Dirty tricks aplenty as polls near

| October 30th, 2008 | Categorized as US Elections

WASHINGTON: In the final days of the US presidential election, campaign yard signs are being defaced, fliers are advising Democrats to vote a day (too) late, and DVDs warning of Islam’s clash with the West are flooding mailboxes.

In American politics, it’s all part of the late-game frenzy: What one side considers a dirty trick may be hailed by the other as free speech.

But it’s hard to justify the phony flyer bearing the state of Virginia’s logo that says “all Republican Party supporters… shall vote on Nov 4 as prescribed by law”, whereas those supporting Democrats in the battleground state “shall vote on Nov 5″.

Similar flyers in Philadelphia warn that anyone with unpaid traffic tickets or outstanding arrest warrants could be jailed if they turn up at the polls.
Such deceptive practices commonly target minorities, who overwhelmingly support Mr Barack Obama against Mr John McCain this year. But, while most states prohibit making false statements regarding elections, the laws are difficult to enforce.

“It is an insidious form of vote suppression that often goes unaddressed by the authorities, and the perpetrators are virtually never caught,” said watchdog group Common Cause.

Vandals in northern Virginia went about pasting an “S” on yard signs so they read “Osama-Biden”, hoping to link the Democrat and his running mate Joe Biden to Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. Other tricks have verged on absurdity, such as the 20-year-old white Ohio woman who claimed she was attacked by assailants who carved a “B” (for Barack) on her cheek in anger at the John McCain sticker on her car.

She confessed to lying later. Experts say that as polling day nears, just about anything goes. Democrats tend to focus on get-out-the-vote efforts, while Republicans aim to sway undecided voters and hope for a low turnout.

This season, both sides have seized on claims of fraud after the authorities began probing the nationwide community-activist group Acorn. It had allegedly sought to swell the voter rolls by registering people who did not exist. Republicans have tried to link Mr Obama to Acorn.

Potential voters in key swing states have also been swamped with ideological mailings - including a DVD from the Clarion Fund called Obsession: Radical Islam-s War Against The West, which has reached 28 million people. Smears targeted at Mr Obama include the claim that he is a Muslim.

Left-wing groups are playing dirty too: BraveNewPAC.org has released ads questioning 72-year-old McCain’s health and claiming he would eliminate birth control for women. — AFP