Legal Commentary

The Republican Cross-Over Vote: Not a Factor

By Jeralyn

There are new articles today in the Dallas News and the Cleveland Plain Dealer on the Republican cross-over vote (Dems for a Day)and whether it had any effect on the outcome. Some Obama supporters would have you believe that it was of such significance as to result in Obama's loss in those states.

In Ohio, the article says there were 16,000 cross-over votes in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland.) The article talks about Rush Limbaugh urging Republicans to vote for Hillary, but of those interviewed in the article, one Republican voted for Hillary and one for Obama. They had different opinions on who would be better able to beat McCain. Obama won by 23,000 votes in Cuyahoga. Effect of the cross-over vote on the election: none shown and it's not even determinable which candidate they voted for.

In an opinion piece, the co-author of the Dallas News article, Wayne Slater, shows how the effect was negligible on Hillary's Texas win. [More...]

Hillary would have won both states without the the cross-over vote. Again, there's no telling whether the Republicans voted for her or Obama. Most likely, some went for Obama while others went for Hillary.

What's interesting to me is that it's a felony in Ohio to a voter to lie on a voter registration form. The law in Ohio is that voters can register with a party on the day of the election but,

.... they must sign a pledge card vowing allegiance to their new party. Lying on the pledge is a felony, punishable by six to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.

So, did Rush aid and abet a felony?

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 09, 2008 (boomark / email).