Saturday, November 05, 2016

Some MoCo early voters report receiving ballots with circles for Democratic candidates already filled in

The record turnout for early voting in Montgomery County has been been the headline in local media this week, but a more troubling story hasn't been covered. Montgomery County Republican Central Committee Chairman Michael Higgs has received "multiple eyewitness reports" that some early voters were provided with paper ballots that had already been filled out, with only Democratic candidates selected.

"These pre-filled ballots did not merely have a stray mark or two, they were completely filled-out for the entire Democrat slate of candidates, with the bubbles neatly and completely filled-in," Higgs wrote to County Election Director Margaret Jurgensen. He is calling for an immediate investigation.

"Are we seeing a small slice of a larger campaign to stuff the ballot boxes? Is there a rogue individual in your midst attempting to unduly influence the election? Only a thorough and public investigation will help to ensure the voters that they are not being disenfranchised by nefarious actors attempting to steal the election," Higgs wrote.

Local blogger Adam Pagnucco had already reported on a different problem prior to this one - being given the ballot for a different Congressional district from the one he lives in when he voted early in Wheaton. The report of pre-filled ballots came just two days after Senator Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh held a news conference about "fraud" in Maryland elections.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Montgomery County Republican Central Committee Chairman Michael Higgs has received "multiple eyewitness reports'..."

This is called "hearsay".

Anonymous said...

Robert: You claim to be a reporter. You have shown the ability to investigate and pursue stories where you seek "the truth". Have you investigated any of these claims to see if they are true? Has anyone produced such a ballot? If multiple people have received these ballots at a polling location(s) and complained to Montgomery County Republican Central Committee Chairman Michael Higgs, why didn't they complain at their polling location(s)? I would have created a fit, if I received such a ballot. As a "journalist" seeking "the truth", what do you think is the most likely explanation for these reports and complaints? What evidence do you have to support it? Why are some Republicans, specifically Tramp Republicans, so anxious to create doubt in the U.S. electoral process? Do they not think they have the votes? Do they not believe in democracy? Why have they Trumped Up concerns about voter fraud in such a way to disenfranchise many American citizens from voting? Why do they continue to come up with more and more ways to keep more and more Americans from voting? You recently posted about a new group supposedly created to increase voter participation and complained about the low voter turnout in MoCo elections. Why then do you seem to support candidates and efforts to restrict and disenfranchise some groups of voters? Do you believe in greater citizen participation in voting, or only greater participation by the "right people". A concerned Bush Republican fed up with bullshit.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Higgs etal have some ulterior motive here? Maybe they are pushing the Trump message that the "Elections are Rigged". Why are they all trying to sow doubts in the American electoral system? Do they not think they have the votes? Are they all colluding with Putin? Does Trump not care if he wins, as long as he continues to receive Russian money for his South Florida (and Russian) hotel properties? Why aren't you concerned about Trump's lack of patriotism?

Anonymous said...

Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?

Anonymous said...

The Montgomery County Board of Elections has reported that ballots with the names "Elm", "Woodmont", "Skippy", and "I Miss Giffords" all listed the same address as Robert Dyer.

Anonymous said...

Has Higgs told this story to anyone else but you? I don't even see it mentioned on the Montgomery County GOP site.

Maloney Concrete said...

9:48am you sound like a nut claiming every comment you disagree with is Robert Dyer.

Anonymous said...

Everyone get out there and vote FOR term limits.

Robert Dyer said...

10:26: If you read the article, it clearly says that Mr. Higgs wrote to the Board of Elections. The MCGOP also sent out a press release, but to my knowledge, no other media outlet had covered this story as of this morning.

Robert Dyer said...

5:43: It's a meme, knucklehead. Stop playing the race card for 5 seconds, and join us in 2016. We don't want to have to get into the race record of the Montgomery County Council and MoCo political cartel! You'll lose that debate badly, my friend.

Anonymous said...

And Sockpuppet #5 @ 10:29 responds to the bait. LOL

Anonymous said...

1:35pm: the councilman is calling. You forgot to put the second coat of wax on his car this morning!

Anonymous said...

So if this happened, I guess there would be more details. Which polling place, and on which day, and how many ballots?

On top of that, wouldn't a voter easily notice that any of the circles are already filled when they go to complete their ballot? This hardly seems like a way to pull a fast one.

And on top of that, if someone was really doing this... why even bother? MoCo is so heavily Democrat that pre-filling some ballots that way is hardly going to change the outcome of MoCo voting.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Robert Dyer said...

4:49: I have a copy of the letter, and it is on party letterhead - there most definitely was a letter sent to BOE, and to local media outlets. The difference is, the other media outlets are trying to cover-up the story, instead trying to use column inches to suppress voter turnout. Sounds like Frosh and Cardin were right about voter fraud.

Anonymous said...

So why hasn't the MoCo GOP website published this story?

Anonymous said...

Did the BOE and "local media outlets" actually receive a copy of the letter?

Anonymous said...

The banana republic of MoCo. Everyone voting Tuesday: please be vigilant that they have a clean ballot to vote with.

Anonymous said...

@ 9:36 is a gullible Trumptard.

Anonymous said...

10:22 AM Calling for vigilance in getting a clean ballot makes someone a "gullible Trumptard"?

Robert Dyer said...

7:13: You seem to be of supreme density - I've answered your question affirmatively twice. "If every letter must receive an answer, send 30,000 letters." - Saul Alinsky

Anonymous said...

Robert: Why didn't you respond to the good questions raised by Anonymous from 8:52 this morning? AND, why aren't you responding and deleting the Anti-semitic bullshit above?

Robert Dyer said...

7:11 I just deleted it.

8:52: Where in the article above did I endorse or condemn any candidate, party or "groups of voters"? Ben Cardin, just the other day, stated that there has been "voter fraud" in past Maryland elections. Are you disagreeing with Mr. Cardin?

How would investigating pre-filled ballots being given to voters disenfranchise voters? It sounds like being given a ballot that you can't fill out yourself would have done just that. We don't make elections more just by ignoring illegal activities that may in fact thwart the will of the people who voted.

An accusation has been made. It was ignored by the local media other than this website. Now the Board of Elections must respond. I'm providing exactly what's needed in our County, by informing the public of things the local political cartel doesn't want them to know.

Anonymous said...

In MoCo? Shocker.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely.

Anonymous said...

Someone issued a press release of unicorns stuffing ballot boxes with pixie dust. Get on it.

Anonymous said...

This seems fishy to me. Let's presume the eyewitnesses are telling the truth for a moment - that there are Democrats who hope to engage in voter fraud by pre-filling in the votes on a blank ballot. What would be their objective - that Republican voters wouldn't notice that the ballot was already filled in, and then they'd just put them in the scanner without adding their own marks? If this is how voter fraud is done, then the people doing it are true idiots and it would have ZERO affect on the outcome of the election.

Anonymous said...

Dyer says Higgs says unidentified, unnumbered persons told Higgs that they received "marked" ballots.

Dyer says Higgs says he told other newspapers, news sites and the BoD this story.

Color us Bethesdians skeptical.

Anonymous said...

As someone from the internet, calling a still from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air a "meme" offends me.

Anonymous said...

Robert doesn't see race.

Robert Dyer said...

I'm laughing about the spammer trying to post a propaganda report from another website. That other website had the information for many days, and only today filed a late report because my site had broken the story and brought this illegal election activity to the attention of the public.

There was more than one report of this happening, according to the GOP letter. Marked ballots flying around a polling place is absolutely illegal, under any circumstances.

Your favorite website got schooled, punk. Now pick up Hans Riemer's dry cleaning.