NATIONAL 'GUARANTEE YOUR VOTE' DAY

[norepubsin08]

Unbeknownst to them, tens of thousands of voters across the country have had their names purged from voter files. Most will not find this out until Election Day on November 4th, when it will be too late to re-register to vote in the crucial 2008 presidential election. Dozens of advocacy groups, organizations and elected officials are call for voters across the country to check with their state auditors and local elections officials on October 1st to insure that they are eligible to vote.

The cornerstone of democracy is the right to vote, yet millions of Americans may have their rights suppressed as mettlesome election officials are bending and breaking election laws to deny a vote to those newly registered and those in heavily populated minority communities. Just recently:

---300,000 folks in New Jersey who thought that they were able to vote found out that they actually are not on the rolls. Either they have been purged or their names never were entered onto the rolls in the first place.

---Republican party officials in Michigan plan on challenging the voting rights of those whose homes have been place into foreclosure of which, 60% are African-American.

---Wisconsin's Attorney General, a Republican, recently sued the state's election board to try to remove 20% of the registered voters in this critical state.

---In Virginia, another battleground state, the AFL-CIO reported that Republicans deliberately tried to confuse student voters about where they are eligible to register and vote.

In Ohio in 2006, 303,000 voters were purged in three major urban counties while last month, 600,000 additional voters were threatened to be removed from voter files. After irregularities have challenged the validity and integrity of voter's intentions in 2000 and 2004, measures must be taken to guarantee every vote will be counted on Election Day. Most states have a 14 or 30 day preregistration requirement, our October 1st call to action allows voters to re-register in time, if their names have been purged.

ON OCTOBER 1st., WE WILL BE ASKING ALL PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS TO SEND AN 'ALERT' EMAIL, TEXT OR PHONE MESSAGE TO THEIR SUPPORTERS ASKING THEM TO CONTACT THEIR COUNTY OR STATE ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT T0 TO VERIFY THE STATUS OR THEIR VOTER REGISTRATION.

"Let's not allow 2008 to mirror the widespread manipulation that we have experienced across this country since 2000" said Todd Iverson, president of America in Solidarity. "Every vote in Ohio, every vote in Florida and every vote in every state should count. Let's have this election decided by the people not by machines, dirty tricks or voter witch hunts" "This is a matter of justice pure and simple. It is our ability to hold our government accountable. With out integral elections we sink into anarchy and risk becoming a third world nation"-Mike Collier, chair of the MICAH Project in Tacoma, Washington.

How can you help? A growing list of organizations, bloggers, church groups and elected officials are participating by agreeing to send out the alert and endorsing the project. Bloggers, candidates and media outlets will be contacted to help spread the word about October 1st as NATIONAL GUARANTEE YOUR VOTE' DAY.

Information about how to contact elections officials along with links about voter suppression maybe found on America in Solidarity's website at: www.americasolidarity.org or fumcot.com and follow the links to MICAH.

For moreinformation or to schedule an interview, contact either:

Todd Iverson [phone] [e-mail] or

Mike Collier [phone] [e-mail]


In Solidarity,

Mike Collier and Todd Iverson