From the AP

Onslaught of dirty tricks as election day nears
In the final hours of the campaign, bogus fliers, e-mails and calls increase

In the hours before Election Day, as inevitable as winter, comes an onslaught of dirty tricks — confusing e-mails, disturbing phone calls and insinuating fliers left on doorsteps during the night.

The intent, almost always, is to keep folks from voting or to confuse them, usually through intimidation or misinformation. But in this presidential race, in which a black man leads most polls, some of the deceit has a decidedly racist bent.

Complaints have surfaced in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Philadelphia where fliers have circulated, warning voters they could be arrested at the polls if they had unpaid parking tickets or if they had criminal convictions.

Over the weekend in Virginia, bogus fliers with an authentic-looking commonwealth seal said fears of high voter turnout had prompted election officials to hold two elections — one on Tuesday for Republicans and another on Wednesday for Democrats.

In New Mexico, two Hispanic women filed a lawsuit last week claiming they were harassed by a private investigator working for a Republican lawyer who came to their homes and threatened to call immigration authorities, even though they are U.S. citizens.

"He was questioning her status, saying that he needed to see her papers and documents to show that she was a U.S. citizen and was a legitimate voter," said Guadalupe Bojorquez, speaking on behalf of her mother, Dora Escobedo, a 67-year-old Albuquerque resident who speaks only Spanish. "He totally, totally scared the heck out of her."

In Pennsylvania, e-mails appeared linking Democrat Barack Obama to the Holocaust. "Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, Nov. 4," said the electronic message, paid for by an entity calling itself the Republican Federal Committee. "Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake."

Voter suppression efforts
Laughlin McDonald, who leads the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said he has never seen "an election where there was more interest and more voter turnout, and more efforts to suppress registration and turnout. And that has a real impact on minorities."

The Obama campaign and civil rights advocacy groups have signed up millions of new voters for this presidential race. In Ohio alone, some 600,000 have submitted new voter registration cards.

Across the country, many of these first-time voters are young and strong Obama supporters. Many are also black and Hispanic.

Laughlin McDonald, who leads the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said he has never seen "an election where there was more interest and more voter turnout,


????????What...Turnout??????

which year is he referring to ????????

How can you have an article on voter fraud without even mentioning ACORN?

Yes, there already has been increased voter turnout in states that allow early voting.

ok...so turn out is up?????

registration is up???


why the post of ..suppressing, registration and voting ?????


??????????????????????????????????????????????????

Ummm...people are voting already. People in San Francisco had a 5 hr. wait.

Part of the race card... More attempt at fear and division...

Strange how it allways comes down to 'minorities votes are being suppressed'.

and no one mentions the other voters that have been effected in the same ways...

I Wonder if Obama Wins, if He'll Have MR. Khalidi, Muck Muck Iditarod and Hugo "I'm a Donkey" Chavez at His Victory Dinner? Maybe Since his Church Gave Farrakhan an Achievement Award Maybe He'll Invite Him as Well.

Then mention them. I don't know about them.