So the Ron Paul fans are hopping mad over the Nevada caucus results, claiming that the election was "stolen" from Ron Paul, because they can't understand how Paul did so poorly, given his focus on the caucus states.
They're running with this opinion piece from the Examiner, as well as this video of a Gingrich supporter who was surprised Newt won her specific caucus because of how many Ron Paul supporters she saw. Never mind that Paul fans tend to be... how shall I put it... more vocal about their support of their candidate, and so are usually quite noticeable in any room. But never mind that, in their minds, it must be election fraud.
But I want to focus on the "Sundown Caucus", the one set up at the request of Sheldon Adelson specifically for observant Jews and 7th Day Adventists, that took place after sunset for those who could not attend the morning caucuses due to religious reasons. Video shows Ron Paul actually won this caucus, which his fans are gloating about very much on the Internet. The caucus itself was very chaotic, and almost turned violent at times.
But from the Las Vegas Review Journal and other news sources, we get actual proof of voter fraud occurring. But it's perhaps not what the Ron Paul folks want to hear.
Evidence below the fold.
But Paul supporters, many of them signing declarations stating they needed to attend the evening event because religious obligations prevented them from caucusing earlier, won the day. Paul won with 183 votes, Romney was second with 61, former House Speaker Gingrich was third with 57, and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania was last with 16.
From the beginning it appeared the crowd was heavy with Paul supporters.
Laurie Drum of Las Vegas was one of the first people in line to enter, more than an hour before the event was scheduled to begin.
"I've done a lot of research on the different candidates. I've been reading a lot," said Drum, who cited Paul's economic platform.
A series of robo-calls to potential caucus-goers may have contributed to the chaos surrounding the event.
Several people said they received calls stating that if they missed an earlier caucus for any reason, they could show up at the sundown caucus.
"It said if you couldn't vote today to come out here and you could vote," said Ed Klapproth, who missed caucusing at his precinct because he was volunteering at another.
Did you catch that? One of my Jewish friends explained it to me:
She showed up more than an hour before the event was scheduled to begin, aka before 5pm, aka before sunset, aka not an observant Jew or 7th Day Adventist. People had to sign an affidavit that they couldn't vote earlier for religious reasons, and many of them obviously lied. Kinda annoying.
What do you guys think? Event started at 7pm, doors opened at 6pm, sunset was at around 5:50pm on Saturday. Unless she lived right across the street from the location and walked immediately over right at sunset. I'm guessing the likelihood of that is rather low.
Others were more open about it. From the Los Angeles Times:
When Rabbi Shea Harlig took in the packed room at a special evening caucus for Republicans who observe a Saturday sabbath, he couldn't believe his eyes.
While it was standing room only, few donned religious garb.
"I didn't realize there were so many orthodox Jews and Seventh Day Adventists living in Las Vegas," he said wryly.
There aren't. Unless "Ron Paul" is a religion.
...
"We decided we were going to come in here and do it anyway, no matter what," said Sam McCaslin, a 38-year-old record company executive. "There is no law that says your vote is based on your religion."
But there are party rules. And the Paulites bent them, helping Paul win a crushing victory. He received 183 votes, more than twice the total of Mitt Romney, the second place finisher.
Paul's campaign made last-minute calls directing supporters to the special site at the Adelson Educational Campus. Dozens of them signed a party declaration saying they missed Saturday's caucuses because of "religious beliefs."
In fact, voters like Pedro Hedeiros had shown up late and missed their morning meetings.
From the
New York Times:
Many supporters of Representative Ron Paul of Texas protested when given the declaration to sign. They had arrived at the polling place — a school here named after its benefactors, the casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam — after they received an automated phone call from the Paul campaign saying voters unable to attend their regular caucuses could go to the night meeting.
And Paul campaign aides later said that anyone who had missed their earlier caucuses during the day for any reason should have been allowed to vote, and suggested that what they described as the “religious test” at the caucus would lead to lawsuits.
Mike Dicicco, a Paul supporter who drove 30 minutes from Henderson, Nev., said he was asked whether he was Jewish by a poll worker. Mr. Dicicco said he had received the automated campaign call and could not vote earlier because he had to work, not because of religious reasons.
“Why wouldn’t I be able to vote just because I’m not Jewish?” he said.
Sharon Saska, who said she arrived too late at her regular caucus to vote, was refused entry to the night caucus because she would not sign the declaration. If she had, she would have been committing perjury, she said, because religious beliefs had not kept her from voting earlier. She said she had planned to support Newt Gingrich.
From the
AP:
Most supporters signed the declaration without hesitation, after confirming to an Associated Press reporter that they had missed the earlier caucuses for other reasons.
Stay-at-home mother Cindy Koogler, 33, said she tried to vote in the morning, but was turned away after arriving an hour late because she was caring for her young son. A Paul supporter told her about the Saturday night caucus.
"When you have a kid and he's in the middle of potty-training, you can't take him with you," she said of the morning vote.
Koogler said she signed the declaration saying she was a religious voter and was not questioned.
So we have evidence of a Newt supporter
not perjurying herself, and thus not voting, while we have evidence of Paul supporters lying on the affidavit in order to still vote, even though they didn't miss the morning caucuses for religious reasons.
Remember, this caucus was NOT for people who simply overslept the morning caucus, or had work, or any other reason. It was only for those who couldn't make it specifically due to religious restrictions. Hence the affidavits they needed to sign, which also included them saying they had not participated in a morning caucus elsewhere. Like it or not, those were the rules established by the Nevada Republican Party. Now, there's a whole other debate on how religious exceptions should be made in a caucus state when the caucus takes place on the Sabbath, how to verify people aren't voting twice, or whether the idea of a caucus rather than a simply primary is even a good thing anymore in the 21st century, but those are debates for another time. People knew (or should have known) the rules going in.
Ron Paul fans are now claiming this caucus shows Ron Paul has a lot of support from observant Jews. And yet multiple people interviewed who supported Paul seem to have lied about their religiosity in order to gain entrance and vote in the caucus. The observant Jews that I know are pissed because they think Ron Paul fans stole that particular caucus for themselves.
BTW, legal question. My Ron Paul friends are calling for people to go to jail for this "fraud" of the statewide results. But... let's say they're actually correct for once, and a smoking gun later comes out proving the fraud. Is that actually illegal, because it was a presidential primary, which is overseen by the political party holding it, versus the general election itself? And because of the affidavits, could some Ron Paul fans face actual prosecution for lying on it?