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Sanders backer sues over Bill Clinton polling-place visits; wants all the state's delegates awarded to Sanders
By adamg on Sat, 04/02/2016 - 10:47am
A Back Bay resident this week filed suit against Bill Clinton and Secretary of State William Galvin over Big Dog's handshaking inside the Holy Name School in West Roxbury and other locations.
In a suit filed this week in US District Court in Boston, Kathleen Cody, who lists herself as a member of MA Sanders Voters and Volunteers Disenfranchised by Bill Clinton, says the appearances were such a deliberate violation of the state law and regulation banning politicking within 150 feet of a polling place, in an primary election that was so narrowly decided, that there's only one possible fix:
To merely reapportion a small number of delegates would do nothing to discourage similar violations of electioneering laws, because, in some cases, a small risk for getting caught might be worth it. Therefore plaintiff prays that the court invalidate the Massachusetts primary results for such open and egregious lawbreaking and to award all Massachusetts pledged delegates to Bernie Sanders.
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Comments
I also found that inappropriate
If it's not against Democratic party regulations, than I assume it's not illegal. This was a Democratic party primary after-all.
Not good
The idea that the state hosts elections for private political groups who can do what they want with the results is a problem. It was an official election, run and paid for by the state, but if the political parties want to dismiss the results at their conventions they are welcome to do so.
Our method of elections is greatly flawed. Instant run-off elections without primaries is the way to go.
The Republican party here got
The Republican party here got bit on that during the gubernatorial elections. Through some shenanigans they attempted to keep Baker from having a primary opponent. "It's a private party matter!" they said. Judge disagreed.
http://bluemassgroup.com/2014/05/mass-gop-slowly-realizing-that-bmg-was-...
It IS illegal
It IS illegal. That's the point. No electioneering is allowed within 150 feet of a polling place, no matter whose husband you are, no matter which politicians escort you into the polling place.
It is ABSOLUTELY LEGAL!
I am sorry but one should not be a sour loser. Being gracious in loss is a virtue.. .. visiting the voting sites are not illegal at all. Bernie was shaking hands of many workers as well. You can not give a talk with a microphone in a site but shaking hands as he did, is perfectly fine. Note that already the organisers said that there is no illegality. More over Massachusetts was won by Hillary by 17,000 votes, and a visit of Bill Clinton for a few minutes don't make any difference in the results.
i really cant wait for elections to be over
startin' to care less and less who wins.
trump 2016
hillary 2016
whatever, just give me 2017
2017 - Just the time to start the mid term elections
Elections are nothing but a racket. Its about keeping the money flowing. Its a big industry and they have no incentive to stop.
Stop?
I don't disagree with you but the dictator model ain't good either. The electorate is just as much to blame for the sorry state of politics in the US as the politicians themselves.
I didn't mean to stop elections
I meant curtailing an industry that has no incentive to take a break between elections.
There are those that are making money behind the scenes with vast operations in direct mail marketing, analytics, fundraising, polling, get out the vote efforts, multi media content generation etc.
Then there are those in front of the camera. People like Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Al Sharpton etc. They are perpetual candidates living off donations. They travel around the country staying in hotels and flying private plane, expensing everything to their campaign or political action committees.
Then you have people like Sarah Palin who takes her extended clan on a "Listening Tour" around the country complements of her donors.
These politicians can and do hire friends and family as campaign staff.
You are certainly right about the electorate. They are the ones feeding this monster. Just go on Facebook and look at your family member who can't shut up about this politician or that politician, getting worked up over every little insignificant event.
Think of countries
that have far shorter campaign periods like Canada and the UK. Then we could focus on the actual issues.
The UK and Canada
have a VERY simple system vs ours. They only directly vote for their local MP...that's it. Whichever party gains a majority in parliament or is able to form a minority government with the consent of other parties and the head of state (unelected hereditary monarch) forms a central (federal in Canada's case) government. Whoever heads that political party becomes prime minister. UK and Canadian voters don't directly vote for their PM and have zero say in who the head of state is, which is the monarch, i.e.Queen Elizabeth. Canadians have an upper and lower house like the US and UK, but only directly vote for MP, the equivalent of a US rep. They don't vote for their senate, neither do Brits vote for their house of lords.The US votes directly for president and head of state, congress and senate.
A single person's lawsuit
A single person's lawsuit should not nullify the votes of thousands of citizens.
A single person's illegal electioneering
A single person's illegal electioneering should not block the votes of thousands of citizens. Unless, of course, that person's last name is Clinton.
Oh... I hadn't realized Bill
Oh... I hadn't realized Bill Clinton stopped people from voting for Bernie Sanders in West Roxbury. Get a clue.
New Bedford
The reports I read at at the time said that he (with his Secret Service protectors) blocked people from voting at a New Bedford precinct for several hours.
A person who is NOT RUNNING for the office on the ballot
walks into a polling place, shakes hands with a few people, and then walks out without saying a word about any of the candidates is now somehow electioneering.
Boy what a bunch of crybabies we as a society are becoming.
Such twisted logic
I'm neither a Sanders nor Clinton supporter (nor GOP) but this person's logic is pretty darn twisted. Because the law was broken at one small location the majority of voters in the state should lose their vote? It's crap like that which breeds mistrust of supporters of candidates. Plus, given that the delegates are awarded proportionally the difference between "winning" and coming in close 2nd is only a few votes at the convention.
If you want to argue the election was unfair, fine. Prohibit any delegates from MA from voting at the national convention. How is it any more fair to award Sanders all the votes instead of the other names on the Democratic ballot?
None of these lawsuits ever win
Its just noise.
Except that
NO LAW was broken. Can't people understand that.
What about the 600,000
What about the 600,000 Clinton votes at polling places Clinton wasn't at? This really pisses me off. They can't take away my right to vote just because they are sore losers.
I can't wait for this primary to finish and for Sanders to go away.
He'll go away after the primary, all right.
He's gonna be sent straight to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Tours of the White House are a great educational experience
Here's the info about tours. It's unclear if he can submit a request himself or if he'll need to make the request from Patrick Leahy or whoever represents northern VT in the house.
"northern VT"?
Your post was so larded with ignorance that it's hard to know where to begin, but I'll confine myself to the observation that "northern VT" does not have a representative in the House.
Oh?
Is VT much like DC in that it lacks congressional representatives? I will admit I forgot VT is so small as to only have a single representative. Hopefully Rep. Welsh will approve Mr. Sanders request for a tour so he can go straight to the white house as suggested.
Also, relax.
What a crock of shit. We need
What a crock of shit. We need to be focused not on infighting, but on preventing fascists from becoming president.
Trump?
If you think he's fascist you haven't lived in other countries with true fascist political parties and candidates. They exist in Europe (west and east), Latin America, Asia and Africa. Their far left equivalent also exist there. They do not exist in the US; both main political parties (they are the only game in town) are centralist, slightly left, slightly right. Hell, Hillary is a bigger fascist than Trump! Trump is a populist, that is, he is ostensibly disliked by the party elite and the elite in general. Is he really for the common man and woman? Well, his history is a man who is very much part of the establishment, and he history is of a man who has strongly supported Democrats and some leftist causes.
Trump exists because a large number of people are fed up with the party (Republican and Democrat) party elite, and party propaganda. Why are hardcore true believers among both main political parties so afraid of Trump?
Nice try ...
No, he's not a fascist. Yet. But he's getting there. He's the only candidate supported by white supremacists, the only candidate whose supporters think nothing of sucker punching people, rhe only candidate running on a platform of being a schoolyard bully. A job that includes access to the nuclear codes is too important for a proto-fascist like him.
Trump exists because he was born with a silver foot in his mouth and is used to getting his own way in a world of suck-ups and people paid to cater to his every whim. And because there are still lots of racists and mean people out there.
I knew you would chime in
I knew you would chime in sooner or later Adam! I guess all he had to do was mention Trump.
Trump isn't a facist. He's
Trump isn't a facist. He's an entertainer, a showman, and a salesman, but underneath it all he's probably a Democrat.
I love Trump discussions here.....
Always a treat.
question
Is Clinton being accused of shaking hands and politicking or did he just show up? If he was not actively campaigning then he has a right to be there.
If former presidents George Bush or Jimmy Carter showed up at the local polling place, their very presence does not necessarily constitute a violation of the law.
EDIT: It seems that Matt Frank has made this point in the other thread.
Electioneering
Electioneering within 150 feet of a polling place is explicitly against the law, and Bill Clinton did exactly that.
Did he electioneer?
I mean, the question has to be whether a celebrity, while stopping by a polling station, asked people to vote for his wife? If he never mentioned her while inside, is that really electioneering? Say last November Michelle Wu's husband dropped by the Roslindale Library with his son and said "hi" to the poll workers. Would that have been electioneering, or just being friendly to his new neighbors?
Bill Clinton is a lawyer. The guy is, as his nickname connotes, slick. You better believe he knew not to mention the very reason he and everyone else was there while he was there.
It's the Clinton way- stay on the edge of the law and if you violate it, make sure you can talk your way out of it.
He had no business inside the polling place
That's the first problem. His presence also shut down a polling place for a time. That's a problem too.
I think this lawsuit is nuts, but I also think that the laws apply to everyone. Bill Clinton included.
You honestly believe
that his mere presence in the polling place caused throngs of voters to change their minds at the last minute? Or that people were unable to vote at all because the polling place was shut down for a short time?
The lawsuit is nuts. But so is the fact that people are dwelling on another made-up controversy based on a non-existent law.
Legit complaint, but wrong remedy
Bill Clinton should be fined, but throwing out or reversing the statewide election results is ridiculous. (And I say this as a Sanders supporter.)
Sounds like the usual wing nut law suit
This reminds me of all the right-wing legal harassment of Clinton during his presidency. Just make trouble on any issue you can conjure up, cause a distraction and make him spend money. Although this time it appears to be coming from the tea party left.
The whole thing is silly. Plenty of candidates go into polling places, buy something at the almost inevitable bake sale and greet the election workers.
I think the fine is $20.
I think the fine is $20. Perhaps Clinton can pay it in move on.
The top one percent in frivolous litigation should pay
more in legal fees and judgement!
It seems to me part of the
It seems to me part of the fault is with the Secret Service. They need to be prohibited by law from interfering with anyone's right to vote, no matter what the circumstances. Give their protectee's the option of voting absentee if they want security, but don't interfere with anyone else's right to vote.
Better yet, ratify a Constitutional amendment stating that the right to vote cannot be abridged, for any reason not just race, age, or sex. That right is a hundred years overdue.
Clinton suit
He did not have discourse with that woman..