Because: Super Stationmaster Tama
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
So You Think You Can Vote?
Here’s a partial roundup of recently reported election fraud. Wee! (I’m not even touching on voting machine fraud here… I imagine it will be easier to spot post-election.)
Most of this information has been taken from the Brennan Center for Justice and the Voter Suppression Wiki, as well as msnbc.com and Commondreams.org
Oh, where to begin…
We don’t take kindly to strangers around here:
In Virginia, someone has been putting up flyers informing of a separate election date for Democrats, on Nov. 5th. In Kern County, California, a radio host also announced that Republicans are being urged to vote on November 4 and Democrats on November 5.
At Virginia Tech, students have been informed that if they're from out of state but vote locally, they'll risk losing their scholarships, health insurance, and cause their parents to pay more in taxes. Similarly, anonymous robocalls have warned that out-of-staters living in Virginia that vote in-state are committing an outright criminal offense.
Students in Virginia and in several other states have been denied registration when listing their dorm room addresses, even though these are completely valid.
An anonymous flier circulating at Drexel University in Pennsylvania – and in African-American neighborhoods in North and West Philadelphia - has been informing voters that undercover police officers will be hanging out at the polls to arrest people with outstanding warrants, or even traffic tickets... a nice touch was the text in the flier mentioning that this warning comes from "an Obama supporter."
Robert Balink, El Paso County Recorder and Republican Delegate, sent a letter to the president of Colorado College stating that if a student is a dependent of out-of-state parents, the student is not eligible to vote in Colorado. This has happened in other states as well.
South Carolina’s voter-registration site says students who want to register to vote at their college address must demonstrate “a present intention to remain in the community.”
Similarly, in Idaho and Tennessee, students cannot establish voting residency unless they have affirmative plans to remain in the state after graduation. Virginia and Indiana also make it difficult for students to establish residency.
Michigan and Tennessee require all first-time voters who registered by mail to vote in person; they cannot vote absentee. This makes it nearly impossible for college students (a great percentage of whom are young, first-time voters) to vote in their hometowns.
Boo!
New Mexico: two families reported visits by a private investigator inquiring about relatives that the state Republican Party alleges voted fraudulently in the June primary. Obviously, if two people report something, there are many more that haven’t.
In Ohio, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters recently requested, via subpoena, personal information for 40% of the voters who registered and immediately cast a ballot during the weeklong period in which Ohio allows same-day registration and voting. Could this guy’s last name be any more clear of his intentions?
Dozens of voters reported that a firm hired by the California Republican Party tricked them into registering with the GOP when signing a petition they believed to toughen penalties against child molesters.
Purging registered voters: No match, no vote, late purging practices, and so much more.
Several states have been illegally purging their voter rolls this year, including Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Nevada.
“Voter caging” is the practice of sending mail to addresses on the voter rolls, compiling a list of the mail – which is marked with a “do not forward” instruction - that is returned undelivered, and using that list to purge or challenge voters’ registrations on the grounds that the voters on the list do not legally reside at their registered addresses. Another favorite tactic is to simply purge voter rolls within 90 days of an election, which is against federal law.
Michigan has done both of these, illegally purging its voter rolls this year within 90 days of an election, and by sending out non-forwardable mailings to recently registered voters. But Michigan’s masterstroke of evil genius is in the current attempt to use home foreclosure lists to prevent voters registered at those addresses from voting. In addition to anybody who's unable to prove their current address at the polls, the threat of humiliation might also help deter many foreclosed homeowners and their families from even attempting to vote.
In Colorado, the Secretary of State admitted that at least 2,454 voters were purged illegally within 90 days of a federal election. Several thousand additional records were purged as potential "duplicates" within 90 days of the election, also in violation of federal law. Another several thousand were illegally purged based, again with the tactic of sending non-forwardable mailings to newly registered voters.
Georgia recently began using an unreliable matching process to purge the voter rolls of alleged non-citizens. The process they use misses naturalized citizens because it only checks the citizenship documents used to obtain driver's licenses, no matter how long ago, and those records are not updated when legal residents become naturalized.
These aren’t the voters you’re looking for:
The Department of Veterans' Affairs in Virginia denied voter registration access to residents and patients of its facilities, refusing to allow election officials or nonpartisan groups to offer voter registration services, and failing to provide such services itself.
Several states, including New Mexico and Florida, haven’t been providing voter registration services at social service agencies, as required by the federal Motor Voter law.
Felons can’t vote, even if they’re not:
In many states, felons can’t vote. In some, they can at least vote once they’ve gotten out of prison. I’m sure they’re told the former, when entering prison, but the latter fact might be overlooked. In any event, this is another source ripe for shenanigans. Personally, I think everyone should be allowed to vote. But then, I’m into the idea of democracy and due representation.
Mike Hubbard, Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, sent a letter to the Alabama Commissioner of Corrections opposing and suspending a voter registration drive for prisoners. Alabama Law prohibits felons convicted of crimes of "moral turpitude" from voting, although the inmates being registered did not fall into this category, per an opinion issued by the State Attorney General in 2005.
Earlier this year, a county election administrator in Muscogee County, Georgia purged 700 people who were supposedly ineligible because of criminal convictions. The purge was highly inaccurate and included people who had never received even a parking ticket.
Don’t bother showing up, suckafish!
In Florida, some voters have been robocalled, stating that they have apparently "voted by phone already," in the hopes that voters will not actually hit the polls on Nov. 4th (or whenever). Go ahead, pick on the senile retirees.
Recently, the republican mayor's office in Indianapolis made 31 polling location changes and there has not been, nor will there be, an official announcement or mailing to the voters to inform them of these changes. Surprise: a lot of these location changes are in areas of the city with strong democratic followings. Other areas with the changes are of those with a low socio-economic status. Polls in Indiana are only open from 6am-6pm; due to the early closing time, people tend to want to vote in the morning, since it’s difficult to do so after work. Hopefully they’ll go early, and then decide to vote at their new station, in exchange for being late; those trying to squeak in before closing after work might well not have the time to get to their new polling location.
Fun with ballots:
In Rensselaer County, New York, absentee voters received ballots that listed the Democratic candidate as “Barack Osama.” The County Elections Office Commissioners claim it was a typo.
In a number of states, ballots have the option for a voter to check off a “straight ticket” option. Meaning, you can tick off a straight ticket vote for one party or another, and it counts as if you voted the party line in every election listed. But in many cases, election boards have decided that this doesn’t count for the election of president, and some also of judges. So if you don’t also check off your party’s candidate for president, you didn’t vote in that contest at all. This isn’t new: historically, this has caused a 1% "undervote" for President -- an estimated 35,800 votes in 2004. With many new voters this year, it could be higher.
In Ohio, Absentee Ballot Requests contained an extra box to check indicating whether or not you’re a registered voter; respondents who sent back the form without checking the box won’t receive absentee ballots. The Board of Elections found that, although ticking off the box was not listed in the form as being required information, returning the form without checking the box was tantamount to requesting a ballot without being a registered voter. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner offered to contact voters who forgot to check the box and allow them to correct the issue, but the Republicans – who sent out over one million of these forms - rejected the proposal (not sure who these “Republicans” were though… if they could reject something, I imagine it would have been a government official in a position above Brunner?).
In Colorado, 18,000 ballots weren’t mailed to voters in Denver. If voters don't get the last-minute mail sent out Monday (Oct 27) and return their ballots by Friday (Oct 31), their votes won't be counted. The Sequoia Voting System organization was behind this; they originally blamed it on the post office, but has since admitted blame.
Okay, that's it for now. But don't worry, there will be more! We still have almost a week left, and Election Day will be just like Christmas!
Most of this information has been taken from the Brennan Center for Justice and the Voter Suppression Wiki, as well as msnbc.com and Commondreams.org
Oh, where to begin…
We don’t take kindly to strangers around here:
In Virginia, someone has been putting up flyers informing of a separate election date for Democrats, on Nov. 5th. In Kern County, California, a radio host also announced that Republicans are being urged to vote on November 4 and Democrats on November 5.
At Virginia Tech, students have been informed that if they're from out of state but vote locally, they'll risk losing their scholarships, health insurance, and cause their parents to pay more in taxes. Similarly, anonymous robocalls have warned that out-of-staters living in Virginia that vote in-state are committing an outright criminal offense.
Students in Virginia and in several other states have been denied registration when listing their dorm room addresses, even though these are completely valid.
An anonymous flier circulating at Drexel University in Pennsylvania – and in African-American neighborhoods in North and West Philadelphia - has been informing voters that undercover police officers will be hanging out at the polls to arrest people with outstanding warrants, or even traffic tickets... a nice touch was the text in the flier mentioning that this warning comes from "an Obama supporter."
Robert Balink, El Paso County Recorder and Republican Delegate, sent a letter to the president of Colorado College stating that if a student is a dependent of out-of-state parents, the student is not eligible to vote in Colorado. This has happened in other states as well.
South Carolina’s voter-registration site says students who want to register to vote at their college address must demonstrate “a present intention to remain in the community.”
Similarly, in Idaho and Tennessee, students cannot establish voting residency unless they have affirmative plans to remain in the state after graduation. Virginia and Indiana also make it difficult for students to establish residency.
Michigan and Tennessee require all first-time voters who registered by mail to vote in person; they cannot vote absentee. This makes it nearly impossible for college students (a great percentage of whom are young, first-time voters) to vote in their hometowns.
Boo!
New Mexico: two families reported visits by a private investigator inquiring about relatives that the state Republican Party alleges voted fraudulently in the June primary. Obviously, if two people report something, there are many more that haven’t.
In Ohio, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters recently requested, via subpoena, personal information for 40% of the voters who registered and immediately cast a ballot during the weeklong period in which Ohio allows same-day registration and voting. Could this guy’s last name be any more clear of his intentions?
Dozens of voters reported that a firm hired by the California Republican Party tricked them into registering with the GOP when signing a petition they believed to toughen penalties against child molesters.
Purging registered voters: No match, no vote, late purging practices, and so much more.
Several states have been illegally purging their voter rolls this year, including Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Nevada.
“Voter caging” is the practice of sending mail to addresses on the voter rolls, compiling a list of the mail – which is marked with a “do not forward” instruction - that is returned undelivered, and using that list to purge or challenge voters’ registrations on the grounds that the voters on the list do not legally reside at their registered addresses. Another favorite tactic is to simply purge voter rolls within 90 days of an election, which is against federal law.
Michigan has done both of these, illegally purging its voter rolls this year within 90 days of an election, and by sending out non-forwardable mailings to recently registered voters. But Michigan’s masterstroke of evil genius is in the current attempt to use home foreclosure lists to prevent voters registered at those addresses from voting. In addition to anybody who's unable to prove their current address at the polls, the threat of humiliation might also help deter many foreclosed homeowners and their families from even attempting to vote.
In Colorado, the Secretary of State admitted that at least 2,454 voters were purged illegally within 90 days of a federal election. Several thousand additional records were purged as potential "duplicates" within 90 days of the election, also in violation of federal law. Another several thousand were illegally purged based, again with the tactic of sending non-forwardable mailings to newly registered voters.
Georgia recently began using an unreliable matching process to purge the voter rolls of alleged non-citizens. The process they use misses naturalized citizens because it only checks the citizenship documents used to obtain driver's licenses, no matter how long ago, and those records are not updated when legal residents become naturalized.
These aren’t the voters you’re looking for:
The Department of Veterans' Affairs in Virginia denied voter registration access to residents and patients of its facilities, refusing to allow election officials or nonpartisan groups to offer voter registration services, and failing to provide such services itself.
Several states, including New Mexico and Florida, haven’t been providing voter registration services at social service agencies, as required by the federal Motor Voter law.
Felons can’t vote, even if they’re not:
In many states, felons can’t vote. In some, they can at least vote once they’ve gotten out of prison. I’m sure they’re told the former, when entering prison, but the latter fact might be overlooked. In any event, this is another source ripe for shenanigans. Personally, I think everyone should be allowed to vote. But then, I’m into the idea of democracy and due representation.
Mike Hubbard, Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, sent a letter to the Alabama Commissioner of Corrections opposing and suspending a voter registration drive for prisoners. Alabama Law prohibits felons convicted of crimes of "moral turpitude" from voting, although the inmates being registered did not fall into this category, per an opinion issued by the State Attorney General in 2005.
Earlier this year, a county election administrator in Muscogee County, Georgia purged 700 people who were supposedly ineligible because of criminal convictions. The purge was highly inaccurate and included people who had never received even a parking ticket.
Don’t bother showing up, suckafish!
In Florida, some voters have been robocalled, stating that they have apparently "voted by phone already," in the hopes that voters will not actually hit the polls on Nov. 4th (or whenever). Go ahead, pick on the senile retirees.
Recently, the republican mayor's office in Indianapolis made 31 polling location changes and there has not been, nor will there be, an official announcement or mailing to the voters to inform them of these changes. Surprise: a lot of these location changes are in areas of the city with strong democratic followings. Other areas with the changes are of those with a low socio-economic status. Polls in Indiana are only open from 6am-6pm; due to the early closing time, people tend to want to vote in the morning, since it’s difficult to do so after work. Hopefully they’ll go early, and then decide to vote at their new station, in exchange for being late; those trying to squeak in before closing after work might well not have the time to get to their new polling location.
Fun with ballots:
In Rensselaer County, New York, absentee voters received ballots that listed the Democratic candidate as “Barack Osama.” The County Elections Office Commissioners claim it was a typo.
In a number of states, ballots have the option for a voter to check off a “straight ticket” option. Meaning, you can tick off a straight ticket vote for one party or another, and it counts as if you voted the party line in every election listed. But in many cases, election boards have decided that this doesn’t count for the election of president, and some also of judges. So if you don’t also check off your party’s candidate for president, you didn’t vote in that contest at all. This isn’t new: historically, this has caused a 1% "undervote" for President -- an estimated 35,800 votes in 2004. With many new voters this year, it could be higher.
In Ohio, Absentee Ballot Requests contained an extra box to check indicating whether or not you’re a registered voter; respondents who sent back the form without checking the box won’t receive absentee ballots. The Board of Elections found that, although ticking off the box was not listed in the form as being required information, returning the form without checking the box was tantamount to requesting a ballot without being a registered voter. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner offered to contact voters who forgot to check the box and allow them to correct the issue, but the Republicans – who sent out over one million of these forms - rejected the proposal (not sure who these “Republicans” were though… if they could reject something, I imagine it would have been a government official in a position above Brunner?).
In Colorado, 18,000 ballots weren’t mailed to voters in Denver. If voters don't get the last-minute mail sent out Monday (Oct 27) and return their ballots by Friday (Oct 31), their votes won't be counted. The Sequoia Voting System organization was behind this; they originally blamed it on the post office, but has since admitted blame.
Okay, that's it for now. But don't worry, there will be more! We still have almost a week left, and Election Day will be just like Christmas!
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