Robin Hayes wants to win by throwing out votes.

"Lawyers for U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes on Wednesday challenged provisional ballots across the 8th Congressional District, including nearly two-thirds of those in Mecklenburg County alone. The protests, which could set the stage for legal fights, came before the ballots are even counted." [Charlotte Observer, 11/16/2006]

Just today, Cumberland County (the county with the second largest total of provisional ballots in the 8th District) counted and Larry Kissell led Hayes by 16 votes (103 Kissell, 87 Hayes). The Hayes team challenged 294 ballots in Cumberland, though the Associated Press reported that there were only 281 outstanding provisionals there. In Cumberland County, the home of Ft. Bragg, Robin Hayes seeks to potentially ignore the ballots of military families.

Robin Hayes' opposition to counting valid votes goes back at least as far as the 2000 Florida recount for Bush/Gore. A Charlotte Observer story when the Florida Supreme Court ordered a statewide recount confirms Hayes' disregard for the will of voters.

Robin Hayes in 2000: "Hayes has little sympathy for those who cast the disputed ballots the court ordered recounted. Most were punch cards whose presidential votes machines could not read. 'We vote with the same machines in Cabarrus County that they use in Florida,' he said. 'Somebody ought to send the IRS down to these counties, because if they can't punch out a ballot, they sure can't fill out an IRS form.'" [Charlotte Observer, 12/9/2000]

Robin Hayes' spokeswoman Carolyn Hern today: "Is [Kissell] trying to find hanging chads?" [Fayetteville Observer, 11/16/2006]

Sound familiar?

"The North Carolina Democratic Party is committed to making sure that every valid vote is counted in every race. That's what democracy is all about," said North Carolina Democratic Chair Jerry Meek. "For Hayes to try to throw out provisional ballots cast by registered voters in good faith and often at the direction of election officials is a slap in the face to representative government. We shouldn't be surprised, though. As we saw in Florida in 2000, in the Superintendent of Public Instruction race in North Carolina in 2004, and in Robin Hayes' own comments, Republicans have no qualms about throwing out votes. We must preserve our democracy and uphold the will of voters, regardless of the outcome."