Ontario police arrest man in voter fraud case

Spencer Collins · #1 (**permalink**) 10-20-2008, 02:05 AM

Quote:

Mark Jacoby, who owns a firm hired by the California Republican Party, violated state laws with his own registration, authorities say.

SACRAMENTO -- The owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands of voters this year was arrested in Ontario over the weekend on suspicion of voter registration fraud.

State and local investigators allege that Mark Jacoby fraudulently registered himself to vote at a childhood California address where he no longer lives so he would appear to meet the legal requirement that all signature gatherers be eligible to vote in California. His firm, Young Political Majors, or YPM, collects petition signatures and registers voters in California and other states.

Jacoby's arrest by state investigators and the Ontario Police Department late Saturday came after dozens of voters said they were duped into registering as Republicans by people employed by YPM. The voters said YPM workers tricked them by saying they were signing a petition to toughen penalties against child molesters.

The firm was paid $7 to $12 for every Californian it registered as a member of the GOP.

Dan Goldfine, an attorney for Jacoby, on Sunday denied any wrongdoing by his client and called the charges "baseless."

He said the arrest outside an Ontario hotel, which involved seven squad cars and nine police officers, was part of a "long pattern of harassment against Mr. Jacoby for an entirely valid voter registration effort."

Goldfine said the case that prosecutors are bringing against his client involves charges that are rarely pressed.

Jacoby was released on bail Sunday evening from the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, Goldfine said.

After complaints by voters and Democratic Party officials, several agencies launched investigations into Jacoby's activities. They included the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, which issued the warrant for his arrest earlier this month on felony charges of voter registration fraud and perjury.

"We contacted people at the addresses where he registered, and they have no idea who he is," said Dave Demerjian, head deputy of the public integrity unit at the L.A. County district attorney's office.

Goldfine said his client does business in many states, traveling frequently, and his permanent address has been his parents' Los Angeles County home, where he received mail and registered to vote.

Demerjian said his office is continuing to investigate allegations that YPM workers improperly re-registered voters with the GOP.

Several dozen voters recently told The Times that YPM workers said they had to become Republicans to sign the petition, contrary to California initiative law. Other voters said they had no idea their registration was being changed.

YPM has been accused of using bait-and-switch tactics across the country. Election officials and lawmakers have launched investigations into the activities of YPM workers in Florida and Massachusetts. In Arizona, the firm was recently a defendant in a civil rights lawsuit.

In a written statement Sunday, the state Republican Party called the charges against Jacoby "politically motivated." The party said the charges do not support accusations from voters and Democratic officials that YPM has been duping voters into joining the GOP.

The statement accused Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who announced the arrest, of "using her office to play politics."

Bowen is a Democrat

Ontario police arrest man in voter fraud case - Los Angeles Times

Bowen is a Democrat thus making this entire accusation baseless..

saltwn · #2 (**permalink**) 10-20-2008, 02:19 AM

There may be a sweep of democratic votes, but the charges and lawsuits will go on for years.

foundit66 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-20-2008, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spencer Collins

Ontario police arrest man in voter fraud case
Bowen is a Democrat thus making this entire accusation baseless..

Since he's a democrat talking about republican wrong-doing, that makes this whole thing partisan.
Ergo, any arrest or conviction or conclusion based on the case is tainted and should be ignored...

cnredd · #4 (**permalink**) 10-20-2008, 05:34 AM

He did the same thing ACORN's been doing for years...

I endorse getting rid of BOTH of these schemes...

faithful_servant · #5 (**permalink**) 10-20-2008, 10:49 AM

Give me a break... When you register to vote, you fill out a voter registration card, you don't put your name a list. The accusations seem pretty thin to me. If you sign something w/o knowing what exactly it is that you are signing, too bad for you. Learn to read BEFORE you sign. Getting tricked into signing something is not only a reflection of a lack of ethics on the part of the person tricking you, but also a lack of intelligence on YOUR part.

foundit66 · #6 (**permalink**) 10-20-2008, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnredd

He did the same thing ACORN's been doing for years...

That's a grotesque lie.

From the article:
"Mark Jacoby, who owns a firm hired by the California Republican Party..."

If you can show me anybody in HIS position of authority, that has been analogously arrested within ACORN, I welcome it.
ACORN management has worked WITH police to stop crap like this.
While when it comes to Mark Jacoby, it was THE OWNER (not the employees) who did the dirty...

That's like comparing the execs of Enron embezzling, with Joe Employee of Schemron embezzling...

foundit66 · #7 (**permalink**) 10-20-2008, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by faithful_servant

Give me a break... When you register to vote, you fill out a voter registration card, you don't put your name a list. The accusations seem pretty thin to me. If you sign something w/o knowing what exactly it is that you are signing, too bad for you. Learn to read BEFORE you sign. Getting tricked into signing something is not only a reflection of a lack of ethics on the part of the person tricking you, but also a lack of intelligence on YOUR part.

That's pretty impressive.
Somebody commits fraud, and you blame the victims of that fraud for being stupid...
And while you hear the case against them, you declare it "pretty thin" with ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE...

Just out of curiousity, is there any way in hell you would indict somebody who was Republican or Christian or anybody else you liked if there is any scenario you could dream up that you could proclaim them not guilty?
If you're on the jury and you like the defendant, would it always take video-tape proof (from multiple angles) and a signed confession given by the defendant to his mother for you to realize that he was GUILTY?

faithful_servant · #8 (**permalink**) 10-20-2008, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by foundit66

That's pretty impressive.
Somebody commits fraud, and you blame the victims of that fraud for being stupid...
And while you hear the case against them, you declare it "pretty thin" with ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE...

Just out of curiousity, is there any way in hell you would indict somebody who was Republican or Christian or anybody else you liked if there is any scenario you could dream up that you could proclaim them not guilty?
If you're on the jury and you like the defendant, would it always take video-tape proof (from multiple angles) and a signed confession given by the defendant to his mother for you to realize that he was GUILTY?

What would it take for you to actually let a case go to trial before convicting? All I've done is ask a couple of questions, YOU tried and convicted him based on questionable testimony from people too dumb to read what they are signing. Is there room for doubt in this case? Yep. Is it possible the guy's a crook and is ACORNing voter registrations? Yep. YOU want him convicted based on statements from people who are at the least too dumb to read what they are signing and at the worst may be lieing. Let's see facts instead of rhetoric, reason instead of reaction.

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