The FBI is investigating a complaint about possible attempted voter suppression in Virginia:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the possibility of voter intimidation in the U.S. Senate race between Sen. George Allen, a Republican, and Democratic challenger James Webb, officials told NBC News.
It just coincidentally happens to be a very tight race. AND:
State officials alerted the Justice Department on Tuesday to several complaints of suspicious phone calls to voters who attempted to misdirect or confuse them about election day, Jean Jensen, Secretary of the Virginia State Board of Elections, told NBC’s David Shuster.
Jensen told NBC that she had been contacted by FBI agents. The FBI in Richmond refused to comment.
State Democratic Party counsel Jay Myerson said in a written statement issued by the Webb campaign that he believed Republicans are behind an orchestrated effort to suppress votes for the Democratic challenger.
The GOP insists it’s not doing anything wrong:
Republican officials, including the executive director of the Virginia Republican Party, have told NBC that the GOP and Allen campaign are focused on mobilizing voters and have not discouraged anyone from voting.
This will be one of the keys to look at today and throughout the election:
(1) Are all Americans being allowed to show up and vote?
(2) Are all Americans being discouraged in various ways from voting?
(3) Who is gaining from such efforts?
(4) Is there a pattern?
The problems of 2000 and 2004 are still hotly debated. Democrats said they were had. Republicans often dismiss these claims as exaggerations. Today is a new Election Day and people of both parties, and those who don’t belong to any, should be watching closely to see that all citizens are allowed to cast their votes without interference or game-playing.
UPDATE: This You Tube clip has one of the alleged calls.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.