Caucus results upset state Paul supporters
Emily Holden
Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: News
Presidential candidate Ron Paul, R-Texas, is issuing a formal complaint against the Louisiana Republican Party for an alleged improper handling of the voting process for the Jan. 22 caucus.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had the highest number of delegates elected in district caucuses across the state. Andrew Axsom, state field director for the Paul campaign, said if the caucus had been managed appropriately, "Paul would have taken first place in the state."
Morgan Wright, from District 6 in Baton Rouge, was a Ron Paul delegate in the state Republican caucus. But when he arrived at the caucus on Jan. 22, his name was not on the roll of registered Republicans.
At closed caucuses, registered voters from a party from select delegates to vote at the state convention for that party. Most delegate candidates advertise their support for a particular platform or presidential candidate. The party chooses which candidate to endorse based on the delegates' votes.
Wright said he went to vote an hour and a half into the caucus. He said all votes for him up to that point were considered invalid because he was not on the roll.
Voting at the caucus consisted of selecting 15 delegates from a list. Wright said any ballots that contained a vote for him were considered incomplete because they were filled out for only 14 registered delegates. Wright said these ballots were thrown away until he proved he was registered.
Wright, outraged at the system, said after showing his registration card that listed him as a Republican since Nov. 29, one day before the deadline, the ballot counters started tallying his votes.
"I have a lot of faith in our voting system and our diplomatic system. And when I see people doing things that undermine the system we have within our country, I'm absolutely appalled by it," he said.
"The whole idea is just to preserve our legal rights to challenge," said Joe Becker, chief legal adviser for the Paul campaign.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had the highest number of delegates elected in district caucuses across the state. Andrew Axsom, state field director for the Paul campaign, said if the caucus had been managed appropriately, "Paul would have taken first place in the state."
Morgan Wright, from District 6 in Baton Rouge, was a Ron Paul delegate in the state Republican caucus. But when he arrived at the caucus on Jan. 22, his name was not on the roll of registered Republicans.
At closed caucuses, registered voters from a party from select delegates to vote at the state convention for that party. Most delegate candidates advertise their support for a particular platform or presidential candidate. The party chooses which candidate to endorse based on the delegates' votes.
Wright said he went to vote an hour and a half into the caucus. He said all votes for him up to that point were considered invalid because he was not on the roll.
Voting at the caucus consisted of selecting 15 delegates from a list. Wright said any ballots that contained a vote for him were considered incomplete because they were filled out for only 14 registered delegates. Wright said these ballots were thrown away until he proved he was registered.
Wright, outraged at the system, said after showing his registration card that listed him as a Republican since Nov. 29, one day before the deadline, the ballot counters started tallying his votes.
"I have a lot of faith in our voting system and our diplomatic system. And when I see people doing things that undermine the system we have within our country, I'm absolutely appalled by it," he said.
"The whole idea is just to preserve our legal rights to challenge," said Joe Becker, chief legal adviser for the Paul campaign.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 63
Gene
posted 1/28/08 @ 1:40 AM CST
Seems Katrina hasn't wiped out LA political corruption. The GOPers on take have resumed their usual roles.
bert
posted 1/28/08 @ 1:42 AM CST
Congratulations to the Louisiana Republican Machine. They have succeeded in emulating Josef Stalin.
"Those who cast the Votes, they decide nothing. (Continued…)
Dan
posted 1/28/08 @ 2:07 AM CST
I applaud the Reveille for its investigative journalism of serious allegations of voter fraud and vote suppression. Now if only the mainstream media would report on this instead of on Brittney Spears. (Continued…)
Scott M.
posted 1/28/08 @ 2:21 AM CST
Ahh... no, that is NOT what happened and NOT what the problem is. Where did you get your source of info from?
The problem was that the LA GOP used a list dated Nov. (Continued…)
Ken
posted 1/28/08 @ 3:07 AM CST
Hopefully Louisiana will do the right thing and get this all worked out and show its populous that the process is honorable and trustworthy.
Pablo Escobar
posted 1/28/08 @ 3:20 AM CST
So this is how the Republican establishment steals elections in America. And here they are, spreading democracy at the barrel of a gun in Iraq, and they can't even guarantee a fair election at home. (Continued…)
rmg
posted 1/28/08 @ 3:38 AM CST
It's frightening how many little minds with their personal motivations might be influencing our elections. If Louisiana wants to have more influence in presidential elections, then it has to make the process more transparent, and has to make the rules more concrete. (Continued…)
adrian108
adrian stewart
posted 1/28/08 @ 3:47 AM CST
Thanks for a mostly fair article but I request that you include that his campaign is challenging and protesting these results. There needs to be a thorough investigation concerning all of these questionable actions that took place. (Continued…)
Craig
posted 1/28/08 @ 4:05 AM CST
It's just another attempt by the mainstream media and the neo-con controlled Republican Party to discredit the only true conservative in the race, Dr. (Continued…)
james Hines
posted 1/28/08 @ 4:11 AM CST
I stand by the efforts of the Paul supporters. This should be front page news on all major newspapers in Louisiana. We are looking at the source of the reasons behind the failures of the Katrina debacle. (Continued…)
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