Unknown Republicans are circulating a flier in Hampton Roads telling Democrats to vote a day late, and it’s being presented as an official statement by the State Board of Elections, Julian Walker writes in the Pilot. State police are investigating. What Walker doesn’t address is how widely and by what mechanism this is being circulated, and what the potential punishment is for the perpetrators. If this has shown up under hundreds of people’s doors, this is truly reprehensible. On the other hand, if somebody printed up a few of these as a joke, not distributing them at all, I can’t see getting excited. Lacking that context, though, it’s tough to know what to do with this information.
Though it’s not particularly convincing-looking for the sort of folks who read political blogs, it looks much better than these things generally do. With the advent of things like early voting, most people have a sense that it’s altogether possible to vote on days other than Election Day. I wouldn’t discount the impact that this could have on those who receive it.
If it is claiming to be a communication from the Virginia Board of Elections, using official seals and such (which it is), then I could see a case for forgery charges.
I’m guessing something like this might cover it:
§ 18.2-172. Forging, uttering, etc., other writings.
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-172
Intentionally trying to suppress the vote through intimidation, trickery, or any other means is despicable, and should be punished.
That said, anybody stupid or lazy enough to not know what day Election Day is shouldn’t be eligible to vote.
Nothing says democracy like disenfranchising the stupid.
What with the Republicans standing up so forcefully to make sure we have honest elections with respect to ACORN, I sure am shocked Republicans would pull anything like this.
As far as “anybody stupid or lazy enough to not know what day Election Day is shouldn’t be eligible to vote” goes, I’ll just say two things: first, as Waldo pointed out, lots of people vote on days other than election day and second, if we’re going to start disqualifying people based on how smart we think they are, I’d like to hear a good justification as to why you think you’re smart enough to vote. Why don’t we require advanced degrees in economics and public policy while we’re at it?