"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" -Oscar Wilde |
"The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself." -- Proverbs 11:25 |
Ohio election officials are sending out a mass mailer stamped “do not forward” to all registered voters today (Sept. 5) with an absentee ballot application and other important notices for Nov. 4.What’s important here is not so much what’s going out as what’s being returned to sender.
Unbeknownst to the would-be recipients, the same mailer — just 60 days before the election — has the potential to determine their eligibility to vote, challenged not by election officials but by partisan opposition.
A similar mailer in March netted nondeliverable mail from almost 600,000 registered voters in just five Ohio counties who could now have their ballots thrown out for voting under the wrong address.
The National Voter Registration Act prohibits any state from purging names from the voting rolls within 90 days of an election.
The law doesn’t, however, preclude mass partisan challenges on or shortly before Election Day — known as voter caging — based on the same returned envelopes from state-sponsored mailers like the ones in Ohio and others going out across the country.
In 2004, the year the national election hinged on results from Ohio, the Ohio Republican Party challenged 35,000 voters based on returned mail from the GOP's own friendly reminder notices. From 2004 to 2006, Republicans challenged 77,000 voters this way nationwide. A consent decree issued in 1982 and amended in 1987 enjoins the GOP from instituting “ballot security programs” that focus on minority voters.
No evidence so far suggests Republicans — vote caging is essentially a GOP sport — have mounted a caging campaign this year. Yet, in July, Franklin County Election Director and County GOP Chairman Doug Preisse told reporters he didn’t rule out challenges before November, particularly because of increased home foreclosures, which would make failures to change address on voter registration records more common.
A challenged voter will likely cast a provisional ballot, which often requires voters to return to election divisions to prove their identity and address. Nearly a third of all 1.6 million provisional ballots cast in 2004 were thrown out.
Labels: 2008 election, disenfranchisement, vote suppression
I WISH SHE HAD TOLD ALL MAINSTREAM 'BIASED' MEDIA TO KISS OFF, AFTER THE WAY THEY WENT AFTER HER FAMILY; HOWEVER, SHE IS A STRONG AMERICAN AND WILL DO FINE.
Poor Obama --- he’s resorted to calling Sarah a LIAR. This is going to get good sooner than we think. Last week, he sent "30" lawyers to Alaska to vet Governor Palin! Why? The DNC and biased media never vetted their 'golden boy' --- if they had, Hillary would be the Democratic candidate.
GOVERNOR PALIN HAS ACTUALLY WORKED FOR THE PEOPLE (AS MAYOR AND AS GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF ALASKA) AND NOW, OBAMA IS RUNNING AROUND LIKE A CHICKEN WITH IT’S HEAD CUT OFF. WHY IS HE SO SCARED? HE’S COMING ACROSS LIKE A BLUNDERING IDIOT.
GOVENOR SARAH PALIN IS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR AND OFFERS A CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!
REGARDING THE “BRIDGE TO NOWHERE” ISSUE:
GOVERNOR PALIN DID NOT ASK FOR THE BRIDGE — NOR DID SHE ASK FOR THE MONEY! SINCE SHE HAS BEEN “GOVERNOR” OF ALASKA, SHE HAS NOT SUPPORTED THIS BRIDGE.
GOVERNORS AND STATE OFFICIALS “DON’T” ASK FOR FEDERAL MONEY (EARMARK MONEY OR PORK) — THAT’S DONE BY “SENATORS” AND “CONGRESSMEN”! WE NEED TO REPLACE THE DO-NOTHING DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS!
TOUCHE!
I’M VOTING FOR THE HONORABLE JOHN S. McCAIN IN NOVEMBER.
Lordy, Lordy.