Voter registration fraud claims singe GOP

Updated 5:44 p.m. Eastern Time

(CBS News) Revelations that the Republican National Committee urged several states to hire a consulting firm that submitted potentially fraudulent voter registration forms in Florida are continuing to cause embarrassment to the Republican Party.

RNC spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday his group had cut ties to the firm, Strategic Allied Consulting, citing "zero tolerance" for voter fraud. "This is an issue we take extremely seriously," he told CBS News. "When allegations were brought to our attention we severed all ties to the firm."

The Los Angeles Times reported that the RNC urged the state GOP in seven swing states to hire the firm, despite the fact that the man who runs it, Nathan Sproul, has been accused of running firms that have destroyed Democratic registrations. Sproul told the newspaper that RNC officials asked him to set up a new firm, Strategic Allied Consulting, so that his efforts would not be linked to those allegations. The RNC has reportedly paid the firm at least $3.1 million via state parties.

Sproul blamed the suspicious forms on a single employee in Palm Beach County. But Florida election officials tell CBS News they have found a "couple hundred" voter registrations in eight Florida counties with "irregularities" that deserve further scrutiny. They are currently reviewing the registrations and if they find them to be "legally significant" they will turn them over to law enforcement. This could happen by the end of the day.

ACORN, the Democratic-affiliated community organizing group, was accused of a similar type of voter registration fraud in the 2008 campaign cycle. It also responded by blaming bad apples within the organization. Republicans rejected that argument and harshly attacked the group, casting it as having attempted to steal the election on behalf of then-candidate Barack Obama.

Republicans have made combating voter fraud a top priority in this election cycle, with GOP-led state legislatures in numerous states championing legislation mandating that voters show photo identification. Critics say such fraud is not a serious issue and that Republicans are simply trying to disenfranchise voters likely to vote Democrat.

It's not clear whether the suspicious registrations in Florida could have led to voter fraud. According to the Times, they could have caused problems for voters if, for example, they falsely changed someone's address, potentially prompting them to have to cast a provisional ballot. The issue is particularly charged in Florida, the site of a bitter recount fight in the 2000 presidential election.

Florida election officials told CBS News that the irregularities have to do with false information and voter signatures - for example, the name on the application doesn't match the signature, or some information wasn't filled out completely, or multiple signatures look like they were signed by the same person. All reported irregularities were submitted using the Republican Party of Florida's third party organization registration number, which has registered 46,000 voters with the state according to Florida election officials.

Sproul told CBS News he had a contract (which was terminated yesterday) with the RNC to do work in five swing states: North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Nevada and Colorado.

"When [Florida state officials] contact us we'll be able to go to our voter registration logs and match up the serial numbers with the individuals who collected the cards," he said. "Our quality control measures will have been successful and if the individual did in fact commit voter fraud we'll do everything we can to assist in their prosecution."

Officials in North Carolina and Virginia told CBS News there were no irregularities reported to date. Nevada officials would not confirm or deny any pending investigations, which Colorado officials said they had five irregular forms no information at this time about who submitted them.

In a separate story, Florida's St. Augustine Record on Friday posted audio of a volunteer affiliated with the Republican Party of Clay County telling voters that the president is "a Muslim" who will "get rid of your Medicare" and wants to turn American into "a socialistic country." The audio was captured on an answering machine. An official with the Republican Party of Clay County said the volunteer was "off-script completely" and not expressing the party's views.

[Firepwr2]

Talk about living in a fantasy world. Just admit it - Democrats cheat. Voter fraud has been an accepted Democrat tactic for more than a century. I grew up in Chicago, and I have seen the way wholesale fraud is conducted. And, please, spare me the phony "both-sides-do-it" nonsense, because while you certainly can scour the countryside and find a handful of cases of Republican malfeasance, there is simply no comparison to the wholesale vote fraud the Democrats engage in as a matter of course.

[ounceoflogic]

I love how allegations of fraud on the GOP side are equated to actual evidence of fraud on the Left. If I had to pick one side or the other as most likely to commit fraud, it would be the side who vehemently opposes Voter ID.

[DonDemarco]

Wait, I thought voter fraud was non existent! You folks are just a bunch of racists! Racists, racists, racists! Next thing you know you are going to ask for voter ID and demand that lax absentee ballots be outlawed...........OH WAIT!!!!!!!

[Firepwr2]

Liberals are so brain-dead that the only answer they have to every charge is to cry "RACIST!" Voter fraud has been an accepted Democrat tactic for a hundred years. Why else would they be so terrified of simply requiring an I.D.

Who are they kidding...

[Brucew29]

I meant to say "Transform" and NOT "Transfer"... Sorry.

[Brucew29]

How could any sane person want to vote for Romney? Romney is such a liar and can NOT be trusted in any way, shape, or form! Would a sane person believe that if Romney is elected president that it would magically transfer a liar into a truth telling trustworthy person? Wake up America!

[ounceoflogic]

Merely saying it doesn't make it so.
Do you have examples of lies that Romney has told?

[dcbeall]

Specifically what lies has he told?

[Brucew29]

If Ryan adopts Romney's lying tactics during the upcoming VP debate, I hope VP Biden tells him to throw that Etch-A-Sketch away!

If Ryan starts lying during the debate, VP Biden should yell "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire" and then say "call the fire department"!

[KeepThinking]

So it's the Republicans, who are squealing about imaginary vote fraud by Democrats, who turn out to be engaging in vote fraud on an industrial scale. Am I surprised? No. Every since the vile Karl Rove and the mad Tea Party extremists hijacked the Republican Party, it has ceased to be a conservative party, and has become instead a far-right revolutionary party with no scruples at all.

[MraustinBill]

My I find it hard to believe that a political party would stoop so low as to attempt to make such a simple process as registering to vote a criminal activity. But the truth is in the pudding we know as the Republican Party under the T party. Here was the chance for a third party to make its appearance on the American political scene; however, it shot itself in the foot by pretending that after two generations mankind HAS FORGOTTEN THE BAD EXAMPLE WE KNOW AS THE NAZI PARTY. What else can I say: it is the GOP that wants to declare martial law in favor of the 1%. Theirony is that they really do believe that they are Gods chosen people -- only because they are the new kings (THOSE WITH THE MOST MONEY).

[p3c-orion]

Bill, go take your meds. No not those meds, the legal ones.

[KeepThinking]

Voter registration fraud "singes" GOP ???? No, I don't think so. Not quite. "Voter registration fraud incinerates GOP" would be more accurate.

Remember, the Republican Party has been using baseless allegations of voting fraud by Democrats as it excuse for a wide range of voter suppression initiatives designed to disqualify or intimidate American citizens from voting.

Now it turns out that voting fraud HAS been taking place after all -- voting fraud by the Republican Party. This revelation has got to be devastating to the Republican Party's chances in this election. No rational person can now fail to see how far a once-great political party, the the GOP, has fallen into deception and depravity, led astray by the immoral "anything goes" unscrupulousness of sleazy characters of the Karl Rove, Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay or Lyin' Ryan type.

[signseeker1717]

10/1: As a result of this scandal, the Republican party has stopped voter registration completely in five swing states.

[Brucew29]

Here they go again... but this time they got caught! The Republicans are at their lying, cheating, thieving ways again! They are trying every lying, cheating, thieving trick in the book to again steal the presidency! Yes they have done it before and have always got away with it! They have stole pass presidential elections and they are at it again by way of voter fraud!

The old proverb, "If you can't beat them, join them", was adopted by the Mafia years ago. The Mafia couldn't beat government so the Mafia joined government! The old Mafia, now being a part of government, now call themselves "Republicans"!