Missouri Secretary of State's GOP Partisan Activity Violates Election Laws

Missouri Republican Secretary of State, Matt Blunt has inititated a number of actions which aim to weight the November election to favor the GOP in Missouri. At least one of these actions is in clear violation of election laws. In light of the number of complaints I've heard around the country of similar actions by GOP party members, some folks are beginning to wonder if the strategy is for the GOP to make a bold faced stab and stealing the election again. Over the past few months Blunt's actions make a mockery of the idea of fair elections, for example:

*** Last month, Mr. Blunt asked country clerks to turn over the names of citizens requesting absentee ballots to GOP operatives. Clerks or election officials in four counties contacted say Blunt's written request has been followed up with visits or phone calls from people claiming to be acting on behalf of the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign and asking for daily updates of the county's absentee-request list.

The absentee-ballot statute cites as illegal behavior "any person who . . . in any manner coerces or initiates a request or a suggestion" to a voter with an absentee ballot. Republican strategist John Hancock, who is working for Blunt, acknowledged that Republican aides were calling people on the list to promote the party's candidates. If as John Hancock says, the GOP is promoting candidates then the GOP is initiating a request or suggestion to the voter and that violates state election law....Case Closed, Mr. Blunt.

Oh... did I tell you Mr. Blunt is a candidate for Governor for in Novemeber which futher sullies this GOP operation to strong arm absentee ballot voters to vote the GOP ticket. Blunt's request for county clerks to hand over absentee ballot lists to the GOP clearly is a conflict of interest, as he is a GOP candidate for Governor.

The state of Missouri has a strict anti-telephone solicitation law forbids organizations (except charities) to contact those on a statewide no call list. Mr. Blunt's utter disregard for the privacy of absentee voters violates the spirit, if not the letter of the No-Call list legislation.

***Most recently, Blunt sparked national debate with his decision to allow Missouri military personnel stationed in war zones to cast ballots by e-mail through the Pentagon. Questions have been raised about the security of such ballots and the fact that the votes would been seen by Pentagon officials. Pentagon officials would be free to alter the ballot in any way or ways they saw fit, before forwarding the email to the Missouri Secretary of State to be counted.

Mr. Blunt is extending rights and privileges to soldiers and denying those rights to other absentee voters overseas. This action is denial of equal protection under the law to other absentee voters. Mr. Blunt makes it easier for servicemen to vote because he feels they are overwhelmingly GOP voters. There's an arguable case that email voting should be extended to everyone as an option and not just GIs.

I'm an election judge in Missouri which requires me to cast an absentee ballot because I work the entire election day. I have to drive an hour and a half roundtrip to the Board of Election Commissioners office in Maplewood, where I request my ballot and vote on the spot. I don't trust the post office to get my absentee ballot to me or back to the Board on time. If Blunt makes the argument that emailed ballots are secure, then he should extend email voting to all absentee voters, not just soldiers, whom he feels have Republican leanings.

*** Last month Mr. Blunt, who claims the system should "be encouraging voter participation" went to court to prevent an early voting plan from being implemented in the city of St. Louis, an overwhelmingly Democratic area. Early voting broadens voter particiaption by allowing the a voter who files a request to cast an onsite ballot anywhere from a month to a week prior to the election date. Many states have adopted early voting regulations, but not Missouri because early voting helps Democrats in Mr. Blunt's view.

*** Before the August primary Mr. Blunt spent $ 48,000 of taxpayer money mandated to promote voter turnout in Missouri. Instead Mr. Blunt spent the funds to take out newspaper ads with pictures of Matt Blunt, your GOP candidate for governor.

***Mr. Blunt attempted to schedule a vote on the Gay Marriage Amendment for the November election, hoping it would encourage a big turnout of anti-gay bigots who would vote Republican. The Missouri State Supreme Court ordered Mr. Blunt to put the issue on the sparsely attended primary ballot in August, because the petition was complete and the law of the Missouri madates that an approved ballot initative should appear on the next election after signatures are approved.