Congressional Campaign Staffer Resigns Over Voter Fraud Advice

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**Seaward**

Virginia's getting ugly, y'all. Via the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Patrick Moran, son of Rep. James P. Moran, D-8th, resigned Wednesday as field director of his father's campaign after a conservative organization said it secretly videotaped him advising an undercover operative on how to commit election fraud.

Earlier Wednesday, Project Veritas released a video in which an undercover operative suggests a voter fraud plan to the younger Moran. The operative said he wanted to cast ballots in the name of 100 voters who were registered but rarely voted.

In the video, Patrick Moran first expresses doubts about the plan. He later advises the undercover volunteer on faking utility bills for voter identification and eventually tells him to "look into it."

The Northern Virginia congressman's campaign issued a brief statement Wednesday night confirming the younger Moran's resignation:

"Patrick is well-liked and was a well-respected member of the campaign team. This incident, however, was clearly an error in judgment. The campaign has accepted Patrick's resignation, effective immediately."

Voter fraud allegations are taking on new prominence in Virginia as the fight for the state's prized 13 electoral votes heads into the homestretch.

Also Wednesday, the State Board of Elections asked Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to look into allegations of GOP efforts to destroy voter registration applications.

Colin Small of Phoenixville, Pa., was charged Oct. 18 with 13 felony and misdemeanor counts. Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan E. Hutcheson said Small worked for an independent contractor hired by the Republican Party of Virginia to conduct voter registration drives. Small was arrested after eight voter registration applications were found in a trash bin behind a Harrisonburg store.

The Republican National Committee provides funds to state GOP offices for voter registration drives in swing states such as Virginia. Small worked for Pinpoint, a company hired by the Virginia GOP for that purpose.

State GOP Chairman Pat Mullins said last week that Small was fired "immediately after we learned of his alleged actions."

This week Virginia's three Democratic members of the U.S. House — Moran, the 3rd District's Robert C. Scott and the 11th District's Gerald E. Connolly — wrote U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urging the Justice Department to conduct a multistate investigation of voter registration fraud tied to Strategic Allied Consulting and its subsidiary, Pinpoint.

"The number of allegations in a multitude of locations would suggest something more than the isolated acts of 'a few bad apples,' " the lawmakers wrote.

Project Veritas, headed by activist James O'Keefe, says it seeks to "expose corruption and malfeasance in major taxpayer-funded institutions." It is known for hidden-camera investigations of the group ACORN and for exposés meant to reveal Medicaid fraud.

In July 2011 Gov. Bob McDonnell asked Virginia State Police to review a Project Veritas video that appeared to be hidden-camera footage of an exchange in a Richmond Medicaid office in which a staffer advises a man not to disclose a drug and prostitution business on a Medicaid application.

In the newly released video, recorded Oct. 8, Patrick Moran tells the undercover operative from Project Veritas that his energies would be better spent working with the existing get-out-the-vote operation.

The operative shows Patrick Moran a bag that he says includes the names of inactive voters. The supposed volunteer discusses how to get the identification necessary to vote in their names under Virginia's voter ID rules.

"It has to be like a utility bill or something like that," Patrick Moran says at one point, according to a transcript superimposed on the video. "So you have to — so you have to forge it."

Patrick Moran also warns the supposed volunteer to call the voters to make sure they are not going to cast their own ballots.

"You can even just call and be like, a pollster," Patrick Moran says.

Republican Patrick Murray is challenging Rep. James P. Moran, who has represented the 8th District since 1991.

**KalashnikovMarine**

Ugh, this election's gonna be a mess.

**d-usa**

What a fething idiot.

**Jihadin**

A village somewhere is not complete....

**Frazzled**

Yep, more evidence of no voter fraud completed. Good thing we don't need voter ID.

**d-usa**

Some guy with a crazy plan is not evidence of actual voter fraud though.

Good riddance though.

**KalashnikovMarine**

d-usa wrote:
Some guy with a crazy plan is not evidence of actual voter fraud though.

Good riddance though.

This is evidence of voter fraud by way of Ringling Bros.

**d-usa**

KalashnikovMarine wrote:
d-usa wrote:
Some guy with a crazy plan is not evidence of actual voter fraud though.

Good riddance though.

This is evidence of voter fraud by way of Ringling Bros.

Well, having some crazy idea about "pretent you are a pollster, call them, and then cast their ballot, nobody will find out..." is not the same as actually trying it and getting away with it.

It does show horrible judgement at best, and being an idiot without a brain at worst, and he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a campaign again.

**streamdragon**

Frazzled wrote:
Yep, more evidence of no voter fraud completed. Good thing we don't need voter ID.

Once again, this is voter registration fraud. Voter ID laws will do NOTHING to combat this. Nothing. Not one single god damned thing.

edit: it's also worth noting that this is an O'Keefe video. The unedited version shows that the "undercover operative" continues to pitch the idea after Moran's initial rejection. Now, Moran should have just walked away at that point and reported it to police, so don't think I'm forgiving what he did. But O'Keefe's videos are hardly evidence of anything. If someone tried to use those tactics in a court of law, they'd be thrown out for entrapment.

**d-usa**

streamdragon wrote:
Frazzled wrote:
Yep, more evidence of no voter fraud completed. Good thing we don't need voter ID.

Once again, this is voter registration fraud. Voter ID laws will do NOTHING to combat this. Nothing. Not one single god damned thing.

He was actually coming up with a crazy plan to comit in-person voter fraud.

**streamdragon**

d-usa wrote:
streamdragon wrote:
Frazzled wrote:
Yep, more evidence of no voter fraud completed. Good thing we don't need voter ID.

Once again, this is voter registration fraud. Voter ID laws will do NOTHING to combat this. Nothing. Not one single god damned thing.

He was actually coming up with a crazy plan to comit in-person voter fraud.

My mistake then

except on the O'Keefe part.

**Frazzled**

d-usa wrote:
streamdragon wrote:
Frazzled wrote:
Yep, more evidence of no voter fraud completed. Good thing we don't need voter ID.

Once again, this is voter registration fraud. Voter ID laws will do NOTHING to combat this. Nothing. Not one single god damned thing.

He was actually coming up with a crazy plan to comit in-person voter fraud.

HAHA in your face SteamDragon!

**streamdragon**

Frazzled wrote:
d-usa wrote:
streamdragon wrote:
Frazzled wrote:
Yep, more evidence of no voter fraud completed. Good thing we don't need voter ID.

Once again, this is voter registration fraud. Voter ID laws will do NOTHING to combat this. Nothing. Not one single god damned thing.

He was actually coming up with a crazy plan to comit in-person voter fraud.

HAHA in your face SteamDragon!

Who is this SteamDragon?

I do apologize. I was watching the video and couldn't stand the guy doing the intro. Skipped a vital part it would seem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT77qP2Nai8

Link to the actual video. Again, Moran should have told him to shove it, I'm not defending him. But as you can see in the video, this sort of "evidence" wouldn't hold up in a court very well.

**dogma**

And then there's this...

Also Wednesday, the State Board of Elections asked Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to look into allegations of GOP efforts to destroy voter registration applications.

Colin Small of Phoenixville, Pa., was charged Oct. 18 with 13 felony and misdemeanor counts. Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan E. Hutcheson said Small worked for an independent contractor hired by the Republican Party of Virginia to conduct voter registration drives. Small was arrested after eight voter registration applications were found in a trash bin behind a Harrisonburg store.

...which was apparently not of note.

**Seaward**

dogma wrote:
And then there's this...

Also Wednesday, the State Board of Elections asked Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to look into allegations of GOP efforts to destroy voter registration applications.

Colin Small of Phoenixville, Pa., was charged Oct. 18 with 13 felony and misdemeanor counts. Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan E. Hutcheson said Small worked for an independent contractor hired by the Republican Party of Virginia to conduct voter registration drives. Small was arrested after eight voter registration applications were found in a trash bin behind a Harrisonburg store.

...which was apparently not of note.

I think it's of note. Both sides play dirty. It's a thesis I've been spouting around here for a while now.

**Frazzled**

Not the Green Party, because they're green. Green is clean. We don't ruin the environment, like red party and the blue party does. You don't even want to know about the brown party.

**AustonT**

Man Project Veritas must take thier tips from the FBI. That fool was set up like a terrorista.

**juraigamer**

Wait wait wait, so the republicans were moaning about voter fraud, and it wasn't found, so now they are just doing it themselves?

I wonder if fox news will report this... (actually, I don't)

**Seaward**

juraigamer wrote:
Wait wait wait, so the republicans were moaning about voter fraud, and it wasn't found, so now they are just doing it themselves?

I wonder if fox news will report this... (actually, I don't)

That's not how I would explain this to someone, no.

**Kanluwen**

Seaward wrote:
juraigamer wrote:
Wait wait wait, so the republicans were moaning about voter fraud, and it wasn't found, so now they are just doing it themselves?

I wonder if fox news will report this... (actually, I don't)

That's not how I would explain this to someone, no.

Except that's what Project Veritas has been doing for awhile now.

They reported at some point "having uncovered a mass of in person voter fraud"...but then it turns out part of it was their own 'volunteers' doing it to prove a point.

**sirlynchmob**

It just seems staged to me. I mean really 100 votes is going to affect the election? Where does he live mayberry?

I know its a old reference, Fraz will explain it to you kids

**Kanluwen**

Fun fact:
I live two hours away from where the Andy Griffith Show was filmed.

And in third grade, I got a project to showcase Mount Airy and the biggest thing was the fact that they had an Andy Griffith Show ideal going on in the town itself.

Plus, the city council included homemade chocolate chip cookies along with all the pamphlets. It was glorious.

**Jihadin**

homemade chocolate chip cookies

I would so seriously call a "time out" for these....fresh out off the oven...wait...we are talking extra chocalet right?

**Kanluwen**

We are indeed talking about extra chocolate chips.

Not that fresh out of the oven, but they did send the whole thing express so it was like two days old at the latest.

**Jihadin**

Good enough for government work...now pass the plate Kan....now....

**Kanluwen**

That would have been like...17 years ago Jihadin.

**Jihadin**

I ate food and drank milk that has a shelf life of 20 yrs.....make it happen Kan

edit
I actually have cookie dough double chocalet in the freezer....just remember muhahahaha

**sebster**

It's an O'Keefe video. It means nothing.

**whembly**

sebster wrote:
It's an O'Keefe video. It means nothing.

Riiiiiiiiiiight...

It's all staged.

Gotcha

**sebster**

whembly wrote:
Riiiiiiiiiiight...

It's all staged.

Gotcha

No, it's that O'Keefe claim to fame is the ACORN stunt. In which he took footage taken in secret, edited it to hell and then grossly misrepresented it to the national media.

Now, it isn't as if it's that hard to believe a campaign staffer might be corrupt. No problem believing that.

But given O'Keefe's record in this very thing... I mean you know how it goes, fool me once...