Archive for the ‘Voting’ Category

You can get all that and more and long as you vote for Barack Obama!

We’ve chronicled on these pages in the past about the Obama campaign’s shady shenanigans to give people stuff in exchange for their vote (which, just to remind you, is all sorts of illegal).  We’re talking exclusive tickets to Dave Matthews concert on the campus of Indiana University a free carwash in Gary (granted, Obama’s campaign really has nothing to do with that it’s just fun to mention) and now preferential seating at his appearance tomorrow at the State Fair Grounds if you voted early!

And who was advertising that nugget of information on government time and on government property?  You guessed it!  Everybody’s favorite embarrassment of a county clerk, Democrat Beth White.

This, rightly, has Marion County GOP Chairman Tom John, a little honked off.

John said White is misusing her office by encouraging people to vote in exchange for something of value — seating at an event that he compared to getting free tickets to a rock concert. He said local, state and federal law prohibits soliciting votes by promising something in return.

“Beth White is a conspirator in this,” John said. “She looked in the camera and gave an infomercial for Barack Obama. She’s in cahoots with the campaign.”

John said offering preferential seating to an appearance, even a free one, is different from the traditional party effort to give voters free rides to the polls on Election Day. He said offering rides is a function of running an election, not something of value , such as seats at an Obama appearance.

Really, what more has to happen for more than just blogs to raise the question of some shady Democrat doings in this campaign?  From Tony Rezko, to William Ayers, to sketchy online fundraising to giving away things of value in exchange for vote, things just don’t add up with this guy.

The deadline to register to vote in the November general is noon today.  If you haven’t registered yet, what are you waiting for?!

Register here.

Yesterday, I had a unique opportunity, as a blogger, to participate in a conference call with Secretary of State Todd Rokita while he was in Iraq and Kuwait observing the voting process for our Hoosier men and women fighting in Iraq.  Mostly, I just listened in to hear what he would have to say about how the absentee voting worked for our servicemen.

Three things stuck out to me about this process that Rokita mentioned.  First, that this was the first time any elected state official lower than Governor was allowed to visit our troops in such a fashion.  Second, was that voting turnout is extremely high.  He chalked that up to the improved methods of voting for troops (troops can vote by absentee, email, a secure internet process set up by the Dept. of Defense or fax) as well as the general importance of this election.  He mentioned that he’s hearing as much about presidential election in Iraq as he in the United States.  Third, he also mentioned turnout was high because of the greater importance in the handling of ballots and the importance that the military has put on connecting troops with military personnel in charge of voting.  He mentioned that the ballots are seen as a direct extension of the soldier and that the ballots are treated with the utmost care.  WISHTV.com quoted Rokita as saying:

“They take special care of the ballot as soon as it gets in the mail. They segregate the ballot, preserving the soldier’s privacy. Collect all the ballots, and it’s the first box of mail that goes on each plane, as it leaves Ballad, or other places in the theatre to come back to that soldier’s county clerk’s office,”

It was a very interesting look into the process of how our troops votes are treated and the increasingly painstaking options with which the military is making sure the votes of our troops count, especially in the light of such an important election.  He closed by saying that, as Indiana’s top election official, he doesn’t care what party you belong to as long as you vote.

(Read the press release that announced Rokita’s visit to Iraq below the fold) (more…)