Part Three: Secretaries of State and Control

In Part One we learned how diverse segments of the Left see Obama’s presidency as the “perfect storm” to get their agendas advanced and in Part Two we learned how the Minnesota Secretary of State was crucial in the 2008 Senate election there and how the Secretary of State Project helped get him elected initially.  Today, in the final part of this series we will learn about the “project” itself and what it might mean for future elections in the U.S.

One thing is for certain, elections are getting very close in America.  With the Bush/Gore election in 2000, Bush/Kerry in 2004, and the McCain/Obama election of 2008 (not to mention numerous local and state elections) victory came down to a few places in the country: a few districts in Ohio and Florida, for example.  As the margin for error decreases dramatically voter fraud becomes a real issue.  Though there have been many attempts to clean the voter rolls of people ineligible to vote either because they have moved, are dead, or have lost the right to vote because of their criminal past, many slip through.  It has been an uphill battle to have commonsense reforms like needing a driver’s license or state identification card in order to verify identity prior to voting.  Where there is a weak link there is an opportunity for fraud.

The Secretary of State Project claims it is around to prevent voter fraud but, oddly enough, only backs Democrats.  This fact alone makes the organization suspect as “voter fraud” should be monitored for the sake of both parties and all Americans.  According to The American Spectator:

The group was co-founded in July 2006 by James Rucker, formerly director of grassroots mobilization for MoveOn.org Political Action and Moveon.org Civic Action.

Its website claims, “A modest political investment in electing clean candidates to critical Secretary of State offices is an efficient way to protect the election.” Indeed. Political observers know that a relatively small amount of money can help swing a little-watched race for a state office few people understand or care about.

Indeed, many important positions like members of the school board are voted on in off years and recieve little attention from people.  Usually, only hardcore Democrats or Republicans cast their ballots and usually a relatively small number of votes affects the outcome.  This is the strategy to elect Democrats for all 50 Secretaries of State in America.

One of the founders of the Secretary of State Project is Becky Bond.  She cited Republican fraud as the reason for creating the group:

“Any serious commitment to wrestling control of the country from the Republican Party must include removing their political operatives from deciding who can vote and whose votes will count,” said Becky Bond, a San Francisco woman who is one of the group’s founders.

It doesn't just happen in Iran.

Curiously, however, if Ms. Bond sees Republican fraud as the reason for her group’s existence it seems as though the outcome is possible fraud (bolding added for emphasis):

In 2006, along with Minnesota’s Ritchie, the SOS project endorsed and helped elect Jennifer Brunner in Ohio. Democrats supported by the group also won that year in the key swing states of New Mexico, Nevada and Iowa.

In 2008, the group helped fund Democratic victories in Montana, West Virginia, Oregon and Missouri, spending some $280,000, according to the watchdog group Center for Public Integrity.

Brunner will be remembered for refusing in October 2008 to hand over to county election boards some 200,000 names on voter registration forms in which the driver’s license or Social Security number on the form did not match the name.

Shortly before the 2008 election, Vadum observed in the American Spectator: “Brunner, a Democrat, has declined to enforce the provisions of the Help America Vote Act that requires her to use a database to allow the verification of 600,000-plus registrations from new Ohio voters.” Vadum added: “It’s a recipe for disaster, but that’s exactly the way her allies at Acorn like it.”

If we look at Minnesota and the Secretary of State Project-backed Ritchie we learn:

In the election on Tuesday, Ritchie said his office “received no reports whatsoever of fraudulent voting occurring,” but most news reports omitted the fact that a conservative watchdog group called Minnesota Majority repeatedly urged Ritchie to clean up the state’s voter data. The group urged “a thorough review and verification of all voter registration records.”

Minnesota Majority claimed last month that there were thousands of irregularities in voter lists, including 261,000 duplicative registrations and 63,000 voters listing an address that the post office reported was “non-deliverable.”

Ritchie was dismissive.

One has to admire the cleverness of Democrats for targeting the Secretaries of State so that they can control the process.  The irony, of course, is the very same things they decried in Florida and Ohio in 2000 and 2004 appear to be happening in states where their candidates won.  Coincidence?  The Secretary of State in Minnesota has great power:

Ritchie said the recount won’t get underway until the State Canvassing Board meets Nov. 18 to certify the U.S. Senate election results. Under state law, the five-member board will consist of Ritchie, two state district court judges he appoints to it, and two state supreme court justices.

What are Americans in store for over the coming years as elections get closer and closer?  If the “results” of the Secretary of State Project are to be believed then voters will eventually grow disenchanted with the electoral process even more than they are today and one day we may see what happened in Iran as something that could happen here.

As Adolf Hitler once said: “It is not truth that matters, but victory.”

This story is Part Three of a series – Control the Process, Control the Results – Hope you enjoyed it.

Related posts:

Part Two: The Secretary of State Project
Cap and Trade and Trusting Congress (Mistake)
Obama and the Media’s Iran Blindspot
Conservatives Large in Number… Will it Translate to Republicans?
Why the U.S. Government Can’t Seem to Do It’s Job
More Racism Charges (This Time from ACORN)