Voting Irregularities. How to Handle Them.

[stephendare]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr-and-greg-palast/drinking-the-acorn-koolai_b_138390.html

Virtually the entire mainstream electronic media drank ACORN Kool-Aid this month brewed up by the Republican National Committee. Almost no one seriously challenged John McCain's comical assertions that ACORN, a grassroots voter registration group, "is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."

While the Republicans had the distracted media searching for links between Obama and ACORN, RNC operatives were busily completing one of the most massive voter suppression and purging efforts in American history, stealing hundreds of thousands of Democratic votes across the embattled swing states and striving to arrange chaos and endless lines at the voting booths next week.

First the facts about ACORN. Months ago, we obtained, as part of our investigation for Rolling Stone magazine, the Republican's list the GOP alleged were the very worst cases of vote and registration fraud by ACORN and similar groups. We went through the names the GOP asserted were "obviously, undeniably and clearly fraudulent" voter registrations.

First, there was Melissa Tais, a dubious ACORN registrant. Her two voter registration forms show, admittedly, suspiciously different signatures. Republicans suggested Melissa was part of a massive fraud to allow Democrats to vote twice.

They were wrong. Ms. Tais, a Cerrillos, New Mexico, waitress, told us she had signed one form on a table and one form holding the paper in her hand. Hence, a second, wobbly signature.

Then there was Patricia White, who Republicans claimed was a fictitious voter. When we filmed her at home in Albuquerque, she seemed real enough.

And so on, through the entire GOP list -- not one fraud. And these were their best cases out of the five million "illegal voters" who Republican leaders claim have infiltrated America's voting rolls.

The overblown histrionics about ACORN do not surprise those of us who have been watching the RNC's election manipulation antics. For eight years White House operatives have been trying to gin up press stories about voter fraud. David Iglesias of New Mexico was one of seven U.S. Attorneys fired by the White House for their refusal to bring voter fraud prosecutions. "We took over 100 complaints," from the GOP, he told us, "We investigated for almost 2 years, I didn't find one prosecutable voter fraud case in the entire state of New Mexico."

Iglesias, a McCain supporter, has, for the first time, leveled a new and serious charge: Despite finding none of the 200 voters guilty, he says the White House nevertheless ordered him to illegally prosecute baseless cases against innocent citizens, just to gin up voter fraud publicity. His refusal, he says, cost him his job. "They were looking for politicized -- for improperly politicized US attorneys to file bogus voter fraud cases."

Certainly ACORN collected some bad signatures. But despite McCain's claims, now morphed into media theology, none of ACORN's actions will have any impact on any election. ACORN hired 13,000 canvassers to register new voters. A small number of these workers defrauded ACORN by handing in phony registration forms using names they had invented (e.g. Mickey Mouse), or copied from phone books. In one case ACORN canvassers used cigarettes to bribe a homeless man, now a Fox News regular, to register 17 times. None of these activities constituted voter fraud. It is no crime to register 17 times; only the final registration counts. His multiple registrations would not allow the tobacco lover to vote 17 times. Nor is there any evidence the phone book registrants will cast multiple ballots.

Finally, the removal by GOP officials of hundreds of thousands of legitimate voters from voting rolls over the past year provides ACORN with a sound rationale for obtaining new registrations, even from voters who believe they are already registered.

ACORN took pains to screen its registrations and cull out those it considered dubious. However, federal laws make it a felony for voter registration groups like ACORN to discard registrations even when it believes them fraudulent. So ACORN flagged the forms it considered doubtful and handed them in to the registry. Ironically, it was those flagged forms -- the fruits of ACORN's diligence -- that have been flogged by Republicans as their best evidence of widespread election fraud.

Voter fraud is a phantom according to Lorraine Minnite, an expert on voting crime at Columbia University. Only 24 cases of federal voter fraud have been uncovered between 2002 and 2005 despite massive government efforts devoted to uncovering evidence of a voter fraud crime wave.

The GOP is ginning up hysteria about non-existent vote fraud by Democrats in order to distract the press from its own campaign to disenfranchise millions of American voters.

The Republicans have created an obstacle course of barriers designed to suppress the vote, purge tens of thousands of Democratic voters from voting rolls, create mayhem and delay at voting venues on Election Day, and stop millions of votes from being counted this election cycle.

Jailed GOP activist Jack Abramoff and his fellow convict, Congressman Bob Ney, wrote the most sinister provisions of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) which Congress passed in 2002 creating a series of diabolically cunning new voting impediments. HAVA, for example, allows state voting officials to purge tens of thousands of voters from the polls using algorithms and voter ID requirements that disproportionately disenfranchise black, Hispanic and minority voters, and other Democratic demographics including senior citizens and young people.

In 2004, highly organized GOP tacticians helped disenfranchise no less than 2.7 million American voters. Almost a million of them were African Americans. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has found black voters were nine times more likely to have their votes discarded than white voters and that over one-third of the million provisional ballots cast in 2004 -- ballots handed disproportionately to African Americans -- were never counted but simply thrown into dumpsters.

In a technique known as "caging" RNC operatives send millions of first class letters to black voters across the country marked 'do not forward.' Republican operatives armed with lists then invade black precincts on Election Day to challenge those voters whose letters were returned to the RNC because the voter was not home to sign when the mail arrived. That tactic deliberately targets black voters, resurrecting Old Dixie's Jim Crow procedures designed to rid the lists of black voters and create long lines in black precincts.

In this election, new HAVA mandates permit voting officials to precisely match registration form information with the voter's driver's license and Social Security application. While it may sound reasonable, in practice, any change, even a dropped hyphen, is cause for eliminating the voter from the rolls. Since 2004, Colorado's Republican Secretaries of State have purged one out of every five voters from the rolls. The current Secretary of State, Mike Coffman, a Republican also running for office, recently purged an additional 37,000 voters and discarded 6,400 new voter registrations -- overwhelmingly Democratic -- based upon an obscure technical mistake that Coffman's office encouraged voters to make in the first place.

The GOP "anti-fraud" campaign resulted in one in nine New Mexico Democratic voters finding their names had disappeared from voter roles during this year's caucus.

Despite a recent Supreme Court decision upholding Ohio's refusal to disenfranchise 200,000 legitimate voters based on this absurd demand to "match" voter names to databases, White House operatives are still fighting to purge these names from the rolls. President George Bush last week personally asked his Attorney General Mike Mukasey to renew Republican efforts to disenfranchise these voters.

Contrary to Mr. McCain's assertions, the real threat to democracy is from the GOP itself. ACORN has served as a good distraction from Republican efforts to steal the vote from hundreds of thousands of legitimate voters, a genuine threat that has received almost no media attention.

They're stealing your vote, but you can steal it back. Here are some steps you should take to protect your vote. First, avoid the November 4th minefield. Voters, wherever possible, should vote early and in person. Where feasible, avoid mailing in your ballot, many are rejected for flimsy reasons, and first time voters in many states must include a photocopy of ID. However, if you have a mail-in ballot, don't throw it away. Follow directions, use the correct postage (that's an error that cost a hundred thousand votes last time) and, if possible, walk it in to your elections office.

At the polling station, should you find yourself one of the 2.7 million purged, or your ID rejected, then do your best to resist a "provisional" ballot--one third of which are not counted. Return with proper ID, or call 1-800-OUR VOTE for legal assistance. And never just walk away discouraged. That's just what they want you to do.

[jacksonvilleconfidential]

People who attend the polls should know that they need an ID, etc. to VOTE

Dont blame the RNC for people being too ignorant to be properly prepared to vote. Chances are if these peeps didnt know to bring an ID, they also didnt research what they are voting for and I could care less if their vote is counted.

[Driven1]

ignore them.  pretend they aren't there.  who cares anyway?  it's just a stupid vote. 

[RiversideGator]

I really cant understand why liberals like Stephen dont want to verify someone's identity before they allow them to vote.  The only explanation is they hope the ensuing voter fraud if no IDs are required would benefit their candidate.

[jacksonvilleconfidential]

Ding Ding Ding. I think youre on to something RG

[BridgeTroll]

I was standing in line for the early vote last week.  Poll worker walks the line telling people over and over to get their picture ID out.  As the line gets near the door she begins again... the guy behind me brings out a piece of paper with a copy(supposedly) of his drivers license and asks "Is this OK?"... She looks at the paper, looks at him, paper, him, paper, him....   She says she will have to check... goes in... comes out... and says it is fine...

A photocopy of an ID...

[jacksonvilleconfidential]

That was probably Corrine Brown checking it.

[BridgeTroll]

That was probably Corrine Brown checking it.

[uptowngirl]

nahh... it was Tufsu

[JaxByDefault]

Its a new rule in many part of the country Jason.

Most of the country only required a voter id card or just knowing the pollworkers in most of the small precincts.

Anytime something new is introduced, especially without adequate warning, there are going to be problems.

Also whether or not you have your ID, several million people were sent mail by one of the parties.  If they got the mail back (for whatever reason) they sent the name to the local election offices and had their names removed from the rolls.

When that person shows up with ID they are still banned from voting because of the 'purge' list.

Also if you missed the last two votes, your name is purged, even if you have been voting for the past 60 years.

I'm afraid this is bad information--at least for our local area--on several points.

First, Real ID and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) has toughened ID requirements everywhere. Most states have now adopted laws requiring a signature and a photo ID. Your signature and photo ID can (and should) be the same card, most people use a driver's license or non-driver's ID card. The best thing to do is to make sure that the photo ID you are taking to the polls also has your signature.  By Florida law, the following are permissible photo IDs: Fl driver's license, FL ID card, US Passport, debit or credit card with photo, military ID, student ID with photo, retirement center ID, neighborhood association ID with photo, and public assistance ID with photo.

However, if you registered after September 6th, the address on your ID must match the address on the rolls. If you registered after September 6th, and your driver's license does not match the rolls (i.e. you moved after Sept. 6 and got a new license, you replaced an outdated license, etc.), you will have to vote by provisional ballot at the correct precinct for where you currently reside. If you are forced to vote by provisional ballot because of registration issue, please make sure that you talk to someone before you leave the polls and understand any additional steps you must take for your vote to be counted. You can also attach a note explaining why you voted a provisional ballot on the OUTSIDE of the envelope.

People used to be able to vote without ID on an Affidavit of Identity if they had voted at that precinct in a previous election. These options are no longer available in Florida.

There has been no purge of the Duval Co. voter rolls since 2004.

If you need help at the polls, please ask a poll worker. If you need additional assistance, have a problem, or have been forced to vote provisional ballot, please talk to one of the poll monitors--including the Florida Voting Rights Attorneys--at the polls.

Finally, many people on both sides of the political divide have devoted years and careers to making sure elections are safe, legal, and well-run. Do not slight the efforts of voter and election law advocates on the basis of petty political disagreements.


_______________________________

As to the issue of requiring ID ....

I really cant understand why liberals like Stephen dont want to verify someone's identity before they allow them to vote.  The only explanation is they hope the ensuing voter fraud if no IDs are required would benefit their candidate.

Most liberals have no problem with the idea of showing ID at the polls. However, there is a significant--and legitimate--debate as to what qualifies as a proper ID. Only passports, military IDs, and driver's licenses? What about homeless shelter cards, Affidavits of Address, or student ID cards?

If anything, the liberal-conservative split on the ID issue is not about showing ID at the polls; it is about which IDs are deemed legally acceptable. For example, I find it disquieting that FL accepts HOA IDs, but not homeless shelter IDs. Why the prejudice against duly registered homeless voters? My old state would not accept photo student IDs until 2004; I found this problematic when they would accept public assistance IDs.

Voter fraud is a felony. Asserting that all liberals want to facilitate voter fraud is as preposterous as claiming that all republicans want expansive, institutional disenfranchisement.

[BridgeTroll]

Asserting that all liberals want to facilitate voter fraud is as preposterous as claiming that all republicans want expansive, institutional disenfranchisement.

Absolutely... I agree 100%.

But concerns about acceptable types of ID are legitimate.  You mentioned homeless shelter cards.  Can you only have one of them?  Suppose you frequent multiple shelters as I think is reasonable.  Affadavit of address?  How many of those might someone possess?  Same with student IDs...

[uptowngirl]

The point of requiring ID is to ascertain if you are legal to vote correct? Using a government issued ID ensures that some type of verification has been made. The issue with homeless shelter ID's is the verification made. Do they check for BC? How do we know who these people are? Are they legal? How many names/ID's have they gotten from different shelters? Does this then mean they can register and vote multiple times? Now an argument could be made as to why they would do this, but based on the rate of addiction and dependency of the homeless on the street some can clearly see why they could be induced to register and vote several times.

[JaxByDefault]

Actually, the ID is used at the polling place to verify the information on the voter rolls, primarily name and address. It both verifies identity and that the voter is voting in the correct polling place (most important in local and down-ticket races). It's known colloquially in Florida as "no match, no vote." Ascertaining if a submitted registration is invalid because of age, criminal status, death, or false-identity is the job of the local board of elections.

It is not illegal to be registered to vote in two places. It is illegal to vote in two places (or twice in the same place).

For example, most people do not surrender their voter cards when moving; they register at a new place when they update their ID (typically under the Motor-Voter). I surrendered my voter ID last time I voted, and contacted the Supervisor of Elections that I had moved. However, assume I had not done so and that my old county in Tennessee has not purged their list since the previous election. I probably remain on the rolls there. I am now registered in Duval county, and placed a vote here last week. Right now, I am not in violation of the law. If I drive to Tennessee tomorrow, dig up an old ID and cast a vote, then I have violated the law. The same situation could apply to someone moving between Brunswick and Jacksonville, St. Johns and Duval counties, or even within precincts in Duval (though these are typically easy to track and old registrations more easily deleted). So how should we manage purge lists? Why haven't more states made strides in sharing registrant information as proposed under HAVA? Are you willing to nationalize elections and voter rolls to prevent these problems? Are you concerned about privacy issues with such databases and information sharing?

The same criticisms you raise about homeless shelter IDs and student IDs could be made of HOA IDs (one for your house, one for your condo). Many military members carry a military ID with an address different than their driver's license. Should we be more restrictive about where we let military members and college students vote, too? Also, what about states that charge for a driver's license or state ID (there are some, primarily in the Northeast)? Would requiring only state-issued  IDs  be an indirect poll tax?

My point is, the issue is more complex than is most often portrayed. (For more info, I recommend Electionline.org). There is real room for substantive debate on the minutia of these issues. Election law issues are not blindly partisan; it is intellectually dishonest to assert otherwise. (I especially expect better out of the attorneys that post here).

[JaxByDefault]

Affadavit of address?  How many of those might someone possess? 

Affidavits of Address are only used at the polls. They permitted a person who had voted before in that some precinct to vote after affirming on an official form, with a one or two poll worker witnesses, that they still lived at the same address. In some states, you had to produce mail (such as a power bill) showing you name and that address. In other states, they were used only when an ID such as military ID carried a different address than the one at which the voter registered. They are not portable. They do not leave the polls.

They were, admittedly, far from perfect. However, through out my many hours as a precinct officer, I only used them once.[Edited: After checking memory against records, I used them twice (in the same election).]

In places where rolls are frequently purged, AoAs are  (by default) only available to people who vote in midterm and local elections. The theory was that they provided a fail-safe for repeat voters who forget ID. In reality, the same frequent voters who stood to benefit from AoAs were always the ones who brought ID anyway.

*While voter's rights and politics are not the same thing, perhaps this thread should go to the politics section for lack of a better place.*

Edited: AoAs are still limitedly used. Affidavits of Identity are no longer used in FL.

[BridgeTroll]

Affadavit of address?  How many of those might someone possess? 

Affidavits of Address are only used at the polls (and they are no longer used in Florida). They permitted a person who had voted before in that some precinct to vote after affirming on an official form, with a one or two poll worker witnesses, that they still lived at the same address. In some states, you had to produce mail (such as a power bill) showing you name and that address. In other states, they were used only when an ID such as military ID carried a different address than the one at which the voter registered. They are not portable. They do not leave the polls.

They were, admittedly, far from perfect. However, through out my many hours as a precinct officer, I only used them once.[Edited: After checking memory against records, I used them twice (in the same election).]

In places where rolls are frequently purged, AoAs are  (by default) only available to people who vote in midterm and local elections. The theory was that they provided a fail-safe for repeat voters who forget ID. In reality, the same frequent voters who stood to benefit from AoAs were always the ones who brought ID anyway.

*While voter's rights and politics are not the same thing, perhaps this thread should go to the politics section for lack of a better place.*

I... for one... appreciate your insight.