BY LINDA BENTLEY | AUGUST 21, 2013
Soetoro White House voter registration under investigation
‘[I]t is … the focus of an investigation into a specific alleged illegal act which could, if proved, result in civil or criminal sanctions’
WASHINGTON – A few weeks ago, we published an article: “Voter fraud at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?” exposing a voter registration under the name Barry Soetoro, the name President Barack Obama used while attending elementary school as a citizen of Indonesia, using the White House’s address.
It was also pointed out that both Obama and the First Lady are registered to vote in Chicago.
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was submitted on July 22 to the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics (DCBEE) director asking for a copy of the voter registration, if Soetoro voted in the Nov. 6, 2012 election, and what the process is for verifying voter registrations submitted by mail and online.
Senior Staff Attorney Terri Stroud responded almost immediately to acknowledge the request and state she would respond to the request on before Aug. 12 by making the documents requested, or a legally segregable portion thereof, available or notify me of her determination not to make the requested document available.
Stroud responded on Aug. 12, as promised, denying my request.
She wrote, “I am writing to inform you that your request for a copy of a voter registration application submitted under the name “Barry Soetoro” is being denied pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 2-534(a)(3), as it is a record which is the focus of an investigation into a specific alleged illegal act which could, if proved, result in civil or criminal sanctions.
“With respect to the questions posed in your FOIA request concerning voter history and the Board’s process for verifying voter registrations submitted by mail and entered online, under the law, an agency ‘has no duty either to answer questions unrelated to document requests or to create documents.’ Zemansky v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 767 F.2d 569, 574 (9th Cir. 1985). The law only requires the disclosure of nonexempt documents, not answers to interrogatories. See Di Viaio v. Kelley, 571 F.2d 538, 542-543 (10th Cir. 1978).
“Please be advised that if you deem this response to be a denial of your request, you have the right to appeal to the Mayor, or you may seek judicial review in the Superior Court, pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 2-537 and 3 D.C.M.R. § 2012.1. If you elect to appeal to the Mayor, your appeal should: 1) be in writing; 2) include a statement of the arguments, circumstances, or reasons in support of the information sought by your request, and; 3) include a copy of our written letter issued to you.”
Shortly after Soetoro’s registration at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. was exposed it was removed from the voter registration system and entering the name Barry Soetoro, Obama’s birth date of Aug. 4, 1961 and the White House Zip Code 20500 returned the following message: “The Board of Elections and Ethics does not have a record matching the information you supplied.”
According to Stroud, the DCBEE will not explain its registration process because it is not a specific document even though the questions asked were indeed related to the document request.
It appears FOIA is being redefined by Stroud to pertain only to documents, not information.
If the DCBEE refuses to inform citizens about the voter registration process and whether or not fraudulently registered people have voted, it seems our electoral process can be easily hijacked without explanation or accountability.
Only time will tell if this investigation will be swept under the rug along with all the other “phony scandals” plaguing the Obama administration.
