Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell BUSTED, Part I

Bill's Comment: All of this came full-circle early in the week on "The Sean Hannity Show", when Mr. Hannity made it known to the nationwide audience that Pennsylvania was disenfranchising the military vote, and allowing prisoners to vote. (I suppose for John Kerry.) Governor Rendell, along with his other Democratic Party cohorts will stop at nothing to try and pull this election in their favor. This is also the same folks who are trying to prevent the use of electronic voting machines, and allowing two week election drives before the actual Election Day. This adds up to more voting fraud and/or corruption.
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With Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff
For the story behind the story...

Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 10:15 a.m. EDT

Gov. Rendell Reversal: Will Seek Extension on Military Ballots

HARRISBURG – Under intense pressure from military voters and Republicans, Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell said Friday that he will ask a federal judge to extend the deadline for counting overseas military and civilian ballots by one week.

Rendell told CNN that Republicans could only produce one voter – out of 26,000 overseas military and civilian voters – who failed to get the absentee ballot he requested.

Nonetheless, "I've decided that one military or civilian overseas [voter] not getting a ballot in time is too much," Rendell said.

A Republican-financed federal lawsuit by two servicemen in Iraq and Kuwait filed Wednesday against Rendell and Secretary of State Pedro Cortes seeks a 15-day extension for their ballots' return. One of the plaintiffs lives in Venango County, where records show that 131 of the 134 overseas ballots mailed out have already come back to the elections office.

Rendell said one of the plaintiffs' ballots was sent and delivered to the address he put on his absentee ballot request form. He said there was no explanation why the other plaintiff never received an absentee ballot.

"There may have been a screw-up in the mail. But it's not widespread," Rendell said.

A hearing on the federal lawsuit was scheduled for Friday morning before U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane, and Rendell said his lawyers would ask for a one-week extension beyond the Nov. 2 election. Rendell had initially resisted asking for an extension.

Fanned by conservative radio hosts, the issue has erupted over the past week, with thousands of callers jamming phone lines at the governor's office and Rendell facing repeated questions about it from the public during his ongoing bus tour in support of Democratic candidate Sen. John F. Kerry.

State records obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday indicate that military voters stationed overseas are returning absentee ballots in Pennsylvania at about the same rate as all absentee ballots are coming in.

According to electronic reporting by 53 county elections offices, 15,373 ballots were mailed to servicemen and women and their families overseas, and so far 9,522 have been returned, a rate of 62 percent.

For all foreign absentee ballots and all domestic absentee ballots, the rate is an identical 63 percent each. Nonmilitary overseas ballots are coming in slightly faster, at 67 percent.

The figures were released as Republicans raise concerns that mailing delays could unfairly reduce the number of military overseas ballots counted in Tuesday's presidential election. Ballots for military families and overseas voters in remote parts of the world were mailed out starting Aug. 24, and all other overseas ballots were mailed out starting Sept. 20. Domestic absentee ballots were mailed starting Oct. 19.

"I think it shows that people are not only receiving their ballots, but they're returning them," Kate Philips, Rendell's press secretary, said Thursday.

Republican politicians have argued that delays caused by the legal dispute over independent candidate Ralph Nader's status on the presidential ballot could disenfranchise active-duty military people who are deployed overseas.

Republicans said the rate of return indicated many voters will not make the deadline and renewed their call for Rendell to join their effort to extend the time limit.

"His operating theory seems to have become, 'Well, it's not that many, it doesn't matter.' To which we say every one matters," said Senate GOP aide Erik Arneson said Thursday.

Rendell said Friday that there was no delay in mailing the ballots.

The absentee ballot numbers released by Rendell's office Thursday night do not include 11 counties that are not on the statewide elections computer system, nor do they include three counties that do not process absentee ballots over the network.

© 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.