Democratic Party chief arrested

[Freddie Stubbs]

Star report
December 10, 2004


ANDERSON, Ind. -- The Madison County Democratic Party chairman was one of two men arrested on vote fraud charges Tuesday.

Thomas Ashley, 70, the county Democratic chairman, and Kyle Barber, 47, are free on $5,000 bond each from the Madison County Jail. Barber was booked on 12 counts of vote fraud and three counts of obstruction of justice, and Ashley was booked on two counts of vote fraud.

more: http://www.indystar.com/articles/7/201085-1947-098.html

[demnan]

1. WTF?

I'll bet they will be found innocent. This sounds really fishy to me.

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

40. Could someone calculate the odds that ALL election fraudsters are Dems?

If they're arresting only Dems, doesn't this prove biased law enforcement just as all the "discrepancies" being in Bush's favor proves biased vote-"counting"? They're arresting us on the flimsiest of excuses (like trying to deliver a letter to the Ohio SoS).

[Tweed]

43. Where is T&A when you need him?

[Ima]

52. little more

State police arrested all 3 Thursday, following an investigation that began in 2003.


http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2674756&nav=0Ra7U30s

[pinerow]

2. WTF...???

nt

[xultar]

3. So why can't we get some RETHUGS arrested?

:grr:

[President Jesus]

27. They just arrested the NH gop chief last week

[Griffy]

37. got a link or story for that?

[Freddie Stubbs]

41. Former Bush campaign official indicted in phone-jamming

12-01) 14:35 PST CONCORD, N.H. (AP) --

President Bush's former New England campaign chairman was indicted Wednesday on charges he took part in the jamming of the Democrats' get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002.

James Tobin, 44, stepped down Oct. 15 -- two weeks before Election Day -- after the Democrats accused him of involvement.

"I am saddened to learn that this action has been taken against me," he said in a statement. "I have great respect for the justice system and plan to fight back to clear my name."

In 2002, six phone lines run by the Democrats and the Manchester firefighters union were tied up for 11/2 hours by 800 computer-generated hang-up calls. Federal prosecutors said Tobin and other Republicans had hired a company to make the calls to disrupt the organizations' get-out-the-vote efforts.

more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/12/01/national1609EST0631.DTL

[mbee]

47. A whole bunch of they were arrested up North for jamming

phone lines or something in the 2002 election. The information was on DU last week (I think)!

[atommom]

4. I third that WTF?!! Is this some kind of payback?

[Rose Siding]

53. This investigation began last year (story linked in post #51)

[mopinko]

5. you had to know this was coming

couple of poor schlubs, who probably didn't even "steal votes". probably failed to follow some prodecure, or made some mistake. i'm sure it did take the fbi to wade through the sea of crooked thugs to find these poor dem bastards.

[MaineDem]

6. I wonder what they did

The article doesn't really say.

[dryan]

7. Great....

this is just the kind of 'great' PR we need right now.

[Pepper32]

12. I wonder if this is meant to intimidate us and to get us to back down?

[Freddie Stubbs]

36. Do you think that the Indiana State Police have an agenda?

:shrug:

[Pepper32]

39. Who knows? I'm still not taking off my tin foil hat...

:hi:

[0007]

23. The article if that's what ya want to call it was very vague

[Cocoa]

38. you along with everyone else reading the story.

This reporter forgot the most important of the five W's: wtf happened?

[neweurope]

45. There are six Ws which people always forget. The sixth W and the

most important, a question that must always be asked and yields always good and sometimes surprising (not in this case) results is:

Whom is it good for?

[RoeBear]

8. Good news - Bad News

The good news is someone finally got arrested for election fraud, the bad news is that he's a Democrat.

[noclonyofthechimp]

9. Let's watch and see how fast the MSM picks up this story and runs

with it.

[Pepper32]

10. Oh, this is bullsh*t!!!

This is the reason why we must NOT give up! And even more reason to take to the streets. They can arrest dems but not repukes?

I'm just not UNDERSTANDING this...

ON EDIT: We need to find out what really happened.

[aquart]

11. Ah. The Six of One arrest. It had to come.

Now can we arrest Half a Dozen of the Other?

[jobycom]

20. Yeah, maybe

It looks like that. The arrest may even be legite. The media could still use it that way. Minor vote fraud for Dems in a local race, stolen presidential election for the Republicans... See, can't trust either.

[grumpy old fart]

13. Classic Rovian move....

now the "balanced" media will have to say, "of course, Democrats have been involved in vote fraud in this election too."

[phasev]

14. What?

What a way to turn this around! The article doesn't even say what they are being charged for. Voting in the wrong precint? WTF? The republicans have done far worse than that.

[Rose Siding]

15. A perjury charge for voting in the wrong location?

In October, a former Madison County firefighter received a 10-day jail sentence for perjury in voting in the wrong location.

Do you suppose that could ever end up suppressing any votes?!!!

It looks like this was from some previous election.

If a party chief actually *was* involved in vote fraud, I hope he does serious time.

[Massachusetts]

16. "Tyranny like hell

is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us that, the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."-Thomas Paine 1776:grr:

[The Judged]

17. Timing is everything! Something has the Theoneocraticons worried NOW!

[MGKrebs]

18. I'll tell ya' how cynical I am...

I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out he was stuffing repub votes!

[prayin4rain]

28. LOL...that cracked me up :) n/t

[jobycom]

19. Hey, guys, I promise you, there are crooked Democrats.

The biggest such issue in 2000 and 2004 are the Republican thefts of the presidency, but that doesn't mean there aren't other crimes going on. Richard Dailey and Landslide Lyndon, not to mention just about every Louisiana politician in state history, should be proof enough of that.

I mean, just because Bush has committed 100,000 murders in Iraq doesn't mean that murders cease elsewhere. Iraq may be the worse crime, but the others still need to be punished.

Let's wait for more details. This may turn out to be a minor local story, it may turn out to be completely bogus, or it may be something serious. If these guys actually did commit serious fraud, even for our side, we need to condemn them as strongly as we do the Republicans-- more strongly, in fact, for weakening our case and tarnishing our image.

Let's see if the media runs with it. If so, Rove's hand is behind it-- though that still doesn't mean they are necessarily innocent.

[Just Me]

35. Moreover, consistent enforcement of the rule of law is imperative,...

,...to the establishment of justice. Enforcement must NOT be based upon a person's position, political affiliation, race, religion, gender, etc.

I think every American recognizes, at least to some degree, that justice in this country is severely hampered by money and influence and still unequally applied among people.

For example, we have treason run amok at the highest orders of our government (violating and tearing down rather than supporting the Constitution of the United States),...and these criminals seem practically untouchable. There will be no essence of justice until the rule of law is consistently applied to EVERYONE.

[alwynsw]

21. Our local TV news covers that area

There were questions on election night and the days following. I don't recall the exact details of the broadcasts, but there was something about around of a third of all ballots in Madison county were absentee and there were, in total, several thousand more votes counted than there are registered voters in that county.

As to who did what, I have no clue and will not comment.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

22. ...And because of their devious activities

Kerry/Edwards lost in Indiana by a mere 510,427 votes.

What Democrat in his right mind tries to steal votes in Indiana?

[Freddie Stubbs]

24. There were many contested races for state and local offices on the ballot

http://newslinkindiana.com/election2004/00000003896.html

Democrats won some and Republicans won some.

[spotbird]

25. What do they claim he did?

It is good that someone is arrested for fraud, I just wish they would be vigorous in the investigation of Republicans as well.

[Historic NY]

26. Vague article but I figure its about where people voted........

Its not uncommon for people to actually not vote where they are presently living. The take I get is they allowed people to vote at there old polling place rather than where they actually should be. Technically it is a felony to do so, but it happens more often than not.

[sam sarrha]

29. so a Republican attendant at the site could say,"Yea, its OK", then turn

them in because thaty have his name and address.

[neweurope]

31. Would be like Rove to set them up to it and then arrest them to take

the heat off the Republicans... Rove is a far-sighted man.

[bain_sidhe]

30. So now when people hear "vote fraud"

they're gonna think it means Democrats!

More framing by the pukes, I'd say. When, oh when, are we going to get in the game?

[DS1]

32. I for one welcome our new facist overlords

/Kent Brokman

[leesa]

33. Of course. This is what they do EVERY time one of their scandals is

about to blow. Pin it on a Dem on a small scale and then say "See, THEY do it too". Usually the case is dropped, but sometimes it's real, but MUCH smaller than their crime.

[Liberty Belle]

44. We need to remind the media of this tactic

and urge them not to fall for the GOP's stale "bait and switch" routine. There is real fraud on a massive scale that should not be downplayed even if some small-scale localized stuff can be pinned on Dems--and for all we know, this is a totally bogus charge created solely as a diversion.

[uncle ray]

34. hey, this is great!

well maybe not "great" but exposing fraud, on any level, by any party can only help awareness of the issue. gawddamn, if democrats would quit being victims all the fucking time and learn to turn this shit around and use it to "our" advantage maybe we wouldn't be facing a lifetime of fascisim.

stop and look at yourselves, yes the article was vague, but many here seem to be implying that its ok for us to cheat because we're the underdogs, who was the underdog in the 90's? and you wonder why non political people still say that both parties are the same??

escort these two out of the party with a boot up their ass.

[Pepper32]

42. I don't give them a pass

I just hope a republican gets arrested too. In fact it would be great if it's more than one. We can start with Blackwell.

And for the record both parties are not the same, Dems will eat their own faster than any other party. We throw the baby out with the bath water all the time. Meanwhile, the republicans stick by their people even if they are indicted and change the laws to help them out. Look at the mess b*sh is and they won't even get rid of him.

Maybe we need more loyalty? Not saying we should give a pass to anyone committing voters fraud but at the very least get the facts FIRST, before kicking them out.

[lonestarnot]

46. Cheaters never win!

But what the fook this about?

[distantearlywarning]

48. What did they do? Anybody know?

This article is very vague. I would like a little more information on this.

Why can't the media report on this stuff even when it's a Democrat getting in trouble? Do we just not give a shit as a nation? What is wrong with people????

[neweurope]

49. Maybe because the Democrats didn't really do anything?

[aikido15]

50. This is seriously not the kind of....

negative press we needed...ugh...of all the voter fraud that the Republicans are guilty of, has even one been arrested?????

[Freddie Stubbs]

54. Yes

One of them has been indicted.

[Rose Siding]

51. Here's a link on the case from Dec 03 - repubs challenged 700 ballots

A dem precinct committeeman was arrested at the time of this article, on 12 counts of voter fraud. He faces 36 years if convicted. Ashley claimed back then that this was a political case and the man charged asked for special prosecutor.

I can't find anything else about this investigation.

snip>
Police say that at a nursing home, an elderly man claims Vaughn offered to help him with his ballot, but Vaughn marked down Democratic candidates when the man wanted to vote for Republicans.

Prosecutor Cummings says this may be the tip of the iceberg. The Indiana State Police are investigating 700 suspicious ballots challenged by Republicans.

“So far, 70 of them have been verified, empty lots, vacant houses, people voting in the City of Anderson who don't live in the City of Anderson,” said Cummings.

Many of the voter fraud allegations were turned over to state police by Mayor-Elect Kevin Smith, an Anderson city police detective. “I will absolutely guarantee that we will have a clean, ethical operation in city hall,” said Smith.

Madison County Democratic chairman Thomas Ashley charges the Republicans of staging a politically motivated witch-hunt against his party. “I'm sure that if anybody's charged it will be Democrats. That's my opinion,” said Ashley.

The state police investigator working on the cases will not say how many other people may be targets or when he will turn his findings over to the prosecutor.

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1554843&nav=0Ra7JY9v