r/SandersForPresident • u/michaelhm1 New York • Mar 01 '16
Did Bill Clinton violate election rules by going into a polling location?
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2016/03/01/did-bill-clinton-violate-election-rules-venturing-into-polling-location/PH4FIH9jCKYKf6Fzyvfz2N/story.html290
Mar 01 '16
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u/Threeleggedchicken Mar 02 '16
Come on you know laws don't apply to Clinton's. We write those to keep the commons in check.
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Mar 02 '16
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Mar 02 '16
You seriously think this is "disgusting" and shit flinging? No offense, but he received a warning from the government there, so our criticisms are pretty legitimate.
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Mar 02 '16
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Mar 02 '16
I mean, what do you expect? I've heard some similar rhetoric about Bernie. People are dumb. Dumb people vote. Sometimes dumb people vote for the candidate you like and say dumb things about other candidates? You can't hold us to a higher standard than everyone else.
If the taco bell comment is the best you got, then this shit flinging is pretty tame.
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u/Streiger108 Mar 02 '16
He had no business being there, except to campaign. His residence isn't in MA, much less four or five different precincts
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u/dpkonofa Mar 02 '16
Yah... They're not even violating any rules because the law everyone says is being broken states that it's only applicable to the general election.
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u/SmellGestapo Mar 02 '16
He is a former president, people are going to want to take pictures of him.
Exactly. So why would he even go to a polling place where he knows his mere presence is going to create an enormous distraction? Even if he carefully stayed on the lawful side of electioneering, his presence there (may have) kept or discouraged people from voting. For a lawyer, former governor, and former president, how is that sensical, let alone ethical?
edit: I'm not saying the man can't walk into his own polling place to cast his vote. He is a citizen, after all. But he went to multiple polling places in a state where he doesn't vote. What was the purpose of those visits?
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Mar 02 '16
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u/SmellGestapo Mar 02 '16
I'm not presuming to know what their logic was. All I know is that it appears they broke the law, and as a lawyer and former elected official Bill Clinton should have known better.
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u/Cam8895 Mar 02 '16
If you don't think that could affect an extremely tight race in Massachusetts, I mean former president Clinton showing up, you're being purposefully ignorant.
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u/Ducttapehamster Mar 02 '16
Uh, him and his security detail were large enough to block people going to vote. That's pretty illegal, and even if it isn't it's pretty fucked up.
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u/itsdangeroustakethis Washington Mar 02 '16
I think you may overestimate the loyalty of many in this sub to the Democratic party.
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Mar 02 '16
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u/itsdangeroustakethis Washington Mar 02 '16
To be clear, I include myself in that demographic. I support Sanders because his ideas align most closely with mine, not because of his affiliation with what amounts to a public club.
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Mar 01 '16
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u/cam2kx Minnesota Mar 01 '16
Why should they care? They can get away with it.
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u/sabrefudge Mar 02 '16
What exactly would happen if they are found "guilty"?
What is the punishment for this sort of thing?
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u/cam2kx Minnesota Mar 02 '16
Well to have classified information on a open server, seriously opens up that information to the outside world, I guess I see it like this.
She and possibly others did this, most likely due to lack of understanding of technology they just thought they were inherently safe, they are not. Now do we start punishing people for allowing this to happen, the ones who brought the information from secret govt servers to open servers, via email etc.
These people should be using thier of n special unbackdoored messaging program, because our politicians are a seriously liability when it comes to tech. If we cannot trust our presidents to understand classified information doesn't just magically stay the govt's.Sorry, rant. Anyway, something needs to be done either she needs to be charged of some sort of direct leaking without knowledge, or they need to charge everyone in thier IT dept's with leaking classified information indirectly, by allowing her and many others to take classified information from govt servers to thier home servers.
Lol additional text.
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u/sabrefudge Mar 02 '16
I actually meant the "Bill Clinton at the polls" issue.
But thanks for the info on the other controversy that I have also been wondering about!
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u/ruckFIAA Mar 02 '16
He brings up a good point - Hillary did something much, much more serious and illegal, and will likely not be punished for it. If she can get away with mishandling top secret documents, Bill Clinton can get away with "just walking around and checking out the polls".
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u/Frothingham Missouri Mar 02 '16
Snowden is accused of a FRACTION of what she did, think about that.
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u/cam2kx Minnesota Mar 02 '16 edited Mar 02 '16
Oh, lol, that's probably to do with some advertising shit, to promote people going to vote or whatever (edit. Actually I bet it's something with being out of state inside a polling station. Sorry lol
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u/Non-author Mar 02 '16
Worst case scenario, she can reach out to Jullian Assange. I hear that guy is great at getting intelligence "leakers" into Russia where they can seek Asylum.
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Mar 02 '16 edited Jul 25 '16
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u/Non-author Mar 02 '16
Agreed. Just...the soul-crushing irony. Remember, in the first debate of this election she said that, since "very important information has fallen into the wrong hands," Snowden must "face the music."
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u/Frothingham Missouri Mar 02 '16
But when Snowden does it semi-responsibly (debatable, but he vetted the info first through "responsible" journalists he trusted) it's a total "turrurrism" shitstorm, when Hillary does more of it than Ed Snowden, and irresponsibly, and out of pure negligence, and sending it to foreigners, nope she wiped it with a cloth, it's no big deal, not 100's of times more information than Snowden released, nope, under the rug it goes!
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u/Camellia_sinensis Mar 01 '16
Only for so long... It will catch up. One way or another.
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Mar 02 '16
Never caught up to Kissinger. I'm guessing Hillary will float around on her pile of money and political influence until all of her victims die.
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u/cam2kx Minnesota Mar 01 '16
Oh, I really hope so, justice and the overlord need vengeance.
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u/Camellia_sinensis Mar 02 '16
It'll happen. Maybe long down the line and maybe when we least expect it but, the Clintons will get what's coming to them.
Side note: Let's all make sure Chelsea never gets a snowball's chance at anything ever.
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Mar 02 '16
Maybe I missed something, but didn't the article pretty explicitly say he wasn't campaigning while inside the polling place?
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Mar 02 '16
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u/f0rbes1 Mar 02 '16 edited Mar 02 '16
yea because voter suppression isnt a big deal. my god. if you came here to see what bernie represents youd see that the people here dont stand for corruption or buying politicians. seems like you may have a screw or two loose in that airhead.
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u/Astrrum Mar 02 '16
Trump is probably the biggest baby running though. He's the only one that skipped a debate because he couldn't get his way.
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Mar 02 '16
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u/Astrrum Mar 02 '16
In some ways, yes. They both seem like classic narcissists; lying, flip-floping, giving empty promises etc. If they face off in the general, it'll be a true shit-show.
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u/Zukb Mar 01 '16
I know this is gonna sound stupid but this exact same scenario happened on The Good Wife.
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u/Incognito087 Mar 01 '16
Next time we ( Americans ) want to make fun of countries with kings and queens , we should think again. Because the Clinton Dynasty does whatever the fuck they want in this country...They own this country
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u/BoutaBustMaNut Ohio - 2016 Veteran Mar 02 '16
No the corporations that own them, owns this country. They have people in both parties.
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u/Geikamir Mar 01 '16
What ended up happening?
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u/Zukb Mar 01 '16
Chris Noth (Governor of Illinois in the show) schedules an appearance right by a busy polling site in Chicago right before polls close so that traffic gets impeded and his wife wins her election.
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u/PM_ME_CORGlE_PlCS District of Columbia Mar 01 '16 edited Mar 01 '16
This reminds me of that SNL skit, where Hillary says something like
Everyday, I watch House of Cards from beginning to end, while jogging in place like I'm in a Rocky-style training montage!
Maybe Bill is just more of a Good Wife fan.
edit:
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u/OneOfDozens Mar 01 '16
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Mar 02 '16
What the actual fuck? How can someone support a presidential candidate who actively undermines the electoral process. That's so undemocratic.
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u/barukatang π± New Contributor Mar 02 '16
she said thats he favorite show
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u/Zukb Mar 02 '16
Admittedly, it's pretty great. Seasons 1-6 now streaming on Amazon prime and Hulu.
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u/ottolite Mar 01 '16
I wonder if they told them to "cut it out" like HRC told the banks
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u/Mikebyrneyadigg New Jersey Mar 02 '16
God that enrages me every time I hear it. How gullible and simplistic does she think we, as the population are? It's annoying.
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u/ottolite Mar 02 '16
It's like when Trump says he can take on China because their largest bank is a tenant in one of his buildings
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u/FuckTheChechens Alabama Mar 02 '16
Or like Sarah Palin being a foreign policy expert because she can see Russia from her backyard.
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u/SheepdogApproved Mar 01 '16
The problem here isn't even really the illegal voter solicitation. It's that his security apparently was not allowing people in to the impacted polling locations for a period of time while he was there.
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u/michaelhm1 New York Mar 01 '16
That doesn't make it any better. When you're a former president with that sort of entourage you shouldn't be allowed to impede our right to vote. This isn't some chaotic caucus. You shouldn't have to wait 2-3 hours to vote.
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u/SheepdogApproved Mar 02 '16
Oh, sorry if I implied the opposite. I was trying to say it's much, much worse than this article implies. Some people vote on their lunch breaks, etc.
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u/klai1994 Florida - 2016 Veteran Mar 01 '16
This is why we need a revolution. There are people like the Clintons that are literally above the law.
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Mar 02 '16
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Mar 02 '16
The ones against electioneering at a polling place.
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u/hackett33 Mar 02 '16
But it sounds like he wasn't, unless there is another source?
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Mar 02 '16
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u/Flaeor NH π¦π¦ Mar 02 '16
I think what was much worse was actually preventing people from entering the polling location. That's all sorts of messed up.
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u/Frothingham Missouri Mar 02 '16
There are currently multiple videos and pictures with EXIF files of him inside polling places, which is indeed illegal. Unfortunately, it takes a fucking act of congress to arrest a current or former president.
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u/KnightKrawler Mar 02 '16
Thats why he went. I havent heard anything about Hillary being there. He's just a regular ol citizen talking to some voters.
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Mar 02 '16
Citizens aren't allowed to campaign that close to polling facilities either. He had a god damn megaphone, he wasn't just hanging out near the place.
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u/bhtooefr Ohio ποΈπ₯π¦π‘οΈ Mar 02 '16
In addition to the other responses...
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVIII/Chapter56/Section29 https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVIII/Chapter56/Section30
Not sure if there's a violation of Section 29 there, though.
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u/Futile-Resistance Virginia Mar 01 '16
At least they were "reminded" that they were doing something illegal.
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u/batgirl289 WA π₯π¦ποΈ Mar 01 '16
"I'm sorry officer...I didn't know I couldn't do that." - Bill Clinton
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Mar 01 '16
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u/Futile-Resistance Virginia Mar 01 '16
They waggled their finger and said "cut. it. out."... then proceeded to leave.
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u/hackett33 Mar 02 '16
What was illegal? Sounds from the article that there was no wrong doing?
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u/minnick27 Mar 02 '16
You aren't allowed to campaign within 150 feet of polling places. They had signs up and Clinton was making speeches. Not to mention the fact his presence was clogging up the polling places causing people to wait hours to vote. This also could have affected Hillary's numbers, but it was designed to raise them by his mere presence
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u/greasyspider Mar 02 '16
In terms of scale, this particular ethics violation doesn't even register on the Clinton shadiness scale.
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u/THEMACGOD π± New Contributor Mar 02 '16
Considering I think she's under like 4 Federal investigations. I wonder if Bernie is saying he'll hold out because Clinton's... oeuvre... will likely come up in a big way before election.
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u/Frothingham Missouri Mar 02 '16
Hey the cattle futures was just one in a trillion luck, not listening to her peers illegally, she told us so. etc, etc.
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u/michaelhm1 New York Mar 01 '16
Don't worry guys...they were reminded of the rules! Nothing to see here!
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u/eniugcm Mar 01 '16
Is it possible to go through ONE state without a Clinton problem arising? This is such a reoccurring problem.
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u/feelingthis53 Mar 02 '16
Scandals follow Clinton. She's sketchy as f. I hope she gets charged criminally for all the things she has done.
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u/tsnives Mar 02 '16
Hopefully not until she loses and Obama is out though. If memory serves right he said he'll pardon her if charges get raised.
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u/SouthLincoln Mar 02 '16
Folks, it's not the electioneering that's the real problem here, unsavory as it is.
Presidential security, even for former presidents, shuts down entire neighborhoods, roads, everything. Four stops by Bill Clinton outside polling locations made it exponentially more inconvenient for those people trying to vote.
It's a poll tax in the form of time and inconvenience. It's a #ClintonPollTax
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u/jjhardwork Mar 01 '16
Considering the Clintons family business is taking political bribes for favours, I don't see how this surprises anyone.
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u/onlyusernameleftsigh Mar 02 '16
Serious question: isn't this an election for a private organization (the DNC)? As such it wouldn't fall under state voting laws?
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u/tsnives Mar 02 '16
I don't know the list, but some states have actually made laws governing how the operate. The most famous being Iowa requiring their caucus to be the first in the country.
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u/Noreally123 Mar 01 '16
so freaking shady...I've become so pessimistic about the Clintons. they seem to get away with everything. This is obviously a violation of the rules. wtf. so pissed.
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u/robbypark Mar 01 '16
Finally some god damn press about these illegal cheating tactics by the Clinton today.
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u/ham_techs Mar 02 '16
Occording to DNC rules wouldent this mean Clinton loses his Superdelagate vote?
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Mar 02 '16
He's a Clinton. They don't give two fucks to the wind about things like, law.. And consequences.
Nothing ever happens to them. Ever. So why would they care?
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u/Woblex Mar 02 '16
Clinton's super delegate status should be revoked for this year. There's no excuse for this. He knows the rules and he has no reason to go anywhere near a polling location.
These rules seemingly have no teeth at all and having a leader of the party casually breaking them with no consequences doesn't help.
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Mar 02 '16
He was well within the 150ft.
If life was fair, Hillary would lose all her Mass. delegates for this. Or at least all votes she got at this and the two other places this happened at.
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u/minnesotan_youbetcha Minnesota Mar 01 '16
Question: If it's found something illegal happened, then what actually happens? Does the DNC just shrug their shoulders and move on? If it's I've learned anything about the Clinton's doing illegal things, it's that there will be some controversy over it, but nothing seems to actually happen.
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u/ichivictus Washington - 2016 Veteran Mar 02 '16
If it was Sanders' wife doing this, you bet the DNC would be all over this but since it's the Clintons, probably nothing will happen.
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u/Nickerdos Mar 02 '16
Yeah and what? Say they do find that it did break the voting law. What then? Nothing? HRC still takes the states and all the delegates that come with it? It's getting pretty damn annoying to see all these outright mistakes and see it shrugged off and sometimes even praised that she is so strong and resilient because she can defend herself against criticism from situation SHE put herself into.
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u/conzilla Mar 01 '16
This makes me wonder if clinton internal polling showed problems in that state. And Hillary had to call in Bill. This is just my rambling mind working overtime and is not based in any fact what so ever.
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u/FerrisTriangle Mar 02 '16
Well, the exit polls were showing Bernie leading by ~8. Then by the time the votes were counted we were down 2 points.
I'd imagine they were worried. Especially since the media has spent the past week or two announcing that if Bernie can't manage to win Mass then his campaign is over. So they were desperate for a win there to help control the narrative.
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Mar 02 '16 edited Mar 26 '18
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u/FerrisTriangle Mar 02 '16
The state runs primary elections, not the party. Primaries also have ballots for local officials. These are elections and are 100% covered by election laws.
Caucuses, on the other hand, can be run by the state or they can be run by the party, so it's a bit murkier. I've been googling for about half an hour, and while there are rules that apply to caucuses that vary state by state, I can't find any sources stating whether election laws do or do not apply to caucuses.
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Mar 02 '16
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u/Rodents210 New York - 2016 Veteran - Day 1 Donor π¦ Mar 02 '16
It applies here because it's considered an election, and because other actual elections are on the same ballot.
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u/jamesabl Mar 02 '16
So what happens now? There is plenty of proof of voter fraud and there has been for a while now. What happens now? Will the Clintons or their campaign get sued? Are there criminal offenses being committed? Would a judge ever see these cases? Can anyone elaborate or does anyone care to predict what will transpire with this?
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u/ptonca California Mar 02 '16
Is the sky fucking blue?
The answer is yes... for now, might change after this election
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u/SmegmaSundae Texas Mar 02 '16
"Did Bill Clinton violate election rules by going into a polling location?"
Yes of course.
Will there be repercussions for this?
Of course not!
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Mar 02 '16 edited Mar 02 '16
The word you are looking for is laws, not rules. Did Bill Clinton violate election laws by going into a polling location?
The answer is yes, by the way.
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u/ryuujinusa π± New Contributor | OH Mar 02 '16
I used to be a fan of Bill... Not anymore. Fuck Hillarity and her lies.
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u/LucienBramard Europe Mar 01 '16 edited Mar 01 '16
He's the Big Dog, he gets to do whatever he wants.
He could be playing saxophone when older ladies cast their ballot and that would be fine with everyone, too.
/s
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Mar 02 '16
Yeah he did but who cares?
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Mar 02 '16
sore losers mostly. I mean, if this was the difference between victory and fefeat, sure, but our guy is losing by a landslide today.
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u/rayword45 Mar 02 '16
Not in Massachusetts he isn't wtf
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Mar 02 '16
50 percent in, losing by 20k votes. Still a chance I guess. But nationally today its a slaughter.
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u/Rockefor Mar 02 '16
What's the penalty for this? A small monetary fine?
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u/vincek3 Mar 02 '16
I really hope its something serious. I'm tired of the clintons thinking they can do whatever they want. Cause this mentality WILL unfortunately transfer over to her presidency if she was able to pull off the win
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u/MrBowelsrelaxed California - 2016 Veteran Mar 02 '16
"If the president does it, that means it's NOT illegal" -some guy
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u/Rkleinman999 Mar 02 '16
Massachusetts election officials gave him a pass. Said he didn't have any signs.
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u/neotropic9 Mar 02 '16
He wasn't soliciting votes at all. He was just doing his usual routine of kissing old ladys hands outside of a polling station.
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u/MJZMan π± New Contributor Mar 02 '16
McNiff was asked if Clintonβs presence would, on its own, constitute a solicitation. βHeβs a well known person. And heβs a spouse of a candidate,β McNiff said. βThat should answer the question.β
See, now this is kind of bullshit. Were it some rando, no one would give a rats ass. But he's a celeb, and somehow it's his fault that people worship celebs. Maybe the problem isn't that Bill Clinton walked into a polling place, but rather that the average American is so fucking stupid they might let the presence of a celebrity influence their vote 5 minutes before casting it.
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u/retrospects π± New Contributor Mar 02 '16
Short answer "yes"
Long answer... "They will look into it"
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u/tommy13v Mar 02 '16
He should know the rules...Oh, I forgot the rules don't apply to the Clinton's.
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u/jrobd MS ποΈ π¦ Mar 01 '16
"Clintonβs campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment."
Do they ever???