FITRAKIS: Pressure OH BOEs to Issue Photo Voter IDs

[mod mom]

Press Release

FITRAKIS URGES PRESSURE ON BOEs TO ISSUE VOTER IDS

Bob Fitrakis spoke in suburban Columbus to the progressive group Blue Dublin on February 23 on the issue of voting concerns and legislation on election reform. He recounted how tactics employed by J. Kenneth Blackwell, who served the dual role of Ohio Secretary of State and OH Co-Chair Bush/Cheney ‘04, played a significant role in suppressing the democratic vote in Ohio during the ‘04 and ‘05 elections. Fitrakis pointed to Lucas County as an example of how Blackwell and the GOP cronyism handed leadership positions to the Noes in running elections in Lucas County. Lucas County’s election was so mismanaged that Blackwell was forced to fire his subordinates at the board of elections and issue a scathing report on how the election in Lucas County was run.

Fitrakis termed recent GOP legislation, HB 3, as the equivalent to modern day “Jim Crow” tactics meant to further suppress the democratic base voters. He wondered why the democratic party wasn’t circulating petitions to challenge the suppressive law, which he said could have a devastating effect on democratic base voters in the midterm elections. Fitrakis urged citizens to place pressure on Boards of Elections to issue PHOTO VOTER IDS to the poor, nursing homes and college campuses so that voters disenfranchised in the past will have the ability to cast a vote in November. He suggested that the Dublin progressives contact Denny White, at the Franklin County BOE and ask his help in protecting the Democratic base voters by issuing Voter IDs.

When asked why the Democratic Party hasn’t done more on the GAO Report on Electronic Voting, Dr. Fitrakis was at a loss. This report which states that Electronic Voting Machines in the U.S. are NOT SECURE, NOT ACCOUNTABLE, NOT TRANSPARENT, NOT ACCURATE, AND ARE UNCERTIFIABLE, should be raising serious alarms, but has gotten little attention in the media or with the Democratic Party. He pointed out that the Federal Voting Standards -National Institute for Standards and Technology reports that Infrared Data Transfer Ports can totally compromise elections without detection. If the parties and media won’t acknowledge these serious flaws it is up to citizen groups to push for action.

[MelissaB]

1. Recommended! I wish we had more like him.

[roseBudd]

2. Speaking as someone who specialized in low income GOTV this will be

impossible to implement. You will not be able to inform the poor of this availablity and many will not have the documentation needed to get the ID. If they give ID just on someone's say so then what will be the point of the ID?

The OH dems can't even get the info to all the former felons who are under the mistaken impression that they are not allowed to vote. I ran into lots of people who told me they can't vote and I am just 1 person trying to inform and motivate the poor.

An example of how difficult this would be just think about the census and how lots of personnel literally going door to door miss so many poor and homeless.

[mod mom]

4. Hey Rosebud, Bob is speaking in Cinci on March 1 @ a Democracy for Cinci

meeting. (DFA) I'll pm you info in case you're available.

[mod mom]

5. Regarding the content of your post:

First of all, without any effort you will disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of poor, predominately democratic voters in Ohio. Would this be easy? Absolutely not, but without trying it is essentially abandoning (AGAIN) on the poor's ability to participate in voting. I would think the Dem party could get volunteers to set up booths at libraries, churches, community centers, festivals etc as well as placing posters informing people of this program in their neighborhoods. It would also show these voters that the party is interested in them. Their votes were not fought for in '04 so I believe there should be a concerted effort of dem candidates going into these forgotten neighborhoods and encourage their participation. This program might be an impetus for getting them out to vote in the future.

[roseBudd]

8. You would have to go door to door in some very bad neighborhoods

and you would have to cover an awful lot of ground because even though the cities would be most fruitful there are poverty stricken no ID having people who don't own cars in the rural areas. Just because someone like me isn't scared of anything and walks around some very bad neighborhoods without a second thought doesn't mean there are enough of me to accomplish something like this. I often said if you are a dope boy standing on the corner selling crack I still want your vote for Kerry and I harassed the dope boys relentlessly to vote. Photo ID is the GOP's idea and the reason is suppression.

I lived in government subsidized housing for many years and the poor truly do live very chaotic lives, often resulting in eviction and sometimes having everything they own on the sidewalk. As a person who grew up middle class it was very difficult to understand the living conditions and the choices the poor made. They very often stay at rather than live somewhere. When they move from place to place their belongings in garbage bags I don't think keeping track of their birth certificate is a high priority. If they don't have ID how will they prove who they are? Photo ID requires equipment. Currently photo ID comes from DMVs and they are not open late or not always accessible to people who don't drive.

Voter fraud is not the problem, election fraud is. Most voter fraud occurs with absentee ballots and where are the safeguards for absentee voting? Maybe I'm just a dem vote whore and I want the homeless, the dopeboys, people with low IQ, etc. voting because I know they are likely democratic voters.

When I registered voters everyone knew the last 4 digits of their social, their birth date and they signedthe card. If those 3 things match it is highly likely this person is who they say they are and highly unlikely they are someone who has memorized someone else's info and has the ability to forge the signature on election day. This is a problem the GOP has invented out of whole cloth.

[mod mom]

11. Bob said the Dems should be circulating petitions to challenge HB 3 in Nov

If this could get on the ballot, it would stop it from taking effect. It would take at least $250,000 and massive amount of people to circulate since there is less than 90 days to turn in signatures. Chris Redfern was approached and wasn't interested. So we have to do something to combat the effects of HB 3-The GOP Voter Supression Law. Of course we realize the problem is ELECTION fraud not Voter (only 4 documentated cases in Ohio in '04 vs 100,000+ of election fraud), but the Ohio repukes passed this into law, so we need to do what we can to stop it's supressive measures.

[roseBudd]

14. Just from my experience my suggestion is to stake out bus stops

in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton etc. I helped with a petition against SS privatization. The guy organizing the petition drive stood on Fountain Square, I went 1 block further to the bus stop and got 3 times as many signatures in 1 hour on my lunchbreak.

Besides this bill will negatively impact the poor African American bus riders and perhaps at the same time can collect some testimonials to who will be negatively impacted.

Frame this as a lunch hour downtown worker petition gathering drive and I think you could figure out how many bus stops per city you would need. A commitment of only 1 hour of downtown lunch break time should make it easy to get volunteers.

Think of it this way. Who wants to stop to sign a petition when they are walking? At the bus stop people are waiting and they are the very people who have a vested interest in defeating this bill. Get media coverage and you could have testimonials of the who and why of who will be disenfranchised.

I don't want to be playing catchup. I don't even know how to get all the former felons informed that they can vote.

[druidity33]

6. always a way...

Creative problem solving is a must. For instance, maybe they could run a bus campaign? Put signs in all the buses (translated into spanish, chinese, korean, etc), on the outside of buses, targeted TV ads, etc. Or get together with the Board of Ed to make this a countywide Civics lesson for seniors, or use Time Dollars....

it's not that it would be impossible... it is that the people who would/could spearhead things like this are battling on so many other fronts... to be effective at getting everyone a voter ID card would take A LOT of work and creative thinking. I've always thought that if there were a "consumer" oriented benefit/incentive to voting, we wouldn't have to urge people to get out there so much. What if you could verify that you voted and that verification could be proof for companies to offer voluntary discounts on their products. Starbucks offers 50% off espresso beans when you show your voter ID (maybe stamped like a passport or something)... whatever. I may get flamed for saying such a thing but i think people should be proud of having voted and if it takes getting them a discount card for them to notice politics and have to choose candidates and question platforms then so be it.

That being said... funding is always a problem. Learn to exist on no/low budget. It's a reality, i'm not saying it to be harsh. It's like finally recognizing you're gonna die someday... it's a weight lifted, really.

Peace and goodwill.

[roseBudd]

9. Starbucks incentives? A bus in Adams County? Will the bus go down

the dirt roads also? I suppose the GOP dominated government will kick in the big bucks this will cost to get everyone in the US ID. The states are already complaining about the unfunded mandate of the National ID card.

[druidity33]

10. as an example...

No, buses don't go everywhere... but most of the disenfranchised people you are talking about use buses as their primary mode of transport when they do go somewhere. And yes, Starbucks is a terrifically poor example. But it wouldn't cost the state anything if businesses used it as another one of their "President's day" sale gimmicks. "Show your card and get a free gift!" or "You voted? The ice cream's on me if you get a sandwich"... i see commercials, and maybe they can get major corporations to do ads telling people it's important to vote and that they'll help defray the cost to the gov't., etc. Cultivating circumstances, creative problem solving, HARD WORK, and more would be needed to make an ID system work. But it may give us the opportunity to explain to people how IMPORTANT the right to vote is and to take matters into their own hands to enfranchise themselves.

As for Aunt Millie on the dirt road. I've lived on dirt roads and let me tell you it doesn't necessarily mean you can't go anywhere. Millie goes to town once a month to get her supplies like everyone else in the boonies. She makes a list like i do. What is important is that the card be easy enough to obtain that people don't have to make more than one trip.

All in all i think the ID system is a bad move, but if you're stuck with it you gotta do your best. Good luck.

Peace out.

[roseBudd]

13. I am a dem vote whore & I don't want to lose a single vote to a photo ID

requirement. Low income people already have the lowest voting rates. They very rightly percieve that voting doesn't make a whole lot of difference in their lives. This last election was a little different in that things had gotten so bad for the least among us economically that most everyone I talked to was planning on voting. Reality is I don't know if they did but I had to try. The GOP and some liberal elites often say that the people who clearly do not have their shit together, and lets face it many of the poor clearly do not have it together in a way that makes sense to middle-income people (no ID, no checking account, using the check cashing place)perhaps shouldn't be voting. Dems are historically against ID requirements for voting for 2 reasons. First and foremost it is a solution to a nonexistent problem. Voting fraudulently requires thinking of a name of a person who is registered and you better be sure that they haven't already voted and then having to forge that person's signature while a poll worker watches. And for what, a sticker that says I voted? I absolutely have no problem with signature, last 4 digits of social and birthdate as identification. The second reason dems are against photo or other intrusive ID requirements is because they know that the people who have no photo ID are likely democratic voters. So yes, the homeless people at the Drop In Center, the dems jumped through hoops to get them registered and encouraged them to vote regardless of their mental status. And I don't feel guilty about that because it is the GOP that will cut the programs that help these people.

If photo ID pases in your state what is an acceptable number to have disenfranchised? 100? 1000? 10,000, 100,000? The estimate for Ohio is that it will disenfranchise 100,000.

When George Bush had only 537 more votes than Gore after Jeb & Katherine Harris kicked 40,000 African Americans off the voting roles using questionable data for the sole purpose of disenfranchising likely democratic voters you can see why the GOP supports these so called voter integrity programs.

Read it and weep:

Republican Voter Suppression Tactics and Techniques

The GOP's Shameful Vote Strategy
Time was when Republicans were at least embarrassed by their efforts to keep African Americans from the polls. Today's Republicans have elevated vote suppression from a dirty secret to a public norm.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A707-2004Oct26.html

The New Poll Tax
Republican-sponsored ballot-security measures are being used to keep minorities from voting
One of the recurring scandals in American politics since passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is the discriminatory use of so-called "ballot security" programs. These programs are invariably presented as good government measures necessary to prevent voter fraud, but far too often they are actually designed to suppress minority voting -- and for nakedly partisan purposes.
http://www.prospect.org/print-friendly/print/V13/23/mcdonald-l.html

Now They're Registered, Now They're Not
Election Officials Express Dismay at Extent of Misinformation, Variety of Tricks Targeting Voters
Students find their party changed, while residents of several cities report bogus phone calls telling voters their polling location has been changed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12514-2004Oct30.html

Democrats call on Blackwell to resign
By limiting where people can cast a ballot on Election Day and confusing county boards of election about the thickness of voter registration forms, Blackwell is creating barriers to eligible voters. Senate Democrats called for the resignation of Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, accusing him of trying to suppress the vote in Ohio.
http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/news/stories/20041001/localnews/1338143.html

Voters report fake calls
Instructions to change polling place don’t come from board of elections
Franklin County, Ohio residents report suspicious phone calls detailing false precinct changes and absentee ballot requests.
http://www.dispatch.com/election/election-local.php?story=dispatch/2004/10/22/20041022-A1-00.html

NAACP, election officials caution voters of bogus letter
South Carolina officials warn of bogus letter on NAACP letterhead says voters must have a credit check, provide two forms of photo identification, a Social Security card, a voter registration card as well as a handwriting sample.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/10050609.htm?1c

Franklin County Elections Board Targeted Heavily Democratic Precincts
Analysis shows that the distribution of voting machines to precincts was not random but rather was severely discriminating against Democratic precincts, with nearly one out of three Democratic precincts had less voting machines in 2004 than in 2000
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/12/1708672.php

Pushing to Be Counted in Fla. Groups Say That Blacks May Not Be Heard at Polls
Black leaders said the scene at the supervisor's office last week was reminiscent of a blocked schoolhouse door at the height of desegregation. They charge that GOP officials are deliberately using the law to keep black people off the rolls and hinder them from voting.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28107-2004Oct12.html

TV Reveals New Florida Vote Scandal
Republican "Caging List"
GOP denies "caging list" is a plan to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts.
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=385&row=0BBC

Something rotten in the state of Florida
Pregnant chads, vanishing voters... the election fiasco of 2000 made the Sunshine State a laughing stock. More importantly, it put George Bush in the White House. You'd think they'd want to get it right this time. But no, as Andrew Gumbel discovers, the democratic process is more flawed than ever.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=566688

Grand jury to reconvene in phone-jamming case
A federal prosecutor said he will reconvene a grand jury in a case involving the jamming of Democratic phone lines in 2002, raising the question of whether more Republicans could be accused.
http://news.mainetoday.com/apwire/D8C6VEF80-236.shtml

Florida scraps flawed felon voting list
The purge of felons from voter rolls has been a thorny issue since the 2000 presidential election. A private company hired to identify ineligible voters before the election produced a list with scores of errors, and elections supervisors used it to remove voters without verifying its accuracy.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-07-10-felons-vote-fla_x.htm?POE=click-refer

Peeling back the mandate
Voting rights are once more at the forefront of the civil rights movement
The civil rights movement is regrouping, just as racism is regrouping, and voting rights are still at the forefront. Peel back George Bush’s grinning “mandate” from November and what you find is a shadow world of widespread anti-democratic maneuvering, harassment and deceit, blatantly targeting African-American and other primarily Democratic voting blocs.
http://www.commonwonders.com/archives/col285.htm

Jim Crow returns to the voting booth
Does America have apartheid vote counting system?
The challenge to the vote count is over, but the matter of how the United States counts votes, or fails to count them, remains. The ballots left uncounted, and that will never be counted, are so-called spoiled or rejected ballots -- votes cast by citizens, but never tallied are overwhelmingly from African American precincts. This is the dark little secret of U.S. democracy.
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=411&row=0

[druidity33]

17. you misunderstand?

I am against this voter ID law. But it has already passed, no? The only acceptable disenfranchisement percentage in my mind is 0%. I don't see Massachusetts passing a voter ID law anytime soon and thank goddess for that. There are A LOT of things worth fighting for in Ohio right now.... too many it would seem. Blackwell out first, Diebold out second, ID law out third... would be my order of importance. But if you're a resident of Ohio you're going to have to make your own choices about where to pick your battles. Again i say good luck! and fight the good fight.
Peace

[roseBudd]

20. Sorry I'm just so used to argung with DUers who think photo ID is good

and don't understand how difficult it would be to get everyone a photo ID.

[mod mom]

22. Wheres Strickland and Sherrod Brown screaming about this? Let them know

want to hear them screaming about this. This is why Bob is in the race, not to cause problems, but to raise the issues that the Dems refuse to address. It's their f-ing base. THEY should be fighting for their votes!

[mod mom]

12. I think the law will eventually be seen as unconstitutional but it stands

for '06, so we must attempt to help as many as possible. Will we get everyone? No, but that doesn't we shouldn'y try. Put pressure on the Dems on the BOEs to come up with the funding. They have all that HAVA $ they are wasting on unsecured electronic voting machines.

[roseBudd]

15. If we need to get the info out my suggestion is to send a flyer to barber

& beauty shops and ask them to hang it on the wall. That is also my idea for informing felons in OH they are allowed to vote.

How hard would it be to get a list of every hair cutting business in Ohio and how much would it cost to send each a letter sized B&W flyer to hang on the wall?

[mod mom]

18. Yor're correct, but 1st we must get the BOEs to get this program afloat.

We need to apply pressure on BOEs, and if they are unwilling then the Dem Party should do it to protect their base.

[roseBudd]

19. We need to fight the photo ID requirement because getting everyone IDed

will be a huge and costly nightmare. We can't even get letters sent to the last known good address of our former felons telling them they can vote.

[mod mom]

21. You got $250,000+ and a load of volunteers? Cuz we don't and the Redfern

says they're not interested. (Estimated cost to get an initiative on the ballot in less than 90 days) Rosebud, I'm not being sarcastic. I spoke with several connected attorneys who agree with you, including Bob, but initiatives are both costly and labor intensive. I would think the Dems would want to show their base they are willing to fight for their right to vote. '06 is NOT looking too good in Ohio. We fought it both while HB 3 was being brought up and after in protesting it's effects. I don't recall seeing too many Dem party people carrying signs and expressing anger over this blatant disenfranchisement of their voting base. they were seeral election reform groups who spoke out against this bill but the repukes control the Ohio legislature and they wanted to pass this bill to protect their turf.

[babsbunny]

3. I Love BOB!

[nicknameless]

7. K&R

[Time for change]

16. Good for him

Maybe Fitrakis will manage to get a new level of attention to this issue in Ohio.:thumbsup: