Right-wing radio host reads phony election release

I think it's time to add a new item to the key for this blog: election fraud.

Recently there was a special election for a seat in the Alabama legislature. A Republican narrowly won (in one of the few states that seems to be maintaining its level of GOP support).

It turns out though that Dale Jackson, a right-wing commentator at WVNN radio in Huntsville, had read a bogus list of election instructions over the air that had been released by Republican officials.

This release falsely stated that the candidates had flipped a coin, so that the Republican's supporters would vote on Tuesday, while the Democrat's backers would vote on Wednesday (which was actually after the election was over).

The release was also posted on Jackson's website - and it misappropriated Alabama's state seal in order to look official.

Republicans defended this as just a "prank."

Um, no. It's not a "prank." It's election fraud. It was deliberately designed to tell Democrats not to try to vote until it was too late.

This strategy has been used by Republicans before, most notably in several recent presidential and congressional elections. Similarly, in 2004 and 2006, folks in Democratic precincts were phoned by Republican campaign workers reminding them that the election was on Wednesday - a day late.

Now Democrats are seeking an investigation into this cheating in the Alabama case. Even Republicans now admit the results of the election could end up in federal court because of this hoax.

(Source: http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/local.ssf?/base/news/124462531383850.xml&coll=1)