Voter suppression tactics

The FBI is reportedly investigating allegations that Republicans in Virginia - where the race between George Allen and Jim Webb could determine control of the U.S. Senate - are using misleading telephone calls in an effort to suppress the Democratic vote. Some Virginia Democrats have reported receiving calls telling them falsely that their polling places have been moved; one says he got a call in which he was told again, falsely that he wasn't registered in the Commonwealth and could be arrested if he tried to vote there.

Plus the misleading and harassing robo-calls paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee. Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo has been tracking the calls. In them, a prerecorded voice tells voters that they're about to receive important information about a Democratic candidate. If the voter stays on the line, he or she hears negative information about the Democrat. If the voter hangs up, a computer dialer redials the same number repeatedly, misleading voters into thinking that they're being besieged by calls by a Democratic candidate.

gotta love those GOP "suppress the vote" tactics...

Plus, another poignant commentary from Keith Olbermann
(transcript at Crooks and Liars)