Les Merritt, maybe he's just incompetent

Thanks to a certain gadfly for tipping us off to this piece.

Here's the document if you want to see it: http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/cf_pdf/2007/20070619_54561.pdf

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Where Liddy At?
Where is Liddy?
Anyone seen Liddy?

A CPA running for State Auditor and he cant even fill out his disclosure forms?

Tell Jerry we need a candidate, like now.

Draft Brad Miller-- NC Sen ActBlue

Les Merritt. If that isn't a shining example of nominative determinism, I don't know what is.

Under the Dome

At 10:12 a.m. on June 5, Chris Mears forwarded a Dome item on a bill to allow North Carolinians to register to vote the weekend before an election to Merritt, Chief Deputy Kris Bailey, Executive Assistant James Forte and legal counsel Tim Hoegemeyer.

"If we want to have an impact on voter registration legislation, we should get Sen. Berger information sooner rather than later," he wrote. "This is a significant opportunity to safeguard our democracy that I don't think we should pass-up."

Merritt agreed, saying that "time will pass us by." In a reply sent at 10:17, he wrote, "We may need to speak even if our audit is not complete."

So, a Republican operative, working in the Auditor's office is talking about stopping legislation for no real reason with the help of the Senate Minority Leader. This also dumps Merritt's assertion in the hearing that this was his decision and only his.

Draft Brad Miller-- NC Sen ActBlue

I think it's important to learn more about how this misbegotten audit was initiated. Whose idea was it? Was it suggested by, or discussed with, entities outside the office of the auditor? DoJ? National GOP?

There's likely to be email traffic on the subject, and on government accounts, and I seriously doubt if Merritt and company have the chops or reach to have the email (and memos) sent down the memory hole.

If the audit was initiated in January, it would have been dreamt up in late 2006, just around the time Rove and company were undertaking a major phase of the US Attorney purge, complete with placing 'voter fraud' friendly folks in their places. Why would we think that crew would limit themselves to USA's? Why wouldn't they tap an electoral board chair here, an auditor there, whoever may be available, with potential ability to move the chess pieces their way when needed (I know, Les Merritt as sleeper cell, but there you go). It just seems suspicious that Merritt / Mears just happened to have an audit underway, with mysterious 'draft' conclusions, to use to derail this bill. The fact that it didn't work notwithstanding.

If they'd do it here, why not everywhere, or at least in every state with a big election in '08 (of which there'd be none bigger than Dole for Senate).

The cry of voter fraud has become a classic long post about it all but there are useful links in it. I've been meaning to write a better shorter version for BlueNC but have been too busy . . .
 
News of the 10th district: See Pat Go Bye Bye,

This is a GOP strategy.

Other states are probably being subverted and are just sleeping through it.
Now is the time to uncover what is really going on.

Y'all are forgetting what started this story in the first place!

Project Vote obtained the memo from the Department of Justice that told North Carolina we had too many voters, and we needed to get rid of some.
10% in some jurisdictions. They gave the memo to David Ingram at the Charlotte Observer. David found the Les Merritt-ed story.

Simultaneously while telling us we had too many, the DOJ asked for the Voter registration database, with complete personal info, loaded onto a disk.

But - I thought they said we had too many voters? Do they want to pick out which ones are "too many"?

I am glad that Les Merritt so royally screwed this up, so that the media would be all over this.
But it was David Ingram using that DOJ memo that Project Vote gave him that opened up this can of worms.

Keep digging, keep digging and picking and picking and festering, so we can expose the whole story..

Thanks ot Jerimee for some great writing.

NCVoter, you are clearly correct that there is food for thought, and investigation, with respect to the initial DoJ request. There's no reason at all to believe that the GOP Election '08 initiative wouldn't have included moves at both the federal and state levels, moving the pieces independently where it makes sense, coordinating where useful.

Why, after all, wouldn't they utilize state level assets in the voter fraud / suppression efforts? Here's the drill:

1) Identify a potential friendly with some potential access to relevant levers of power. With a state election board chair and Secretary of State not accessible in NC, go with the Auditor.
2) It's not necessary to have the official fully in the game, just amenable to suggestion. A few whispers as to their bright future (Mr. x, you'd make a great member of the US House / Lt Gov / whatever some day) and off you go.
3) Establish a channel on staff. Mears fits the profile, down to his political past, evidence of explicitly political moves pushing the envelope (the church directory business) and, for that matter, the degree from Regent. He's your local version of Monica Goodling.
4) Set some 'toolbuilding' in motion (in this case, the stealth audit).
5) Spring it when it best suits (in this case, at the last minute to disrupt calendering of the voter bill.

Might have worked, too, but for the sharp pushback from Bartlett. Doesn't prove anything, but certainly forms a reasonable basis for further exploration, doesn't it?

Shining a light in this little corner would have the added benefit of establishing a profile, which may play out in other states.

I know that this is an older thread, but I wanted to add a contribution. I wrote a letter to the N&O (that probably won't get published) about the voter fraud issue. Here it is:

"Les Merritt's recent actions calling (falsely) into question the integrity of North Carolina's voters' registration requires comment.

The scandal in Washington over the politically biased hirings and firings of US Attorney's Generals represents an effort by the Republican Party to gin up controversy over voter fraud. Most of their claims have proven to be false, and the Attorney General purge was effort to influence election politics by using Federal Courts to suppress voter turnout with trumped up claims of vote fraud favoring Democratic candidates.

Now we have a rushed audit by a Republican in high office making wild claims about vote fraud on the eve of the consideration of passage of a bill that makes it easier for law-abiding citizens to vote. Coincidently, the Department of Justice sought a similar review, and, more chillingly, a purge of the state's voter rolls.

It is disturbing that Republicans would act in such a manner as to deny legal voters their rights simply to increase their chances of winning elections. We must be assured immediately that Les Merritt was not acting in concert with the national Republican Party in his recent audit, and we need assurance that the Department of Justice was not similarly meddling out of partisan motives. In this case Mr. Merritt's word will not be good enough."

If you have any interest, I will appreciate feedback.

The laws vary from state to state (of course)

So here they are.