The apparent suicide of a longtime professional signature gatherer threatens to blow wide open the heretofore hidden world of organized petition fraud in Washington state.
Spokane based Dennis O’Shea had worked for years supervising crews of paid signature gatherers for a number of contractors, most recently Citizens Solutions, the Lacey WA firm that gathers signatures for Tim Eyman’s initiatives. Documented back in 2003 making false statements to signers about the initiative he was hawking, O’Shea had years to learn the ins and outs of the sometimes shady signature gathering business. So when detectives reportedly found his body along with a box of documents labeled to the attention of the police, they had reason to take notice.
Next month, partially as a result of the investigation stemming from O’Shea’s death, a mother and daughter signature gathering team will face charges on 45 counts of forging signatures on petitions for Eyman’s 2008 Initiative 985. And judging from both the suspicious circumstances, and the well documented history of petition fraud in other states, there is good reason to suspect that this case might represent only the tip of the iceberg.
According to court documents recently acquired by the Ballot Initiative Network, Theresa Dedeaux came under investigation in June 2008 after two petition sheets were turned over to Spokane County Elections officers, and subsequently the Secretary of State. An SOS official determined that 37 of the 40 signatures on the sheets did not match the signatures on file, and further forensic work by the Washington State Patrol determined a number of these to be forgeries. Affidavits were sent out to all 40 of the alleged signers, and all 29 of the affidavits returned confirmed that theirs was not the signature on the petition.
When confronted with this evidence by the WSP, Dedeaux made a statement to investigators implicating her supervisor: “Everything we did was at the direction of Dennis O’Shea.” When asked what she meant by “we,” Dedeaux went on to implicate her daughter Mercedes, “My daughter did it too.”
While details remain sketchy, it appears that O’Shea committed suicide sometime during the investigation, and according to sources, he left behind a box of documents directed toward the attention of the police, that included copies of several petition sheets collected by Mercedes Dedeaux. Investigators sent affidavits to 34 alleged signers whose signatures were suspected of being forged; all 29 of the returned affidavits attested that the signature was not authentic.
What else was in the box of documents O’Shea left behind? I have no idea, and I have no idea whether it is currently being investigated by the Spokane County Sheriff, the WSP or the SOS. What I do know, is that O’Shea thought it important enough to set aside for investigators as he prepared to take his own life. And I do know that the kind of fraud perpetrated by the Dedeauxs has proven to be common place in other initiative states, and that there has never been any reason to assume that Washington’s signature gatherers are uniquely clean, especially given the laxness of the laws and procedures regulating our initiative process.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” opponents of initiative reform like to argue, pointing to the absence of evidence of signature fraud in Washington state, but the truth is, we can’t possibly uncover evidence we’re not looking for, and lacking the tools to track signatures to the paid canvassers who gathered them, even evidence of fraud would be unlikely to incriminate the perpetrators.
To that end, there are two bills that are still alive in the current legislative session that attempt to address this issue. The first is HB 2614, which merely closes a loophole created via an opinion by state Attorney General Rob McKenna. Petitions are currently required to contain a declaration identifying the signature gatherer, but bizarrely, McKenna has advised the SOS that the statute does not require the signature gatherer to sign it. HB 2614 would clarify the existing law, explicitly requiring that the signature gatherer sign the declaration before the petition is filed with the SOS.
The second bill, SB 6449, is much more sweeping. In addition to closing the loophole above, SB 6449 would require that paid signature gatherers register with the PDC, and provide evidence of said registration while gathering signatures. Individuals convicted of fraud, forgery, identity theft, elections violations and sexual offenses would be denied registration, and permanently ineligible to work as paid signature gatherers. Volunteer signature gatherers would be exempt from such requirements.
Both of these bills represent prudent reforms that have been successfully implemented in other states with a history of signature fraud and other abuses. As it stands now, nothing would stop the Dedeauxs from working again as paid signature gatherers. Likewise, convicted identity thieves and sex offenders could be out there in front of the Safeway as I type, collecting the addresses and signatures of prospective victims.
Last year the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center ranked Washington’s initiative laws some of the most permissive in the nation, handing us a big, fat “F” in its nationwide Ballot Integrity Report Card. And yet this year, like in past sessions, the smart money is on the Legislature chickening out of addressing these long overdue reforms.
Opponents insist that there is no evidence of fraud, but the Dedeaux case proves otherwise, while the box of documents O’Shea left behind almost certainly contains additional incriminating evidence. Now is the time for the Legislature to act to protect the integrity of our initiative process.
Hmmmmm . . . crime, corruption, a conservative and Tim Lie-man.
Why am I not surprised.
Same shit, different day.
The Conservative Culture of Corruption lives on,
The other shoe drops.. eventually… Such is the way with the right wing..
Now let’s see these fools carp about ACORN…
$25k fine anyone???
I suggested (over at Stefan’s blog) Eyman take up the initiative to change our laws against marijuana. I think that would be a good thing for Eyman to do.
Beautiful. Let’s hope Timmy knows all about his fraudulent foot soldiers.
Um…
While this does look like it’s going to be bad for a few folks that are still alive and might help tighten up some laws let’s not count our chickens before they hatch (or what ever suitable metaphor you might want to use).
but acorn never committed signature fraud. you saw how honest they were in the prostitution undercover tapes.
Not surprisingly, manoftruth wins the First to Mention ACORN Award in response to this post. YLB noted at 2 that the wingies would be sure to respond with, “yeah, but, but, ACORN. What about ACORN?” You’ve got to hand it to wingies, they’re nothing if not predictable.
@7
Man of Truth lives in the Boston area, but he cares about us out on the left coast so much that he’s on here every day. I find his caring and devotion touching.
ok, lets see..@7
well, i find it funny that goldstein writes about 20 paragraphs mostly on speculation, but was silent about something he could see with his own eyes.
and @8
well, goldstein is from philly but trotted all the way out west to be the west coast jew monitor. i’m just monitoring the monitor.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Eyman is so insistent on keeping secret the names of those who sign the initiatives? Is he afraid that people will look up the information on the internet, and say –
“Whoa – what’s my name and address doing there! I never signed that initiative! In fact, I OPPOSED that initiative!”
ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN
Oops ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN ACORN
There you go Proud Goatist.
Hmmm … fraudulent signatures on Eyman initiatives? This seems to call into question whether Washington citizens want the tax cuts that teabaggers claim they do. One person signing his name 50,000 times does not make a grass-roots tax revolt.
@11 SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM (fart) SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM
@11 Acorn didn’t get arrested for committing a third-rate burglary of a politician’s office. It takes a Republican to do that.
“Acorn didn’t get arrested for committing a third-rate burglary of a politician’s office.”
No. Only aiding and a abetting in human trafficking. And neither organization was arrested. Only loyal members.
In Their Guts They Know She’s Nuts
“[A] new survey reveals cold, hard statistics about the public’s view of Sarah Palin. …
“[An] ABC News/Washington Post survey released today reflects growing public misgivings about Palin.
“Her favorability rating sank to 37 percent, the worst showing so far in this series of polls. The figures reveal she’s lost support even among conservative Republicans.
“Palin’s ‘potential as a presidential hopeful takes a severe hit in the survey,’ the Post said.”
http://www.aolnews.com/the-gri.....?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl1|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fthe-grid%2Farticle%2Fsarah-palin-hits-new-low-in-poll%2F19354785
@10
Yup!
@10
Correct and not only that perhaps Eyman’s sugar daddy Michael Dunmire would wake up and realize that Eyman, Fagan and O’Shea have been scamming him for years.
Michael
I didn’t know that about manoftruth. I am pleased to know that he is not a resident of our fair state. I feel sorry for Massachusetts, of course. I feel sorry for Massachusetts for other reasons, like Scott Brown, as well.
Proud Goatist,
Why are you upset with Massachusetts? Unaffiliated and independent voters spoke their mind. That’s the part of democracy that pizzez off progressives.
Well too bad dude!
Herr Goebbels Himmler Dumb Bunny farts
S=Someone
P=Possessed
A=And
M=Moronic…
Yep, Herr Goebbels Himmler Dumb Bunny you explained yourself perfectly!
Puddy,
Do you ever engage in serious dialogue? Do you think a post like your last one entreats dialogue? Let me tell you something, dude, this country is facing a world of hurt at the moment, and blame can be rightfully thrown in many directions. The reality is that this evenly divided nation must come together on certain policy initiatives or we will end up like Somalia. Purely blind partisans like you and your Party of No are killing this nation. Puddy, your nonsense has grown old. Grow up. We have problems that require something more than the juvenile crap that you continuously spew.
It is Sarah Palin’s 46th birthday today. At my office, I thought we should celebrate such an event, so we had a special teambuilding gathering. We toasted Sarah, we spoke of her remarkable political talent, and we wished her the best for 2012. Go, Sarah, go.
16 – Great news.. Sarah is flaming out over her palm-o-prompter and her “word salad”..
I see Mitch Daniels being touted in various places for 2012. It kind of fits. A low key guy sounding reasonable on the surface, talking issues, avoiding the flashpoints.
Here’s a good post about that:
MITCH DANIELS FOR PRESIDENT? ARE THEY NUTS?
The comment thread is pretty good.
Because you are a koolaid drining lefty. Want more ACORN in your very berry. hahahahahahaahahaha
Anyone go to jail?
Like this guy?
http://news.bostonherald.com/n.....id=1228633
First DOOFUS now the execrable Proud ASS comes back to haunt HA..
Did Charles Johnson ban them?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01.....gewanted=1
Too funny.. The Lizard master turns on the idiot ‘doids..
@25 When did you have your last mental eval?
This must qualify them for a few billion of taxpayer dollars. Nothing to see here folks. Now if only we could get the same interest to investigate Ron Simms and King County. Now there would be a story.
@28 You’re implying that there’s anything to evaluate.
@29
The Republicans went over King County with a fine toothed comb a few years back and presented their findings to a Republican judge (in eastern Washington no less) . The judge said that the Republicans were full of shit.
@29 Repeating the same lie 10,000 times doesn’t make it true.
Tunnelgate Scandal Deepens
There’s much more to Metro’s downtown bus tunnel security failure than the widely publicized beating of a teenaged girl.
Taxpayers are paying a private contractor $1 million a year to provide security in Metro’s underground stations. But a KING 5 News investigation, which has been ongoing for some time, reveals the guards are often absent from their posts, caught one sleeping on the job, and uncovered internal company documents that reveal a pattern of poor performance:
“KING 5 Investigators … obtained dozens of internal company documents which include supervisors writing up one incident report after another about guards not doing their job. Many of the reports are about guards simply not being in the tunnel during their shift. One report … says a guard often ‘disappears’ from his post for long periods of time. … In another memo … a group of guards is written up after repeatedly being called on their radios to help a fellow guard with pedestrian violations. According to the document there’s no response. The guard is ‘never able to raise them on the radio.'”
http://www.king5.com/news/Inve.....04037.html
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Republicans continually and loudly tout privatization of government services as a way to improve services and lower costs. In fact, the result of privatization usually is the opposite. There’s nothing unusual about the breakdown of Metro bus tunnel security. Dozens of cases of privatization failures have been documented around the country.
Privatization isn’t about reducing costs. It’s about Republican corruption. Privatizing government services accomplishes only one thing: It puts taxpayer money in the pockets of cronies of rightwing politicians who charge the public high prices for shoddy service.
And that’s exactly its intended purpose.
Proud Goatist farts
Sure do. When Puddy places a serious inner city commentary regarding how Dummocraptics take the inner city black vote for granted and offer no solutions for my inner city peeps no on responds because they know it’s the truth. But when Herr Goebbels Himmler Dumb Bunny is a “BLIND PARTISAN” yet he gets a pass from Proud Goatist. Is this some omerta creed of “lawyers” Proud Leftist, or you feel sorry for humans who claim their are animals and dream about fucking animals?
When ylb arschloch and rujax offer their hate 24×7 they get a pass from Proud Goatist. When Steve was upset over his lady friend’s son’s death, what did you offer Proud Goatist… “If this is Steve and not some sockpuppet…” That was ABSOLUTELY laughable Proud Goatist. And it wasn’t until a few of us conservative right thinkers offered prayers and condolence messages to Steve did the leftist pinheads here start offering lame words. Do you need to see the recent threads again Proud Goatist?
Please Proud Goatist tell us. How come your voice is missing over libtardo comments. Hey you claim the country is hurting. You see the leftist hate on this blog 24×7. You even created an award after yourself to denigrate peeps who think right demonstrating your weekly hate.
And we should listen and react to you? In the worlds of the Starfish Tuna commercial… “Sorry Charlie”.
Now for political commentary…
WTF fool?
Back in May and June Puddy placed 5 links on this blog discussing the Republican alternative for health care. Ask the arschloch for the links as he has every PuddyMissive cached locally in his “house”. Fools like correctnotright kept prompting Marvin Stamn for the alternative conservative health care plan. The links were there yet correctnotright continued his scream and ignored them. Now why would a libtardo do that Proud Goatist. Then your friends in the Odumba Administration told the world “we got this”. “Nope we don’t want Republican input”. Then the common peeps started complaining about the bill your friends here call them TEA BAGGERS. Didn’t you pile on Brian Baird last year Proud Leftist? When the Louisiana Purchase and the Cornhusker Confederation and the Massachusetts Bribe became known the peeps got upset. So Scott Brown comes along and becomes senator. Butt wait… HA Libtardos call Scott Brown and the unaffiliated voters who voted for Scott TEA BAGGERS. Hmmm… Proud Goatist… what’s the matter Goat got your tongue?
Regarding the excessive spending of this administration… The Porkulus Bill Puddy placed link after link after link displaying how the bulk of the Porkulus Bill was a personal Dummocraptic payout to Odumba’s friends and cronies. Now the Libtardo MSM is finally admitting some of this being true and printing the news almost a year later.
Oh butt wait Proud Goatist…
This blog focuses on Allen Stanford… until Puddy proves he loves Dummocrapts more.
This blog focuses on WellFleet Health Care… until Puddy places their hidden meetings with Odumba and Max Baucus and their political giving to Dummocrapts too.
The blog focuses on Sarah Palin writing notes on her hand… but forgets Dianne Feinstein did it when she ran for governor years ago.
This blog attacks the Bible… something we who think right hold dear to our Christian beliefs yet you are MUTE. And you wonder why Karen has a field day on your sorry ASS Proud Goatist.
This blog readily attacks Christianity… Calling Christians talibangelists, etc…. yet it gives a pass to other religions.
And those are some recent entries Proud Goatist… Ask the HA arschloch ylb arschloch for other entries. He claims Arrchive.org is his source until Puddy placed the link and showed the site doesn’t archive all of HA.
So you tell me who acts like ASSHoles here Proud Goatist. Puddy identified a quite few so far. It ain’t us who think right! Sometimes you fit the bill to a T.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Proud Leftist
See the comments of the fool@33. Seattle is a progressive Democraptic town. Your HA Peeps tell us this is why Jim McDimWitt gets reerected every two years. Yet the old decrepit dumb bunny Herr Goebbels Himmler Dumb Bunny is trying to blame the three guards who stood around while the 15 year old girl was being attacked “A Republican Problem”
ABSOLUTELY LAUGHABLE Proud Goatist!
Herr Goebbels Himmler Dumb Bunny you do it here all the time. And now you have the unmitigated gall to say that to a right thinking person?
ABSOLUTELY LAUGHABLE Proud Goatist!
The state should have investigated the voter registration procedures used in the 2004 Governor’s race with as much zeal as they will this.
What a hypocrite you are Puddy…..
You support people like Sessions, Bush, Sanford and others who don’t give a crap about “your people”. People who want to role bback the right of all citizens to vote.
Here is the wikipedia entry on the voting rights act renewal in 2006. Note that the objections to the voting rights act came from republicans in the south:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act
Amend, delay and defeat…..that is the republican policy of obstruction. They will eventually be recognized as the party of no ideas and no solutions.
Keep making excuses for your racist and obstructionist party, Puddy. I find it amusing to see how you avoid, deflect and excuse republican racists.
But if a democrat was once in the KKK but renounced it….horors!
Hypocrite.
@37 Fireidiot
Umm, they did investigate and the republican AG found no evidence of fraud.
Here there is actual evidence of fraud.
Do mere facts confuse you? Or are you too thick to comprehend them?
Oh yeah, and the ACORN video was a fake and the people who made it refused to let it be examined and have now been charged with a criminal act.
so much for that lame comparison.
This new information does throw into doubt almost all of Tim Eyemans supposed intitiatives and the “will of the people” argument.
Liars and cheaters….just part of Eyeman’s initiative gang.
When were these peeps mayors of cities? Why do you love to change topics? Divert and change; your two methods of arguing… EPIC FAIL!
So correctnotright, you agree making the sons pay for the sins of the fathers?
Have you seen ballot initiatives in other countries correctnotright? Do they print them in multiple languages? Hmmm…?
Keep making excuses for your racist and obstructionist party, correctnotright. Puddy sees the results of your party. Wait a minute… Puddy lived through the results of your party. Ask the arschloch for the coordinates of where Puddy grew up. He has them in his free archive of Goldy HA Libtardos.
Remember multiple Dummocrapts in the senate honored good old Bob Byrd and you gave them a pass. Trent Lott singularly honored Strom Thurmond and you jumped up and down like a silly six year old girl.
Nuff SAID Sucka!
Let’s call this scandal EYCORN.
zzzzZZZZZzzzzz….
The right wing again is exposed as corrupt. In this instance too close to home…
And Stupes replays old resentments…
boooooorrriiinngg….
Still got nuthin eh ylb arschloch…
Puddy notices Pavlov Doggie is at work. You brought back the link… So predictable, so easily manipulated, so stupid, so useless, so feckless, so idiotic, so insipid! You subconsciously bark at Puddy’s beck and call. Trained you so well.
And you still like to display to the world you still got nuthing eh ylb arschloch…
Far be it from Puddy to inhibit your right to continually make yourself looks stupid…
Keep showing everyone you still got nuthin…
#44 updated – and it only took 12 hours for the Puddy Subliminal System to work. Sometimes you react in seconds. Must be the lunar cycle.
Bwaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaa haaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO
Such a whackamoron!
Should be an interesting election year.
(1) The blowback from this might render Eyman’s campaigns little more than a distraction.
(2) The Republicans are finding that the Tea Party, which they wanted to channel into anti-Obama sentiment, is actually tearing apart their own party more than it’s helping them.
(3) You always expect the party which opposes the President to do better in an off-Presidential year election, but recent announced retirements hav left Republicans with 18 open seats to defend, versus the Democrats with 14.
(4) Moreover, the Republican Congressional campaign fund didn’t get out of debt until last month, and had less than 1/3 of the cash available to the Democrat’s Congressional campaign fund. (Besides, did they ever get their money back from their treasurer? And just exactly where DID that money go, anyway?)
sadly, Democrats are incapable of blowing this up onto the national media stage the way the faux charges against Acorn got blown up.
(faux because not one case of vote fraud….just reg. fraud…)
“ob but that’s what the republicans do! they get all hysterical….!”
Well fuck you got a suicide and petition fraud affecting someone like Eyman? This should be national news.
@46(4) Republicans stealing from each other — ya gotta love it!
Well Republicans HATE election fraud, or so they tell me every chance they get, so I am sure they’ll be all over this one and will be big backers of both the investigation and the bills to reduce fraud.
*hand to right ear*
I’m…I’m being told that they’re not.
16 RR
There’s better stuff in the poll than Stick-with-it Sarah’s favorability ratings, as poor as those are.
A total hoot.
SO WHAT?
That did not affect the final outcome!
The voters of Washington determoned that!
Ron Belec
Seattle, Washington