They tried to keep my sister from voting.

[TygrBright]

Last edited Tue Mar 5, 2024, 07:26 PM - Edit history (2)

(edited to correct: This was at last week's primary vote.)
Recently retired and a lifelong Democrat, my sister moved from southern Illinois to Ann Arbor last summer. Ann Arbor is in Washtenaw County. It's the principal campus of the University of Michigan. It is reliably Democratic in its voting patterns, and my sis felt right at home there. Nice people, nice place.

Washtenaw County is surrounded by some of the reddest MAGAt-holes in Michigan, county-wise. But she knew that although Michigan is a swing state, it had a long progressive tradition, too - one of the wellsprings of America's labor movement, the home of Louis Brandeis. So she wasn't too worried.

Until the card dropped into her mailbox a couple of weeks ago.

It said "We have reason to believe you no longer live at (her address, which she'd used in registering to vote just LAST SUMMER). Unless you request and complete a verification form, you will be removed from the list of registered voters."

She didn't just request the verification form, she went, in person, to the county registrar and completed and submitted the form.

Nevertheless, when she went to vote last week, her name was "flagged" on the voter roll for her polling place. Fortunately, she had brought extra identification verification - not just her State ID but recent utility bills bearing her address, and her auto registration with the address. And eventually she was allowed to vote.

Were you, gentle reader, under the impression that such articles as this coverage were hyperbole? Isolated incidents? Anomalies?

No.

They have shown their hand. The attempts to fuck up the 2024 election by any means necessary (especially suppressing the vote in reliably Democratic areas) are already underway. Well-coordinated and well-funded. Happening to ordinary people, in ordinary places.

Make no mistake, we ARE at war, to save our democracy. Fight voter suppression any way you can. Start NOW.

Verify your registration. If you live in a swing state, verify it again, every few weeks, right up to the election. Prepare to be challenged. Gather your documentation. Report suspicious incidents. Do not go quietly. Write letters to the editor. Show the evidence. Shine light on the weasels who want to work in the shadows.

Save our democracy.

determinedly,
Bright

[brooklynite]

1. Who is "they"?

The Secretary of State is a Democrat. The Legislature is Democratic. The Washtenaw County Clerk is a Democrat.

Not obvious how Republicans had an opportunity to flag her registration.

[TygrBright]

3. Read the article at the link. There is a "challenge-a-thon" going on

Last edited Tue Mar 5, 2024, 07:27 PM - Edit history (1)

(edited to correct: This was at last week's primary)

Anyone can challenge voter registrations. MAGAts have been quietly engaging in a well-funded, well-coordinated effort to challenge voter registrations in swing states. Again:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/03/us/politics/trump-voter-rolls.html

A network of right-wing activists and allies of Donald J. Trump is quietly challenging thousands of voter registrations in critical presidential battleground states, an all-but-unnoticed effort that could have an impact in a close or contentious election.

Calling themselves election investigators, the activists have pressed local officials in Michigan, Nevada and Georgia to drop voters from the rolls en masse. They have at times targeted Democratic areas, relying on new data programs and novel legal theories to justify their push.

In one Michigan town, more than 100 voters were removed after an activist lobbied officials, citing an obscure state law from the 1950s. In the Detroit suburb of Waterford, a clerk removed 1,000 people from the rolls in response to a similar request. The ousted voters included an active-duty Air Force officer who was wrongly removed and later reinstated.

The purge in Waterford went unnoticed by state election officials until The New York Times discovered it. The Michigan secretary of state’s office has since told the clerk to reinstate the voters, saying the removals did not follow the process laid out in state and federal law, and issued a warning to the state’s 1,600 clerks.

Not a conspiracy theory, not overreacting here. THIS HAPPENED. TO MY SISTER. TODAY LAST WEEK.

Nothing to do with Democratic state officials, it's all pure MAGAt.

evidentially,
Bright

[SWBTATTReg]

18. This smacks of fraud, plain and outright fraud. I hope that the authorities go after these people for

illegally removing these people, that is, come up w/ flimsy excuses or reasons, remove them from voting rolls, and then, let them do the grunt work of getting back onto the active voting roster.

[soldierant]

38. I would love to read the article

but without a gift link,I cannot.

I won't subsidize the old gray lady, I have never had a facebook account, I closed everything I had with google years ago, and don't you have to have a Mac to use Apple? I've never tried.

If some subscriber would post a gift link (free to the subscriber as well as the receiver(s)) I would read and share it.

[Pompoy]

50. Use this site https://archive.ph/

https://archive.ph/hLNdr
Another is https://www.removepaywall.com/

[soldierant]

60. Many Thanks!

[muriel_volestrangler]

51. The letter from the Michigan Secretary of State explains it better

Republicans are using postal records to throw doubt on where people live, and then pressuring local officials to do mass removals. But the rules actually say they have to do them one by one with evidence, and it should take time and more than just "2 addresses for what seems to be the same person".

From the NYT:

In one Michigan town, more than 100 voters were removed after an activist lobbied officials, citing an obscure state law from the 1950s. In the Detroit suburb of Waterford, a clerk removed 1,000 people from the rolls in response to a similar request. The ousted voters included an active-duty Air Force officer who was wrongly removed and later reinstated.

The purge in Waterford went unnoticed by state election officials until The New York Times discovered it. The Michigan secretary of state’s office has since told the clerk to reinstate the voters, saying the removals did not follow the process laid out in state and federal law, and issued a warning to the state’s 1,600 clerks.

From the letter to the Waterford clerk:

A challenger can make an individual challenge against an elector, and made with regard to such elector ; that is, an individualized challenge to a single voter, not a mass challenge to multiple voters. If an individual wishes to challenge multiple voters registrations , the individual must provide an individual notarized affidavit corresponding to each voter challenged.
...
Otherwise, the voter can be cancelled only after failing to respond to the notice and failing to engage in voting activity for a period of 2 federal elections following the notice. This notice and mandated waiting period is required before cancelling a voter's registration based on third-hand information such as USPS data.

In contrast, MCL 168.512 requires a challenger to swear under oath that the challenger knows a registered voter is disqualified not simply that the challenger believes the voter's name is on a USPS list. Further, challenges made under this section cannot be done indiscriminately and without good cause or for the purpose of harassment .

It looks like Republicans are trying to submit mass lists of possible duplicate postal addresses and get local clerks to remove them all, without individual evidence, or waiting long enough for other evidence. Some clerks will not follow the proper process, perhaps because they just don't have the time, and some people will get taken off the lists, or made to go through such hassle when the burden of proof should be on the challenger. The Republicans just throw a large amount of shit at a wall and see what sticks.

[LiberalFighter]

2. Need to complain to the election officials and the county Democratic Party.

[pandr32]

4. Your advice is excellent and necessary.

[Jeebo]

5. I'm going to take my passport, too.

Along with all the other forms of identification you mentioned.

-- Ron

[cab67]

8. not a bad idea, but it might not help in situations like this.

A passport proves identity, but not residence.

[RubyRose]

33. That's why i bring a utility bill with my address

[littlemissmartypants]

6. ❤️

[2naSalit]

7. I usually...

Even though I KNOW the people who do the work personally, I go and confirm about a month before the mail in ballots are mailed out.

I trust no one when it comes to that.

[Qutzupalotl]

9. Check your registration frequently.

Purges and challenges are afoot. Go to https://vote.org , https://canivote.org , https://iwillvote.com , or you local elected officials' site.

[ShazzieB]

17. Thanks for the links!

I checked my registration at vote.com, just to see how it worked, and I can report that it was easy and fast. I live in a reliably blue state that the MAGAts aren't likely to bother messing with, but it's still nice to have that reassurance.

Early voting for the 3/19 primary has already started, and I'm planning to go vote sometime this week.

[ScratchCat]

10. FWIW

Nevertheless, when she went to vote today, her name was "flagged" on the voter roll for her polling place.

If her name was flagged actually on the voting roll, it is unlikely "Republicans" are to blame. Your sister needs to contact the county and inquire as to why her name was still flagged when she had already completed the verification form. Is it possible that the roll was printed before she visited the county office(you said it was just two weeks ago)? Its good to be cautious, but this sounds like an oversight flub-up and nothing nefarious.

[TygrBright]

12. The nefarity was in the initial challenge, not the flagged name at the polling place.

I'm sorry my OP didn't make that clearer. Point being that the challenge-a-thon (see upthread) caught up her registration, and attempted to have her removed.

That she verified probably kept her name on the rolls so that it was there at her polling place, that it had been challenged probably 'flagged' it for additional attention when she came to vote.

She is a savvy individual who twigged right away when the card arrived, but those not paying attention or unaware of how pervasive and malicious the attempts to suppress the vote are might not be prepared.

Thus the OP.

My sister did vote. She was prepared.

As, I believe, ALL voters in blue areas within swing states will need to be. This is the wake up call.

patiently,
Bright

[ScratchCat]

15. Ok, I see, but let me offer this:

You may very well be correct.

However, based upon what you describe, the initial flagging doesn't sound that suspect. She moved to Michigan from a bordering State, immediately registered and voted. That sequence of events can be evidence of a person establishing residency for the purpose of voting in a particular election, and then "disappearing" back to the State they actually live in. Several States reported this problem during the past two election cycles(we had people here in North Florida trying that crap in Georgia for the run-off). Obviously, your sister isn't involved in this kind of vote fraud scheme. But it is very possible that the timing of her move, where she came from and that she immediately registered to vote and voted was the reason she was "flagged for verification".

But yes, everyone should make sure they have the appropriate documents, are at the right place and that your registration is in order.

[orthoclad]

16. Reich-wingers are using

AI and automated systems to challenge millions of voters.

They are counting on every means of cheating and gaming to win, because they only need to win once.

We need a massive effort to counter the cheating, intimidation, and vote suppression.

They don't plan on winning by voting. That became clear when they sacrificed hundreds of thousands of their truest voters to covid.

[Cheezoholic]

23. Yeah, it's the real deal this time around, people need to wake up to it

They've been coordinating a massive door knocking ground game, especially in swing states. We're going to see voter challenges this time around 10 times as bad as 2020.

[orthoclad]

24. And the honest poll workers

are quitting from all the harassment.

We need stiff protection for poll workers, not leave it up to them to sue after the fact.

[Hope22]

28. If the books were printed in advance there should have been a document in the precinct kit.

The precinct leader should have gone through the book and made all corrections prior to the polls opening. It’s annoying when things fall through the cracks. It’s embarrassing / intimidating to the voter to be questioned at the poll. All part of the plan.

[KS Toronado]

11. Would sure like to see a 50 State protocol in place

so that everybody gets to vote by mail year in and year out after proving one time who you are and are
legally able too.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

21. That would be awesome!

[IronLionZion]

13. Any D votes are fraud

they only want R votes since those are R for real

[elleng]

14. OH DEAR, Bright! We are in TROUBLE!

[Warpy]

19. Voter caging. It's an old GOP trick and one they've been repeatedly fined for pulling

because it is illegal.

She's going to need to take the damned thing down to city hall and make a stink until it's taken care of. All she will need is a driver's license and a recent utility bill and the foulest mood she can muster.

They tried that shit on me in 2004. I got it straightened out at the polls by being a virago until it was.

It will only stick if she fails to act. And once it's straightened out, she needs to mil that card to the Michigan branch of the ACLU.

[h2ebits]

20. I have posted your post to Facebook. . . .

My Facebook is and has been up and running all day. (I'm in Denver, CO) We need to get the word out as many ways as possible--over and over again.

Thanks for sharing this information with us.

[RubyRose]

35. My Facebook has been down most of the day until

I checked about an hour ago. Suspicious that happened in Super Tuesday…

[aggiesal]

22. Did this come from the Registrar of Voters (or whatever this department is called in Michigan)? ...

Until the card dropped into her mailbox a couple of weeks ago.

It said "We have reason to believe you no longer live at (her address, which she'd used in registering to vote just LAST SUMMER). Unless you request and complete a verification form, you will be removed from the list of registered voters."

If this is from the (R)'s, this is called vote caging and is illegal in most places.
If this is from the ROV, then I'm shocked that this is the case, because it feels like the ROV is doing the job of the GQP.

[orthoclad]

25. Cheating is the strategy

Every accusation, and all. They're goebbeling again.

The popular vote is the enemy of the Reich wing. How many R's became president after losing the popular vote recently? They know how to game the system.

[orthoclad]

26. This is a sytematic campaign

How can we systematically defeat it?

There's no time to pass legislation. Individual protests affect only the individual concerned. We need an organized response to this organized effort.

[Lunabell]

27. Thanks,I just went and checked mine and my wife's registration.

We're good. I've never missed a vote in my life. Not a primary or even a small local election.

[diva77]

29. K&R Come prepared for the worst, but hope for the best when you go to vote!! And vote on a hand-marked paper ballot if

you have the choice.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

30. for those who love power

they lose control and eventually destroyed. Hitler's destruction and psychopath system only lasted a few years.
People farther on the left have warned democrats about republicans' bullshit and that they embrace fascism, we got called hysterical, crazy, too far left, radical, unrealistic for decades as we watched the Overton window continued to move rightward. Maybe it's time democrats trust those farther left then themselves this complacency has cost us so much as a country. Democrats need to go leftward. If Biden did something financially to help poor people, not middle class, not working class but helped the poor and did it without shame or hushed whispers. The Dems would win. Help disabled people. Help the unsexy and invisible people in a real way that helped them financially, personally I bet those polls would change and Biden would win.Trumps numbers rose when the checks for those struggling to survive were sent. Send money as in a check with dollars to the poor and financially struggling. People remember who helps them.

I'm voting Biden because I hate Fascism.

[oldinmtdem92]

59. i am so in agreement

the republicans only help the filthy rich, so they can get the dark moneys from them .they couldn't give a shit for any of the working class.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

61. I am sick

Sick to death of being invisible. I am poor.
Nobody offers to improve the life of the poor here. Politicians treat us as if we are radioactive.

Never have I heard the poor and middle class its always middle class this and that.

If you are disabled and live under the poverty line on SSI we arent worthy to be able to have anything,and we are never ever mentioned like we are non existent,not anywhere on the political radar and it makes me angry. I hate being powerless,poor and ignored.

[mountain grammy]

31. Our county Clerk and Recorder

Was elected in November 2022. She’s republican like most of our elected officials. When asked if she thought the 2020 election was legit she said a lot but didn’t answer the question. She only won by a few dozen votes. Remarkable in my county. Everyone has their eyes on her.

[kacekwl]

32. They are going to cheat

Last edited Tue Mar 5, 2024, 07:51 PM - Edit history (1)

every chance they can. This plus the ridiculous electoral college will destroy democracy period.

[onecaliberal]

34. No one at my address received a mail ballot that everyone in California automatically gets.

CA22 might be ripe for dems so of course, Dems aren’t getting our ballots.
So I voted in person.

[spanone]

36. K&R

[llmart]

37. I'm a bit confused.

There is no voting in Michigan today. Our primary was on Feb. 27th.

[TygrBright]

41. You're correct, thank you. This was last week, as she confirmed when I asked for clarification. n/t

[llmart]

45. Glad I wasn't missing anything. Michigan has mail in voting for everyone in case she doesn't know.

I used to work in Ann Arbor. Yes, it is a very liberal city and beautiful. I live in one of the neighboring counties. For what it's worth, I think quite a bit of Oakland County is not very "red", but my county, Macomb is 50/50. Northern Macomb is rural and Southern Macomb not so much, but yes, it tends to have less educated folks than Oakland and Washtenaw. My district was gerrymandered. It used to have a solid Dem rep. Now we have a useless GOP rep.

[DownriverDem]

39. Why does she have

a State ID & auto registration? Don't you mean a driver's license?

[TygrBright]

40. The driver's license is the state ID. She also has an auto registration. n/t

[Deb]

42. If they had reason to believe she no longer lived at the address why did they drop a card in her mailbox?

And what right did anyone have to drop a card in her mailbox that is exclusively for US Postal Office use? Wow

[TygrBright]

43. The card arrived with her mail, it was properly posted through the U.S. Post.

Which begs the question, if they thought she no longer lived there, why mail the card there? But apparently it's standard procedure. I imagine they assume that if someone moved their post would be forwarded.

diffidently,
Bright

[TwilightZone]

55. Return service

They would probably have sent it to the old address with return service requested. They would then have been notified if there was a forwarding order or if it was non-deliverable, etc.

[Bettie]

44. I check mine, my DH's

and my two voting-age sons every month on the first.

it only take a few minutes.

[Conjuay]

46. I'm anticipating problems with that little fucquer -desantis.

Our supervisor(D) of Elections in Orange County Florida, retired in March.
Desantis parades in Glen Gilzean, a jack of all trades lackey who desantis had only just appointed to the 'new and improved' Reedy Creek Improvement District; now known as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
In case you've not been following fascism in the sunshine state, desantis went after Disney for not jumping aboard his "Don't say gay" horseshit. So desantis is trying to cripple Disney in some way or another. Which, considering WDW made 38 billion out of it's theme parks last year, is not very likely.

I expect a lot of fraud and intimidation this November in Orange County.

[Ilsa]

47. Expecting felonious behavior in Georgia, too.

Now a swing state, the maggots are devising ways to exclude and keep Democrats off voter rolls.

[dalton99a]

48. Kick

[RoccoRyg]

49. I'm an election judge in Illinois

I see this all the time. The screen on the ePollbook is pink and we just have the voter proclaim they live at that address. That's all. Unfortunately, not all states are as convenient as mine.

[DooverBeliever]

52. Woah!! -- in Washtenaw County?

I live there -- this is not a county you would expect anything like that to happen. Thank you for sharing, I will encourage my circle of folks to double check their registration!

[betsuni]

54. K&R

[sellitman]

56. It's so sad that this country is no longer the Beacon Of Justice it use to be.

If my grandchildren weren't here, I'd leave.

It makes me sick that your post is even possible.

[iluvtennis]

57. Hats off to youor sister's due diligence - 😍😍. n/t

[Martin68]

58. Wow!