Topic category:  Government/Politics

Texas-based King Street Patriots (www.kingstreetpatriots.org/)is committed to (1) Freedom, (2) Capitalism, (3) American Exceptionalism, (4) Constitutional Governance and (5)Civic Duty.

No wonder it was reflexively called racist and accused of voter intimidation in Harris County by the Texas Democratic Party and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee after it very inconveniently produced evidence of voter registration fraud before the 2008 elections (see http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/politics/101028-king-street-patriots-say-theyre-not-intimidating-anyone).

The truth is that King Street Patriots' critically important (and nonpartisan) cause is election integrity.

Its inspiring and challenging True The Vote message is set forth at www.truethevote.org/:

"Election fraud attacks the heart of our political system and threatens our rights as citizens. What will you do about it?

"In 2009, a group of citizens volunteered to work at the polls in Houston, Texas. We were shocked by what we discovered. We watched as Election Officials often failed to check voters’ identification, disregarded polling documentation requirements, and routinely accompanied voters to the voting booth and told them who they should or should not vote for, going so far as to fully prepare the ballot, make all selections, and instruct the voter to 'press here to vote'. Free and fair elections are an American birthright.

"True the Vote is a initiative developed by citizens for citizens, to inspire and equip volunteers for involvement at every stage of our electoral process and to actively protect the rights of legitimate voters, regardless of their political party affiliation.

"Our government was built upon the belief that election results represent the true will of the people; our election processes were always intended to be supported by citizen volunteers. If you are one of the millions of Americans outraged by the corruption of our government, help stop the corruption where it starts – at the polls. Sign up right here, right now. Let’s work together to true the vote in every election across our nation!

"If our elections are not truly fair…we are not truly free."

That's the colorblind truth!

King Street Patriots really believes in "one person, one vote" and realizes that election integrity is much too important for the people to leave it to politicians.

The True the Vote platform--aimed at assuring election integrity--is simple and straight forward:

"Voter registration

"A photo ID and proof of citizenship should be required to register to vote.

"The registration period should end at least one week before an election.

"States should be required to clean up their registration lists by comparing them with lists of citizens who have died, been convicted of felonies, or relocated. State election officials should be permitted to set up centralized national lists of such individuals. Federal immigration lists of non-citizens should be made available to the states.

"Felons should not be permitted to register or vote before completing their sentences.

"Absentee voting

"The use of absentee ballots should be limited to individuals who are unable to vote in person, including those who are ill or disabled, and soldiers stationed overseas. A copy of a photo ID should be submitted along with all absentee ballots. The signatures on absentee ballots should either be notarized or witnessed by two other individuals who provide their own addresses and telephone numbers. The number of voter signatures any one individual is permitted to witness should be limited. Only voters, immediate family members and caregivers should be allowed to deliver absentee ballots on behalf of voters.

"Provisional ballots

"The use of provisional ballots should be limited to voters who actually need them. Provisional voters should affirm that they are registered and eligible to vote, and display a photo ID to the election official, who then verifies eligibility at the central registration office. Voters who are at the wrong polling place should be sent to the correct one.

"Voting at a polling place

"A photo ID should be required as identification at the polls when appearing in person to vote.

"Election monitoring and sanctions for fraud

"Non-partisan groups should be permitted to appoint poll watchers.

"State officials should be given greater powers to investigate election abuses.

"Individuals who commit vote fraud should be routinely prosecuted, fined, and jailed. At present, such prosecutions are infrequent and jail sentences are almost non-existent.

"Organizations that systematically engage in vote fraud should be charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act."

The claim that election fraud is a myth is a lie.

Last weekend the True The Vote National Summit was held in Houston.

Based on that summit, it appears that the good work of the King Street Patriots will be emulated across America.

See reports by Warner Todd Huston ("Free and Fair Elections True The Vote Style" at http://emergingcorruption.com/2011/03/free-and-fair-elections-true-the-vote-style and Robert Reilly ("Tea Party-Backed Anti-Voter Fraud Effort Touts Non-Partisanship At First National Conference" at http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/tea_party-backed_anti-voter_fraud_effort_touts_non-partisanship_at_first_national_conference.php).

Fittingly, Catherine Engelbrecht, the mother/wife/businesswoman heading King Street Patriots, closed the National Summit by displaying a "belt of truth" that had been sent to her as a supporter and referenced Ephesians 6.

Ephesians 6:10-20 (http://bible.org/seriespage/spiritual-warfare-ephesians-610-20) states:

"10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

"14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak."

Thanks be to God, Mrs. Engelbrecht and her fellow King Street Patriots have not been intimidated and the national summit they called brought people from 26 other states who intend to do much more than hope for fair elections in the future.

Michael J. Gaynor

Biography - Michael J. Gaynor

Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.

Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.

The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.

Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.

Gaynor's email address is gaynormike@aol.com.