Alarm over voter purges as 17m Americans removed from rolls in two years

[dajoki]

Alarm over voter purges as 17m Americans removed from rolls in two years
Areas with discriminatory history purging at higher rates
Purges accelerated following 2013 supreme court decision
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/01/voter-purges-us-elections-brennan-center-report?utm_term=RWRpdG9yaWFsX0d1YXJkaWFuVG9kYXlVUy0xOTA4MDI%3D&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&CMP=GTUS_email

US election jurisdictions with histories of egregious voter discrimination have been purging voter rolls at a rate 40% beyond the national average, according to a watchdog report released on Thursday.

At least 17 million voters were purged nationwide between 2016 and 2018, according to a study by the Brennan Center for Justice. The number was basically unchanged from the previous two-year period.

While the rate of voter purges elsewhere has declined slowly, jurisdictions released from federal oversight by a watershed 2013 supreme court ruling had purge rates “significantly higher” than jurisdictions not previously subjected to oversight, the Brennan Center found in a previous report.

That trend has continued, the watchdog said, with the disproportionate purging of voters resulting in an estimated 1.1 million fewer voters between 2016 and 2018.

Voter purges accelerated in the United States with the 2013 Shelby County v Holder ruling, which released counties with histories of voter discrimination from federal oversight imposed by the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The Voting Rights Act barred jurisdictions with “evidence of actual voting discrimination” – for example, registration tests and a voter rate at least 12% below the national average – from changing their voting procedures without “pre-clearance” from federal authorities.

In Shelby county, the supreme court declared that “nearly 50 years later, things have changed dramatically” and released the so-called section 5 jurisdictions from oversight. Chief justice John Roberts wrote that “the tests and devices that blocked ballot access have been forbidden nationwide for over 40 years”.

But the ruling was criticized for apparent blindness to contemporary voter suppression practices including strict voter identification laws, partisan gerrymandering and aggressive voter purges.

<<snip>>

[democratisphere]

1. Rethuglicons are already actively rigging the next election

and the cheating f'ers must be stopped.

[DFW]

2. I'd say "alarm" is way overdue. Trump "won" by less than 80,000 strategically "counted" votes

Last edited Sat Aug 3, 2019, 12:51 AM - Edit history (1)

Purging 17 million voters (and you can guess how many of them were in areas or groups likely to vote Republican), covers more than enough ground for them to cheat their way into a second term for "the man that nobody wanted."

And this doesn't even begin to address the issue of fraudulent vote counting. For all their phony "anti-kommanism," the Republicans seem to have purely Soviet role models, both with their informational policies (Fox Noise and National Hate Radio), and their worship of Stalin ("Those who cast the votes decides nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything" ).

[FakeNoose]

4. This is how they update the voter registration archives

They are dropping every name in the voter archives that doesn't match the drivers license archives. There are a lot of people who vote occasionally - once in four years, or less frequently. In most states we renew drivers licenses once in 4 or 5 years. So the assumption is that the drivers license data is more recent/accurate than the voter registration data.

If a person is "Bob" Jones on the voter registration, but "Robert" Jones on the drivers license, guess which one they're going to delete? If somebody moves they remember to update their drivers license, but probably not their voter registration. It's not an insidious plot against Democrats, because Republicans and Independents get deleted too. However city dwellers are more likely to have changed their address recently, and they're also more likely to vote as a Dem/liberal.

So the good news is that it's an easy thing to fix. We can re-register online, and also revise an out-of-date registration online. Be ready to show a photo ID when you go to vote in the next election, because you might be asked for ID. I usually bring my US passport just in case, but I haven't been asked for ID in 24 years.

Here's where you can check to make sure you're registered to vote:
(link) https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/

It's totally private and safe. SCROLL DOWN to your state and enter your info.
If you're good to go they'll tell you. If you need to re-register they have the info ready.

DFW, I don't think this is helpful to you or others who are living outside the 50 states. However your voter registration wouldn't be dropped in this datafile comparison either, so you're good.

[safeinOhio]

3. Need laws to remove those that are removed from the voting rolls

to also be removed from local tax rolls. No Taxation with out representation. This country was founded on that.