Widespread cheating & vote suppression by Clinton campaign in Clark County, NV

[Calimoonchild]

UPDATED (2): Widespread Cheating & Vote Suppression by Clinton Campaign in Clark County, NV

by thereisnospoon

Sat Jan 19, 2008 at 02:19:31 PM PST

[UPDATE 2: Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe has now made the accusation in the Atlantic, with over 200 separate allegations of irregularities at caucus sites. See also this diary by LV Pol Girl].

• thereisnospoon's diary :: ::

[UPDATE: I'm not claiming that these tactics were enough to flip the results. In fact, I don't think so. Hillary probably won more actual Nevada voters anyway, and would have won them without the cheating (though Obama won more delegates, which is what matters). The point is to illustrate the nature of her campaign; how it reflects on her character; and how it affects the Democratic base.
Also, word on the ground is that caucuses on the Strip and in Reno were clean.
For all you doubters out there, all I can do is tell you what I directly experienced, and heard firsthand from other volunteers at the campaign office. As further corroboration, the Obama hotline to report irregularities was busy for a full ten minutes.]

Hey everyone,
I'm reporting in from one of the Obama field offices in Clark County, NV. My girlfriend and I just came back from being the precinct captains at our caucus, and the scene here is ugly.

Everyone is reporting election irregularities on the part of the Hillary campaign. There is widespread cheating and voter suppression going on all over Clark County--and it's obviously coming in from the top down.
Whether it made enough of a difference to swing the election is another question--but there is no question that Hillary was running a scorched-earth, no-holds-barred campaign in which all of her surrogates were instructed to cheat in every way possible.

To be clear about the caucus process here: caucus doors opened at 11am today; people are allowed to file in and register on location until 12 noon, at which time the doors close and no one else is admitted. Those registering were given non-binding ballots to fill out to help assess in case of problems with head count. At this point, the total number of people in the room are counted. Viability is determined (15%), and then the viable sections have 20 minutes to convince the uncommitteds/unviables. Final counts are then made.


Here are just a few of the irregularities from the Clinton campaign that have come to my ears, before I tell my own story. Word on the ground is that we have video of some of these shenanigans as well.

• No less than eight Obama captains (including myself) have reported that Clinton operatives tried to close the doors at 11:30--a full thirty minutes before the doors were supposed to close. In some cases I am hearing they actually succeeded, and voters were turned away before more knowledgeable people could get there to reopen them. The Clinton campaign had obviously told their people to be there by 11:30--and they knew that the higher the turnout, the worse for them.
• At least two reports of Clinton operatives telling the uncommitteds and Edwards supporters, once their numbers were deemed not viable, that they had to leave. Whether these tactics succeeded or not, I do not know. Obviously, the Clinton campaign knew that voters not already in her camp were unlikely to join her camp (I know from my own experience that I convinced many more undecideds than my opponent Hillary operative), so they attempted to suppress their vote.
• At least one report of Clinton operatives telling Obama supporters with viable numbers that they were not viable, and had to leave. From what I hear, some of those voters did in fact leave.
• At least two reports (including my own) of disabled voters being coerced into the Clinton camp against their will, or even having their voter card filled out for them against their will.
• A few reports of probable out-of-state Clinton operatives being counted among the voters--though since checking ID is illegal, and other Hillary operatives from in-state would vouch for them, it's impossible to say.
• At least one report of two large men standing outside the door checking voters for whom they would support, and telling all Obama people they were at the wrong location.
• At least one other report of Hillary operatives doing the check-in, and telling all Obama supporters that they were not on the list, could not register at the location (not true), and that they could not caucus.
• At least one report of ballots being filled out in advance for Hillary in mass.
• At least one report of Hillary supporters saying that the caucus location was just the Hillary room--and that Obama supporters had to go to a faraway location.
• At least one report of a voter registration list only in Spanish, and only with Hillary supporters on it. Obama supporters later found the registration list with the rest of the people--in the garbage can of the ladies restroom.
• Several reports of Hillary signs on the registration table, and Hillary supporters in Hillary shirts doing registration.

And there's much, much more. It's only just getting started to come through. How many of these tactics worked is unclear. Certainly, aggressive Obama volunteers like myself should have nipped many of these in the bud, but we're actually counting on concerned citizens who care--not machine operatives trained to cheat and brought up in the nearly criminal Nevada machine and the ruthless, conscience-less Hillary campaign.


Here's my story:
I got to the location at 10:30am and set up. The Hillary people were already there. In charge of them was a 60-ish woman with a slight Brooklyn accent. Here were the irregularities in my precinct alone:

• The Hillary operative tried to force the doors to close at 11:30am. KK was outside greeting people, and she overheard the Hillary campaign mention that the doors would be closing at 11:30am, and she went to talk to the precinct chair. So we intervened and said that that was absolutely not legal by the rules. She then started screaming at the chair to close the doors. When he read the rules that they were open until 12noon, she said that "that's not what I was told, other campaigns were spreading misinformation." We stood our ground, and the doors remained open.
• A man in a wheelchair came in with his daughter, and said he was an Edwards supporter. When his daughter began to wheel him to the middle of the room, the Hillary operative tapped her on the shoulder, took the wheelchair and took him to the Clinton corner. I rushed over from talking to an undecided voter and objected loudly, but his daughter was a Hillary person. The Clinton operative said, "I don't control what he does; she does." At that point I said to the man, "Nobody controls you. If you want to vote for Edwards, you have every right to go to the center of the room. Do you need help?" He looked at me plaintively, but said nothing as his daughter dragged him farther back into the corner and just shook his head.
• The Clinton operative herself had a Brooklyn accent and I overheard her mention having been from New York. When she stood to be counted in the middle of the room, I objected and asked her if she was actually from Nevada. She said yes. I talked to the chair and asked him to ask her name and find her on the list. He asked her her name and checked the list, and she was not on it. At this point the chair said, "well, I can't ask for ID." I said, "She can't participate if no one will vouch for her." At this point a Hispanic man wearing a Hillary shirt said she was his wife. While that's not impossible, it was also improbable--but I had no way to verify or object further.
• One voter who hadn't even finished registering said that she was undecided, and the Hillary operative physically escorted her to the Hillary side. I went to talk to the woman, but she was immediately surrounded by 3 Hillary supporters who would not let me in, and I had to attend to others registering at that point (our operatives were outnumbered by hers 2-1).
• Hillary supporters were doing check-in, and a Hillary sign was behind them. I forced the sign off the table, and I went to the front desk to verify that everything went according to the rules at checkin--but if nothing else, the necessity of doing so prevented me from doing other needed work.

Even so, KK and I managed to convince 6 undecided/Edwards voters (Edwards & uncommitted both lacked viability in my caucus), while their cheating, ruthless operatives only convinced two--and our caucus outperformed the field, garnering 4 delegates to her 5. It was intense--and it was war. I knew what the Clinton operatives were up to, and they knew I knew. It was bloodless war; I almost feel pity for the goodhearted Obama volunteers who were unprepared for the level of sociopathy that I expected--and encountered--from the Clinton campaign.
--------------------------------------
After being a part of this campaign, doing this work, and seeing this level of viciousness from a supposedly Democratic candidate, it will be a cold day in hell before I do any work for anyone in any way associated with Hillary Clinton. At this point, even my general election vote is in question. I am furious almost to the point of nausea. There are so many young, idealistic activists here who are absolutely crushed--not because we lost here, but because of the way we "lost." Disillusionment is running extremely high--and I doubt very much of many of them will be back in 2008, or ever again. Illegal and immoral campaign tactics like this aren't just reprehensible: they also come at a cost to the party in the long run.


Leaving behind the triangulating, DLC politics of the Clintons, this crap leaves me with just one question: with Democrats like these, who needs Republicans?

this is so sad and disheartening. My god, if this is true...
Daily Kos: UPDATED (2): Widespread Cheating & Vote Suppression by Clinton Campaign in Clark County, NV

[A*O]

And so it begins......... I'm sorry, I can't take anything someone called David Plouffe says seriously.

[LynnieD]

I actually saw on another website that the Clintons acused Obama of the same thing...so, the other way around. Jesus.

[Calimoonchild]

Will you link us Lynnie? I'm up-front that I'm an Obama supporter, but I dont want to be biased in this, yknow?

I only posted this bc it was on (what I believe to be) an impartial Dem political blog and I haven't read anything the same about Hilary.

Edit: i just spoke to a friend who caucused in Clark County and she witnessed several of the things in this article herself.

oh man. I'm bummed. I'm going to go take a shower and chill out.

[pacific breeze]

Sounds like dirty business as usual -- welcome to politics. ALL parties and candidates do it, alas.

[Grimmlok]

some democracy.

[pacific breeze]

^^Like Winston Churchill said (I'm paraphrasing): democracy isn't very good, but it's the best thing we've got.

[Calimoonchild]

A few more to add to this story:
I'm going to post some first-hand accounts of Clinton-incited voter fraud, from this, admittedly Obama site): Barack Obama : : Change We Can Believe In | Sam Graham-Felsen's Blog: Barack Obama Wins Delegate Battle in Nevada

" By William Today at 8:09 pm EST
IN my precinct (2342 las vegas)we had a Hillary person running the vote counting. Here's how it went down:
People were turned away at 11:30. If someone showed up, like an idie voter or republican stating they were for Obama, as a soon as they filled out their registration paperwork, they were told they could leave....without voting. I caught it after three people had been sent home. Obama voters were, also, told to vote on the wrong side of the cards.

After the first count Hillary had 33. Obama had 30. Edwards had 6 and 2 were uncommitted.

After we persuaded the Edwards people to join us , and one uncommitted. So then Obama had 37. Clinton had 33...and One uncommitted. Everyone applauded and Obama supporters were told he had 6 delegates .

The hillary lady told everyone to leave. My wife and I and two others stayed to sign up to be delegates. Suddenly, there was another recount in private. When they returned, Hillary was given 5 delegates and Obama got 4. You figure it out...Cause I can't.

This isn't Democracy. This is a disgrace. Obama isn't a sore loser. In my precinct, he won...But he's been ripped off.

The daughter of the Hillary lady goes to my grandson's school. She told my grandson that her Mom said they threw out a couple Obama votes. I'm not sure if that part is true. But, the rest of this is. "


from a friend-of-a-friend via email:
I, too, was working with Amy in this same precinct and had the exact same experience. I witnessed the nasty politics of the Clinton campaign first hand, and it is NOT pretty. I'm just glad that Obama won the delegate race in Nevada!

I'm sharpening my knives. I'm in it to WIN it!

Let's WIN California for our guy!
Kirstin

[LynnieD]

Originally Posted by Calimoonchild

Will you link us Lynnie? I'm up-front that I'm an Obama supporter, but I dont want to be biased in this, yknow?

I only posted this bc it was on (what I believe to be) an impartial Dem political blog and I haven't read anything the same about Hilary.

Edit: i just spoke to a friend who caucused in Clark County and she witnessed several of the things in this article herself.

oh man. I'm bummed. I'm going to go take a shower and chill out.

I'm looking for it right now--I believe I saw it on The Drudge Report, but I could be wrong. I am not able to locate it, but I'll keep trying. I could be wrong, and maybe it was the Obama campaign saying it was the Clinton campaign that was up to the underhanded stuff, but let me check!

[Calimoonchild]

Another incident that happened to Candace, another LA-area volunteer:

"My husband and I just got back from volunteering in Vegas. This happened, in the most outrageous, unbelievable degree possible. My husband had to fight with the "party officials" to get the Obama ballots in for the 3 precincts in the one school that he was placed. He could not stop all Obama supporters from leaving when shut out by the party officials illegally and prematurely. We MUST do something about this. No, this cannot stay in Vegas. I'll be blitzing the blogosphere with this story all day every day this coming week. I don't know what else we can do, but at the least, PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW what really happened. I see NO media coverage on this. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS."

This is making me livid. I cannot believe this. The Clinton political machine is ruthless. I can't believe I ever respected them.

[SSDiva]

If all of these stories are true, then this is truly sad. I guess all is fair in politics...It's not like this will be the first stolen, bought, or bribed election in American history...

[PaintTheTownRed]

Hillary got 51% of the votes and Obama got 45%. Seven of the nine casinos also went for Hillary. All the counties seemed to lean to Hillary so it doesn't seem likely their was an error in the outcome. A caucus is usually chaotic because people are sitting around talking to eachother. One county had equal Obama and Hillary votes and they played a card game to determine who would get their delegate.

[SSDiva]

Originally Posted by PaintTheTownRed

Hillary got 51% of the votes and Obama got 45%. Seven of the nine casinos also went for Hillary. All the counties seemed to lean to Hillary so it doesn't seem likely their was an error in the outcome. A caucus is usually chaotic because people are sitting around talking to each other. One county had equal Obama and Hillary votes and they played a card game to determine who would get their delegate.

Reading through all of the news articles about ranting Clinton supporters and Campaigners about how the decks were set for Obama, and then she wins, and this stuff from caucus goers come to light...I tend to believe the people who were there who saw these things first hand. Maybe hose Union workers were forced to go against their Unions endorsement...
Either way I already have made up my mind about who I am voting for, no matter what happens in other states...And if she ends up the Democratic party Candidate, then she'll be the next John Kerry of the Democratic party..I'll have to for the lesser of two evils!!

[kingcap72]

Originally Posted by SSDiva

Reading through all of the news articles about ranting Clinton supporters and Campaigners about how the decks were set for Obama, and then she wins, and this stuff from caucus goers come to light...I tend to believe the people who were there who saw these things first hand. Maybe hose Union workers were forced to go against their Unions endorsement...
Either way I already have made up my mind about who I am voting for, no matter what happens in other states...And if she ends up the Democratic party Candidate, then she'll be the next John Kerry of the Democratic party..I'll have to for the lesser of two evils!!

If Hillary's camp was really suppressing voters then she's no better than George Bush. Not to mention, it shows that she doesn't have the same political clout as Bill Clinton, since he didn't need to resort to those kind of tricks. But, then again, Bill's popularity WASN'T tied to Hillary's like her's is tied to Bill's.

[SSDiva]

Originally Posted by kingcap72

If Hillary's camp was really suppressing voters then she's no better than George Bush. Not to mention, it shows that she doesn't have the same political clout as Bill Clinton, since he didn't need to resort to those kind of tricks. But, then again, Bill's popularity WASN'T tied to Hillary's like her's is tied to Bill's.

And we all know if it wasn't for him then she might not have none at all!! who is riding who's curtail now!!