UPDATE: The Colorado Independent’s Corey Hutchins:
File this one under “One thing a Republican candidate never wants to see”: A dead voter’s signature on a petition to get him on the ballot.
But that’s the allegation from Colorado’s Republican Secretary of State, Wayne Williams, who today released a statement saying he “notified the Denver district attorney that a petition circulator turned in the signature of a deceased voter.”
In recent years, Republicans across the country have over-hyped inaccurate reports of “zombie voters,” fear mongering about in-person voter fraud, which is extremely rare. They’ve done this while trying to enact restrictive voting measures to make voting more difficult…
In 2013, Keyser himself got into the voter fraud fray when he suggested he had improperly received duplicate ballots in the mail. It turned out that wasn’t the case.
—–
Is it still getting worse?!? Yes, it’s still getting worse.
As the Denver Post explains:
Colorado’s Secretary of State’s Office first learned about the possibility of fraudulent signatures — including a dead voter — on U.S. Senate candidate Jon Keyser’s petitions in April but did not refer the matter to investigators.
The revelation — made clear in documents obtained Tuesday by The Denver Post — adds a new layer of culpability to the controversy surrounding the Republican primary and raises additional questions about how Keyser qualified for the ballot.
The suspect voter signatures that appeared on the former state lawmaker’s petitions included one dead person and an unknown number that appeared to have been written in identical handwriting — potentially more than previously known.
A data specialist at Integrated Document Solutions — the state division that first reviews the petitions — contacted Jeff Mustin, Secretary of State’s petition lead, on April 12, the documents show, and sent a subsequent e-mail that included the suspicious signatures.
Yowza.
Jon Keyser’s campaign had been getting absolutely pummeled in the media over allegations of ballot fraud and forgery in petitions used to get his name on the June 28th Primary ballot. On Monday, Keyser decided to finally speak out — albeit in a rather nonsensical manner — but not before his Senate campaign had become little more than an Internet meme.
And now…dead voters. We didn’t think it possible for this story to get much worse than it already was for Keyser’s campaign, but (credit where due, here), it seems Keyser has a special kind of magic for this sort of thing. Bravo, or, whatever.
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Dead voters on Keyser's petitions?? Can't be true. Chicago is the only place I know of where the dead walk again; on election day.
That "Maureen" chick was probably from Chicago.
They bring the dead with them …
Hey I'm from Chicago and we stopped letting dead people vote right after we elected Kennedy. You remember. Camelot. Landing on the moon. You're welcome.
I'm from Evanston. "Don't get mad, get even" is what I learned.
Love Evanston. Wish when my folks moved us out of the old neighborhood in Albany Park to the 'burbs back in the day they'd picked Evanston instead of Morton Grove. Evanston's a real town, an old town, with a real "there" there. Shady streets with big old trees, beaches, the university, a real downtown and it's right up next to the city. Great town. Glad we always had friends and family to visit regularly in Evanston and Chicago. My best friend's family of seven moved from a cramped Morton Grove tract ranch house to a big old Victorian there with the kids' bedrooms up on the attic floor and all kinds of cool nooks and crannies all over the house. Used to hang out in Evanston and sleep over every chance I got.
I'm from Barrington and I can tell you, it did indeed happen after Kennedy. Take for example my Grandmother …
She was a staunch Republican up until her death in 1992, and since then, she's been voting Democrat.
Lived a little over three years in Evanston. It is ok I guess. Probably would have liked it better had I spent summers there
I prefer Denver and the Bay Area over it by far
Weather in Denver definitely superior to anywhere in Illinois but I do miss Lake Michigan and the whole lakefront. Best warm but very nice weather in the Chicago area is mid-May to mid-June and another nice window in early fall. Always loved the first crisp weather and turning leaves after the long hot sticky summer the best. Halloween to Easter is not for the delicate or those who need sun to avoid depression.
I spent three weeks in Evanston on a grant to study polling techniques at Northwestern. It is a fabulous town.
Pretty sure that happens in Georgia!
Democrats complaining about dead voters. The nerve!
A dead voter signing onto a dead campaign …
… seems apropos. Big surprise so far is that they've only found one.
(And, no, your being brain dead doesn't count — this time.)
Williams has to, at this point, order an immediate review of all Keyser signatures. And then shortly after, Keyser can quietly suspend his campaign (and political career).
Don't count on Williams doing anything… as it appears now, the SoS had some knowledge of the forgeries, irregularities of petition carriers and the person's signature who was dead back in April. He nor his office staff brought it to light it seems to the court much less the media. It looks like he or someone in his office didn't want their operations scrutinized or questioned for errors.
Unleash the dog …
The entertainment value of this is pretty high for those NOT in the Republican party (and maybe a few of them, too). Any guess on how long it can continue? I'm betting the Secretary of State's office can't simply say "oopsie … can we have a do over." So it would take a judge's ruling to take him out of the running, right?
Enjoy the entertainment value. The Rs blew their chance long before this. No matter which one of them is the last GOP Senatorial candidate standing it will only be to lose to Bennet anyway. In the meantime, pass the popcorn and more resources available to make a big push for Morgan Carroll in CD 6. It would really be a kindness to the Coffmans if he lost his seat. They could spend more time in the same zip code. Maybe even the same house. If they want to, that is.
Then, there is that "beard" theory.
Mr. or Mrs.?
I've heard….. both. Not that there would be anything wrong with that.
I'm not a lawyer but it would seem that there is no legal remedy available here. As goofy as it sounds when he says it over and over (and over) again, Keyser "is on the ballot." And without a legal remedy, it would seem that it will have to wait until after the primary when one of the losing candidates then has standing to say that he lost because of all of these ballots cast for someone who got on the ballot through fraud. And that's not even considering the possibility of what could happen if he actually manages to win the primary. What a crazy show. This is one of the reasons I don't like reality television. In pales in comparison to actual reality.
So basically you're saying, Scott Gessler will be able to afford a new house and a car after this election is over
And Gessler is asking for the State to cover all attorney's fees. Even when he isn't in elected office, he's still figuring out ways to siphon taxpayer money.
No worries. I'm sure the Keyser campaign will have someone triple-check Gessler's expenses before they are submitted …