Voter Registration Easy In Iowa, N.H.

Some Criticize Ease Of Participating In Caucus, Primary In Early States

(AP)  It's Jan. 3 in Iowa and you decide, what the heck, I'm going to a precinct caucus.

Not affiliated with a political party? Not registered? Not even old enough to vote?

No problem. Come and help choose the nation's next president.

In yet another quirk of Iowa's caucus system, all citizens can participate as long as they sign a statement attesting to residency in the precinct and show that they'll be 18 in time for the general election.

"It has not been a problem," said state Democratic Party spokeswoman Carrie Giddins.

Some people do have a problem with the ease of registering for New Hampshire's leadoff primary, which follows Iowa's caucuses by five days.

New Hampshire allows same-day registration at the polls, has no minimum residency period and defines a voter's home as the place where he or she sleeps most nights or intends to return after a temporary absence. The state, not the parties, runs the primary, and changes to residency laws have been hotly contested.

This year, New Hampshire Democrats pushed through a change that some Republicans contend would enable campaigns to bus in people who could cast a ballot and then vote again in their real home states.

"You can vote in New Hampshire without being a resident," said Republican state Sen. Bob Clegg. "You can vote in the primary because you someday may want to live here."

Democratic state Sen. Peter Burling calls such arguments "part of the campaign of fear to restrict people's right to vote."

David Scanlan, New Hampshire's deputy secretary of state, acknowledged the law is ambiguous about prohibiting people from voting in more than one state. But he insisted there are no widespread problems.

"Everybody has the right to vote somewhere," he said. "The question is where that place is."

In Iowa, requirements for taking part in the caucuses are becoming a focus for candidates now that the event is just a little more than six weeks away. The voter registration rule - or lack of one - is among a handful of unusual policies that make the caucuses puzzling even to many Iowans.

Campaigns have been trying to explain away the mystery in an effort to attract potential supporters.

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton has produced a video starring her husband, former President Clinton, to explain the caucuses process, and campaign officials hope up to 50,000 activists eventually see it. Rival Barack Obama has launched a "caucus pros" program, in which seniors and other longtime participants help newcomers know what to expect.

Republican Rudy Giuliani's campaign has held training sessions around the state, led by prominent folks like former pro football quarterback Fran Tarkenton, who played for the Vikings just up the road in Minneapolis.

The caucuses, run by the parties and not state election officials, have long allowed voters to show up and register or switch party registration. If they're found to have lied they can be fined up to $7,500, but problems rarely arise.

Giddins said the only incident in recent memory came in 2000, when an out-of-state reporter tried to register as a precinct resident. He was charged and paid a fine, she said.

If gaining access to your precinct caucus in Iowa is a low-key affair, actually participating can be far more volatile.

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The latest information on the primary and caucus dates in 2008.

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Unlike what most Americans are accustomed to, there's no voting booth - and nothing private about the 1,784 precinct caucuses held in church basements, fire stations and libraries.

"Discussions can happen, old wounds can flare again from activists and it can get intense," said veteran Democratic operative Matt Paul. "One mistake that people make is underestimating the value of neighbors looking at their neighbors and wondering what they are going to do. You have to publicly stand, physically stand in support of your candidate."

Although both parties welcome nearly anyone willing to venture out during a cold Midwestern night, they take vastly different approaches.

On the Republican side, activists at each meeting elect a leader, then backers of each candidate deliver speeches on their behalf. Those gathered then publicly vote, often by raising their hands but sometimes by marking a ballot.

After the results are phoned in to a central reporting system, activists turn to party business such as beginning to write a party platform, electing precinct officers and picking delegates to county conventions in March.

"Ours is fairly simple compared to the Democrats," said Chuck Laudner, executive director of the Republican Party of Iowa.

When Democrats gather, they elect folks to run the meeting and then turn to the issue of "viability." In essence, a candidates must have the backing of 15 percent of the people who show up at each caucus to be eligible to win any delegates and move to the next step. Once that number is determined, the activists break into preference groups for the candidates they favor.

That's when it gets interesting.

"A couple of things can happen," Giddins said.

Backers of candidates who don't reach the 15 percent threshold, can join with other groups to reach that magic percentage. They can also agree to join forces with a group that is viable. Such decisions come after negotiations over issues such as who will be elected as a delegate, or who will back a proposed platform plank later in the evening.

Caucus-goers then gather in candidate groups, and those numbers are counted and run through a formula that results in the number of delegates reported to a central tabulation area.

Although most Iowans can participate in the caucuses, few do.

There are 600,572 registered Democrats and 574,571 registered Republicans in the state, with an additional 737,054 registered without declaring a party allegiance. Most estimates are that somewhere north of 100,000 will show up in each party. In 2004, 124,000 Democrats took part, and about 90,000 Republicans caucused in 2000 for the last contested GOP event.

[northprophet]

RON PAUL WINS BIG IN NATIONAL POLL
The results of a nationwide telephone poll, announced by Zogby on November 19th, reveals that Americans want to vote for a candidate who protects liberty; who wants to shrink government; and who wants to immediately withdraw our troops from Iraq - positions of Congressman Ron Paul. As part of a blind-bio, spread poll, likely voters (from all parties) were provided with descriptions of four different Republican candidates and asked to choose who they would vote for based on each one''s resume and political platform. 33% of pollees chose Ron Paul, 19% chose Rudy Giuliani, 15% chose Mitt Romney and 13% chose Fred Thompson. The results clearly illustrate that the country is crying out for Ron Paul, which is why mainstream media has launched a public relations offensive to marginalize his accomplishments and suppress the Congressman''s name recognition. In a seperate question, over 49% of pollees said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who would begin an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. In fact, Ron Paul won in every demographic of this poll including, but not limited to, religious voters, NASCAR fans, military families, African-Americans, etc..

[southprophet]

ONLY RON PAUL CAN BEAT CLINTON
Zogby''s Director of Communications Fritz Wenzel said on November 20 that Paul is the strongest of the GOP candidates to run against Clinton. "Among the larger universe of voters," which includes all parties, "yes, Paul would be a much stronger candidate than any of the other three [Romney, Giuliani, Thompson]," Wenzel said. Zogby recently announced that Paul was their winner in a nationwide blind-bio poll which included voters from all parties. "He is anti-war and the majority of Democrats are anti-war, he has some other ideas and policies and stances on issues more attractive to Democrats, particularly conservative Democrats," said Wenzel. "Even among Independents, he is far and away a more attractive candidate," he added. Paul is the only GOP candidate who is not threatening war with Iran, whereas Clinton vowed to keep that option "on the table." Paul also voted against the war in Iraq, which Clinton has supported. Because Democrats outnumber Republicans, none of the other GOP candidates can win against Clinton, because they simply won''t be able to reach across party lines and attract enough Democratic and Independent voters to beat Clinton. Only Paul can do that. "He''s right on schedule," Wenzel said. "He''s making all the right moves, going in the right direction...at a time when other candidates are not moving." Wenzel based his analysis on recent polls that show Paul could win in New Hampshire and that his support nationwide is intensifying.

[westprophet]

HOPE FOR AMERICA: PRESIDENT RON PAUL
RonPaul2008.com

-- No more meddling in other country''s political affairs
-- No more aggressive military actions overseas
-- No more torture prisons
-- No more pseudo-wars like the "War on Drugs"
-- No more IRS and unconstitutional income taxes
-- No more Federal Reserve (the group of private banks which owns our government)
-- No more erosion of Social Security to pay for militarization
-- No more U.N. (one world government) participation
-- No more NAFTA, CAFTA, WTO or GATT (globalist trade cartels)
-- No more North American Union (loss of U.S. sovereignty)
-- No more federal gun control laws
-- No more illegal aliens pouring-in over our country''s borders
-- No more illegal aliens allowed to roam freely in our streets
-- No more national ID cards (Real ID Act)
-- No more government invasion of your privacy
-- No more federal Laws which force you to take unwanted injections
-- No more federal Laws which are not authorized by The Constitution
-- No more federal erosion of State sovereignty
-- No more unlimited federal government

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human liberty; it is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
- William Pitt

"The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home."
- James Madison

"When the people fear their government, you have tyranny. When the government fears the people, you have liberty."
- Thomas Jefferson

[eastprophet]

RON PAUL IS THE NEW WAY
What we need is a President who will show us the way. Not the old way. Not the same way, but a NEW way. Think about this for a minute. What if we pulled all of our troops out of South Korea? They''ve been there for 50+ years. What if we quit worrying about Iran, but instead, realized that its having a nuclear weapon will not mean the end of the world? What if we pulled all of our troops out of the Middle-East, and brought them all home? What if we realistically addressed the National Debt, and paid attention to REALLY DOING SOMETHING about stopping illegal immigration? These are the ideas of Presidential candidate, Ron Paul. He''s a ten term Congressman and a physician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. He''s an intellectual who''s published four books, three of which are devoted entirely to sound economics and one to foreign policy. He was raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania as a pious Lutheran, but now he attends a Baptist church. Paul is given to mulling things over morally. Whenever he recollects the helicopter pilots he treated as an Air Force Flight Surgeon (Captain) during the Vietnam War, a war which he now says was "totally unnecessary and illegal," he laments, "They were gung-ho. I''ve often thought about how many of those people never came back." Candidates with the high level of personal integrity and proven track record of adherence to The Constitution, Congressman Paul has always demonstrated only come around once in a lifetime, if we''re lucky.

[northprophet]

A FOREIGN POLICY OF FREEDOM
All of the other presidential candidates want to continue our illegal police action in Iraq indefinitely, and they do not rule out a preemptive (nuclear) first strike against Iran. Conversely, Ron Paul voted against our (undeclared) war in Iraq, which was sold to us with lies. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies--the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. The war in Iraq has cost more than 3,500 American lives and almost a trillion dollars. We need a leader in the White House who will ensure this never happens again. Both Jefferson and Washington warned us about entangling ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Today, we have 750 foreign bases and troops in 130 countries. We are spread so thin that we have too few troops defending America. And now, there are new calls for a draft. We can continue to fund and fight no-win police actions around the globe, or we can refocus on securing our borders against illegal aliens who are invading us from the South. No war should ever be fought without a Declaration of War voted upon by the Congress, as required by The Constitution. Under no circumstances should the U.S. again go to war as the result of a resolution that comes from an unelected, foreign body, such as the United Nations. Too often, we give foreign aid and intervene on behalf of governments that are despised. Then, we become despised.

[southprophet]

RON PAUL IS THE TAXPAYER''S BEST FRIEND
If he is elected President, Ron Paul will work to abolish the Federal Reserve System as well as the IRS, returning our country to the Gold Standard. He believes, as I do, that our current Income Tax System is unconstitutional, because it is a direct tax that is not equally apportioned as The Constitution requires. Whenever taxes are raised by the federal government, it should be done as The Constitution does require--in an indirect way, which is equally apportioned. This system would benefit all of us, creating more individual wealth, and allowing us to make more decisions for ourselves about our lives. As President, Ron Paul will also work to abolish the Federal Reserve, a group of private banks, run by unelected officials, which loans our government unbacked money which they are allowed to essentially print out of thin air, making each dollar in your pocket worth less all the time, and increasing our national debt to these banks. Worse still. Most of our debt is owned by China (25%) and Saudi Arabia who finance our runaway military spending overseas. This is a threat to our nation. We need to bring our troops home from overseas, and use the trillions we would save thereby to reduce our debt, and to re-invigorate our currency. We can use this money to ensure that Social Security and other essential programs will still be solvent in the future. Vote for Ron Paul. He''s published three books on the topic of sound economics. RonPaulLibrary.org

[westprophet]

RON PAUL KNOWS HOW TO STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
The talk must stop. We must secure our borders now. A nation without secure borders is no nation at all. It makes no sense to fight terrorists abroad when our own front door is left unlocked. Ron Paul has a plan: (1.) Physically secure our borders and coastlines. We must do whatever it takes to control entry into our country before we undertake complicated immigration reform proposals. (2.) Enforce Visa rules. Immigration officials must track Visa holders and deport anyone who overstays their Visa or otherwise violates U.S. Law. This is especially important when we recall that a number of 9/11 terrorists had expired Visas. (3.) No amnesty. Estimates suggest that 10 to 20 million people are in our country illegally. That''s a lot of people to reward for breaking our Laws. (4.) No welfare for illegal aliens. Americans have welcomed immigrants who seek opportunity, work hard, and play by the rules, but taxpayers should not pay for illegal immigrants who use hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, and social services. (5.) End birthright citizenship. As long as illegal immigrants know their children born here will be citizens, the incentive to enter the U.S. illegally will remain strong. (6.) Pass true immigration reform. The current system, and those proposed by ALL other candidates, is incoherent and unfair, and would allow up to 60 million more immigrants into our country.

[eastprophet]

RON PAUL WILL PRESERVE SOCIAL SECURITY
Our nation''s promise to its seniors, once considered a sacred trust, has become little more than a tool for politicians to scare retirees while robbing them of their promised benefits to pay for militarization. Today, the Social Security system is both broke and broken. Those in the system are seeing their benefits dwindle due to higher taxes, increasing inflation, and irresponsible military spending. The proposed solutions, ranging from lower benefits to higher taxes to increasing the age of eligibility, are NOT solutions; they are betrayals. Imposing any tax on Social Security benefits is unfair and illogical. In Congress, Dr. Paul introduced the Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act, which repeals ALL taxes on Social Security benefits, to eliminate political theft of our seniors'' income and raise their standard of living. Solvency is the key to keeping our promise to our seniors, and he introduced the Social Security Preservation Act (H.R. 219) to ensure that money paid into the system is ONLY used for Social Security. Also, it is fundamentally unfair to give benefits to anyone who has not paid into the system. The Social Security for Americans Only Act, which Ron Paul supported, ends the drain on Social Security caused by illegal aliens seeking the fruits of your labor. In short, if we stop our runaway military spending overseas, there will be plenty of money available to keep Social Security solvent for decades to come.

[antoniof123]

Who cares they have what 200 people.