Huge Increase In Voter Registrations In Ferguson Apparently Never Happened

[herding cats]

Last week, numerous news outlets, national and local, reported on a huge increase in registered voters in Ferguson, Mo., following the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown. But it apparently didn't actually happen.

The St. Louis County elections board reported that 3,287 Ferguson residents had registered to vote. That is a huge surge for a city of 21,000, particularly as controversy swelled about the racial make-up of the city government after the shooting. Ferguson is two-thirds African-American, but its mayor and all but one member of the six-person city council are white.

But apparently that first report was in error. There was no voter registration spike. The county elections board reversed course on Tuesday and said that, actually, only 128 people had registered to vote since the shooting.

<>

St. Louis County director of elections Rita Heard Days told TPM in a phone interview Tuesday that the county had mistakenly used a report that records all changes to a voter's registration information -- new address, change in marital status, etc. -- to get the initial 3,287 number. Somebody within the office pointed out the issue after the huge spike was reported, and the board worked with the secretary of state's office to get the actual 128 new registrants.

Days said she thought the original report of 3,000-plus new voters was "odd," but that it was at least possible because a lot of people had asked for voter registration information since the Brown shooting.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/ferguson-missouri-voter-registration-drive-didnt-happen

I'm quite interested in what the League of Women Voters and the local chapter of the NAACP have to say about their voter registration drives.

[Generic Other]

1. She thought the original report was "odd"

especially given all the efforts to expunge African Americans from the rolls.

[KittyWampus]

6. That's what came to my mind. Like Karl Rove being so damned sure

it that one state was going to go to Romney. Except this time they got to the information in time to screw it up.

[notadmblnd]

2. I wonder how many were disappeared to the trash can?

[yeoman6987]

3. That is much more realistic

I thought it was nonsense when I heard it. There would have been lines and a lot of activity to have that many register when a district is not used to it.

[LiberalFighter]

4. When someone updates their registration

it also shows intent to become active by making sure they won't be denied access to the polls.

[Fred Sanders]

5. You may be right, still a disappointment. Are the residents of Ferguson still not understanding the

importance of voting? What to do?

I am prepared to stop just short of being angry at the residents and shouting at them to stop being moronic about about how to most easily and effectively bring about the changes they take to the streets to demand..register and vote.

You do not have to only just protest in the streets, protest in the voting booth.

[jwirr]

7. If this is true then it is very upsetting. The protesters seem to understand the idea of using

non-violence to protest. I do not believe that they do not know about the fight for voting rights. I want to know how this happened. How many people were signed up during the first week of the demonstrations at that booth we all saw as we watched.

I am sorry but I do not believe this.