A Spork in the Drawer

New Adventures In Republican Vote Suppression

Lose your house, lose your right to vote:

The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP’s effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.

It gets worse:

The Macomb GOP’s plans are another indication of how John McCain’s campaign stands to benefit from the burgeoning number of foreclosures in the state. McCain’s regional headquarters are housed in the office building of foreclosure specialists Trott & Trott. The firm’s founder, David A. Trott, has raised between $100,000 and $250,000 for the Republican nominee.

And worse yet:

Statewide, the Republican Party is gearing up for a comprehensive voter challenge campaign, according to Denise Graves, party chair for Republicans in Genessee County, which encompasses Flint. The party is creating a spreadsheet of election challenger volunteers and expects to coordinate a training with the regional McCain campaign, Graves said in an interview with Michigan Messenger.

And here comes the non-surprise:

The Macomb County party’s plans to challenge voters who have defaulted on their house payments is likely to disproportionately affect African-Americans who are overwhelmingly Democratic voters.

In this country an election has to be "close enough to steal." Then again, maybe the Republicans have decided to go all-out, Mugabe style: Party chairman James Carabelli said, “I would rather not tell you all the things we are doing.”

So the Republican Party is trying to turn the United States into another Soviet Union or Zimbabwe.

You'd think that this would be pretty big news.

But you'd be wrong.

[Via Steve Benen.]

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Revenge Of The Nuns

Remember those nuns who were prohibited from voting in Indiana on Tuesday? Well, their Sisters in Missouri are fighting back:

Nun of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary comments on Voter ID disenfranchisement

WHO: Missourians for Fair Elections

WHAT: Press Conference on the impact of legislation to
require government-issued photo ID to vote

WHEN: 1:00 PM, Thursday, May 8, 2008

WHERE: League of Women Voters, 8706 Manchester, Jefferson City, MO 63144

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – On Thursday, May 8, three Missouri voters who
lack government-issued photo IDs as well as Secretary of State Robin
Carnahan and community leaders will discuss the potential impacts of
legislation currently being pushed through the Missouri General
Assembly. The proposed legislation would make Missouri one of the
toughest states in the country for eligible citizens who want to vote
by requiring voters to present a government-issued photo ID at the
polls. If passed, these changes could be in place by the November
general election and could put the voting rights at risk for up to
240,000 registered Missouri voters.

"This may sound like a good idea at first," stated Sister Sandy
Schwartz of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary regarding voter ID
requirements, "but once you stop to think about who would really be
affected, this is going to keep a lot of our loved ones from being
able to vote." Yesterday in Indiana twelve nuns in their 80s and 90s
were turned away from the polls because they lacked the needed IDs to
vote. Sister Schwartz and others are concerned about the difficulties
the policy change would create for elderly Missouri nuns, as well as
other senior citizens, the poor, and minorities.

Sing it, Sisters!

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GOP Vote Rigging

Against one of their own?

Short version: Mike Huckabee was closing in on John McCain in Saturday's Washington caucus (after winning Louisiana and Kansas) when the chair of the state GOP suddenly declared the vote counting over. With 13% of the precincts uncounted.

As Josh says, Bush v. Gore this ain't but something's rotten in the state of Washington.

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UPDATE: The Huckster calls in the lawyers.

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This Won't End Well

The Supremes are going to decide the constitutionality of voter ID laws.

My guess? In a 5-4 decision the court will uphold the laws. Then wherever they find it most advantageous the Repubs will find ways to make getting an ID as difficult as possible.

Oh, and this will be decided before the 2008 elections.

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Of Sasquatch...

...and voting fraud:

But the notion of widespread voter fraud, as these prosecutors found out, is itself a fraud. Firing a prosecutor for failing to find wide voter fraud is like firing a park ranger for failing to find Sasquatch. Where fraud exists, of course, it should be prosecuted and punished. (And politicians have been stuffing ballot boxes and buying votes since senators wore togas; Lyndon Johnson won a 1948 Senate race after his partisans famously "found" a box of votes well after the election.) Yet evidence of actual fraud by individual voters is painfully skimpy.

[...]

Or consider Washington state, where McKay closely watched the photo-finish gubernatorial election of 2004. A challenge to ostensibly noncitizen voters was lodged in April 2005 on the questionable basis of "foreign-sounding names." After an election there last year in which more than 2 million votes were cast, following much controversy, only one ballot ended up under suspicion for double-voting. That makes sense. A person casting two votes risks jail time and a fine for minimal gain. Proven voter fraud, statistically, happens about as often as death by lightning strike.

[...]

Identification requirements often sound simple. But some types of paperwork simply aren't available to many Americans. We saw this with the new Medicaid proof-of-citizenship requirement, which led to benefits being cut off for many longtime citizens. Some states insist that voters provide photo IDs such as driver's licenses. But at least 11 percent of voting-age Americans, disproportionately elderly and minority voters, lack the necessary papers. Required documentation such as naturalization paperwork can cost as much as $200. By contrast, when the poll tax was declared unconstitutional in 1966, it was $1.50 ($8.97 in 2007 dollars).

I'll add that it's...curious that the GOP hasn't made a big deal of the New Hamphire Phone Jamming Case given that it's proven voting fraud. I'm sure that the fact that this was carried out by the RNC and possibly the White House (even Jack Abramoff makes an appearance!) has nothing to do with the lack of interest from the Repubs.

It would be cynical to suggest otherwise.

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