The Most Extensive Effort to Disenfranchise Voters since Jim Crow

Posted by Unknown , Tuesday, October 21, 2008 4:22 PM

I'm a bit irate right now.

You all may have heard of the organization ACORN by now. In short, they are a multi-facted organization that has a lot of focus on registering voters. They have come under fire recently because there have been many fraudulent forms filled out - with names from "Mickey Mouse" to the entire starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys. However, ACORN claims - and does - flag the suspicious registration cards for the state, as they are still required by law to turn all registration cards in. (For a more in depth explanation of ACORN and past problems, here's a brief article.)

Yet the people who have pointed fingers over this - GOP officials, conservative bloggers, and generally outraged citizenry - are actively disenfranchising voters.

What have they done? Well, here is a list of articles that touches the tip of the iceberg.

• Block the Vote: Will the GOP's campaign to deter new voters and discard Democratic ballots determine the next president?[Rolling Stone]
• Report: Operatives Will Use Internet to Suppress the Vote [Wired]
• Challenging voter rolls, misinformation campaigns, and matching rolls as part of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), among other things. [The Nation]
• Voting Machines Switch Votes; Officials Blame Voters[Wired]
• Kansas GOP Boasts of "Voter-Caging" in 2007 - and he's still chair. [Crooks&Liars]
• Undermining voter confidence with deliberately misinforming mailers. [St. Petersburg Times]
• Ohio Republicans filed a lawsuit to keep people from registering and voting on the same day - which directly affected the homeless.WSJ]
• Voters purged from the rolls because of clerical errors; many were not notified until they showed up to vote and it was too late. [CBS]
• McCain-Palin supporters show up and protest early voters' right to vote. (with Video) [Washington Times]
• Michigan Republicans admit to illegal foreclosure scheme, in which Republicans tried to use the foreclosure crisis as a way to block the foreclosed from voting. [Emptywheel]

Please God someone bring more attention to these despicable efforts. Please.