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Arrest in vote fraud case
Man used by state GOP faces charges
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The leader of the state Republican party's controversial voter registration effort was jailed for 19 hours Sunday on two counts each of vote fraud and perjury, and the state Republican party spokesman called it a political arrest timed to embarrass the GOP.
Agents from the Secretary of State's Office and Ontario police arrested Mark Anthony Jacoby, 25, shortly before midnight Saturday at a hotel near LA/Ontario International Airport. After 19 hours in jail, he was freed on $50,000 bail, a state GOP spokesman said.
Jacoby runs Young Political Majors, a group that has angered Ventura County Democratic activists and some independent voters over a registration drive that has had numerous cases of people discovering that they had been surreptitiously reregistered as Republicans after signing petitions against sex criminals.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen said Jacoby violated state laws by registering to vote at the address of a childhood home in Los Angeles although he no longer lived there.
The four felony charges were filed Oct. 3 by the Public Integrity Unit of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, based on investigations by the Secretary of State's Office.
Bowen is a Democrat, and the timing of the arrests, one day before the deadline for registering to vote in California, was viewed as proof of a political motive, state GOP spokesman Hector Barajas said.
"She is just trying to give cover to her friends in ACORN and in the Obama campaign," Barajas said from his Sacramento office. "Coming on the eve of the election, this sure is convenient for her own party."
Barajas said Jacoby is "a 25-year-old kid living out of a suitcase at an airport, and he used his parents' address for his own voter registration."
Democratic spokesman Bob Mulholland laughed at that, citing complaints filed with the Ventura County District Attorney's Office by several local voters who alleged illegal voter registration switches by Jacoby and Young Political Majors.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg," Mulholland said from Sacramento.
After The Star reported last month that dozens of Ventura County residents had their party registration changed to Republican against their will, allegations came in from other areas of Southern California about similar "slamming" of voters by Young Political Majors workers.
Members of Vote Blue, a Central Coast group of Democratic party activists, gathered affidavits about Young Political Majors workers switching registrations, and presented them for prosecution to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office. Prosecutors said they will review the information but make no comment.
Local police have been called on several occasions when store managers or Democratic activists have had verbal matches with Young Political Majors employees.
The signature gatherers are paid by the central Republican party. Although some volunteer groups that sign up new Republican voters are paid $5 for each one by GOP gubernatorial hopeful Steve Poizner, a spokesman said Poizner has not paid or offered any money to YPM.
Mulholland noted that Republicans Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have hammered away at alleged fraud by ACORN, an inner-city community organizing group accused of hiring workers who faked voter registration applications.
ACORN has gathered tens of thousands of new Democratic registrations this year in San Diego County, and the GOP's Barajas said the Democratic California secretary of state has "prosecuted our guy for registering to vote at his mom's house, while ignoring ACORN irregularities in San Diego."
A county investigation found that about 17 percent of the registration forms flagged by ACORN as possibly suspicious were fake or lacked enough data to verify.
All voter registration organizations are required to turn in registration forms, even if they suspect that the data have been falsified.
A spokesman for San Diego's voter registrar said that level was high, but the Secretary of State's Office said there was no evidence of fraud, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The Ventura County Registrar of Voters will accept registrations and changes until the close of business today for voters wanting to cast ballots Nov. 4.
Forms postmarked today also will be accepted, a representative said.
Posted by vceader on October 20, 2008 at 4:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Barajas said Jacoby is "a 25-year-old kid living out of a suitcase at an airport, and he used his parents' address for his own voter registration."
But he MAGICALLY posted a $50,000 bail @ 10% = $5,000. Doesn't sound like a "kid" living out of a suitcase.
And yea, if you register to vote in a district/county you don't reside, thats fraud. Read the small print right above where you sign on the registration form. You swear by signing your name that all the information you've given is true and correct.
If this clown was actually out registering people without their knowledge to a party they did not want to be a part of, then he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Period.
As for this trend of paying people to register voters, dem or repub.. something just isn't right about any this. Obviously if there is money involved there is going to be fraud.
Posted by KatieTeague on October 20, 2008 at 8:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm a Republican and I did voter registration and fraudulent practices are just wrong - I hope this guy has the book thrown at him.
Posted by dwilson on October 20, 2008 at 8:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I had a young man come to my door last month telling me I wasn't registered. He was a democrate and wanted to register me "so I could vote". I politely sent him packing, should have reported him. Never missed an election, never will. Too Important. This guy who was arrested give all the hard working activists a bad name. I think it's great to work for the party of your choice. I wish the Star would do an article on them.
Posted by bill on October 20, 2008 at 8:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It's stupid we even are required to register under a specific party. We should be able to just register and then vote for any candidate we choose. I am sick of both Democrats and Republicans, most are basically the same... they care only about themselves and their cronies, don't give a damn about America and do nothing to make the country better. If we were to execute all real traitors to the United States Washington D.C. would be a ghost town.
Posted by sdetatae on October 20, 2008 at 8:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Bill - It's called registering as independent.
Posted by Just_wondering on October 20, 2008 at 8:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Bill - or register as a Decline to State...the only problem with that (and this needs to be fixed) is that as a DTS, you can only vote in the Dem. primary. The Republican's do not allow DTS's to vote in their primary
Posted by lawabider on October 20, 2008 at 8:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Diversionary tactics of corrupt politicians -- no surprise here -- ACORN, funded by Obama's campaign to the tune of $830,000, has been filing false registrations for months -- one homeless kid on the GOP ticket registers using his parent's address goes to jail?? Yuck, sick of America now.
Posted by mamaof2 on October 20, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
ok so this guy is 25 and there saying hes a kid?? lol!
Posted by thsomerville on October 20, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I teach at a local college and two members of this group came on campus and approached professors about speaking to their classes about registering to vote. When I asked for identification, they had none and said I should call their headquarters for verification. When I voiced concern about my students filling out the registration forms with personal information and then handing it over to strangers (I wanted the students to mail them themselves), they claimed they wouldn't get credit for the registrations. They also told me they had checked in with the college's administration and had permission to be on campus when (I later found out) they did not. I instructed my students not to hand over the registration cards at which point they left in a huff. No matter who it is, you should always submit your registration forms yourself. Just take the form and say thank you, you will mail it yourself. It only costs you the price of a stamp and may save your identification from being stolen, or you being registered for a party you do not wish to be registered with.
Posted by thsomerville on October 20, 2008 at 9:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Also, another common practice is if you register as a Democrat, your registration card "gets lost." Always register yourself and be sure you receive a confirmation from the Registrar with all the correct information.
Posted by pfariseo on October 20, 2008 at 9:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Bill and sdetatae should check out thier voter registration applications carefully - there is a box that states that the registrant doesn't want to disclose.
Posted by Jacksprat on October 20, 2008 at 10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We have had voter fraud ever since the first election in this country. Back in the 20 in Chicago they went to the cemeentry and got name to register, then they were able to vote using that name. There were some that voted 4 or 5 time in differant places. Now being registered does not alway get you to vote. Most states now are requiring some ID when you vote. This take away the one registered as Micky Mouse. The idea of paying people to register voters is a sure way to cause fraud. We need to do something about it but there are always crooks who want to buy the election.
Posted by NowHearThis on October 20, 2008 at 11:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Voter fraud is wrong no matter who does it. But notice how the liberal news media sweeps Democrats' voter fraud under the rug.
Posted by KatieTeague on October 20, 2008 at 11:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I saw that the LA Times also had an article today. The guy must have been very, very flagrant to be arrested.
Posted by bleshon on October 20, 2008 at 11:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
To Now Hear This,
The ACORN story has been all over the media how can you possible say it has been swept under the rug? The Obama campaign has asked for a special prosecutor to investigate ACORN. He/She should be given this case as well.
Posted by Poppa on October 20, 2008 at 12:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ACORN did nothing wrong, if you go out and register voters and the voter writes false info that is the fault of that person, not the people collecting the registration, and the law forces you to turn in every registration form even if you know they are false. In this case the GOP has sent people out to lie that they are signing a form to have tougher laws against child molestors and really they are signing a form to switch their registration. It cracks me up that the goons at the VCRCC keep writing posts trying to defend their fraud.
Posted by Legs on October 20, 2008 at 3 p.m. (Suggest removal)
From the lead paragraph: "...two counts each of vote fraud and perjury, and the state Republican party spokesman called it a political arrest timed to embarrass the GOP."
But the Republicans can embarrass themselves, they don't need any help.
Posted by Twslv05 on October 20, 2008 at 5:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How hypocritical of Ms. Bowen to single out a GOP so called leader while looking the other way on massive voter fraud by her very own party.
This is not just a minor case of the kettle calling the pot black but comparing an iceberg to an ice cube.
Ms. Bowen do your job and apply the election laws fairly and stop trying to make an obvious political statement by going after your opponents when you should be cleaning your own filthy house.
Posted by Twslv05 on October 20, 2008 at 5:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And by the way I totally agree with most Republicans that if this guy is guilty he should be punished to the maximum the law will allow but apply this standard equally.
Posted by caokie on October 20, 2008 at 9:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
He should have lied on his tax forms, no wait he is not hispanic, so they would throw the book at him. Should have been here illegally dude, then you could get off or hide in a church. And the cops won't touch you they don't have the ba$$s.
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