I just got back from a long meeting of the Michigan State Board of Canvassers in Lansing. I am pleased to report that they voted to refuse certification of the obvious (IMO) attempt by Democratic Party operatives to place the fake "Tea Party" on the ballot. Many genuine Tea Partiers (including myself) were there, and the vote was 2-2 along party lines. Which means that absent a successful legal challenge of the Board's ruling, the fake Tea Party will not be on the ballot.
It's quite a victory, and I don't think it would have been possible had it not been for the diligence and passion of real Tea Party supporters who were not about to have a group of crooks use their name in this way. They came to the hearing in strength today, and I heard a number of moving speeches.
Their cause was helped by the recent exposure of fraud within the fraud.
As Glenn Reynolds pointed out when he linked this post, "Michigan Democrats are embarrassed" by the fraud within the fake Tea Party. As well they should be. Today's vote to refuse certification isn't going to lift their spirits much either.
The fraud within the fraud piece that Glenn linked discussed the role of Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson -- who addressed the Board of Canvassers today -- in exposing fraud by one of the Democratic operatives behind the fake Tea Party, and there's more here:
The Oakland County Democratic Party says it has requested and accepted the resignation of operations director Jason Bauer in the wake of accusations he notarized campaign filings for a fake Tea Party candidate.
"We are saddened by this situation, but cannot condone his alleged actions," the OCDP said Sunday in a released statement. "For the sake of the organization, we must part ways effective immediately."
Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson, a Republican candidate for secretary of state, announced the allegations against Bauer on Friday, noting she had turned over documents to the county prosecutor and Michigan Attorney General's office for further investigation.
Johnson said her office was contacted by Aaron Tyler, a former Springfield Township resident who moved to Phoenix in late July only to find he had been nominated as a Tea Party candidate for a seat on the Oakland County Board of Commissioners.
Tyler said he'd never filed to run for the office, let alone signed an affidavit of identity which Bauer allegedly notarized. "I figured it must have been some sort of mistake," Tyler wrote in a letter. "I believe a fraud was committed."
Yes, and fraud is utterly embarrassing! (The liberal Free Press can't ignore the news.)
Regular readers may remember a post titled Fake "Tea Party" Democratic operatives fail my smell test!, in which I explored the ties between Jason Bauer and top Democrats. Doubtless they'll be doing everything they can to erase, obfuscate, and wiggle out of these ties, and distance themselves from Bauer any way they can.
They can wiggle all they want, but the whole thing stinks. There's that old expression that the fish stinks from the head down, and I find it hard to believe that an up and coming Democrat operative would be mounting an elaborate con job like this all on his own.
Ruth Johnson deserves the highest praise for her role in uncovering this, and I think it's worth pointing out that she exposed this fraud while running for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State in a crowded five way race. It speaks highly of her that while the rest of the crowd are acting like a bunch of conventional politicians, she's the one who is doing the sort of work that Michiganders should expect from a Secretary of State -- which is to ensure election integrity.
Which brings me to something I haven't mentioned in my blog before but probably should now. I happen to be one of the "hundreds of new, tea party-backed delegates" who will vote in the official primary election at the Republican State Convention on Saturday, and after what I saw today, I plan to vote for Ruth Johnson with the greatest of enthusiasm.
(For people who want more details about the fraud Johnson uncovered, her press release follows this post.)
Inspiring as it was to see the uncovering of the fraud and the successful fight against the fake Tea Party, what I saw today was truly remarkable for another reason. It has been nothing short of amazing for me to witness something I never thought I would see in politics. These people, these "hundreds of new, tea party-backed delegates" mentioned in the Freep, many of them are libertarians just like me, people who got involved because they felt they had to, and did so despite the fact that (like me) they hate politics. And yet, they are becoming politically empowered. People who are used to sitting around and complaining about statism and big government are actually organizing to do something to stop it. Yet instead of wanting power for its own sake, they want to use that power to limit power.
As Glenn has said, "Those dangerous libertarians -- they want to take over the government, and then leave you alone!"
Oakland County, Mich. - Friday, August 20, 2010 - Ruth Johnson, the Oakland County Clerk/Register, said her office has uncovered apparent evidence of fraud involving the so-called "Fake" Tea Party and one of its candidates.
"We have a candidate filing with signatures we suspect are forged and an out-of-state high school teacher who says he never filed to run for office and has no idea what this is even about," said Johnson.
On July 23, 2010 a man calling himself Aaron William Tyler filed signed paperwork to run on the November ballot as a Tea Party candidate for the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, District 2 seat. The candidate also filed paperwork to form a campaign committee, Citizens for Aaron Tyler. He listed a SpringfieldTownship address and gave his birth date as Feb. 26, 1983.
However, when Johnson's office notified Aaron Tyler, now living out-of-state, that he had a $30 late fee for failing to file proper paperwork for his committee, he told Johnson's Director of Elections, Joe Rozell, that he had no idea what they were talking about and that he had never filed paperwork to run for office. Tyler's signature on the apparently falsified candidate filing, which had been notarized, does not match his signature on file in the State's Qualified Voter File.
At a press conference Friday, Johnson read a letter she received today from Aaron Tyler. His signature on today's letter did match Tyler's signature in the state's Qualified Voter File.
"This letter is in regards to the elections filing with the OaklandCounty Clerk's office. I was shown a document that states my intention of being placed on the ballot for this fall. I have been in Phoenix, Arizona since July 27, 2010 for a new job. I did not sign this piece of paper. I have been receiving calls in regards to various aspects of this election process and have been confused as to why I was getting those. I figured it must have been some sort of mistake. I finally took the initiative to call the Clerk's office to investigate and they have helped explain the situation to me. I have no intentions of running for elected office. I believe a fraud was committed." - Aaron Tyler, Aug. 20, 2010
Legitimate Tea Party organizations across the state have condemned the state's new Tea Party as a "Fake" Tea party which does not represent them or their beliefs. Election experts have called the state's new Tea Party a ploy by Democrats to confuse voters.
"Here we have evidence that their concerns may be well-founded," Johnson said. "We must ensure integrity in our elections. This is a group that is trying to deceive voters and now it appears that they may have committed election fraud. Our state needs an Elections Crimes Unit to investigate allegations like this."
Johnson said the alleged false Tyler paperwork was notarized by a Jason H. Bauer. According to Michigan Capitol Confidential.com, a Jason Bauer has registered twice to run for office in OaklandCounty, once as a Democrat in May of this year. Mr. Bauer notarized paperwork for eight Tea Party candidates running in the November election.
Johnson called for election officials across the state to examine all candidate filings by "fake" Tea Party candidates, especially any and all candidate affidavits notarized by the same individual who notarized the Tyler paperwork.
Johnson said the documents have been turned over to the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office and she will hand-deliver the documents to the Michigan Attorney General's Office for investigation On Monday. Johnson said she will also be testifying about the alleged fraud before the state Board of Canvassers Monday on Monday.
posted by Eric on 08.23.10 at 04:48 PM
Comments
The Dem leadership is taking a huge risk.
They're reducing trust in the election process.
America is a deal among ourselves, break that deal at your own risk.
Americans put up with a lot, but if they think that there's too much election fraud going on, well, that's too far.
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Don?t bang your head!
The Dem leadership is taking a huge risk.
They're reducing trust in the election process.
America is a deal among ourselves, break that deal at your own risk.
Americans put up with a lot, but if they think that there's too much election fraud going on, well, that's too far.