1867 – Pamphlet describing the unexpected results of an 1867 election of a Pennsylvania state representative which resulted in an astonishing win for the Democratic candidate, but was later exposed to be the result of vote fraud
- SIGNED
- No location identified: No publisher identied, 1867
No location identified: No publisher identied, 1867. Very good. Democratic Frauds. How the Democrats Carried Pennsylvania in 1867 [No. 178]. Author, publisher and location unidentified. In nice shape.
This 11-page pamphlet describes in detail how the Democratic Party fixed this election to win a seat in the Pennsylvania Senate in an overwhelmingly Republican district. After the fraud was revealed the following spring, the criminally-elected Democrat representative was removed from office and replaced by his Republican opponent.
To perpetrate the fraud, the Democrats used recent immigrants to stuff the district ballot box. At the time, a short-line railroad was being built by recently-arrived Irish workers in Clearfield and Centre Counties. The workers were housed in trackside shacks in Clearfield. However, ten days before the election, the workers were moved into Centre County by their road boss, Mark Leddy, and provided with forged naturalization papers, replete with coffee-stain aging, which qualified them to vote. They also received bribes from the state Democratic Committee to cast their fraudulent vote for Samuel T. Shugart. As the investigation progressed, one witness against the Democratic Party was murdered on his way home following his testimony. Others who had been subpoenaed were paid $500 to leave the county while the investigation was conducted. Regardless, the evidence of fraud was overwhelming. The election results were overturned the following April, and Republican John K. Robinson, the true winner of the election, filled the position. . (For more information, see “Election Frauds in Pennsylvania” in the 19 April 1868 edition of the New York Times.)
At the time of listing, two examples are for sale in the trade, and Worthpoint shows one has been sold through . OCLC shows ten institutions hold examples in their collections.
Immigrant manipulation, bribery, ballot stuffing, forgery, witness tampering, and murder: today, similar accusations, with varying degrees of credibility, have been made against the Democratic Party ever since the 2020 election. No doubt, MAGA supporters would claim that the more things change, the more they stay the same. .
This 11-page pamphlet describes in detail how the Democratic Party fixed this election to win a seat in the Pennsylvania Senate in an overwhelmingly Republican district. After the fraud was revealed the following spring, the criminally-elected Democrat representative was removed from office and replaced by his Republican opponent.
To perpetrate the fraud, the Democrats used recent immigrants to stuff the district ballot box. At the time, a short-line railroad was being built by recently-arrived Irish workers in Clearfield and Centre Counties. The workers were housed in trackside shacks in Clearfield. However, ten days before the election, the workers were moved into Centre County by their road boss, Mark Leddy, and provided with forged naturalization papers, replete with coffee-stain aging, which qualified them to vote. They also received bribes from the state Democratic Committee to cast their fraudulent vote for Samuel T. Shugart. As the investigation progressed, one witness against the Democratic Party was murdered on his way home following his testimony. Others who had been subpoenaed were paid $500 to leave the county while the investigation was conducted. Regardless, the evidence of fraud was overwhelming. The election results were overturned the following April, and Republican John K. Robinson, the true winner of the election, filled the position. . (For more information, see “Election Frauds in Pennsylvania” in the 19 April 1868 edition of the New York Times.)
At the time of listing, two examples are for sale in the trade, and Worthpoint shows one has been sold through . OCLC shows ten institutions hold examples in their collections.
Immigrant manipulation, bribery, ballot stuffing, forgery, witness tampering, and murder: today, similar accusations, with varying degrees of credibility, have been made against the Democratic Party ever since the 2020 election. No doubt, MAGA supporters would claim that the more things change, the more they stay the same. .