Editorial: The Acorn Story (NYT)

[struggle4progress]

<A version of this article appeared in print on October 17, 2008>

... But for all of the McCain campaign’s manufactured fury about vote theft (and similar claims from the Republican Party over the years) there is virtually no evidence — anywhere in the country, going back many elections — of people showing up at the polls and voting when they are not entitled to.

Meanwhile, Republicans aren’t saying anything about another more serious voter-registration scandal: the fact that about one-third of eligible voters are not registered. The racial gaps are significant and particularly disturbing. According to a study by Project Vote, a voting-rights group, in 2006, 71 percent of eligible whites were registered, compared with 61 percent of blacks, 54 percent of Latinos and 49 percent of Asian-Americans.

Much of the blame for this lies with overly restrictive registration rules. Earlier this year, the League of Women Voters halted its registration drive in Florida after the state imposed onerous new requirements ...

The real threats to the fabric of democracy are the unreasonable barriers that stand in the way of eligible voters casting ballots.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17fri1.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1224388800&en=7349c3908c52867d&ei=5087&oref=slogin
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