Voter Suppression Tactics Happening Now; Democrats at Risk

One of the biggest stories of this election: voter suppression.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to worry about this? But we do. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this situation. The Obama campaign has staff and lawyers working on these problems, but each voter has to be aware of the potential for their vote to be suppressed. If every voter is made aware, there is a better likelihood for a fair(er) election.

I am going to assume that the campaigns do not send email about these problems because they like to remain relatively positive. The only negativity is aimed at their opponents. However, I think all Americans should be made aware of this issue.

This subject is not on the front pages, nor is it being reported by the major news networks (yet). However, this is a big story. Perhaps you have heard about this in your state, but most people are unaware.

If you live in a swing state, or know someone who does, be particularly aware of these voter suppression tactics so you can be prepared to stand up for your right to vote on election day. Voters most at risk live in: Florida, Michigan, Colorado, New Mexico, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin, where voter suppression is underway in force.

I have listed links where you can find more information and get help. I hope you will spread this information far and wide.

How to protect yourself:

1. Know your rights. Know your local laws.
2. Call your local county voter registration office to make sure you are registered.
3. Call the Election Protection Hotline with registration questions and help with voter suppression problems.

They can tell you if you are registered, let you know about your local laws, and give you your polling site. They also have lawyers on staff. Election Protection Hotline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE. Website: Election Protection

Read:
Black Box Voting:
Black Box Voting

Google ‘(state name) voter suppression,’ and you’ll find a lot of articles. Some are linked below.

Learn how to protect yourself. (Care of Greg Palast and Robert Kennedy, Jr.)
Steal Back Your Vote:
Steal Back Your Vote!

Voter Suppression Wiki
Voter Suppression
(this is a brand new site launched Sept. 18, ’08)

Call the election protection hotline:

• if on or before election day you think you are a victim of disenfranchisement tactics
• if you receive any suspicious voter information in the mail
• if you need voter information or if you need a lawyer’s help
• if you don’t think that your voting machine logged your ballot correctly
• if you want to check if you are properly registered to vote

They have access to a national database of registered voters. I put them to the test today. They found my name quickly, but it took a little more digging to find my husband’s. They have access to several databases, and they called me back when they were able to verify he was registered. They also gave me our polling location and accurate information regarding the IDs I can use at the polls.

Election Hotline will be available now through Election Day, with trained Election Protection volunteers and legal experts providing direct assistance to voters. Election Protection helps voters understand voting rights, verify registration status, help ensure correct information about polling place or securing an absentee ballot, and that ballots are cast and counted on Election Day. Initial hours for live assistance are M-F 9am-5pm EDT.
Website: Election Protection

You can also call your local County Voter Registration office to check if you are registered.They are probably the best source to see if you are registered.

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Some basics on the disenfranchisement tactics now underway:

All the direct mail materials, the scams, and disenfranchisement tactics are from the McCain campaign and the Republicans. There are so many newly registered Dems that in some swing states, registered Dems have surpassed registered Republicans. The GOP is very nervous. If they can’t win on the issues, they will try to steal the vote.

These tactics do not have to do with rigging the voting machines, which is another problem.
The Republicans are trying to insure that many Democrats don’t vote in the first place. Voters’ names are systematically removed from voting rosters. New laws are in place to prevent people from casting a ballot on election day.

Wisconsin has a new law that would be illegal in other states.
truthout.org (Wisconsin GOP trying to disenfranchise voters)

Michigan is disenfranchising voters whose homes are in foreclosure.
michiganmessenger.com (lose your house – lose your vote)

Ohio is trying to purge 600,000 voters from their rosters.
newsweek.com
alternet.org

Florida has a new law, ‘No Match, No Vote.’
orlandosentinel.com
electionlawblog.org

Florida is using caging tactics. John McCain is mailing phony absentee ballots, encouraging people to vote early, even in states where there is no early voting.  blackboxvoting.com.

The voters who are being disenfranchised fall into many categories. Here are some of them:
Democrats or people who have indicated somewhere they support Obama; urban residents; blacks in the military; the elderly; people with temporary forwarding addresses who many have vacation homes (‘voter caging’ – voters purged because direct mail was not deliverable to temporary address so candidate claims voter doesn’t live at address); people whose homes are in foreclosure (huge problem in Michigan where lawsuits are underway…they should have a legal right to vote…many are still living at their homes and working out a way to keep them), new registrants (there are millions).

Here is a direct link to organizations that can help you.
Voter Suppression Wiki website:
votersuppressionwiki.wetpaint.com

Be prepared to strongly challenge your poll workers. Do not back down.
If you are not allowed to vote, get help for problems by calling Election Protection Hotline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
(1-866-687-8683).

New voters are among those at greatest risk because most of them have registered as Democrats.
Voters whose homes are in foreclosure are also at great risk.

On the Black Box Voting website you can learn about the voter suppression happening around the country:

Read about the ‘No Match, No Vote’ law. It is in force in Florida and some other states. Newly-registered Democrats are getting perfect voter registration cards in the mail after they register. All of their information is spelled correctly. What they didn’t suspect is that registration office clerks go back into the new registrant’s files, and change the spelling or a number in their address or S.S. number. Only voters whose registration cards match perfectly with the book of state records are allowed to vote. With all of the newly registered Dems this year, the GOP is planning to make sure most of them can’t vote. As new voters, the GOP is hoping most will be intimidated and won’t fight for their right to vote.
blackboxvoting.com (Florida Elections: Who needs voter caging when typos will do?)

Also read about the McCain scam with the Absentee Ballots. It’s happening in Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon (reported by blogger, not confirmed) Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin
blackboxvoting.com (McCain’s Absentee Ballot Mailer Fiasco Spreads; Could Disqualify Some Voters)

I had anecdotal evidence several weeks ago that absentee ballot scams were happening in PA. I just found an article in PA that verifies this is happening. McCain is sending confusing information to residents of many states. In PA his flyers tell the voter they can ‘Vote early, it’s as easy as 1-2-3.’ The fact is that in PA, it is not that easy. You can’t vote early. You may only vote on Election Day. And you must apply for an official absentee ballot by mail. scrantontimes.com

In Oregon, where everyone votes by mail anyway, McCain is mailing misleading flyers with self-addressed envelopes to mail their absentee ballot to offices in other states! These ballots would not count if filled out and mailed.

It shouldn’t be any surprise that the states where these suppression tactics appear to be happening in force are the swing states.

This, accompanied with voting machine problems, is sure to create a very difficult election day.

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Addendum

I talked again to the woman in the Philly Obama office who works on voter fraud.

She called me back because yesterday I left her a message after I had read that there might be problems with confusing mailers going out to PA voters. While we were on the phone, she read a synopsis of the article on www.blackboxvoting.com, and she didn’t think this constituted a real problem. However she did say there are real absentee ballot problems in other states and she said to keep and eye out anyway.

While I had her on the phone, I asked why, if disenfranchisement is such a pervasive problem, the Obama campaign doesn’t put out a public service announcement to educate their supporters on what to look out for.

Basically, she didn’t even want to think negative thoughts about potential problems, and didn’t want to go there.

Why not send as positive an email as possible on the issue? She said that they are doing their best with “voter education.” I asked how they are educating the voter. How are they letting them know ahead of time that these problems might occur. She said that right now they are just focused on registering as many voters as they can. I asked why they are confident that in a state like Florida this will help them win if clerks are inclined to fudge the info in their system. I wondered if she thought I was a conspiracy nut at this point. She says they have to only put out a positive message. They think that reporting on the potential problems would be a negative message, but I should be assured that they are going to have thousands of poll workers and lawyers in key precincts where they think there could be the most problems. They’ll also have their own hotline for their poll workers to call to aid voters, but they aren’t going to give the voters themselves any information that (I think) would be useful to know ahead of time. Not happening.

I began to ask if the Obama campaign is spot checking their own registrations in the Florida databases to make sure that the registration information is logged into the state system like it should be, to avoid ‘No Match, No Vote’ problems, and she had to cut me off and take another call.

I really have no faith. This could be all a spinning of the wheels. If Obama is ahead in the national polls the day before the election and then loses, I won’t be surprised. If he wins, I might die of shock.