Are you aware of the 1982 Consent Decree between the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC)?

If you’re not, don’t be alarmed, most others don’t know about it either. Even if you’re a political junkie, it’s unlikely that you’ve been aware of the Consent Decree and what it means to voters – particularly Republican voters.

So you might say, I sometimes vote Republican, so what’s that mean to me?

It means that many well-informed, politically active Republicans (like you, perhaps?) could have their votes cancelled out by democrat voter fraud and, thanks to the RNC; our hands are tied to stop it.

While that may sound like some kind of conspiracy nonsense, it’s not, and we’ve got the evidence here. It just hasn’t been exposed as widely as it deserves. Essentially, the RNC agreed, by signing that Consent Decree, to limit our ability to compete on equal footing with the democrats.

Here’s how the whole debacle started: during the 1981 New Jersey gubernatorial election, the DNC and the New Jersey Democratic State Committee (DSC) brought an action against the RNC and the New Jersey Republican State Committee (RSC) in the U.S. District Court in New Jersey accusing them of discrimination against minority voters.

The RNC (and RSC) were accused of “voter caging” and other lesser misdeeds. The RNC (and RSC) allegedly created a voter challenge list by mailing sample ballots to individuals in precincts with a high percentage of racial or ethnic minority registered voters and then, when postcards were returned as undeliverable, they included those individuals on a list of voters to challenge at the polls.

At some point during the proceedings, the RNC apparently became convinced that they were losing the case, and thinking that they may be hit with tough sanctions, agreed to sign a Consent Order to escape the court’s wrath.

The Consent Order (also known as a Consent Decree) stopped the court from rendering a decision and even though the RNC didn’t admit to any illegal activity, they did agree to the terms of the Consent Decree.

So, on November 1, 1982, the RNC and the DNC signed a national Consent Decree which (among other things) limits the ability of the RNC (and its associates) to undertake “any ballot security activities in polling places or election districts” where a significant effect of such activities would be to deter qualified voters from voting. And, as if that wasn’t enough, the CD contained no expiration date or sunset provision, meaning that it would be in effect forever.

Here is a description of the activities surrounding the accusations and the decree itself.

Click here to link to the original 1982 Consent Decree as it was incorporated into a 11/3/2008 filing (a 5 page .pdf).

OK, so why is this pesky old agreement still giving us trouble 32 years later?

Because the RNC thought it acceptable to sign a legally binding agreement without any expiration date and without any concern for voluntarily neutering the Republican fight against fraudulent voting.

Following are the details of what the decree requires of the RNC and all of its agents and employees “whether acting directly or indirectly through other party committees.” In all states and territories of the United States, they must:

(a) comply with all applicable state and federal laws protecting the rights of duly qualified citizens to vote for the candidate(s) of their choice;

(b) in the event that they produce or place any signs which are part of ballot security activities, cause said signs to disclose that they are authorized or sponsored by the party committees and any other committees participating with the party committees;

(c) refrain from giving any directions to or permitting their agents or employees to remove or deface any lawfully printed and placed campaign materials or signs;

(d) refrain from giving any directions to or permitting their employees to campaign within restricted polling areas or to interrogate prospective voters as to their qualifications to vote prior to their entry to a polling place;

(e) refrain from undertaking any ballot security activities in polling places or election districts where the racial or ethnic composition of such districts is a factor in the decision to conduct, or the actual conduct of, such activities there and where a purpose or significant effect of such activities is to deter qualified voters from voting; and the conduct of such activities disproportionately in or directed toward districts that have a substantial proportion of racial or ethnic populations shall be considered relevant evidence of the existence of such a factor and purpose;

(f) refrain from having private personnel deputized as law enforcement personnel in connection with ballot security activities.

The (e) item is the harshest one since it specifies that nearly any activity that would target a “substantial proportion of racial or ethnic populations” as a factor could be considered relevant evidence of the existence of a violation of the decree.

The RNC has tried to overturn the original Consent Decree several times, and each time the court has refused to vacate the decree. And each time the Decree is revisited, the Carter appointee judge who signed the original agreement (and has long since retired), comes back just so he can renew the order again.

In Louisiana during the 1986 Congressional elections, the RNC allegedly created a voter challenge list (again) by mailing letters to African-American voters and, then, including individuals whose letters were returned as undeliverable on a list of voters to challenge – voter caging again. The DNC once again alleged that the RNC had participated in voter suppression.

In response to a discovery request made in that suit, the RNC found and turned over to the DNC, a memorandum in which its Midwest Political Director stated to its Southern Political Director that “this program will eliminate at least 60,000–80,000 folks from the rolls . . . If it’s a close race . . . which I’m assuming it is, this could keep the black vote down considerably.”

I’d call that a “smoking gun” wouldn’t you? The RNC strikes again …

So in 1987, the RNC and DNC settled (again) by modifying the Consent Decree to require the RNC to obtain court pre-approval of any ballot security programs or poll watching efforts they intended to implement, and provide 20 days’ notice to the DNC. It further defined the term “ballot security activities” to mean “ballot integrity, ballot security or other efforts to prevent or remedy vote fraud.”

In addition to providing its chief political rival with 20 days’ notice of its intended ballot-security actions, the modified Decree also required the RNC to state “a description of the program to be undertaken, the purpose(s) to be served, and the reasons why the program complies with the Consent Order and applicable law.”

But they weren’t finished yet. As part of the order dated December 1, 2009, the court further modified the Decree by reducing the notice period from 20 to 10 days, they added additional clarification of the term “Ballot Security” and “Normal poll-watch function” in addition to a few other items. But one of the major revisions was to place a limit on the term of the Decree. It was scheduled to expire on December 1, 2017 – UNLESS the DNC proves “by a preponderance of the evidence” that the RNC has (once again) violated the terms of the agreement – in which case, the Decree will be extended for another eight years from the date of that violation.

In war, sports, or politics, what happens when the opposition knows your strategy in advance? That’s easy – they win, you lose.

Also, in 1990, the DNC brought another lawsuit alleging that the RNC violated the Consent Decree by mailing 150,000 postcards to residents of predominantly African-American precincts. This program allegedly attempted to intimidate voters by warning that it is a “federal crime . . . to knowingly give false information about your name, residence or period of residence to an election official.”

The postcards falsely stated that there was a 30-day minimum residency requirement prior to the election during which voters must have lived in the precinct in which they cast their ballot.

The Consent Decree remained in full force and effect. Chalk up another screw-up by our friends who keep asking us to contribute, the Republicans.

The Consent Decree does help to explain how the 2012 election got turned from a likely Romney victory into a win for Obama. How else could 100 precincts in Ohio have 19,605 votes for Obama and zero for Romney? And what about the other precincts where Obama got 99 percent of the vote – how else does this happen, especially in a swing state?

Or another report out of St. Lucie county in Florida (another swing state), where they reported 247,713 votes cast when only 175,554 voters are registered (141.10% turnout). How did that happen? Was it a miracle? It seems like that should be evidence of voter fraud all by itself.

And the party “leadership” can’t even challenge them? It’s no wonder that voter fraud is widespread, the democrats aren’t worried about getting caught – who’s going to catch them? Can we expect them to voluntarily turn themselves in?

It’s hard to believe that the RNC really screwed up in their handling of the Consent Decree so badly, isn’t it? But wait, there’s more.

Following is the opinion of the 3rd circuit court in response to an RNC appeal in 2010. This is lifted from the actual court filing. Note the words the court used to chide the RNC for their idiotic handling of the Consent Decree:

“The RNC asks that our Court vacate a decree that has as its central purpose preventing the intimidation and suppression of minority voters. When, as here, a party voluntarily enters into a consent decree not once, but twice, and then waits over a quarter of a century before filing a motion to vacate or modify the decree, such action gives us pause. Further, the RNC, with the advice of counsel, twice chose to limit indefinitely its ability to engage in certain activities enumerated in the Decree by entering into a decree with no expiration date.”

Beginning to see how the RNC let all Republican voters down? By their really stupid activities and bonehead legal pleadings, they’ve insured that voter fraud will continue to help elect democrats while at the same time, legally prevent any RNC-related group from doing anything about it.

Here’s another comment from the court recognizing the stupidity of the RNC:

“Furthermore, the District Court has never prevented the RNC from implementing a voter fraud prevention program that the RNC has submitted for preclearance, at least in part, because the RNC has never submitted any voter fraud prevention program for preclearance.”

In other words, they haven’t even tried. The statement continues,

“If the risk of voter fraud is as great and consequential as the RNC alleges and an RNC voter security program is a significant part of efforts needed to prevent that voter fraud, it would seem that the RNC would have attempted to obtain preclearance for a voter security program at least once since 1987.”

Wouldn’t you think so? No one has been able to come up with anything in over 20 years?

We have a serious lack of critical thinking and leadership in the stratosphere of the Republican Party. Maybe that’s why we are winning so many elections.

Stalin was right when he said, “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything.”

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Here is just a taste of what you’ll see via the links. This is another snip of one of the court orders and a link to a description of how the original 1982 order came to be – it is describing what happened:

The important point is … WHY HAS THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP KEPT THIS CONSENT DECREE SECRET? WHY IS IT PRACTICALLY UNKNOWN?

That’s actually a rhetorical question – we know why.

If Republican voters knew that the party’s “leadership” has crippled our ability to combat democrat voter fraud – voluntarily – the contributions would dry up. Period.

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Here are links to more real evidence – from the actual court documents. Note that they are all .pdf documents, the large ones may be slow to load, depending on your service..

PLEASE READ THEM and form your own conclusions.

This is the original 1982 Consent Decree as it was incorporated into a 11/3/2008 filing – 5 pages.

Case 2:81-cv-03876-DRD-SDW Document 43-5 Filed 11/03/2008

RNC urges the Court to grant its motion to vacate the Consent Decree – 32 pages

Case 2:81-cv-03876-DRD-SDW Document 43-4 Filed 11/03/2008

DNC respectfully requests that the court deny Defendant’s Motion to Vacate – 37 pages.

Case 2:81-cv-03876-DRD-MAS Document 55 Filed 01/19/2009

RNC urges the Court to grant its motion to vacate the Consent Decree or, alternatively, to modify it – 16 pages.

Case 2:81-cv-03876-DRD-MAS Document 57 Filed 02/19/2009

RNC urges Court to Vacate the Consent Decree – 34 pages.

Case 2:81-cv-03876-DRD-MAS Document 78 Filed 06/26/2009

DNC requests that the court deny Defendant’s Motion to Vacate – 43 pages.

Case 2:81-cv-03876-DRD-MAS Document 79 Filed 06/26/2009

RNC’s Motion to Vacate the Consent Decree is denied. The Consent Decree will be modified – 79 pages.

Case 2:81-cv-03876-DRD-MAS Document 84 Filed 12/01/09

It is on this 1st of December 2009, ordered that the RNC’s Motion to Vacate the Consent Decree is denied – 3 pages.

Case 2:81-cv-03876-DRD-MAS Document 85 Filed 12/01/09

A FINAL NOTE

This is not the end. We are only beginning to shine the light on this formerly secretive issue. Hardnox, the keeper of the archives for this subject, has lots more. We will continue to expose more about the RNC’s fumbling to our readers in the coming months as we approach the 2014 mid-term elections.

Stay tuned to ‘Nox & Friends for more reporting on this issue.

Big H/T to Hardnox for enlightening me about this serious subject.

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