dr.umer
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31 Oct, 2008
A general election absentee ballot from Rensselaer County, N.Y. misspelling the name of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is seen, Oct. 10, 2008 in Sand Lake, New York.—AP
WASHINGTON: In the final days of the US presidential election, campaign yard signs are being defaced, fliers advise Democrats to vote a day late, DVDs warning of Islam's clash with the West flood mailboxes, and allegations of fraud are flying.
In American politics, it's all part of the late-game frenzy, when what one side considers a dirty trick can be easily hailed by the other side as a pure exercise of the right to free speech.
For example, a phony flyer bearing the state of Virginia's logo has turned up, saying that ‘all Republican party supporters and independent voters supporting Republican candidates shall vote on November 4th as prescribed by law.’
Those supporting Democrats in the battleground state ‘shall vote on November 5th,’ it said.
Similar fliers in Philadelphia warn that anyone with unpaid traffic tickets or outstanding arrest warrants could be jailed if they turn up at the polls on election day.
These practices commonly target minorities — who this year overwhelmingly support Barack Obama — and while most states prohibit making false statements regarding elections, the laws are difficult to enforce.
‘It is an insidious form of vote suppression that often goes unaddressed by authorities, and the perpetrators are virtually never caught,’ said a report by the political watchdog group Common Cause.
Vandals in northern Virginia went on a brief escapade this month, pasting a letter ‘S’ on yard signs so they read ‘Osama-Biden,’ in an attempt to link the Democrat and running mate Joe Biden to Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
A general election absentee ballot from Rensselaer County, N.Y. misspelling the name of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is seen, Oct. 10, 2008 in Sand Lake, New York.—AP
WASHINGTON: In the final days of the US presidential election, campaign yard signs are being defaced, fliers advise Democrats to vote a day late, DVDs warning of Islam's clash with the West flood mailboxes, and allegations of fraud are flying.
In American politics, it's all part of the late-game frenzy, when what one side considers a dirty trick can be easily hailed by the other side as a pure exercise of the right to free speech.
For example, a phony flyer bearing the state of Virginia's logo has turned up, saying that ‘all Republican party supporters and independent voters supporting Republican candidates shall vote on November 4th as prescribed by law.’
Those supporting Democrats in the battleground state ‘shall vote on November 5th,’ it said.
Similar fliers in Philadelphia warn that anyone with unpaid traffic tickets or outstanding arrest warrants could be jailed if they turn up at the polls on election day.
These practices commonly target minorities — who this year overwhelmingly support Barack Obama — and while most states prohibit making false statements regarding elections, the laws are difficult to enforce.
‘It is an insidious form of vote suppression that often goes unaddressed by authorities, and the perpetrators are virtually never caught,’ said a report by the political watchdog group Common Cause.
Vandals in northern Virginia went on a brief escapade this month, pasting a letter ‘S’ on yard signs so they read ‘Osama-Biden,’ in an attempt to link the Democrat and running mate Joe Biden to Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
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