let us know on the application where they were previously registered. But that information is an optional field on the application and not required to be completed. A step in the right direction would be to get our legislature to require previous registrations.”

“We can determine if someone tries to register in two different Florida counties because of our statewide voter registration database. Therefore, we have no dual registrants in Florida,” notes Supervisor Dent.

Kansas is taking the lead in cleaning up registration rolls so that people won’t vote in two states. The architect of what is called the Kansas Project, or the Interstate Cross Check Project, is Kris W. Kobach, the Republican Secretary of State who was elected in 2010. Mr. Kobach has set up a database with 14 other states: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Tennessee. Six more states are considering joining.

Supervisor Dent warns, “Florida law states it is a third degree felony punishable by a term of imprisonment not to exceed 5 years and/or a fine of up to $5000.00.”

 

Citizen Watchdog Summit: Exposing Voter Fraud in Florida

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The Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity has joined forces with Americans For Prosperity and True the Vote for a very special program! Join us for the Citizen Watchdog Summit: Exposing Voter Fraud in Florida. This will be a two day program of speakers and training that you don’t want to miss!

All eyes are on Florida at election time! Examples of deception, voter irregularities, and illegitimate intent are rampant: Voter Fraud does occur and we want to get the message out! We need to tell the truth about voter fraud even when the establishment media refuses to do so. In addition to tackling this hot issue, we will give you tools to expose and report on the local issues important to us all.

Americans for Prosperity-Florida, True the Vote and the Franklin Center’s Citizen Watchdog program is thrilled to host a two-day summit in South Florida. Please join us on Friday July 27th for an opening night dinner and Saturday, July 28, from 9am to 5pm at the Boca Raton Marriott to learn how you can get involved to hold our elected officials accountable, spread the message and help prevent voter fraud and set this country on a better path for future generations.

You will learn the best tools and techniques in investigative journalism, new media, and opposition research to help you identify and combat voter fraud.

Click here for more information about this event!

We’ll be joined by some of the nation’s leading experts in Election Integrity and citizen journalism. Join us to hear from such leaders as:

• John Fund, Voter Integrity Expert, senior editor of The American Spectator and author of Stealing Elections
• Hannah Giles, whistle blower, activist who helped uncover the unlawful practices of Acorn
• Guy Benson, TownHall.com
• Catherine Englebrecht, True the Vote
• MORE TBA

Click here to register!

For only $45 per person (the cost of meals and materials), you will learn:

– How Election Integrity can change the course of history
– How and when voter fraud occurs
– What simple task you can do to prevent the corruption of the voter booth
Plus:
– How to use investigative reporting tools and skills
– How to enhance state transparency with open records laws
– How to hold elected officials accountable through social media
– Legal tools to protect your liberties and empower citizens

Together, we can continue the hard, but important job of taking back America.

Citizen Watchdog Summit: Exposing Voter Fraud in Florida
July 27, 2012 6:30– 9pm Dinner w/ Special Guest John Fund
July 28, 2012 9-5pm Program Training
Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center
5150 Town Center Circle
Boca Raton, FL 33486

Below please find a complete program agenda for the full two-day training. If you are not able to join us this time, sign up to receive updates on future Franklin Center trainings in Florida.

Citizen Watchdog Summit: Exposing Voter Fraud in Florida
Franklin Center * True The Vote * Americans for Prosperity
July 27-28 – Boca Raton, FL

Friday, July 27

5:30-6pm- Registration

6-9pm- Dinner With Keynote Speaker John Fund

Saturday, July 28

8:30am Continental breakfast

9:00-11:00 am, True The Vote Info and Training

Timeline: Bill Ouren

Teambuilding: Vicki Pullen

Research: Mark Antill

Taking Action in Florida: Catherine Engelbrecht

11:00-11:30am- Exposing the Establishment Media

Hannah Giles, ACORN Whistleblower

11:30- Noon, Intro to Citizen Watchdog Program

Mary Ellen Beatty, Franklin Center

Noon-1pm, Lunch with Guy Benson, TownHall.com

1-2, Investigative Reporting

Yael Ossowski, Florida Watchdog

2-2:45pm- Using Social Media to Hold Your Elected Officials Accountable

Javier Manjarres, The Shark Tank (Florida state blog), http://shark-tank.net/

2:45-3:00pm- Break

3:00-3:30pm- Florida Open Records Law

Jerry Couey, Citizen watchdog from Pensacola

3:30-4:15pm- Understanding Florida’s Key Legislative Issues in 2012

Slade O’Brien, AFP-FL

4:15-5:00pm- Strategic Research: Learning to Vet Important Public Figures

Mary Ellen Beatty, Franklin Center

FL Primary Voting Registration Ends July 16, 2012

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With a primary election approaching, here is voter information from the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections office:

In order to register to vote in Florida, you must:

  • Be a citizen of the United States of America
  • Be a Florida resident
  • Be 18 years old (A person who is otherwise qualified may preregister on or after his/her 16th birthday and may vote in any election on or after his/her 18th birthday.)
  • Not now be adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting in Florida or any other state
  • Not have been convicted of a felony without your right to vote having been restored
  • Provide your current and valid Florida driver license number or Florida identification card number. You must provide the last four of your Social Security number if you do not have a Florida driver license number or a Florida identification card number. If you have not been issued any of these items, you must write “NONE” in the box indicated on the Voter Registration Application.

How to Apply to Register to Vote

  • Fill in the Voter Registration Application online. If you wish, you can print the application and write your information in with a black ballpoint pen.
  • For the Voter Registration Online Application in Spanish select this link.
  • Print the application out.
  • Verify that all the information on your application is complete. The office where you register, your decision not to register, your Social Security number, Florida driver license number and Florida ID card number will remain confidential and will be used only for voter registration purposes.
  • Sign your application. The application requires an original signature because you are swearing to or affirming an oath.
  • Mail your application to your county supervisor of elections. (Requires first class postage stamp.) You may also hand-deliver the application to any supervisor of elections office in the state, a driver license office, a voter registration agency or armed forces recruitment office, or to the Division of Elections.
  • If your application is complete and you qualify as a voter, the supervisor of elections will mail you a voter information letter as official notification that you are registered to vote. Make sure all of the information in your letter is correct. If you do not receive a confirmation letter within 8 weeks, or if you have any questions, call your supervisor of elections.

NOTE: You must be registered for at least 29 days before you can vote in an election.

If the information on the application is not true, the applicant can be convicted of a felony of the third degree and fined up to $5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 5 years.

English WINS in Florida Court

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The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an earlier ruling from the U.S. District Court that product manufacturers and distributors are not obligated to provide warnings in languages other than English. The ruling applies to both assembly instructions and manuals for consumer products. This is the second victory for English in the courts in the past few months. The Arizona Supreme Court recently defended English proficiency as a requirement to run for public office.

This new ruling stems from a 2009 incident when a Florida resident who understands only Spanish bought two propane heaters from Home Depot in Miami. The woman mistakenly used the heaters indoors, even though they were outdoor-only heaters, and the resulting fire caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to her home.

The woman sued both the manufacturers of the heaters as well as Home Depot claiming they were liable since the safety and assembly instructions on the heaters were provided not in Spanish, but only in English.

Subsequently in 2010, the U.S. District Court ruled that the woman exhibited “willful ignorance” in assembling the products without understanding the instructions and neglecting to seek additional assistance, and just last week, the Eleventh Circuit concurred that the English-only safety warnings were adequate and noted that even though the woman did not speak English, the pictures on the instructions were perfectly clear.

The English Language Unity (ELU) act has been introduced in Congress – S. 503 and H.R. 997. The English language advocacy group Pro-English supports the ELU act.

Rubio supports cleansing Florida voter rolls

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Florida Senator Marco Rubio stated unequivocally, “I wouldn’t characterize it as an effort to purge Latinos from the voting rolls.” At a Bloomberg News breakfast today, June 14th, Senator Rubio went on to say, “I would characterize it as twofold. No. 1 is, I think there’s the goal of ensuring that everyone who votes in Florida is qualified to vote. If you’re not a citizen of the United States, you shouldn’t be voting. That’s the law. And, I mean — I mean, what’s the counter to that, that we’re willing to tolerate 100 illegal voters on our rolls? So I do think that — I mean, why — how could anyone argue against a state identifying people who are not rightfully on the voter rolls and removing them from the voter rolls? They shouldn’t be voting.”

The Department of Justice letter to Governor Scott reads:

… Your June 6 response has provided no information that allows us to change our view that the State’s new list maintenance program for verification of citizen is a “program the purpose of which is to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official list of eligible voters,” and that this program is being conducted within the 90-day quiet period established by the (National Voter Registration Act). Likewise, you have provided no information indicating that the program fits within any of the statutory exceptions for programs that may be conducted within that quiet period.

Instead, it appears that Florida has initiated a new program for system voter removal, which may ultimately target more than 180,000 registered voters …

… In these circumstances, continuing with any future mailings on this basis during the 90-day quiet period, or removing persons form the voter registration list for failing to respond to the State’s inquiries to date, violate Section 8 of the NVRA. Please immediately cease this unlawful conduct.

According to John Fund and Quin Hillyer, both Senior Editors at American Spectator, there is no 90-day quiet period in the NVRA for purging illegal voters from the rolls. According to Quin Hillyer, who helps craft Section 8 of the NVRA, it requires Florida to do what it is doing now. Section 8 was put in place to insure voter rolls were maintained in proper order with only legal voters on it.

Senator Rubio noted, “What is the argument in favor of leaving people on the rolls that aren’t qualified to vote in the United States?”