Voter_suppression

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Voter suppression Voter suppression Voter suppression is a form of electoral fraud and refers to the use of governmental power, political campaign strategy, and private resources aimed at suppressing (i.e. reducing) the total vote of opposition candidacies instead of attempting to change likely voting behavior by changing the opinions of potential voters. This method is particularly effective if a significant amount of voters are intimidated individually because the voter might not consider his or her single vote important. fraud. This is about voter suppression." For example, Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott spent $1.4 million investigating voter fraud without finding a single case of someone trying impersonate an eligible voter at a polling place. Republican Sen. Troy Fraser of Horseshoe Bay said, "Voter fraud not only is alive and well in the U.S., but also alive and well in Texas. The danger of voter fraud threatens the integrity of the entire electoral process." [4] Methods of voter suppression Photo ID laws The Republican Party has passed photo ID laws in seven states, including Indiana and Georgia. [1] This disproportionally affects minority and elder voters who do not have driver’s licenses and lean towards voting Democratic. For example, about 12 retired nuns in South Bend, Indiana, were barred from voting in Indiana’s 2008 Democratic primary election because they lacked photo IDs required under a state law which the Indiana supreme court upheld in April 2008. John Borkowski, a South Bend lawyer volunteering as an election watchdog for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said, "This law was passed supposedly to prevent and deter voter fraud, even though there was no real record of serious voter fraud in Indiana."[2][3] In March 2009, the Republican Party is backing a photo ID in Texas, claiming widespread voter fraud which must be prevented by requiring voters to prove their identity. However, Democrats claim there is no evidence of voter fraud in Texas and a photo ID law will decrease voting by senior citizens, the disabled and lower-income residents, citing a study that 1 million of the state’s 13.5 million registered voters do not have a photo ID. Democratic Caucus Chairwoman Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio said this bill "is not about voter fraud. There is no voter Purging voter rolls In 2008, more than 50,000 registered Georgia voters were purged from voter rolls because of a computer mismatch in their personal identification information. At least 4,500 of those people must prove their citizenship to regain their right to vote. The state may make the burden impossible to meet. For example, the state of Georgia gave college senior Kyla Berry one week to prove her citizenship in a letter dated October 2, 2008. Unfortunately, the letter was postmarked October 9, 2008. However, Berry is a U.S. citizen, born in Boston, Massachusetts with a passport and a birth certificate to prove it. Wendy Weiser, an elections expert with New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice said, "What most people don’t know is that every year, elections officials strike millions of names from the voter rolls using processes that are secret, prone to error and vulnerable to manipulation."[5] Jim Crow laws In the United States, voter suppression was used extensively by the Democratic Party in most Southern states until the Voting Rights Act (1965) made most disenfranchisement and voting qualifications illegal. Traditional voter suppression tactics included the institution of poll taxes and literacy tests, aimed at suppressing the votes of African Americans and working class white voters.[6][7] Ex-Felon disenfranchisement In 2004, 5.3 million Americans were denied the right to vote because of previous felony 1 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia convictions. Thirteen states permanently disenfranchise convicted felons; eighteen states restore voting rights after completion of prison, parole, and probation; four states re-enfranchise felons after they have been released from prison and have completed parole; thirteen allow felons who have been released from prison to vote, and two states do not disenfranchise felons at all.[8] However, for states that do offer a path for restoration of voting rights, the process can often be very difficult. The United States is the only democracy in the world that bans its felons from voting. Many countries including Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Norway, Peru, Sweden, and Zimbabwe allow prisoners to vote (unless convicted of crimes against the electoral system).[9] Some countries, notably the U.K., disfranchise people for only as long as they are in prison. In Florida during the 2000 presidential election, some non-felons were banned due to record-keeping errors and not warned of their disqualification before they no longer had the right to contest it. This form of vote suppression in U.S. disproportionately affects minorities including African-Americans and Latinos.[9] Voter suppression regarded as being a greater problem in urban areas.[10][11] Caging lists Caging lists have been used by political parties to eliminate potential voters from the other party’s voting roll. A political party sends registered mail to addresses of registered voters. If the mail is returned as undeliverable the party uses that fact to challenge the registration, arguing that because the voter could not be reached at the address, the registration is fraudulent.[12] Examples of voter suppression in the United States 2002 New Hampshire Senate election phone jamming scandal In the 2002 New Hampshire Senate election phone jamming scandal, Republican officials attempted to reduce the number of Democratic voters by paying professional telemarketers in Idaho to make repeated hangup calls to block Democrats’ ride-to-the-polls phone lines on election day.[13][14] Partisan election administration Across the United States, 33 state election directors are elected partisans. The majority of the world’s democracies use independent agents to manage elections. Because of their partisan ties, election officials are often presented with a conflict of interest while directing elections. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris served as state co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign during the 2000 presidential election, and Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell served as his state’s Bush-Cheney co-chair during the 2004 presidential election.[10] 2004 presidential election In the U.S. presidential election of 2004, some voters got phone calls with false information intended to keep them from voting-saying that their voting place had been changed or that voting would take place on Wednesday as well as on Tuesday.[15][16] Other allegations surfaced in several states that the group called Voters Outreach of America had collected and submitted Republican voter registration forms while inappropriately disposing of Democratic registration forms.[17][18][19][20]. Michigan Republican state legislator John Pappageorge was quoted as saying, "If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we’re going to have a tough time in this election."[21]. In 2006, four employees of the John Kerry campaign were convicted of slashing the tires of 25 vans rented by the state Republican Party which were to be used for driving Republican monitors to the polls. At the campaign workers’ sentencing, Judge Michael B. Brennan told the defendants, "Voter suppression has no place in our country. Your crime Inequality in Election Day resources Elections in the United States are funded at the local level, often unequally. In the 2004 elections, Wyoming spent $2.15 per voter while California spent $3.99 per voter. In contrast, Canada spends $9.51 per voter. This can result in long lines at the polls, waits of many hours, with those unable to wait giving up their right to vote. It is widely 2 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia took away that right to vote for some citizens."[22][23] Voter suppression wrongly purged from the voter rolls by the State:[31] 2006 Virginia Senate election During the United States Senate election in Virginia, 2006, Secretary of the Virginia State Board of Elections Jean Jensen concluded that the incidents of voter suppression appeared widespread and deliberate. Documented incidents of voter suppression include:[24] • Democratic voters receiving calls incorrectly informing them voting will lead to arrest. • Widespread calls fraudulently claiming to be "Webb Volunteers," falsely telling voters their voting location had changed. • Fliers paid for by the Republican Party, stating "SKIP THIS ELECTION" was allegedly an attempt to suppress AfricanAmerican turnout. The FBI has since launched an investigation into the suppression attempts.[25] Despite the allegations, democrat Jim Webb narrowly defeated incumbent George Allen. Minnesota The conservative nonprofit Minnesota Majority has been reported as making phone calls claiming that the Minnesota Secretary of State had concerns about the validity of the voters registration. Their actions have been referred to the Ramsey County attorney’s office and the U.S. Attorney are looking into Johnson’s complaint. [32] Montana On October 5, 2008 the Republican Lt. Governor of Montana, John Bohlinger, accused the Montana Republican Party of vote caging to purge 6,000 voters from three counties which trend Democratic. These purges included decorated war veterans and active duty soldiers.[33] Ohio Wait times of six hours were reported for early voting in Franklin County leading to people leaving the line without voting.[34] 2008 presidential election A review of states’ records by The New York Times found unlawful actions leading to widespread voter purges.[26] A dispute between the Social Security Administration commissioner and the National Association of Secretaries of State about the use of the Social Security database to test the validity of voters led to the shutdown of the database over the Columbus Day holiday weekend.[27] Wisconsin The Republican Party attempted to have all 60,000 voters in the heavily Democratic city of Milwaukee who had registered since 1/1/ 2006 deleted from the voter roll. This was rejected by the Milwaukee Election Commission with Republican commissioner Bob Spindell voting in favor of deletion.."[35] See also • • • • • Electoral fraud Caging list American Center for Voting Rights Political corruption Voter turnout Georgia Wait times of between 2 and 10 hours were reported during early voting at multiple Georgia locations[28] Michigan Prior to the 2008 United States Presidential Election, in September 16, 2008, Obama legal counsel announced that they would be seeking an injunction to stop an alleged caging scheme in Michigan wherein the state Republican party would use home foreclosure lists to challenge voters still using their foreclosed home as a primary address at the polls. [29] Michigan GOP officials called the suit "desperate."[30] A Federal Appeals court ordered the reinstatement of 5,500 voters References [1] http://www.dallasnews.com/ sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/ stories/DNvoterid_11tex.ART0.State.Edition2.4ac6919.html [2] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/ may/07/uselections2008.usa [3] http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/ 05/06/voting-rights-nun-for-you/ [4] http://www.dallasnews.com/ sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/ 3 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Voter suppression stories/DN[17] George Knapp (2004-10-13). voterid_11tex.ART0.State.Edition2.4ac6919.html"Investigation into Trashed Voter [5] http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/ Registrations". KLAS-TV. 10/26/voter.suppression/index.html http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/ [6] Techniques of Direct story.asp?S=2421595&nav=168XRvNe. Disenfranchisement, 1880-1965, [18] "Nevada investigates voter registration, University of Michigan Probe also under way in Oregon on fraud [7] Creating Jim Crow: In-Depth Essay, allegations". CNN. 2004-10-14. Ronald L. F. Davis, Ph. D - The History of http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ Jim Crow ALLPOLITICS/10/14/nevada.registration/ [8] Felony Disenfranchisement Laws in the index.html. United States Fact Sheet, Sentencing [19] David Paul Kuhn (2004-10-14). "Voter Project, July 2005 Fraud Charges Out West". CBS News. [9] ^ Restoration of Voting Rights Q&A, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/ ReformElections.org 10/14/politics/main649380.shtml. [10] ^ Overton, Spencer (2006). Stealing [20] Dennis B. Roddy (2004-10-20). Democracy. W. W. Norton. p. 224. ISBN "Campaign 2004: Voter registration 0393061590. workers cry foul". Pittsburgh Posthttp://www.stealingdemocracy.com. Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/ [11] In 2004, the Franklin County board of pg/04294/398767.stm. elections (Columbus, Ohio) determined [21] Chip Reid (2004-10-13). "Voter they needed 5,000 machines, but suppression charges on the rise". decided to move machines from urban MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/ areas to suburban areas and go with only 6242175/. 2,866 machines. On Election Day 2004, [22] Ehlke, Gretchen (2005-01-24). Tanya Thivener waited four hours in line "Congresswoman’s son, four others to vote in Columbus, Ohio. Tanya’s charged with slashing Republican van mother waited just 15 minutes to vote in tires on Election Day". AP. a Columbus suburb. http://web.archive.org/web/ [12] http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/ 20050829020422/http://sfgate.com/cgi2008/10/05/opinion/hjjbijjejjigfj.txt bin/article.cgi?f=/news/a/2005/01/24/ [13] US DOJ (2004-12-01). Former RNC New national1242EST0521.DTL. Retrieved on England Regional Director Indicted in 2007-05-25. New Hampshire Phone Jamming Case. [23] Ehlke, Gretchen (2006-04-26). "Men Get Press release. http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/ Jail Time In Milwaukee Tire-Slashing pr/2004/December/04_crm_768.htm. Case". AP. http://web.archive.org/web/ Retrieved on 2007-05-25. 20060503003521/http://wfrv.com/ [14] "Former GOP Official Gets Prison Term topstories/local_story_116123954.html. for Phone Plot". AP. 2006-05-17. Retrieved on 2007-05-25. http://www.foxnews.com/story/ [24] "Sec. of Virginia State Board of Elections 0,2933,195914,00.html. Retrieved on Finds Widespread Incidents of Voter 2007-05-25. Suppression". American Chronicle. [15] "Intimidation and Deceptive Practices". 2006-11-06. Election Protection coalition/PFAW. http://www.americanchronicle.com/ http://www.ep365.org/site/ articles/16105. Retrieved on c.fnKGIMNtEoG/b.2052599/k.6FF4/ 2008-09-07. Intimidation_and_Deceptive_Practices.htm. [25] "FBI launches probe of Virginia preRetrieved on 2007-05-25. election calls". CNN. 2006-11-07. [16] "Incidents Of Voter Intimidation & http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/ Suppression". American Ctr for Voting 07/deceptivecalls.va/. Retrieved on Rights. http://web.archive.org/web/ 2008-09-07. 20060210111239/http://www.ac4vr.com/ [26] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/us/ reports/072005/ politics/09voting.html republicanincidents.html. Retrieved on [27] http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/10/ 2007-05-25. 10/voter-registrations-spark-testyexchange/ 4 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [28] http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/ category/voter-problems/ [29] http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/ 2008/09/obama_dnc_file_lawsuit.html [30] http://thepage.time.com/2008/09/16/ michigan-gop-obama-camp-suitdesperate/ [31] http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/ category/voter-problems/ [32] http://www.startribune.com/politics/ 33551514.html [33] http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/ 2008/10/05/opinion/hjjbijjejjigfj.txt [34] http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/ category/voter-problems/ [35] Associated Press reported in Green Bay Press Gazette 10/10/2008 Voter suppression External links • Problems Voting in the 2008 General Election? Report Your Issue Here • Voter Suppression Wiki • NOW on PBS interview reviewing the likelihood and forms of Voter Suppression liely in 2008 • Vote Fraud, Intimidation & Suppression In The 2004 Presidential Election • American Center For Voting Rights, August 2, 2005, report. • Stealing democracy Spencer Overton, Stealing Democracy, June 5, 2006 Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_suppression" Categories: Political campaign techniques, Political corruption, Election fraud This page was last modified on 11 March 2009, at 11:32 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers 5