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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Virginia: FBI Looks Into Voter Intimidation
Date: 8 Nov 2006 00:59:31 -0600
From: rich

   http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110706A.shtml

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       Virginia: FBI Looks Into Voter Intimidation
       By Jeff E. Schapiro
       The Richmond Times Dispatch

       Tuesday 07 November 2006

       The FBI is looking into possible voter intimidation in Virginia's
   hard-fought U.S. Senate contest between Republican incumbent George
   Allen and Democrat Jim Webb.

       Just ahead of today's election, state officials alerted the U.S.
   Justice Department to several complaints of suspicious phone calls to
   voters about where they cast ballots and their preferences for the
   Senate.

       Jean R. Jensen, secretary of the State Board of Elections, said
   yesterday that she was subsequently contacted by an agent in the FBI's
   Richmond office. The FBI is the investigative arm of the Justice
   Department.

       Dee Rybiski, spokeswoman for the FBI here, declined comment.

       Jensen said she called the Justice Department's civil rights
   office in Washington and the Virginia attorney general after receiving
   a complaint Sunday from a voter in Arlington County and one yesterday
   from the registrar in Accomack County.

       Jensen said she later received a report from the Hampton registrar
   about a call to a voter there. That complaint came in response to an
   e-mail from Jensen to local registrars about possibly deceptive phone
   calls.

       "Voters should not be intimidated or deceived by phone messages
   purporting to be from election officials," Jensen said in a written
   statement. "Any communication from federal, state or local election
   officials will always be in a written form clearly identifying the
   official source."

       With published polls depicting the Allen-Webb race as a tossup,
   both sides are mobilizing lawyers and voting experts to watch for
   irregularities and prepare for a possible recount.

       In a written statement issued by the Webb campaign, state
   Democratic Party counsel Jay B. Myerson suggested that Republicans are
   behind efforts to suppress votes for Webb.

       "We've seen this tactic before, and it is about time the
   Republicans learned that it will not work," Myerson said.

       Shawn M. Smith, executive director of the Virginia Republican
   Party, said the state GOP and Allen campaign are focusing on
   mobilizing votes for Allen.

       As for voter intimidation or suppression, Smith said: "We are not
   aware of any such activities taking place and are skeptical of the
   claims being made. Nonetheless, we condemn such activities if they are
   being conducted by outside organizations."

       J. Tucker Martin, spokesman for Attorney General Bob McDonnell,
   had no immediate comment.