Anchorage Assembly Votes Against Special Counsel To Investigate Election Fraud

Even though the anti-gay Christian hate group running the No On 5 campaign acknowledges that they wrongly told residents they could vote on the same day they registered, the Anchorage Assembly has decided against assigning a special investigator to look into election fraud regarding last week's vote on LGBT rights.

The Anchorage Assembly rejected a resolution on a 7-4 vote Tuesday night to appoint a special counsel to investigate irregularities and ballot shortages during last week's city elections. One of the speakers in favor of the special counsel at the Assembly meeting was ACLU of Alaska Executive Director Jeffrey Mittman, who announced at a press conference earlier Tuesday that the group believes the ballot shortages denied some city residents their constitutional right to vote.

Some members of the Assembly feel a re-vote is in order.

The clerk's office, which runs the elections, has said that 53 of 121 precincts at least temporarily ran short on ballots, based on a preliminary review. The shortages frustrated voters who drove from polling place to polling place in search of a way to choose their mayor and pick sides in the fractious gay rights debate. One Assembly member said during a break that the election irregularities may have been severe enough to justify a redo. "That's my gut feeling," said Harriet Drummond, who chairs the Assembly elections and ethics committee. She said she's also heard of problems with improperly addressed absentee ballots as well as the ballot shortage.

Meanwhile the Liberty Counsel is declaring victory over dirty homos.

"This was a stunning defeat, because the homosexual agenda organizations thought that they were going to have this as an agenda that would just simply roll through Anchorage, perhaps through Alaska, and then push this across the country," he explains. "They were stopped dead in their tracks."Religious organizations and churches in the area rallied in opposition to Proposition 5 and were successful in turning out voters. "This is a great celebration for the family," Staver asserts. "It's a great victory for those of us who believe that we should not elevate sexual behavior to a protected status like race."

ACLU Demands Voter Fraud Investigation Of Anchorage LGBT Rights Referendum

Earlier this week we learned that a coalition of Christian churches headed by anti-gay activist Jim Minnery (left) had encouraged illegal voting in Anchorage's LGBT rights referendum. Anchorage Municipal Clerk Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein has said that she has reason to believe that people from outside of Anchorage had "crashed" the election. Yesterday the ACLU called for a special counsel to investigate the growing scandal surrounding the vote.

As an internal city review of what went wrong in Tuesday's Anchorage election moves forward, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska is calling for a special counsel to investigate the matter. So far, 59 of 121 voting precincts have been reviewed by the city clerk's office and just over half, 31, ran out of the preprinted ballot cards at some point, according to the clerk's office. A vote for mayor and a hotly contested, emotional gay rights measure were among the issues on the ballot. ACLU executive director Jeffrey Mittman sent letters to Anchorage Assembly Chairwoman Debbie Ossiander, City Clerk Barbara Gruenstein and municipal attorney Dennis Wheeler calling for "an independent, special counsel to investigate the conduct of the April 3, 2012 Municipal Election." Ossiander said it's too early to begin an independent investigation. The city clerk and six-member Election Commission need time to do their work, she said.

RELATED: Jim Minnery is the cousin of Focus On The Family vice president Tom Minnery, who was famously slapped down by Sen. Al Franken during anti-gay testimony before Congress.

ANCHORAGE: Anti-Gay Group May Have Caused Legit Voters To Be Turned Away

Yesterday we learned that Anchorage's anti-gay coalition of Christian churches encouraged its supporters to vote illegally against the proposed ballot measure that would have granted housing and job protections to LGBT residents. But did that dirty trick also cause polls to run out of ballots and turn away legitimate voters?

Initial reports Tuesday linked the ballot shortages with an erroneous email from Proposition 5 opponent Jim Minnery (PDF) with the group Protect Your Rights, claiming people could register and vote at the same polling place on Election Day or vote in precincts other than their own. “We want to reassure voters who ended up voting questioned ballots because of the shortage that their vote counts,” officials wrote. “Voters who were properly registered at least 30 days before the election and qualified to vote will have their vote counted in accordance with the law. However, voters who registered to vote yesterday will likely not have their votes counted. We are currently aware of only 121 voters who registered yesterday.”

Gruenstein’s office also said that it would not be able to respond to requests for information "on an ongoing basis," and instead would send out press releases as information became available. Connie Sumida, an election precinct leader at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Mountain View, told Channel 2 she was informed by a supervisor that some polling places closed before the official 8 p.m. closure of polls. She said election workers at St. Anthony’s were forced to make copies of the front cover of their last ballot -- a two-sided document -- and make do. In an interview, Sumida said it was an “atrocity” for polling places to run out of ballots, and that Tuesday’s election should be “thrown out.”

Focus Cheers Anchorage Vote

Anchorage In Uproar: Anti-Gay Hate Group Exposed For Encouraging Voter Fraud

The anti-gay hate group formed by a coalition of local churches has been exposed for encouraging voter fraud in yesterday's Anchorage referendum on LGBT rights. As the Facebook screenshot caught by the blog Bent Alaska proves, No On 5 called for unregistered voters to illegally register and vote on the same day. Voter registration for yesterday's election actually closed thirty days ago.

No On 5's Facebook posting was called out immediately by a commenter who was instantly shouted down and told "go back to your pervert website!" Despite a chorus of objections, the post remained up. Bent Alaska's expose has been picked up by local television.

Deputy Municipal Clerk Jacqueline Duke told KTVA because of misinformation election workers have an influx of thousands of questioned ballots coming in. The problem was caused by the controversial Prop 5 initiative that would add legal protections against discrimination to also include sexual orientation and transgender identity. The opponents of the proposition, led by the Alaska Family Council's Jim Minnery, put a message on its “Vote No on Prop 5” website saying people could both register to vote and cast their ballot today. That is not case as both city and state laws state you have to register at least 30 days before an election for it to count.

Election officials will likely now have to hand-sort all of the ballots and disqualify those made by voters who registered on the same day. But how? Congrats to Bent Alaska for fantastic work.

Gay Rights Bill Fails In Anchorage As Christianist Group Pulls Illegal Trick

After a repulsive and lie-filled campaign from local Christians, it appears that Proposition 5 has failed in Anchorage.

In a citywide ballot measure, voters were overwhelmingly rejecting language, known as Proposition 5, that would have added protections for people regardless of “sexual orientation or transgender identity” to the city’s civil rights laws. There was some uncertainty over the vote late Tuesday. A surprisingly strong turnout caused many polling sites to run out of ballots, raising questions about the impact of ballots filed at locations other than a voter’s intended precinct. Still, with 94 percent of the vote believed to be counted late Tuesday in Anchorage, the measure was failing 58 percent to 42, defying polls showing it would succeed.

The New York Times notes: "Opposition was led by conservative religious leaders in Alaska, including within the Catholic Church, and was financed largely by one source, the Anchorage Baptist Temple and its leader, the Rev. Jerry Prevo."

UPDATE: JMG reader Alison points out that a dirty illegal trick by the opposition may affect the final result.

A Facebook post by the "No on 5" campaign erroneously stated that unregistered voters could register on election day and have their vote counted. City code requires that a voter register 30 days prior to an election if they wish to take part, and City Clerk Gruenstein confirmed that, saying those that registered on election day will automatically have their ballots placed with other questionable ballots. Ultimately, those who registered on election day will have their votes denied. But she couldn't say how many such votes had been cast. "Will a lot of those questioned ballots be tossed because they're not registered? I can't say for certain, but it’s possible," she said. Like Honeman, the One Anchorage campaign, which backed Prop. 5, will wait for all the evidence to come in before deciding how to proceed.

"Erroneously"? Right.

NOM Tweets Against Anchorage Vote

Tomorrow's vote in Anchorage has nothing to do with marriage, but NOM is urging its following to watch those viciously anti-trans cartoons and vote against protecting LGBT people from employment and housing discrimination. NOM just doesn't want to rip apart your families, they want you homeless and jobless as well. Pure and bald-faced evil.

Here's Another Nasty Anti-Trans Ad From Alaska's Loving Christian Churches

Although the proposed bill in Anchorage would protect the entire LGBT community, God's Gentle People once again focus on the most vulnerable. Send the good guys some money.

Alaska Haters Launch Anti-Trans Ad

One Anchorage is demanding that the opposition pull an insulting anti-transgender commercial.

In the ad, a cartoon "transvestite" who wants to work at a day care is drawn as a man with a jutting jaw and body hair, wearing a short pink dress, red high heels and lipstick. If Prop. 5 passes, the narrator of the ad says, "it will be illegal for Carol to refuse a job to a transvestite who wants to work with toddlers." That imagery is an "offensive, stigmatizing and distorted" representation of a transgender person, said Trevor Storrs, a spokesman for the One Anchorage campaign. Transgender people are twice as likely as the general population to be assaulted, Storrs said, and the imagery in the ad "is definitely fanning the flames of fear that can lead to hate and violence."

(Via Think Progress)

ANCHORAGE: Christian Hate Groups To Battle Against Proposed LGBT Rights Bill

For 35 years, LGBT residents of Anchorage, Alaska have battled for employment and housing protections. Time after time Christian groups have beaten them back. Last week activists successfully placed a referendum on the November ballot which adds the words "sexual orientation and gender identity" to this long list: "race, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, age, physical disability, and mental disability." The result? Outrage, websites, and a vow to defeat LGBT rights yet again.

How To Help Anchorage

For years I've blogged about the attempt to gain LGBT protections in Anchorage, Alaska, a campaign that has been ongoing for the last 35 years. Today Dan Savage tips us to an opportunity to help.

The LGBT community in Anchorage—sick of waiting for basic civil rights protections—decided to put an equal rights initiative on the ballot. One Anchorage needed to gather 5,871 signatures to qualify; they quickly gathered 13,600 signatures. Voters in Anchorage will say "yes" or "no" to Proposition 5 on April 3. The mayor and city council don't have the power to veto or rescind a voter-approved initiative. So voters here approve Prop 5, Anchorage will finally—after 35 years—have an equal rights law that protects LGBT citizens. [snip] To combat the inevitable, last-minute anti-gay/anti-trans hate campaign, One Anchorage is raising money to get television ads on the air up here in the last weeks of the campaign. They're asking people to consider donating $35—one dollar for each year that Anchorage has been fighting for equality and basic civil rights protection.

Hit the links for more info and donation pages.

ALASKA: National Anti-Gay Group Joins Local LGBT Employment Battle

In April voters in Anchorage, Alaska will decide whether the city should adopt protections for LGBT residents. The ballot measure was forced by thousands of signatures on a petition drive backed by the local Catholic Church. Just joining the battle is the Alliance Defense Fund, who contends that businesses should have the right to deny employment to gay people.

The main problem as the Alliance Defense Fund sees it is that private business owners could be forced to hire or do business with people whose sexual orientation doesn't match their religious beliefs, said Holly Carmichael, a lawyer for the fund. "The ultimate concern with enacting something like that is that it infringes on religious freedoms," Carmichael said. "There's a huge constitutional concern here." Both Carmichael and Daniel, the Anchorage attorney, agree that religious organizations are protected by an exemption already in city law that says religious institutions and groups can give preferential treatment to people of the same religion if they are, for example, hiring someone who will promote religious principles. The Defense Fund analyzed the Anchorage initiative several weeks ago at the request of the Alaska Family Council, a conservative Christian organization that opposes the initiative. We just want to be really clear about the consequences of enacting it," said Jim Minnery, Alaska Family Council president.

The Anchorage City Assembly first approved an LGBT rights bill in 2009, but the measure was vetoed by the mayor.

ALASKA: Anchorage Tries Again With New LGBT Non-Discrimination Referendum

In 2009 the Anchorage Assembly approved a bill banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The mayor promptly vetoed it. Activists are now attempting to take the issue to the ballot box.

One Anchorage wants voters to add "sexual orientation or transgender identity" to the list, said the group's spokesman, Trevor Storrs. "It's a new name for a very old cause that we've all been working toward, which is the same legal protections for all. It's been going on for decades," Storrs said. "What this initiative does is ensures that the gay and transgender Alaskans, who work hard and play by the rules, will have the exact same legal protections as any other Anchorage resident."

You may recall that Christianists groups staged many large and noisy protests to the previous bill.

No Veto Override In Anchorage

Last week the mayor of Anchorage vetoed a gay rights bill that had passed the city's assembly by one vote. And now it looks like there will be no attempt to override his veto.

The Anchorage Assembly has less than two weeks left to override the mayor's veto of the gay rights ordinance. But the ordinance's author says it likely will not be done. Patrick Flynn says the Assembly would have to start all over if it wants to pass the ordinance. According to Flynn, it simply does not have the support -- it would take eight votes to override the mayor's veto and the ordinance only passed seven votes. Flynn says the ordinance was an attempt to get rid of discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender people. Critics say it would intrude on freedom of religion.

Over 30 years ago the current Anchorage mayor's father vetoed similar legislation.

Anchorage Mayor Vetoes LGBT Rights

Anchorage, Alaska Mayor Dan Sullivan has vetoed the LGBT rights bill that his city's Assembly approved last week.

"My review shows that there is clearly a lack of quantifiable evidence necessitating this ordinance," Sullivan said. "My review also shows that the vast majority of those who communicated their position ... are in opposition. "As elected officials, we are charged with reflecting the will of the community in our decisions, particularly in the absence of compelling data that would supersede that will." [Equality Works spokesperson] Jackie Buckley, however, called the veto "a giant step backwards. Equality Works is very disappointed that the mayor has failed to allow the good work of the Assembly to proceed," she said in a telephone interview minutes after the veto was announced. "This was an opportunity. It was good for business, so Anchorage could attract and retain the best employees and customers. This is a giant step backwards by the mayor, not seeing that. "Civil rights are not a popularity contest," she said. "This is not the sort of thing (where) you can say, 'I've had 500 phone calls, so this is a bad idea.' "

Anti-gay bigots told the mayor that discrimination against gays in Anchorage does not exist and he says he believes them. What a fucking crock. The city's Assembly meets again in three weeks and may discuss a vote to overide the mayor's veto. Eight votes are needed, the bill passed last week 7-4. Over 30 years ago, Sullivan's father vetoed similar legislation as mayor. Like bigot, like son.

Anchorage Passes Gay Rights Bill

After weeks of often ugly debate, the Anchorage, Alaska city council has voted to approve an ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Anchorage Assembly members fought back tears Tuesday night before a decision three months in the making -- approval of a city-wide ordinance making it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation. The 7 to 4 decision came down Tuesday night after the assembly heard from more than 600 people who signed up to testify throughout the summer. The evening was emotional even before the decision, but this time it came from the other side of the testifying podium -- the assembly members themselves. After months and months of listening to public testimony on the controversial anti-discrimination ordinance, it was the assembly's turn to talk -- and they rivaled the emotion of the 600 speakers before them. "The rest of the people in this community deserve equal rights just like the rest of us," said assembly member Elvi Gray-Jackson. "We need to treat each other well in this world, and we don't, and I wish we did," assembly chair Debbie Ossiander said.

Anchorage's mayor has seven days to decide whether he will veto the bill.

Anchorage Hears Gay Rights Bill

As a noisy anti-gay crowd outside waved signs saying "Truth is not hate!," the Anchorage, Alaska city Assembly heard public arguments on their proposed bill to outlaw discrimination against gays for housing, employment, and finance. Opponents were dressed in red, which has become the signature color for anti-gay hate.

Allison Mendel, an attorney, told the Assembly, "I want to be able to put my wedding picture on my desk just like you do without being fired for doing it." She said she's had other attorneys, "on the record in court cases accuse me of having particular opinions in a case because I'm a lesbian and therefore I should not be listened to." "Clients tell me horrible stories ...(about being) fired because someone thought they were gay whether they were or not," she said. Others, including former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman, opposed the proposal, reminding Assembly members that Alaska voters have come down against same-sex marriage in a 1990s constitutional amendment. Stan Roach, pastor of the Independent Baptist Church, likened the ordinance to the early days of legal abortion, which he said started in cases of rape and threats to a woman's life and expanded. "That's what this sexual orientation is going to do," he said. "It's going to grow. ..."God made man and God made woman, and I've seen some people tonight, I don't know what they are," Roach said.

The hearing went on until 11pm, by which time 88 of the over 200 people in line to speak at the podium had gotten a turn.

Anchorage AK Considers Gay Rights Bill

Alaska's largest city is considering a gay rights bill prohibiting housing and employment discrimination, but as usual, a wingnut group with "family" in their name is fighting for the right to be bigots.

The ordinance would also prohibit discrimination against military veterans, but opponents claim the measure tacked on vets to make it appeal to more people. "There isn't really a tie between those who are veterans of wars and those who are having sexual orientation issues," said Jim Minnery with the Alaska Family Council. Those against the ordinance say it would limit religious liberties, not civil liberties. "We don't believe homosexuals and lesbians are being homeless and without jobs because of their sexual orientation," said Minnery. "There's plenty of businesses and landlords across the community that are more than willing to be tolerant." The same issue came before the Assembly in the 1970s. It was approved, but was vetoed by then-Mayor George Sullivan, father of current Mayor-elect Dan Sullivan.

Anchorage's interim mayor says he'd sign the bill. Hopefully the Assembly will get it to him before the incoming asshat takes office.