Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

By Erin Ferns

"I think the days of ballot box stuffing are more or less gone." - Allen Raymond, former GOP operative

Voter fraud
by individuals has been a major partisan debate in recent elections,
inspiring multiple states to consider or pass laws that purport to stop
it, including "no-match, no-vote" list maintenance procedures and
strict voter ID  requirements. Despite federal findings that the act of
casting an illegal ballot is exceedingly rare, partisans often cite
large scale voter registration drives as voter fraud culprits, and
perpetuate the myth of voter fraud by spreading the fear that such
votes cancel out legitimate ones. With rising registration rates -
particularly among historically underrepresented Americans - it is no
surprise that partisans are spreading this myth, and the media often
perpetuates the hysteria by printing stories on the small numbers of
bad registration cards submitted by large scale voter registration
drives (including the 1.2 million submitted by Project Vote voter
registration partner, ACORN).

Numerous reports of Barack Obama signs being stolen on Madison’s west side and the City of Fitchburg have been reported over the last few days.

“We have had a whole bunch of calls of stolen signs, and they're all on the west side of Madison,” said a Madison Obama staffer in a phonce call from the Monroe Street headquarters.

The theft victims include the writer of this blog.

A Fitchburg resident on Monticello Way in Fitchburg reports that he heard several young males shouting “I hate that fucking guy! [Obama],” a few nights ago.

A police report has been filed with the City of Fitchburg Police Department (case # 08-14651).

Update: Robert Miranda, executive director of Esperanza Unida, reportedly is leaving soon for his sixth visit to Turkey. No word on how Laura Manriquez, president of Esperanza Unida, feels about the junkets.

This weekend sees the launching of the beginning of the end of the Bush-Cheney-Rove-McCain administration.

But those seeking unity in Wisconsin have to wait two more weeks: Until Sept. 9, Wisconsin primary day.

The most heavily covered Wisconsin Democratic primary race in on Milwaukee’s south side, in which a rightwing Jose Guzman and in-some-wing Laura Manriquez are challenging five-term progressive incumbent, Rep. Pedro Colón.

Manriquez (the board chair of Robert Miranda’s Esperanza Unida, a non-profit taken over by Miranda’s coup a few years back) is echoing the campaign message of Miranda, executive director of Esperanza Unida and editor of the Spanish Journal.

Now, in an unusual campaign charge: (that Colón doesn’t charge enough per diem), Manriquez is looking desperate.

Update: Esperanza Unida's payroll problems continue under Miranda's administration

 - Related Update: Esperanza Unida workers say they haven’t been paid for weeks: "While the executive director of Esperanza Unida was traveling in Turkey, some 11 workers at the south side job training agency signed a petition saying they had not been paid in four weeks and that some checks had bounced. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)." 

Related Update - Shepherd-Express on Immigration Cruelty  -

When I received a ring from a friend calling from the Government Accountability Board (GAB) informing me that the GAB had unanimously ruled against Laura Manriquez’ effort to knock both of her Democratic primary opponents, Jose Guzman and state Rep. Pedro Colón, off the ballot for a Milwaukee assembly seat, I felt true schadenfreude.