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Subscribe to RSSThe Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd talks to NBC's Michael Isikoff about Florida voting fraud and what's being done about it now
Updated: 8:46p.m. ET: Election officials in six Florida counties are investigating what appears to be "hundreds” of cases of suspected voter fraud by a GOP consulting firm that has been paid nearly $3 million by the Republican National Committee to register Republican voters in five key battleground states, state officials tell NBC.
But the veteran GOP consultant, Nathan Sproul, who runs the firm, strongly defended his company's conduct, saying it has rigorous "quality controls" and blamed the alleged fraud on the actions of a few "bad apples," workers who were hired to register Republican voters for $12 an hour and then tried to "cheat the system."
The allegations of suspected voter fraud committed by Strategic Allied Consulting of Tempe, Arizona spread Thursday to counties throughout Florida. At the same time, the Republican National Committee said it had severed its ties to the firm altogether.
"We have heard from supervisors in six counties that they have irregularities in voter registration," said Chris Cate, spokesman for the Florida Department of State, which oversees the state's division of elections. Although local prosecutors are already investigating the firm's conduct, Cate said state officials were also considering turning the matter over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to determine if there was a pattern of misconduct.
The suspected fraud included apparent cases of dead people being registered as Republican voters, said Paul Lux, the supervisor of elections in Okaloosa County and a Republican. He compared the suspected fraud to the alleged acts of ACORN, the liberal activist group that became the center of a national controversy several years ago.
"It's kind of ironic that the dead people they accused Acorn of registering are now being done by the RPOF" [Republican Party of Florida], Lux said in an interview with NBC News.
While Republican groups as a whole are still outspending Democratic groups, the gap is narrowing, in part to the individual donors finally stepping up on the Democrats' behalf. NBC News' Michael Isikoff discusses.
In addition to Palm Beach County, where election officials initially reported 106 instances of suspected fraudulent registration forms, officials in Okaloosa, Pasco, Santa Rosa, Lee and Clay counties have also reported instances of possible fraudulent forms submitted by the firm, officials said.
In a statement on Strategic Allied's website, the firm's lawyer said:
"Strategic has a zero tolerance policy for breaking the law. Accordingly, once we learned of the irregularities in Palm Beach County, we were able to trace all questionable cards to one individual and immediately terminated our working relationship with the individual in question. Strategic is committed to following the letter of the law and will continue to cooperate with the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections to ensure that this issue is resolved."
Sproul said in a telephone interview that his company has employed between 4,000 and 5,000 people to register Republican voters under its contract with the RNC, including over 2,000 in Florida. The employees are given training on how to register voters, including being required to watch a video instructing them not to register felons. The video also instructs recruiters not to "modify or falsify voter registration forms."
"No matter what quality controls you have there are always going to be bad actors in any large scale operation," Sproul said.
Sproul, who has long worked for the GOP, also criticized Florida and national Republican officials for dumping him.
"They're trying to get the distraction behind them," he said about the RNC's action.
Sean Spicer, communications director for the RNC, said Strategic Allied Consulting had been retained by the RNC and state Republican parties to register new Republican voters in five key battleground states.
But Spicer said that the party's relationship with the firm-- which has been paid $2.9 million by the RNC so far this year, according to federal elections records -- has now been terminated in light of alleged voter fraud linked to one of the firm's employees that was reported this week to Florida prosecutors by election officials in Palm Beach County.
"We've made it clear we're not doing business with these guys anymore," said Spicer. "We've come out pretty strong against this kind of stuff -- and we have zero tolerance for this."
Strategic Allied’s parent firm, Lincoln Strategy Group, also headed by Sproul, has been paid about $80,000 by the Romney campaign to conduct "field consulting," according to election records. Asked for comment, Sarah Pompei, a spokeswoman for the Romney campaign, said by email: "We used this vendor for signature gathering services during the primary but have not used them since 2011."
Besides Florida, Strategic Allied Consulting was hired to register GOP voters in Nevada, North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia. Spicer said it was the only firm hired by the RNC to conduct voter registration. In the case of Nevada, he said, the RNC was paying the firm directly. In the other four states, the firm was being paid by state parties with the funds reimbursed by the RNC.
The allegations involving voter fraud by the GOP consulting firm are a new twist in the national controversy over the threat posed by voter fraud and the impact of new state laws passed by Republican controlled legislatures to combat it. While Republican officials have repeatedly accused Democratic groups such as ACORN of fraudulently registering voters in the past, the new dispute over what happened in Palm Beach-- involving the registration of Republican voters -- appears to be one of the first to have led to a criminal inquiry in this year's election.
Christine Weiss, a spokeswoman for the Palm Beach State Attorney's Office, told NBC News Thursday that the alleged voter fraud by a Strategic Allied Consulting employee is "currently being investigated" by prosecutors in her office after it was brought to the attention of prosecutors on Monday by Palm Beach election supervisor Susan Bucher.
Out of 304 Republican voter registration forms recently dropped off by a Strategic Allied employee at a small "satellite office" of the Palm Beach elections office, 106 were flagged as potentially fraudulent-- including "a lot" with "similar looking" signatures and others with apparently phony addresses, Susan Bucher, the Palm Beach elections supervisor, said in an interview.
Among the suspect home addresses were those that matched a gas station in Miami, a medical building in Boca Raton and a Land Rover automotive dealership in Palm Beach County, she told NBC News.
Bucher said she called in the political director for the Palm Beach Republican Party and the GOP official agreed that the registration forms were a problem. She then took the forms to the Palm Beach County State's Attorney's office on Monday and requested the investigation.
In a statement issued Tuesday night, Mike Grissom, executive director of the Florida Republican Party, said: "When we learned today about the instances of potential voter registration fraud that occurred in Palm Beach County, we immediately informed the Republican National Committee that we were terminating the contract with the voter registration vendor we hired at their request because there is no place for voter registration fraud in Florida."
Sproul has been previously accused of suppressing Democratic voter turnout, throwing away registration forms, and manipulating ballot initiatives. His firms -- formerly Sproul & Associates, Lincoln Strategy, and Strategic Allied Consultants -- had previously worked for RNC voter registration efforts during the campaigns of George W. Bush and John McCain. In 2004, Democratic Senators Leahy and Kennedy sent a letter to then Attorney General John Ashcroft requesting that he "launch an immediate investigation into the activities of Mr. Sproul and his firm." But the request did not lead to any criminal charges against Sproul.
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The RNC is a criminal organization, and has been commiting acts of treason against the US since at least the 70's. Disband the republican party and make the world a better place.
Your rant would be much stronger if you looked up the definition of "treason" and found a word that meant what you think it does.
Iran Contra
You still haven't figured out the definition of "treason," huh?
BTW: North was never tried for the crime of treason, His convictions on three felony counts were all over-turned.
So, your point is?
The only Fraud is coming from Republicans. They are so desperate they would do anything to beat Obama. Time to throw out the Far Right Teabagging Republicans. They have had two years and what have they done? They ran on jobs jobs jobs and what did we get. Abortion bills, Gay marriage and "legitimate" rape. They spent 50 million to repeal Obamacare, wasting out taxpayers money and to top it off they held America hostage and lowered our credit rating. Time for them to go.
Tea Party = huge gift to the Democrats. How Palins have managed to enrich themselves on the backs of those poor suckers. Public appearances, Fox News, reality shows, Dancing with the Stars.. What a great country. Before long, the Palins will be rubbing elbows with the Romneys. Sarah and Anne thinkin up hopey changey stuff, Mitt and Todd suckin down some Bud Lites. lol
You left out Honey-boo-boo...that inclusion might round out the intellectual quorum!
Boy, this sure makes me happy!
This is really not surprising because the Republicans have shown they will lie, cheat and steal if that is what it takes to win. They really have lost any and all integrity they may have had left in that party.
really... Obama phones to everyone!!! You can come to the USA illegally!! and the New Black Panthers out there scaring everyone... AND Dem's don't want to have VOTER ID.. Wonder why ???? VOTE OBAMA OUT OF OFFICE.... ALWAYS APOLOPGIZING... GUYS WAKE UP SMELL THE STENCH .. MSNBC CBS CNN DO YOU SMELL IT!!!
Hey, it's the GOP that's ACORN'ing things up this time.
Vote out the GOP !!!
As usual just blame the media for the republicans failures.
Esmie503: "stench"? Irony of ironies!, "Stench" is what Ryan referred to Romney as last week!(Ryan Staffer quote) (google the video clip)...Another repub ventured that Romney could successfully moonlight as petrified wood!
No, but I think I do smell the smelly smell of something that smells smelly. Limbaugh-ger maybe?
Corruption within corruption! Never ending!
99% American People, VOTE & vote 100% STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC and let's rid our selves of their BLATANT CORRUPTION once & FOREVER! The lives you save WILL be YOURS & your CHILDREN!! BELIEVE IT, NOTHING COULD BE TRUER!
That's hilarious. Nearly everybody I have talked to in the last 6 months wants Obama out; even the ones who voted for him.
I voted Libertarian last election. This one I'm pulling straight Republican because the Dems and Obama have screwed darn near everything up from the economy to the 4 times deadlier situation in Afghanistan for our soldiers.
When the deaths double for American soldiers in half the time, and you add 6 trillion dollars to our national debt in half the time, what else can you expect ?
Now it has come to my attention that Obama has installed about a half dozen of the most controversial lobbyists from the Monsanto corporation to positions in our government. Monsanto is regarded by many people around America and the world as the most evil American corporation in America.
Then I find out that Bill Gates has a large stake in MSNBC, and Monsanto, and gates has been funneling huge amounts of money to Obama through superpacs in exchange for media biased towards him, and is the reason the lobbyists have been installed in our government.
That sounds to me like the wealthiest man in America is throwing all his leverage for Obama at great personal gain. No f-ing thanks.
The more I have read about Monsanto, the more evil they appear to be. The things they infuse into their corn causes cancer, and cornb is in everything we eat. Even in beef, chicken, and pork as we now feed them corn.
Monsanto seed cross pollinates other crops rendering all the nearby crops sterile and toxic as well. The end result will be total dependence on genetically altered seed, natural seed will cease to exist. I don't like the idea of our entire food supply relying on a few rich people.
Romney 2012
Dont' lose sight of who created the super -pacs! Also, what's next in your bag of imagined tricks...soylent green? Too close to the edge, there, scooter!
Now we understand who the 53% Mitt is focusing on. Dead people & vacant lots.
Yeaht!!! That's Florida for ya! Republican scumbags galore!! That party is OVAHHH!!
The party won't be over jackstraw until Romney gets into office. We need to end this democratic liberal way of life because if we don't we might as well start calling everyone comrade and we might as well start praying to allah now. I cannot wait for November 6th to vote Romney in!!!
Why Marie? Are you suggesting that the current president is a Muslim and a Communist?
You can't blame this one on Romney or Ryan, and it's pretty minor compared to how the New Black Panthers strong-arm at the polls, and the Dems were documented doing the same damn thing in the last election, but much more widespread.
The difference; Republicans blew the whistle on themselves, the Dems tried to get away with it.
Proof is in the pudding- The Democrats are much more scandalous.
out of woods ; and of course you have proof of your statement ? your republican so you don't just more liars
@Out...to lunch
OMG are you serious??? The Republicans DID NOT BLOW THE WHISTLE the Palm Beach County election office DID.
Did you even read the story? Or is your opinion what Rush the pig is blowing today and you post what you hear? Or maybe it's those voices in your head?
Your party is just as corrupt as mine!
I love it.
So the RNC didn't know about this guy's history before hiring him again?
This is laughable, the republican party finally finds its voter fraud and it is in their party !
Hanging chads (2004) notwithstanding?
Karma's a bit ch!
Please DEMAND a RICO Act investigation into each states Republican party and the National RNC party. With the RICO Act we can get to ALL the communications between Sproul, Strategic Allied Consulting, the RNC and their state Republican Party offices and anyone else that has ties to this. Call your States Attorney (look it up here)
http://www.justice.gov/usao/offices/index.html
and also call the United States Department of Justice Attorney General Holden's office and DEMAND that RICO be brought to bear for the benefit of all Americans. If this was the Dems I would be screaming just as loud because THIS is a destruction of all of our freedom, not just one side of a political debate. We deserve to know the truth no matter how ugly.
Better yet, contact the UN and have BOTH parties investigated for malfeasance and violation of international voting rights acts.
We could start over!!!
Wow. Criminal activity conducted by the Gross Old Pigs, and the Really Nasty C**ks****ers? There's something new.
God help us. The totally indoctrinated of each party are becoming more and more rabid by the day.
Thankfully, there are about 30% who skip this crap.
mpa - I wouldn't count on it. People still have mouths to talk and ears to hear. The truth will always come out.
Well, the Republicans were looking for voter fraud and they found it-right in their own back yard! I don't think that coffin has room for any more nails.
This isn't a new twist because in 2004 this same guy was investigated yet the Republican Party and Mitt chose to use his firm.
What's alarming is this so-called intimidation by "True Vote"
Caught Red-Handed. The only vote fraud so far, has been committed by the GOP. This clown Sproul was involved in the Florida vote fiascos in 2000, and also worked for the GOP in 2004 and 2008. Serial vote-rigging.
@out of the woods-(How appropro)
So don't forget to include Mitt's donor-Sheldon Adelson being investigated for money laundering and bribery of a foreign government. NY Attorney General investigating equity firms. Mitt-sat on audit board of Marriot Inc. (look up 'Son Of Boss'). Who set up a $100 million trust and paid no taxes under Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust, Mitt of course?
$100
More Jewish fraud? Who would have ever thought the Chosen People would do anything like this. OK, let's not generalize ... most of those wealthy Jews (who made their millions/billions within ONE LIFETIME) have done it in criminal/illegal ways.
In the meantime they are all well linked with Israel. And I'm sorry to say, but the Israeli Government is as criminal as these guys are. The network really works. Amazingly there are enough stupid people to believe their stories.
And thanks to the Jewish judges sitting in many top positions their fellow fraudsters won't be punished badly ... if at all. ;-)
Just imagine one simple scenario in one little region/city: the senator, the judge and the business man they are all going to the same synagogue. They are all friends. They all sit in the same boat. Does anyone think they will really do harm to one another?? No, even if there's pressure coming from outside.
Wake up people .... wake up.
Romney committed voter fraud
Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney has survived the heated GOP nominating contest so far without attracting significant attention to what may become a general election issue: allegations that he committed voter fraud in 2010. In January 2010 the former Massachusetts governor proudly cast a ballot for Republican Scott Brown in the special election to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. He didn’t own property in the state at the time, and had registered to vote listing his son’s unfinished basement as his residence. Massachusetts law defines a residence for voter registration purposes as “where a person dwells and which is the center of his domestic, social, and civil life.” Anyone found guilty of committing voter fraud faces up to five years behind bars and a fine of $10,000.
The issue was first raised last year, after long-shot GOP candidate Fred Karger traveled to Romney’s former community of Belmont and interviewed members of his former church — who informed Karger that the Romneys had moved — and their former realtor, who told him, “Oh, they moved to California.” Additionally, Karger claimed that Ann Romney told him that the couple lived in California.
I guess the republicans were right all along, there is rampant voter fraud. What they failed to tell us was that they were the ones doing it!
I don't know how anyone can even say "republican" without bursting out laughing anymore.
It's one thing to shoot yourself in the foot, it's another completely to reload and do it over and over.
I just don't know how anyone could even consider voting for any of these buffoons. The whole republican party is nothing but a clown show.
Compared to the republican party, the Three Stooges are MIT professors.
How ironic, that the very party that is working, in their words, against voter fraud, is the one that is actually committing the fraud. Maybe it is really true, the one making the accusations is probably the guilty party!
"There is no place for voter fraud in Florida."
Actually, Miami-Dade Co. is THE place for Florida voting fraud. It is a time-honored tradition there. Read Dave Barry's Big Trouble.
Seriously, a voter registration drive cannot decide by itself to throw out ANY registrations--as this group did. This is why you get Fox's refrain, "They tried to register Mickey Mouse!"
Rule of thumb, if Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich or the GOP accuse the other side of something, they are doing it themselves.
The GOP fired them because they got caught.
Here is the new Republican Motto:
IF YOU CAN'T BEAT EM, CHEAT!
Like that?? We stole it from the liberals :)
We get it. Rick Scott, the Repub Gov of FL, turns a blind eye to Repub's (a few bad apples???) "fixing" the voter system while he gets strongly involved in voter suppression when it comes to ensuring legitimate FL/US citizens, who possibly might vote Democrat, are denied their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. Makes sense; right??? Makes sense if you're trying to ensure Romney is somehow elected. Won't happen.
Resign today Rick while you still have an ounce of integrity; tomorrow will be too late.
You are a yankee bafoon! Pathetic troll. Stick to bashing Bush it really helps your cause.