Carlip: are these the same folks from the black panthers that were standing outside polls with clubs during the 2008 elections that got their charges dropped by Eric Holder?

Considering the charges were dropped by the Bush Admin, no.

BSABSVR: ginandbacon: True the Vote is a voter suppression group and deserves no attention from anyone 

3_Butt_Cheeks: Doubling down on the racism....hmmm, really NOT promoting your cause here.

You're a caricature of willful ignorance.

Do republicans really not know what google is? Here is a map of the Montgomery county, the county Houston TX is in, early voting locations http://co.montgomery.tx.us/election/pdf/EV2012.pdf?ts=1023345692 . No where on this map is the address referenced in the article.

there is absolutely no evidence this occurred and judging by how it's only being reported on prestigious sites like brietbart and townhall I'm going to call that this story is 100% legit so you should vote for Romney suck it libs

Fark Me To Tears: Sorry, subby. In Virginia, the boundary is 40 feet from any entrance to a polling place.

I used to vote at a school where people would stand just outside the legal boundary handing out party "voting guides." They would hand one of these to you, you would walk into the school and immediately an election volunteer would start yelling at you because you're not supposed to have the campaign literature in public view. It was literally 10 seconds between the time it was handed to you and the time you got chewed out for having it in your hand.

God Bless Democracy.

I'm an election officer in VA. Voters are allowed to wear/carry whatever election-related things they darn well want. They're not allowed to talk to other voters, the election officers, or the partisan observers about politics (*), although "Hey, how's your son doing" would be ok. But you're certainly allowed to carry the sample ballots in your hand.

Jokes are sort of ok. Joking about voting often, or about the paper ballot machine being a shredder. is nowhere in the same league as joking about having a bomb while at the airport, for example.

(*) especially the partisan observers, they're not allowed to start up conversations.

Remember folks, 90% of the stuff is volunteers and/or people making a cool $50-$150 a day for this. Throw in thousands of lawyers, vigilantes, etc., and it's amazing our elections proceed as well as they do.

I'm sure the diligent members of an organization whose stated purpose is to "true the vote" would have been trained to immediately document any sort of wrongdoing by obtaining video of it, right?

Oh, they didn't get video? It's just the word of some right-wing hack who didn't bother to document their accusations?

Sounds legit.

propasaurus: Oh noes! NAACP members were wearing NAACP labeled clothing!

By odd coincidence an outrage topic for conservative talk radio yesterday was a Texas woman denied entry to a polling place for wearing a 'vote the bible' shirt. This story is perfectly in line with the accuse the accusers tact beaten to death by their cult members here so color me skeptical on this one.

The people reporting this are a tea party group that has sent letters to voters telling them can't vote. They intimidate voters at the polls.

Google True the Vote.

SO what she meant to say was 'How am I meant to intimidate voters properly with all these black people around making sure people are good to go?'

True the Vote is a voter suppression group that is under investigation by the US Congress for criminal activities.

Jim_Callahan: thenewmissus: Giving out water isn't a crime (unless you are black apparently). Non-story and you know it.

Wearing paraphernalia advocating a political cause or party (yes, the NAACP, having PACs among other things, would be a political organization) is in fact illegal in Texas within 100 yards of the polling station, as is verbally advocating for a candidate, organization, or cause.

Though... "crime" is kinda overstating it. The standard procedure is to ask you to conceal the logo, and if you won't then you're removed from the premises. Only if you at that point refuse to leave/come back and harass people further are you actually going to be in any legal trouble.

Basically, yeah, this is in fact a violation, but it's more on the poll workers for not asking them to go change their shirts to something without a political emblem and/or move 100 yards away than anything else.

NAACP is a non-profit. I don't think anyone would ask a person wearing a Red Cross t-shirt to turn their shirt inside out or declare it illegal. The person complaining was inferring that the mere presence of a large number of black people in NAACP handing out water is an actionable voter intimidation case. Being black doesn't mean you support Obama.

smitty04: Would you feel the same way about the Skin Heads doing the same?

No, I would not, because a skinhead presence carries an implicit threat of violence.

Surely you don't think the NAACP's presence is an implicit threat of violence to white voters.

thurstonxhowell: fustanella: That explains the three Romney-t-shirted people at early voting in central Florida on Friday. (No overt Obama-dressed folk.) Stay classy, repugs.

Obama supporter here. Why shouldn't they wear whatever they want?

Electioneering law, usually.

I'm not sure it's "US law", though, I think it's state-by-state. Texas has a pending lawsuit over someone wearing a "VOTE: The Bible" tee-shirt at an early polling place this year, so I suspect that ours is pretty strict (I know we have the 100 yard rule, as well, 'cause we aint into them hippie meter thingies). I also wasn't allowed to check my cell phone while waiting in line, so fairly paranoid about device interference too, I guess.

Empty Matchbook: But all those polling places inside churches with pro-life/anti-gay posters? Well that's just good ol', 'Murican freedom's what that is!

That wouldn't be legal, so far as I know, though again I only really know my state's laws. The election commission actually only uses public buildings (at least for the last few years), so no churches to begin with, and the rooms where the machines are set up are stripped to the walls or covered so as to be basically white boxes.

smitty04: Xcott: 3_Butt_Cheeks: Pro-tip for the racially handicapped: Not every person associated with the NAACP is BLACK. But stereotyping is great fun.

Don't be silly: if the NAACP volunteers were white, the crazy Townhall bag lady wouldn't have tried to alert the authorities.

Take off your partisan hat and admit that no one should be able to loiter near a polling station unless you are a poll worker.

The NAACP people were handing out water and helping people to the front of the line (at my polling station, on Friday, we openly discussed helping older people with walkers, pregnant ladies and people with disabilities to the front of the line and not to mention people who just registered). Giving out water isn't a crime (unless you are black apparently). Non-story and you know it.

Xcott: 3_Butt_Cheeks: Pro-tip for the racially handicapped: Not every person associated with the NAACP is BLACK. But stereotyping is great fun.

Don't be silly: if the NAACP volunteers were white, the crazy Townhall bag lady wouldn't have tried to alert the authorities.

Take off your partisan hat and admit that no one should be able to loiter near a polling station unless you are a poll worker.

smitty04: Krieghund: NAACP clothing and materials are not a direct endorsement of a candidate. There is no grounds to ask them to change their clothing.

If you are intimidated when surrounded by young black males wearing NAACP clothing while trying to vote, you are a bigot.

Yes, that's correct. No sarcasm. You are absolutely correct in that statement.

Townhall thinks black people are scary. I'm shocked.

Satanic_Hamster: This is a huge peeve of mine; I don't care where the "magic line" is. If you're in line to vote there should be ZERO electioneering.

I would go further: it's incredibly rude to proselytize to anyone in a captive situation: in line, in an elevator, on a ski lift, etc. If people don't have the luxury of walking away from you, you shouldn't be trying to pitch them John Edwards or Jesus or Amway or anything.

I got the local Tea Party screed on an upcoming mil tax levy increase in the mail Friday. They love outsourcing public services like police and fire.They also want to micromanage the benefits of approximately 15 employees. Sorry baggers, You're Norquist agenda is not welcome and needs to go. Also, I got a free bottle of water with a Tea Party label. I guess they're ok with spending money on shilling for their cause.

It is okay when the democrats do it.
Haven't you learned that yet?

Mr. Breeze: ginandbacon: Handing out refreshments is not a violation of the restrictions for campaigning at the polls. Neither is talking about how you would vote or whom you support. .

How about moving your supporters to the front of the line?

People are routinely moved to the front of the line for various reasons. I just came from a meeting on Friday (for pollworkers) and one of the things we discussed is moving people with walkers to the front of the line. Also, like I mentioned earlier, when I register a new voter, I take the new voter and butt in front of the line and they get to go because they were in line earlier and had to get out of line to vote. So yeah, there's that.

Wearing NAACP clothing and caps isn't advocating for a candidate or political party,has anyone pointed that out?

I'm not a Republican, but am the type of liberal that shares in common with them the trait of constant pants-wetting fear and reflexive outrage and was unmanned and dismayed upon voting in the local church and seeing the walls muraled in a childish rendition of the Noah's Ark story which I felt was an extremely provocative, underhanded but aggressive promotion of the GOP. Caused an instant anxiety attack which left me physically incapable of voting for my preferred candidate. So don't pretend like Republicans aren't guilty of voter intimidation tactics.

Subby, you got me to click the link with false promises of vote swaying. Instead what happened is that NAACP people showed up and gave out water. They can talk to each other about who they plan to vote for. You are an idiot.

BTW, at least in Wisconsin, I work the polls. I usually am in charge of registration of new voters. In that instance, once a new voter and I complete their paperwork, I walk them over to the pollworker who is working the poll book and I go ahead of everyone else in line. We do that all the time with new voters.

You suck subby. Not in a good way (like a $2 whore).

United Nations-affiliated Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will deploy election monitors from Europe and central Asia to polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups, a concern raised by civil rights groups during a meeting this week, according to a report on Saturday.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), among other groups, warned this month in a letter to Daan Everts, a senior official with OSCE, of "a coordinated political effort to disenfranchise millions of Americans - particularly traditionally disenfranchised groups like minorities."

Carlip: are these the same folks two guys from the black panthers New Black Panthers, a fringe group condemned by actual Black Panthers that were standing outside polls one polling place in Philadelphia with clubs one of them holding a homemade billy club during the 2008 elections that got their charges dropped by Eric Holder Justice Dept officials? 

Behold, a photo of the worst voter-intimidation crisis in U.S. history (shortly before cops made the guy with the billy club leave):


Why, it makes that overblown incident in a different Philadelphia seem quite minor by comparison!

Why does it feel like it's always republican's biatching about voter fraud, voter intimidation, etc. DNRTFA (Townhall and all) so I may be corrected, but does wearing a NAACP shirt automatically constitute vote for Obama? Also, my own experience from early voting last week in TX - I had two people, well within there legal bounds tell me to vote straight GOP. I'm thinking, this is Texas, how else am I going vote? So I voted straight Democrat. What I found interesting is that the voting machine still took me race by race to confirm who I was voting for. That's a good thing, but I don't remember that happening in the past. Of course, there was only one other time that I voted straight ticket - and that was GOP. I voted straight Democrat! That's how far the I feel the GOP has left me. Anyway. Also, noted that when I went to vote, at least half of the voters were pulling out their IDs and the volunteers were telling them to please put their IDs away. Seems that they wanted to ensure that no one could say that IDs were being asked for. There are people out there that just want you to vote, it doesn't matter who you vote for.

/steps off of soapbox.

log_jammin: jso2897: Because it didn't go down the way she said, is why.

I think it went down exactly as it was said.

NAACP people showed up and handed out water to the voters. Angry racist voter suppressor guy starts loudly complaining that the NAACP people where wearing clothes that said "NAACP" on them and he heard the name "Obama". Voter workr person says "It's legal, but you can talk to my supervisor downtown". supervisor tells him to shove it. He whines to his townhall buddy. The end.

Well, yeah, but you are cutting through the hyperbole to the mere facts of the matter, and that's cheating. I'm also sure that some elderly and handicapped people who couldn't stand in line for hours were helped to the front - happens at my polling place when it's busy all the time.
But what she twists all that into would constitute criminal bahavior if it was as she described it.
The truth is, there WILL be hanky-panky at the polls this election - there always is some. Both sides will do it, and so will fringe groups. But the occasional legit stories will be hard to spot, bobbing up and down like little rubber ducks in an ocean of bullshiat yarns like this one.

Mikey1969: So subby's "violation" is that they were wearing NAACP clothing? That's it? Sure they talked about flying to DC to promote Obama, but I see no mention of them doing that in this story. They wore the clothes, which aren't political, and handed out water. Not sure where the 'moving people to the front of the line' thing comes into play, but the story is pretty vague there. As your submission stands, Subby, your premise fails. Unless you're playing the racist angle and assuming that a person who supports the NAACP is going to automatically vote for Obama. Sounds a little bit 'you people' for a party that tries to convince the world on an hourly basis that they are not racist and would NEVER make an assumption based on the color of one's skin.

So glad this got greenlit, I'm sure it was FAR more worthy than every other submission.

Mikey - the story is bullshiat. Who is this mysterious caller from "downtown" who told her to "stand down"?
If it was her bosses in the RW voter harreassment club she belongs to, there's no way they would have told her that if she had anything legit. Who else could it be? The Registrar of Voters? Why doesn't she say that?
And anyway, NOBODY has the authority to tell ANYBODY to "stand down" if they are observing a blatant violation of criminal law. Why didn't she just CALL A F**KING COP???
Because it didn't go down the way she said, is why.

My bad. It's not the Daily KKKaller" - it's KKKlownhall.
Same shiat. More desperate lies from the panicking, defeated Right. There will be a hundred of these made up stories in the next two days. And one or two legit ones - but we won't have any way of knowing most of the time. This is obviously fake because the story makes no sense, and has factual errors. Most we see will be more obscure.

Somacandra: FTFA: I got on the phone and she said she was from downtown and that I needed to stand down

Some nebulous "downtown" figure? If people were advocating for their candidate inside the polling station then she should have called the local police or county sheriff's office. If this is bonafide, why did she not do that? The story just stops.

This is the Daily Caller. The chances that anything like what is described actually happened are infinitessimal.
And, of course, the story makes no sense.

Everyone knows laws only apply to white people nowadays.

kimwim: US Law, 100 yards? In Connecticut it's 75 feet. Sorry subby, fail.

I just looked it up; in Texas its 100 feet:

Electioneering

Each early voting and election day polling place must be organized with 100 foot distance markers posted at surrounding outside entries to the building. During the voting period and inside this protected area, it is prohibited to electioneer, including expressing preference for or against any candidate, measure, or political party; per Sections 61.003 and 85.036 of the Code, a violation of this provision is a Class C misdemeanor. Id. §§ 61.003, 85.036. It is also prohibited to use a sound amplification device to electioneer within 1,000 feet of the early voting or election day polling place; per Section 61.004 of the Code, a violation of this provision is a Class C misdemeanor. Id. § 61.004. (Applicable to early voting under Section 81.002 of the Code.) Id. § 81.002.

Black Democratic politician from Chicago.
You really didn't expect an above board by the rules campaign did you?

St_Francis_P: cameroncrazy1984: Carlip: are these the same folks from the black panthers that were standing outside polls with clubs during the 2008 elections that got their charges dropped by Eric Holder?

Considering the charges were dropped by the Bush Admin, no.

Ahem:

[www.strangecosmos.com image 450x385]

kronicfeld: cameroncrazy1984: Considering the charges were dropped by the Bush Admin, no.

Dat time machine.

Yes, yes, sorry. I keep forgetting about Obama's Timelord status.