To save our right wing trolls some time:

L0Lz the Dumb0cr4tz are going to crash and burn diz election. Ge0rge W. Bush!!!!!11!!!! in two-oh-oh-4!!!!!!1!!!!one!!

Posted by: Lakhim at August 23, 2004 12:32 AM

Rather a right wing troll than a left wing Faerie any day of the week.

Posted by: HullBreach at August 23, 2004 09:18 AM

Jeez Lakhim, that really hurts, coming from such a sharpie like you.

Posted by: TL at August 23, 2004 09:28 AM

At the risk of changing the tenor of this thread so far, I do think the actual effect of this should be considered. If they put a stop to this (which they surely should), then the people doing this will probably keep voting in Florida and not in New York. Still, there will be a loss of some Democrat votes in Florida (although those voters wouldn’t be showing in Florida polls yet).

It’s not likely to make a difference in New York, although it might give Hillary a bit more of a struggle next time.

Posted by: samuelv at August 23, 2004 10:02 AM

…surprised, not in the least glad to see the left being exposed for what they really are…

Posted by: Rob_NC at August 23, 2004 10:15 AM

This is a federal crime and should be investigated and remedied immediately. There are already enough brazen attempts to try and through the election into question, we don’t need a replay of Lawyer Fest 2000.

Posted by: TL at August 23, 2004 11:07 AM

Possibly. Given the overall sloppy work done by many local elections offices, that’s something that easily could happen. It’s doubtful, however, that there’s some over-arching conspiracy to make it happen.

But if y’all are interested, there’s another even larger groups of twice-registered folks Out There as well — College Students. They register where they go to school, but remain registered in their home precincts. I’ve seen it happen personally and have documented it. Don’t assume that they are D’s, however. It also happens in the R states as well.

Posted by: Don at August 23, 2004 12:49 PM

Rob: A bunch of retiree’s who didn’t know that they did anything wrong and most likely will vote in only one of the states is somehow representative of the left and an example of fraud? Are you joking?

Posted by: Lakhim at August 23, 2004 01:05 PM

This isn’t a party issue issue. It shouldn’t happen in any state. That it’s happening in Florida and seems to tilt in favor of Democrats isn’t really relevant to the urgency to get it fixed, because it will taint the victory of either party that wins.

Posted by: TL at August 23, 2004 01:21 PM

I don’t know what the penalties are under Florida or New York law, but if there is any kind of substantial fine involved these states could pick up a good chunk of revenue from these folks, and I can’t think of a better class of people to squeeze. And, if its a felony under Fla. law, they won’t have to worry about these folks voting there ever again.

Posted by: tcobb at August 23, 2004 01:40 PM

I would go after only those who voted in two elections on the same election day (absentee or whatever).

I switched my voter registration to NY from NC, and it was a while before NC took me off their rolls… at least, I assume that was the reason I got jury summons to Raleigh when I lived in Manhattan…

In any case, some double registrations may be innocent. Voting twice obviously isn’t.

Posted by: meep at August 23, 2004 03:21 PM

A more appropriate punishment would be to take their citizenship away and give it to the next person in line waiting for citizenship.

“By registering and voting in two states, it looks like you’re taken the one sacred duty of a citizen of this country and pretty much raped the crap out of it, Mr. Smith. Here’s a bowl with slipsof paper bearing the names of all 202 countries. Pick one, and piss off.”

…

“Welcome to America, Senor Jimenez. Here’s Mister Smith’s citizenship. You can write him a thank you note when he arrives in Botswana.”

Posted by: Laurence Simon at August 23, 2004 03:26 PM

I agree with Lakhim that the vast majority of these are probably due to oversight or a move without purging the previous registration. It does, however, reveal a potential avenue for abuse and is deserving of attention by the FEC to evaluate the potential impact and to determine cost-effective means to minimize the problem.

Posted by: submandave at August 23, 2004 03:28 PM

If who ever dug this up cared to check Oh say Arizona and Wisconsin they’d find the same darned thing.

My concern is that this issue will be used to “federalize” voting, which I think would be the wrong solution.

Posted by: skip at August 23, 2004 04:05 PM

Lakhim,pleez;68% of 46,000 is what, mmm you got that right it is a “bunch”, as long as its the dems making these oversights its just a mis understanging…so maybe MM is right; half the US is stupid…we might need to look into some form of testing of possible voters..again Fla. to much sun or what …

Posted by: Rob_NC at August 23, 2004 04:05 PM

Rob, what the hell do you think they are going to do, jump on a plane and vote in two states? Do you honestly think that this is a massive democratic effort to have people vote in both Florida and NY?

They are most likely people who live in Florida over the summer and accidentally registered to vote in both states. They are only going to vote in one state. Be realistic. Everything is not a conspiracy by the evul democrats to win the 2004 election.

Posted by: Lakhim at August 23, 2004 04:24 PM

Lakhim,

Two words: absentee ballot.

Posted by: Laurence Simon at August 23, 2004 04:26 PM

Laurence: Just making a point. Rob’s entire argument is absurd and based upon many (false) assumption.

Less then 400 and 1,000 voted twice. No clue if this is nationwide or just in the two states, but I lean more towards the former. That is nothing, even if it is only in the two states (2%-.8%)

Posted by: Lakhim at August 23, 2004 04:47 PM

my parents are snow birds and they did something interesting last time out.

My mom for reasons best explained by a shortage of seratonin decided to stay in NY long enough to vote for the Hildebeast. Normally once the first leaf turns red they’re off to FL.

so absentee ballots are an issue and so is selective voting. Also, what does this overlap do to local issues such as tax levies or elected city and county positions?

The mobility of us pesky americans causes trouble once again.

I know, let’s have a decree such that everybody has to go back to their place of birth to vote. yeah, yeah, that could work!!!

Posted by: skip at August 23, 2004 05:05 PM

Laurence, I don’t think Lakhim heard you since you shot him down…..I’ll repeat it for you…hey Lakhim….ABSENTEE BALLOT! I’m still thining about the Kerry spokeswoman who tonight said the ‘Bush betrayed his country by not serving in Vietnam!!!’ A new level now….Don and Lakhim I’m sure are ready to spin that stupid statement!

Posted by: dickmr at August 23, 2004 10:10 PM

Dick, my boy, 2-.8%. That is nothing, and if you think that 400 people voting twice is some how indicative of a massive left wing conspiracy (ignoring the fact that 100 of them are voting republican), you sir need to take off the aluminum hat.

Posted by: Lakhim at August 23, 2004 10:48 PM

If this was so much common knowledge that everyone knows about, how come the reknown Democratic Voter Fraud Investigative Team that invaded Florida after the 2000 election never said anything about it? Could it be that it is not so common or that (1) they were only looking for Republican-led fraud or (2) they didn’t know what they were doing in the first place?

I wonder what would be happening on this issue were it the Republicans being reported as having say, thousands of votes cast in Georgia and Florida as Repbulicans? Anyone care to guess how quickly the NY Times and the Washington Post can fill up an airplane bound for Miami and Valdosta to post On-the-scene reports?

Posted by: steve at August 23, 2004 11:13 PM

Lakhim, I agree with your comment that many people will be innocently registered in 2 states, and that Florida will have more such over-registrations than most other states. However, I can not agree with your point that it is all random and innocent. My disagreement with you arises from two observations.

First, I have met people who have tried to convince voters to register in a swing state under dubious circumstances. All of these people have been ABB (Anybody But Bush) supporters.

Second, the distribution does not look random. Not only are 68% Democrats, also only 12% are Republicans. I have great difficultly believing that among Florida vacation goers with party registration Democrats outnumber Republicans by a ratio of 17 to 3 (almost 6 to 1)! Although such numbers do not indicate any kind of conspiracy, they do strongly suggest action among many Democrats based on political/election motives. These numbers also cry out for some sort of serious investigation.

Posted by: Average Joe at August 24, 2004 11:17 AM

Not if they are from New York Joe, especially the city. That area is solidly Democratic, 60%-30% or worse for the Republicans, so getting those numbers wouldn’t be a shock if you consider the area.

Posted by: Lakhim at August 24, 2004 11:40 AM

Perhaps people should be reminded that 400-1000 people voting twice might make a difference in an election that was won by only 500 or so votes.

Its important, but I agree, I don’t think there is some conspiracy here, just laziness. The problem, of course, is that an error like this could be exploited by a group of people wanting to influence the election. There have certainly been no paucity of those this time around.

Posted by: johnnymozart at August 24, 2004 01:42 PM

JM, thats making the assumption that they will all vote Democratic…which is a bit of a stretch.

Posted by: Lakhim at August 24, 2004 01:54 PM

Lakhim,

Over 60% of those you mentioned were registered Democrats. And that’s just one state. As I said, it wouldn’t take much in an election won by only 500 votes. No, I don’t think its a conspiracy, but neither would I minimize it to the point of irrelevance.

Posted by: johnnymozart at August 24, 2004 04:46 PM

This does not bode well for the upcoming election…and i do agree with the point if the report was 68% of the number being republicans…the media and the left in general would be hyperventilating like crazy….personally i see two possible theories off hand…
first….even though im anti-left…i dont see the kerry campaign per say as behind it…but that does not negate any of the lefts 527’s which outnumber the rights in financial support and number….from prob responsibility behind it….

second….if the number only equates to bout 2-4% of a states total voting, one has to consider the nation wide consequences of 4% of each state being skewed via double voting…that does lead to a large piece of nation-wide voting block…why it hasnt been fixed via FEC rulings…

Posted by: terlizzi999 at August 24, 2004 10:51 PM