So Who's Trying to Steal the Election?

With the election less than 24 hours away, both Republicans and Democrats are trading accusations of election-stealing. Within two minutes of each other, press releases arrived in Newsdesk's e-mailbox warning of malicious conduct on Election Day.

First to arrive was a release from the Texas Democratic Party, warning that "poll watchers" being trained by Republican-affiliated groups are really teams organized to intimidate minorities from voting. It read, in part:

In Tarrant County, a local Tea Party website asking for poll watchers states, “Some locations are not in very safe areas, so this is not for the timid". In Travis County, at a Republican poll watcher training session, the Chair of the local Republican Party stated that they wanted to place poll watchers principally in the “Southeast” and “East” Austin precincts, specifically where large numbers of minority voters would go to the polls.

“There’s no question that these actions constitute an all-out assault on minority voting rights, but it’s not just minorities who should be concerned," TDP Chairman Boyd Richie was quoted as saying. "When any one group of people is infringing on the voting rights of another group, that’s an attack on the most sacred pillars of our democracy."

The release goes on to accuse a Republican operative of "walking between the voters down the aisle, obstructing the aisle, and looking into voting booths as people were casting their ballots."

Then came the Republican blast, repeated their common (but unproven) refrain that hordes of illegal immigrants are being organized by Democrats to tip elections:

The national organization called Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) is calling on allied organizations, Tea Party groups, and conservative campaigns and activists to transport like minded voters to the polls on Election Day. This will compensate for voter fraud and illegal immigrant voters being fielded by the Democratic political machines.

"America is about to experience our first Chicago Style national election," said William Gheen President of ALIPAC. "Democrats are trying to limit their losses on Election Day by cheating and encouraging illegal aliens to vote in the 2010 elections, which by the way is a felony!"

If you're worried about being harassed or prevented from voting, read this list of your rights as a voter. The most important thing to remember: DO NOT LEAVE THE POLLING PLACE WITHOUT CASTING A BALLOT. Even if you lack proper ID or your name doesn't appear on the voting rolls, you can cast a provisional ballot that, if your eligibility to vote is later confirmed, will be counted.