On August 9-10 , Republican operatives attempted to bully and intimidate our Obama booth volunteers from registering voters at the Asian Festival held in Reston, VA on August 9. Our booth was located just two booths away from McSame's. The volunteers were actively asking passersby if they wanted to register. They did a great job, as I observed many people taking them up on it, and these people, some of them new citizens, some of them newly moved, were very pleased at the opportunity. But then, Evil reared it's ugly head..... over the fold...
...as I posted in a brief comment the other day, noting our success in putting democracy to work, a person from the McCain booth came over and complained, saying that "we have a member of the Board of Elections here" who will stop what you're doing. That person, a Mr. Pyon, came out from the McCain booth (no partisanship there), came over, and announced that what was being done was ILLEGAL, that only non-partisans could register voters, and proceeded to take pictures. As described in WashingtonPost.com here,
..
the Republican on the three-member board, approached Obama supporters who were trying to register new voters at the festival.
The complaint alleges that Pyon told the Obama volunteers they cannot keep voter registration forms on the same table as campaign literature.
Surovell alleges Pyon, the board member, then told the Obama volunteers "he was a member of the State Board of Elections and that the board was going to take this up."
"Several of the volunteers felt threatened by this behavior," the complaint states.
Needless to say, we ignored this neanderthal and managed to register about 50 new voters. Well, I will tell you that the newly elected (this year) Chairman of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, Scott Surovell, will not let this kind of crap pass without consequences:
The chairman of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee filed a complaint today with the State Board of Elections alleging one of its Republican members tried to intimidate supporters of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) at the Asian American Festival in Reston on Saturday.
It is with increasing disgust that I view the blatant attempts at voter suppression in Virginia (and, no doubt, nationwide). Just a few weeks ago the Chairman of the Virginia Republican Party actually stated that he discourages anyone from registering because their social security numbers could be compromised. Sure. Let me just reproduce what I said in the comments on washingtonpost.com which summarizes how I feel:
I am so glad that Scott is taking this action. I came by the booth that day just after this incident happened. In my opinion, Pat is being much too kind to Mr. Pyon when she says "election law is complicated." Sure it is. But those on the Board of Elections are supposed to be the experts. I have nothing but total contempt for those who try to suppress the very activity on which this country was founded, the sacred right to vote. Using intimidation like that is not new for Republicans. As far as I'm concerned, anyone using such tactics, whether it be falsely telling minorities that election day is another day, or demanding voter identification not required by the Board of Elections, or using "caging," techniques, are guilty of the worst of offenses, and this includes falsely telling volunteers they can't register voters, and taking their pictures-if that isn't intimidation, Mr. Pyon, than what was it??
I believe that all such activity should be treated with the utmost seriousness. One definition of "treason" is "a betrayal of trust." I believe activities that betray the trust that this country puts in enforcing, and encouraging, voter participation is just such a betrayal. Of course, when the Attorney General of the United States declares that "just because you disobey a law doesn't mean you are a criminal" the odds are low on any meaningful enforcement.
Do NOT fool around with our right to vote - you WILL be held accountable, if we have anything to say about it.
It is truly disgusting that the Republican Party of Virginia appears to be afraid of the possibility that new voters will not support them. I say to them, move to a country where the "inconvenient truth" of voters declaring their preferences in an open election does not take place.