Voter Registration Problems and Republican Sec. of States

[Eric J in MN]

Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 5, 2004

NetLets

http://www.startribune.com/stories/563/5016045.html

Several states have had trouble with voter registration this year. The most visible problems have been in Florida, Ohio, Colorado and Minnesota. In each of those states, the secretary of state is responsible for making registration and voting accessible. In each of those states, the secretary of state has created obstacles to voter registration. And in each of those states, the secretary of state is a Republican. Coincidence?

Clayton Bennett, Minneapolis.

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Of course it's not a coincidence. They're all incompetent.

[olddem43]

2. Not so much incompetent, but dishonest

[Keirsey]

3. Missouri

Matt Blunt is not only the Secretary of State, but is a candidate for governor.

Missouri The secretary of state of Missouri, Matt Blunt, is running for governor on the Republican Party ticket. "This gentleman has a vested interest in suppressing the black voter turnout in this state," says John Hickey, executive director of the Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition.

"That is a ridiculous statement," says Spence Jackson, spokesperson for Blunt. "It is directly because of Matt Blunt's leadership that we have provisional balloting in our state." Because of Blunt, says Jackson, "thousands of voters have been given the opportunity to vote when they otherwise would not have had it." Provisional ballots allow voters who lack IDs, or whose names don't appear on the rolls, to cast votes. But the version Blunt introduced, concedes Jackson, requires that voters file any provisional ballots in the correct precinct--a demand that prompted a lawsuit from the Democratic Party and some citizens of Kansas City.

The suit claims that the new federal Help America Vote Act supersedes the older state law. It also alleges that toll-free help lines were so jammed during the August primary that many voters were unable to find out their correct polling site.

Other ominous problems cropped up that day. "In Democratic districts, which also happened to be predominantly African American, there were polls that opened late, like 10 a.m. instead of 7 a.m., which is a real problem for working people," says Counts of the AFL-CIO. "The hours weren't extended during the evening." Counts also says that "people who showed up without ID were turned away from the polls and not given provisional ballots," even though that's what the law required.

The ID requirement, says Hickey, is a new law aimed at the black vote. It requires voters "to present the picture ID, unless the election official recognizes you." Where are they going to recognize you? asks Hickey. In small towns and rural areas, which, he points out, are majority white. In urban areas, says Hickey, it's more likely that poll workers won't recognize you, especially in areas that are poor and where people move frequently. "That means you need a picture ID in the city and not the country. The city's black. The country's white."

The new law amounts to "a sophisticated effort to suppress the vote," says Hickey. And he says the Republicans have given thought to this strategy. "OK, if we can shave off 1,000 black votes here and 500 black votes there, that's how" we're going to win. "It is disproportionately excluding poor and minority voters, and that is exactly why the Republicans passed that law after they took over the legislature."

http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=9154&fcategory_desc=Under%20Reported

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. I know. I had tongue-in-cheek.