I go to freerepublic from time to time to see how they react to common sense outrages in looney ways. I went to see what they thought of tea party idiot Walsh blasting Michelle Obama for doing the decent thing by attending slain Chicago teen Hadiya Pendleton's funeral.
Then I saw this headlineabout some Obama poll worker Melowese Richardson voting twice. So I dug in eagerness to prove those morons wrong. Imagine my horror when I saw that this moronic lady not only voted twice but admitted cheerily on camera without any sense of regret.
THe item links to a right wing authored Townhall article which has an embedded link to a TV report. I kept looking for some kind of hope that I can debunk this crap. THen I see the lady say that she did vote twice because she was not confident her absentee ballot would count, so she went ahead and voted in person. May I add that she was a poll worker who should know better that such a thing could backfire in this climate of republicans overhyping voter fraud. Why take that chance? Why did she even bother sending her absentee ballot in if she was that determined to make her vote count? Did she not know that any double voting in a state like OHIO would only make the right wingers double down in the future on such costly fights? She even sent her grandaughter's absentee ballot in, but the granddaughter ended up voting provisionally anyway.
Frequently, I sometimes fax in my health care claim forms for any reiumbursement as a cautionary measure even though I email them the day before. Maybe she was being extra cautious? Even then, she was a poll worker for two decades. SHE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER. And if you are that intent on making your vote count and you know you are going to be in town (which was very likely considering her poll worker status), she should not have bothered sending the absentee ballot in.
Richardson voted at the Madisonville Recreation Center where she worked as a paid worker on Election Day.
"I, after registering thousands of people, certainly wanted my vote to count. So, I voted. I voted at the poll," she said.
And then this gem which really makes her look worse.
During the investigation it was also discovered that her granddaughter, India Richardson, who was a first time voter in the 2012 election, cast two ballots in November.
Documents show when India was contacted on Jan. 17 concerning the two ballots, she denied voting absentee.
She stated, "No, my grandmother filled that out and voted my ballot because she didn't think I would go do it, but I did. I voted provisionally at my polling place on Election Day," according to the report.
Richardson admitted to sending one of her granddaughter's ballots in the mail.
"I did let her know that I was getting the absentee ballot for her and sending it in. I had to get her Social Security number for that. I assumed she forgot or was just excited and she went to the polls herself," said Richardson.
Way to shift the blame to the granddaughter for forgetting. What i think happened is the granddaugther was going to vote all along, but this grandma was taking no chances at all and voted her absentee anyway . May i add that this lady was a poll worker for decades? May I remind eveyrone again that this is in the state of OH where this moron had to know that Republicans are going to be looking for every tiny bit of fraud they can find. She would have been better off trying to rig a Diebold machine since Republicans obviously do not care about computer fraud.
It does not stop.
Another claim is absentee ballots for Montez Richardson, Joseph Jones and Markus Barron all came from Richardson's Whetsel Avenue address were received by the board the same time as Richardson's and the handwriting on all four of them was similar.
"Markus Barron lives here. Joseph Jones is my brother. He's here from time-to-time. I am Montez's power-of-attorney. I voted for her in her absence," said Richardson.
She said she thought all of the votes were legal. The matter may still wind up before the Hamilton County prosecutor.
"Have they never heard of a simple mistake? Have they never heard of overlooking? Mailing in a ballot or registering to vote at a precinct after you've forgotten that you mailed in a ballot?" said Richardson.
IN the worst case, Richardson is an overeager idiot who wanted to vote twice . In the best case, she is one of those loud mouth know it alls (I have some of those in my family) who feels like she has to do what is right even if it is none of her business for the rest of the family. It's fine to encourage her granddaughter to vote. Just do not vote on her behalf when she is perfectly capable of doing so and by the look of things she was willing to vote herself. She didn't deserve to be dragged unwittingly into this idiocy by her overbearing grandma. But considering she filled in 4 absentee ballots, I am not willing to grant her the benefit of doubt that it was an honest mistake. I think she knew all along that she was going to vote in person. It doesn't matter. She is certainly guilty of being an idiot for doing that in OH of all states. I have to explore the constitutionality of her voting absentee ballot on behalf of her grandaughter
If you want to commit fraud, just rig one of those Diebold machines. The REpublicans inexplicably but understandably do not care about possible fraud on those machines. This is why I say we should call their bluff on voter ID and agree to it if Republicans agree to fund the distribution of free IDs and fund for better accessibility of documents needed to get those IDs. Republicans will never go for it and then they can move on to the next outrage that suits their agenda.
By the way, for perspective on the scale of the fraud, Think Progress has a good article(as much as I bash this idiot Richardson, the fact is this does not enhance John Fund's whiny complaints because photo ID would not have fixed this situation and the percentage is much smaller. Also I doubt Republicans would want to get rid of absentee ballots which has more potential for fraud than lack of photo ID).
But let us not make excuses for this moron who will soon become the posterchild for what will be an overblown controversy that in reality did not tilt the elections.
[UPDATE]: I just checked the rules of absentee ballots. She can make all the excuses she wants for herself. But what she did for her granddaughter doesn't seem so kosher. I got the following info from the IL absentee ballot website.
information provided on the application.
The affidavit on the envelope attests to the fact that the voter is voting his/her own ballot in secret.
If the voter receives assistance in voting their absentee ballot, the name and
address of the individual giving the assistance must be placed on the allot
certification envelope. Remember that a candidate is NOT allowed to assist an
absentee voter unless the candidate is a spouse, parent, child or sibling of the
absentee voter.
The absentee voter may authorize, in writing, a spouse, parent, child, brother,
sister, or licensed motor carrier, to......
Melowese, you know the thing about it being secret, right? So forget legally, even morally, you had no business voting what you thought was best for your granddaughter. What if she wanted to vote third party or ahem, even Romney? That is her damn right. It doesn't matter what she may have told you who she might want to vote for. People lie about who they want to vote for if they feel everyone around them feels strongly about a candidate. This woman had no right to take that away since there was a tiny (Ok, miniscule) chance that the granddaughter would have wanted for someone else.
Melowese, quit while you are ahead. Don't make a fool of us. You should have known better. You have been a poll worker for many years.