Presidential Elections and Potential Problems

The 2012 Presidential Election had the potential to be a disaster. The warning signs were all around us and many of us doubted that we would have an honest, fair election. Could it be that we would wake up on November 7th only to find that accusations of fraud and corruption had put the United States in the headlines again?

I care about my country. I care about the men and women who are serving around the world to protect us from our enemies. Do we need to bring them home to protect us from the enemies within our own borders? These were the thoughts running through my mind as we faced this critical election.

Virginia was one of the critical states in this 2012 Presidential Election. On Thursday, October 18th, a man was arrested in Rockingham, Virginia, Colin Small has been charged with -

• four counts of destruction of voter registration applications
• eight counts of failing to disclose voter registration applications
• one count of obstruction of justice

Small was working for PinPoint, a company contracted to collect voter registrations by the Republican Party of Virginia. The charges were filed against Small after a Harrisonburg, VA store owner found voter registration forms from Virginia in a dumpster behind his store. Read the details from usnews.com here.

Signon.org had a petition up asking for further investigation into voter registration fraud.

We deserved a fair and honest election but, would we get it?

Senator Jim Moran (D) of Virginia asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate voter fraud in Virginia. But -

On Thursday, October 25th, the Washington Post reported that Senator Moran's son, Patrick Moran, resigned from his father's campaign after being caught on video discussing a voter registration fraud scheme that involved using utility bills to create voter registrations for citizens who rarely vote. Granted, it was only a conversation at this point but, Patrick Moran resigned for a reason. Watch the video and form your own opinion. Is this the future of elections in the United States?.

On October 2nd, abcnews.com reported that Strategic Allied Consultants, hired by the Republican Party to collect voter registrations in Florida, allegedly faked voter registrations. Election officials discovered hundreds of fake voter registrations in nine Florida counties. The firm of Strategic Allied Consultants was employed by Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado and Nevada to collect voter registrations. Several voter registration forms in North Carolina and Virginia were flagged as possible fraudulent forms. Approximately 100 questionable forms were identified in Florida.

Could the votes in Florida be trusted?

Ohio was another critical state in the 2012 Presidential Election and Ohio voters wondered if there would be a fair accounting of their votes.

Hart Intercivic supplied voting machines to Ohio, as well as some other states and rumors surfaced that Tagg Romney, the son of Mitt Romney, was a major investor in the company. Candidate Mitt Romney was also rumored to have invested $10 million in seed money in the company and provided strategic advice, according to MSN news.

According to the report on MSN news, Hart had a good reputation for reliable reporting but could the voters in Ohio relax? Some did not think so. Another petition was been posted on signon.org asking for an investigation into the potential for fraud in the Ohio polls.

Whether the allegations of voter registration fraud or conflict of interest were proven or not, this 2012 Presidential Election showed us that elections in the United States are a breeding ground for problems. We deserve a fair and honest election system but it will be up to each of us to be the eyes and ears for the country.

Politicians work for us, in spite of how it feels sometimes. In other articles, I have pleaded with you to vote responsibly and now, I will plead with you to be a participant in the entire voting process. It is our responsibility as voting citizens to fight for a secure selection process. We must have confidence that our true voice will be heard in the democratic process. It is not enough to vote. We also have to hold our elected representatives accountable and that may mean demanding fair and responsible processes for future elections. Will we learn from the 2012 Presidential Election?

© 2012 Linda Crist, All rights reserved.

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