St. Louis Beacon

Thursday
Sep 02nd
           | 
 
Home arrow Voices arrow Blogs arrow Beacon Backroom arrow With elections looming, area conservatives renew focus on fears of vote fraud
With elections looming, area conservatives renew focus on fears of vote fraud Print E-mail
By Jo Mannies, Beacon Political Reporter   
Posted 10:55 am Tue., 02.09.10

ballot100boxfreefoto.jpg, one of the region's new conservative groups spawned since the 2008 election, will be focusing on vote fraud at its next event.

Thor Hearne, a Republican lawyer and activist often involved in vote-fraud debates -- and court fights -- is to address attendees at the group's meeting this Saturday afternoon at Pillar in the Valley, 229 Chesterfield Business Parkway.

The event is slated to begin at 2:30 p.m. St. Louis County GOP chairman Rich Magee, who's also a lawyer, is also scheduled to speak.

The focus on vote fraud comes as area Republican legislators resurrect in Jefferson City their quest for a state mandate requiring would-be voters to produce a government-issued photo ID before they can cast a ballot.

The state Supreme Court knocked out a measure passed by the Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Matt Blunt a couple of years ago. Now, the pro-ID effort appears to be focusing primarily on a constitutional amendment.

Such activity also signals, in part, the concerns of Republicans and conservatives about St. Louis County in the build up to this fall's elections.

Over the past decade, the county has gone largely Democratic. The county, and the city of St. Louis, combined provide the largest bloc of Democratic votes in the state.

Republicans, including Hearne, have raised questions about the legitimacy of some of those votes, especially those cast in poor neighborhoods where residents often move frequently.  Conservative groups have particularly taken aim at ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which over the years has run into controversy (and legal problems) over some of its voter-registration efforts in these neighborhoods.

 

 

 

Only registered users can comment on an article. Please login or register.

< Newer post   Older post >

Editors' Picks

 

Beacon Backroom Blogroll


Floods and Kaskaskia

Drew Canning talks with island residents Courtney "Manny" Brown and Dorothy "Dot" Brown, who recall what life used to be like on Kaskaskia Island. To read more about the island and see a larger version of the slideshow, click here .(Photos by Rachel Heidenry | Beacon intern)

Political Calendar

Please note: The times shown on this page are correct for St. Louis time. The times shown when you click on an event are calculated by Google based on your time zone settings, if you are signed in to Google Calendar. If you are not signed in to Google Calendar, the times are shown in GMT, which is currently five hours ahead of St. Louis

@

Register to receive our daily email of new content.  If you're already registered, email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with the subject line "subscribe".

 

Barroom Conversations

The St. Louis Beacon sponsors every-other-weekly conversations on race, related to the publication's year-long special coverage of issues and situations related to race in the St. Louis region. The lightly-moderated discussions begin with a specific topic, but like all good conversations, veer off in different and rewarding directions. The Barroom Conversations are on summer break, and will resume in September. We look forward to seeing regulars and newcomers when the break is over. Everyone is welcome.

facebook2.jpg

Join the folks who have already found the Beacon on Facebook, the social networking site. See the most popular stories of the day, photos, videos and upcoming events. Visit the St. Louis Beacon page on Facebook and become a fan.

twitterbutton100sq.jpg

Twitter is a "microblogging" service where users can provide short updates about what they are doing. stlbeacon is our official Twitter feed – check it out to find our featured stories and the news that matters.

race100.gif

In St. Louis, race affects virtually every important aspect of community life. Yet it’s difficult to talk productively about race. Race, Frankly invites you to look at race with fresh eyes.

The Missouri History Museum, the Beacon and KETC/Channel 9 have partnered to create a yearlong series of events, in-depth articles and video pieces.

Read stories in the series.

rss75.gif

What's this icon? It's the standard icon for RSS.

RSS gives you another option for reading the Beacon, in a way that may be more convenient for you. As explained below, you can use our RSS feed to get alerts about new Beacon content. The Beacon's main RSS feed is here.

For more about RSS, read this quick introduction or watch this video: RSS in simple English.