Finally! NYTimes reports "States' Purges of Voter Rolls....

[Zookeeper]

Appears Illegal."

"Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times."

-snip-

"Although much attention this year has been focused on the millions of new voters being added to the rolls by the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama, there has been far less notice given to the number of voters being dropped from those same rolls.

States have been trying to follow the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and remove the names of voters who should no longer be listed; but for every voter added to the rolls in the past two months in some states, election officials have removed two, a review of the records shows."

-snip-

"In addition to the six swing states, three more states appear to be violating federal law. Alabama and Georgia seem to be improperly using Social Security information to screen registration applications from new voters. And Louisiana appears to have removed thousands of voters after the federal deadline for taking such action."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/us/politics/09voting.html?pagewanted=1&hp

-------

Well, kudos to the NYTimes. It would have been nice if they had put this sort of finding on their front page in 2004, but I'll take what I can get.

[msongs]

1. too late to do anything about it now???? nt

[stillcool]

11. Not if you can still register..

and not if the Secretary of State and your State Legislature is aware.

[annabanana]

47. "aware" and HONEST. . . .*

And not a "loyal bushie"

THIS is the information we need now. .Who's in charge in those law breaking states?

[intheflow]

28. Too late for Colorado.

The last day to register was Oct. 3. I have to agree with the OP: where was the Times when this could have made a difference? :grr:

[spag68]

43. Colorado

It seems to me that the registration date would not be relevant, as these people were registered and then removed, They should simply be put back on the voter lists, and later disqualified if they are ineligible.

[CatWoman]

2. two recs and one response??????

:kick:

[annabanana]

3. "for every voter added some states have removed two. . ."

Seriously.. what can be done to counter this before the election??

[CatWoman]

4. I feel sick

:cry:

I posted earlier about my SOS's escapades here in Georgia :grr:

Who can we send this to?

[AndyTiedye]

14. WE'VE BEEN PWNED AGAIN!!!

Now it becomes evident that our enormously successful voter registration effort has been trumped as much as twice over in some states by the Repiggies' voter suppression drive.

We can be pretty sure that the voters being purged are not Republicans.

The election is being stolen out from under us.

[lefthandedskyhook]

33. We already knew it was bad, so here's the plan:

1. The party has decided that making a stink about election fraud in this cycle will only discourage turnout. We may disagree with this failed idea from '04, but it has at least some merit.

2. Massive turnout will still give Obama a landslide. Educated voters must vote in the safest way possible and educate others to do the same. Go here for good info: http://www.stealbackyourvote.com/

3. After Obama wins in a landslide (even if it is not counted as such), activists must put pressure on the Dems to FIX THE PROBLEMS.

While nothing is certain, this is definitely a plausible scenario. No matter what, we need a MASSIVE turnout. Hang in there!

[Qutzupalotl]

35. Send this link to everyone you know.

http://www.voteforchange.com

You can check your registration status here and re-register if you've been purged.

[KamaAina]

41. Someone (ACLU, League of Women Voters, etc.) needs to haul their asses into federal court pronto

It is illegal to purge voters within 90 days of a federal election (roughly, after August 4, which also happens to be President Obama's birthday), except in very specific circumstances such as their death. If there has been some sort of epidemic which has caused a massive die-off affecting only swing states, I remain unaware of it. :eyes:

[agentS]

5. Racist Republicans on the move I see

Ripping off voters since they can't get people to vote for their candidates legitimately.

We saw this shit in N. Florida and Ohio in 2004 and it looks like they wanna try the same crap again.

Be careful at the polls. That Louisiana story today shows you that there might be crazies showing up to the polls with guns to shoot Black and Democratic voters.

[rainbow4321]

6. K&R!

[truthisfreedom]

7. Repukes are demons from hell.

No conscience. No morality. Anything to win.

[CatWoman]

9. Nother

:kick:

[grannylib]

8. And there are fuckers out there denying changes of polling places

in poor and minority neighborhoods, to allow more people to vote, because they KNOW high turnout will mean a LANDSLIDE for Obama, and that would be intolerable to the rePigliCons...they need to hang on to the ridiculous notion that an election stolen by a hair in 2004 represented a "mandate" and a buildup of "political capital."

[BrklynLiberal]

10. ..and what is going to be done about this!!???

[AndyTiedye]

15. Our Only Recourse is the Courts

Not much chance they will act in time to save the election.

[BrklynLiberal]

16. That is very unsettling...

[elleng]

42. Voters in EACH STATE

must take action against this IMMEDIATELY.

[stillcool]

12. I think we should send this to everyone we know....

Newspapers on-line
http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/
Maybe we can target those states mentioned.

[MassLiberal]

13. K&R

[Zookeeper]

17. The states listed: Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan....

Nevada, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.

I tend to expect the news to get around if it's appeared in the NYTimes, but that really isn't a safe assumption.

We need to send this information to everyone: Friends, relatives, news outlets!

The DUers who live in those states need to contact their Representatives and local newspapers.

This is really infuriating! We just can't let the Rethugs get away with the tactics they used in 2004.

[AndyTiedye]

18. Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina!

If they can steal all those, they win no matter what.

37,000 in Colorado
33,000 in Michigan
Don't know how many in Nevada, but it doesn't take that many

[Zookeeper]

19. DU National Media List....

We need to hound the MSM on this!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_oet&address=358x1903

:patriot:

[stillcool]

20. Kick..

[Zookeeper]

21. Shameless kick. n/t

[bleever]

22. The stage is set.

Massive disenfranchisement will be seen in the bright daylight of everyone looking for it.

From the precinct level, and the individual who suspects their vote was lost, and the person who's been active pursuing issues about all the different avenues that have been exploited to tilt the table of elections, to the national level where this is recognized by entities like the New York Times as a national concern, election fraud is set to prove the Peter Principle, and transcend its own competency.


It's been a long eight years, but even the longest of times know an end.

[Enthusiast]

45. They have already countered this

by wild allegations about Acorn.

[bleever]

48. Wild indeed.

They've already moved on to laying the ground for claims that Obama stole the election.

To which I say, "Good luck with that". :)

[Median Democrat]

23. Just Proves - Regardless Of Poll Results - Every Vote Counts!

Many folks who are saying they are voting for Obama may discover on election day that they have been disenfranchised. This is why people can't sit at home because they have to work secure in the knowledge that Obama has a 5 point lead. Everyone and I mean everyone has to vote!

[Zookeeper]

25. Yes! We can't be complacent. n/t

[Kaleko]

24. Damn, I was just starting to feel confident about our win.

[Zookeeper]

26. Greg Palast: Steal Back Your Vote:

I caught a bit of the Greg Palast interview on Thom Hartmann's program. Voter purging is something he has been investigating for years.

His website should have information for people living in the States that are identified as being at risk:

http://www.gregpalast.com/steal-back-your-vote-2/

:patriot:

On edit: Download the "Steal it Back" comic book!

http://www.gregpalast.com/sbyv/

[TooRaLoo]

27. kick

[TooRaLoo]

29. Check out the Motion filed by Republican Party of Ohio

pdf link on the left on that same page.

[Zookeeper]

30. "Purging of Voters in Colorado.."

"..in some states like Colorado, the number of purged voter registration far exceeds the number who have died or relocated. Since August 1, 37,000 registrations have been purged. A larger share of voters removed were Democrats and more than half of them were active voters who had voted in the last two elections."

Grrrr.

On edit: The PDF link to the Ohio GOP motion:

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/Ohio_GOP_Motion.pdf

It starts:

"Shortly before this brief was filed, thousands of enthusiastic Bruce Springsteen fans
enjoyed an outdoor rock concert paid for by the Obama campaign. The stated purpose of the
concert was to entice as many people as possible into voting centers to register and vote in an
unverifiable process that violates federal law."

Bruce Springsteen fans? Ohh, noes!

[Levgreee]

31. We can undo this. It just has to get the required attention.

[PinkyisBlue]

32. The Repubs in all the states seem to be playing by the Karl Rove playbook.

If you can't win by playing fairly, beat 'em any way you can. Change the rules in the middle of the game, bribe the umpires, disable the other team's players, lie about the score, anything goes.

[Raster]

34. And lets call a spade a spade: it's rethuglicans doing the illegal voter purges!

It's rethuglican companies that specialize in illegally purging voter roles.

It's rethuglicans that are doing whatever they can to HINDER legitimate voters from legally casting their ballots.

It's rethuglicans that gave us the ill-named, ill-conceived and BOGUS "Help America Vote Act."

It's rethuglicans that have been suppressing legally registered voters by a variety of illegal schemes.

It's rethuglicans that have been named in electoral fraud time and time again.

It's rethuglicans that are the biggest threat to democracy.

[Canuckistanian]

36. Thom Hartmann talking about this now

Election fraud has hit the MSM.

[seafan]

37. Look at this graphic from today's NYT:

The above graphic appears in this story at the NY Times today:



States’ Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal

NY Times
October 8, 2008

Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times.
The actions do not seem to be coordinated by one party or the other, nor do they appear to be the result of election officials intentionally breaking rules, but are apparently the result of mistakes in the handling of the registrations and voter files as the states tried to comply with a 2002 federal law, intended to overhaul the way elections are run.

Still, because Democrats have been more aggressive at registering new voters this year, according to state election officials, any heightened screening of new applications may affect their party’s supporters disproportionately. The screening or trimming of voter registration lists in the six states — Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina — could also result in problems at the polls on Election Day: people who have been removed from the rolls are likely to show up only to be challenged by political party officials or election workers, resulting in confusion, long lines and heated tempers.

Some states allow such voters to cast provisional ballots. But they are often not counted because they require added verification.

Although much attention this year has been focused on the millions of new voters being added to the rolls by the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama, there has been far less notice given to the number of voters being dropped from those same rolls.

States have been trying to follow the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and remove the names of voters who should no longer be listed; but for every voter added to the rolls in the past two months in some states, election officials have removed two, a review of the records shows.
The six swing states seem to be in violation of federal law in two ways. Michigan and Colorado are removing voters from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election, which is not allowed except when voters die, notify the authorities that they have moved out of state, or have been declared unfit to vote.

Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio seem to be improperly using Social Security data to verify registration applications for new voters.
In addition to the six swing states, three more states appear to be violating federal law. Alabama and Georgia seem to be improperly using Social Security information to screen registration applications from new voters. And Louisiana appears to have removed thousands of voters after the federal deadline for taking such action.

.....

Gee, thanks, NY Times, for reporting on these tactics YEARS TOO LATE. Congratulations for your massive failure to keep the Bush thugs at bay. We have been screaming about these Republican tactics to disenfranchise voters since 2000. As we all know, large voter turnouts do not favor Republicans.


Paul Weyrich, 1980, Religious Right gathering, Dallas, TX

Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome -- good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down. (YouTube)

WHAT VOTERS CAN DO ABOUT THIS:

Palast: VERIFY REGISTRATION NOW; VOTE EARLY; DO NOT MAIL IN ABSENTEE BALLOT (HAND DELIVER IT); DO NOT ACCEPT PROVISIONAL BALLOT

[Magleetis]

38. Doesn't the Obama campaign

Have someone working on this? I can't imagine that they are just sitting back letting this happen. If we know it is happening then we can do something.

[Zookeeper]

39. This story is no longer at the top of the Times website....

We can't let this fade away.

:kick:

[nannah]

40. my boss read this article this morning, the whole article

when i came into work we talked about it. i have been talking about the voter purge for some time so he was interested when he saw the article. it's funny; my boss and i have worked together for 17 years. in many ways we are very different; i am atheist and he is devout mormon; that sets certain inherent values differences that we have accommodated by not really addressing them; birth control and abortion for example. but at a very critical level we connect on values in a way that enriches our working environment. he'll carry this information out into a much wider world than i will reach. sometimes i feel frustrated that i don't make much of a difference, but something like this happens and reinforces my hope that this is going on all around us and we have a chance.

my father, who is an elderly rabid reagan republican, sent me a gloomy email about the amount of money a billion is. as if i don't understand the terrible debt people like my father have imposed on those who come behind him, like his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He just keeps saying he is glad he won't be around for long. it is difficult to resist sending him an angry response; yet he is old, facing diminishing physical capacity, and wanting to connect....

well

thanks for letting me vent. it seems odd to have so much childish conflict with my father: he is 87: i am 64.

[Zookeeper]

49. I have had a similar realization recently having met a couple...

of "conservative" people that I respect. Although we have our differences, there are certain larger ideals that we share. As I've been trying to explain to one of them, who has bought the whole "Liberal=bad" meme, ultimately, we want many of the same things, we just have different views of how to get there.

As far as "rabid reagan republicans," like your dad, or people who fearfully voted for Bush and now complain about the war and the economy, I have a very hard time not just yelling at them. Basically, I avoid the subject as much as possible.

:hi:

[jennied]

44. Can't ANYTHING be done about this???????????????

[Zookeeper]

50. Spread the word and contact the media. Unfortunately, the MSM

is doing stories on ACORN, and ignoring the illegal purges of voter rolls.

[No Elephants]

46. If we lose this one, I am either taking to the streets or moving to another country. Enough is

enough.

[Zookeeper]

51. I know. I just felt sick when I read the article. n/t