On Monday, Chris McDaniel took his quest to view original voting records to the Mississippi Supreme Court!
Then on Tuesday, a Jackson County Circuit Court Judge gave the McDaniel camp a favorable ruling for access to Jackson County poll books!GulfLive: McDaniel asked Monday for an emergency order forcing Harrison County Circuit Clerk Gayle Parker to let him see original copies of poll books. He's trying to prove people who voted in the June 3 Democratic primary illegally voted in the June 24 Republican runoff won by incumbent U.S. Sen Thad Cochran. Cochran finished with a 7,667-vote margin of victory, according to official results.
McDaniel ultimately is trying to persuade a court to order a new runoff, arguing his loss was tainted by illegality. His lawyers say they have a right to the full original records...
Last week, McDaniel announced that the tally of questionable ballots was up to 8,300!GulfLive: Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Robert Krebs ordered Jackson County Circuit Clerk Joe Martin to allow Chris McDaniel campaign supporters access to poll books from the June 3 and June 24 Republican U.S. Senate elections during an writ of mandamus emergency hearing this morning.
State Sen. Michael Watson of Pascagoula argued the case for McDaniel, one of his close friends and political allies.
McDaniel's campaign is trying to gather information on voting "irregularities" across the state to challenge his June 24 runoff loss to Sen. Thad Cochran. Cochran finished with a 7,667-vote margin of victory, according to official results.
I think the time is fitting for that great GalaxyQuest quote...TPM: Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel (R) said Friday that his campaign and his supporters have found "over 8,300 questionable ballots cast" in the runoff election for U.S. Senate, which Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) won.
"For the last two weeks, more than two hundred volunteers for from all over Mississippi have worked tirelessly in an effort to gain access to election records in order to ensure the integrity of the primary process in Mississippi," McDaniel said in a statement on Friday. "We have found over 8,300 questionable ballots cast, many of which were unquestionably cast by voters ineligible to participate in the June 24th runoff election."
Earlier in the week McDaniel's lawyer said the campaign had found proof that "several thousand" ineligible voters cast their ballot in the runoff. Cochran won the runoff by 7,667 votes. McDaniel's campaign is hoping to prove that Cochran was only declared the winner through counting faulty votes and there should be a new election.
ADDENDUM: Erick Erickson confirmed yesterday that Senate Republican leaders INDEED paid for attacks against McDaniel and conservatives...
Also, Matthew Boyle reports today that top conservatives are demanding that Reince Priebus investigate and censure Henry Barbour for the GOP establishment's race-baiting tactics...RedState: The advertisements attacked Mississippi State Senator Chris McDaniel and painted conservative Republicans and tea party activists as racists. According to documents filed with the Federal Elections Commission, All Citizens for Mississippi received funding from a Haley Barbour backed group called Mississippi Conservatives.
Mississippi Conservatives, in turn, was funded in part by Sally Bradshaw of the RNC’s Growth and Opportunity Project, former RNC Chairman and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, the United States Chamber of Commerce, and the political action committees created for Senators Mitch McConnell ($50,000), John Cornyn ($50,000), Rob Portman ($25,000), Bob Corker ($25,000), and Roy Blunt ($5,000).
Related links: Report shows close ties between 2 pro-Cochran super PACsBreitbart: A coalition of powerful conservative leaders, led by the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund, is demanding that Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus censure RNC committeeman Henry Barbour for his role in racially incendiary appeals to Democratic voters that voting for Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) was a means of helping stop the Tea Party.
The coalition, which includes TPPCF Chair Jenny Beth Martin, ForAmerica Chairman Brent Bozell, Let Freedom Ring President Colin Hanna, FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe, ConservativeHQ Chairman Richard Viguerie, former RNC grassroots director Drew Ryun, Family Research Council Action PAC Chairman Tony Perkins, and SOS4SOS PAC Chairman Ken Blackwell, is calling on Priebus to create a special RNC committee to investigate the matter and eventually issue a formal RNC repudiation of the actions taken in Mississippi.
In the letter, the coalition details how Cochran’s allies—specifically RNC committeeman Henry Barbour, through his role atop the pro-Cochran Super PAC Mississippi Conservatives PAC—“adjusted” their strategy heading into the June 24 runoff after state Sen. Chris McDaniel won more votes than Cochran in the June 3 primary “by deciding to reach out to Democrats, many of whom voted in the June 3 Democratic primary election.”
“It is illegal in Mississippi for Democrats to vote in a Republican runoff election if they previously voted in the Democratic primary, and thousands of irregular and potentially illegal ballots from the runoff election have already been identified,” the coalition wrote to Priebus.
Rove American Crossroads In Mississippi Controversy
