BREAKING (CNN) - GA: 50,000 voters purged in early Oct

[FourScore]

BREAKING (CNN) - GA: 50,000 voters purged in early Oct
by Verbalobe
Mon Oct 27, 2008 at 08:44:26 AM PDT

CNN.com has a story up now about up to 50,000 new voters in Georgia having been been purged (even after being informed they were registered, and almost certainly most of them erroneously), with insufficient time to correct the mistake
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/26/voter.suppression/index.html
This is apparently in violation of Federal law.

There's apparently a lawsuit on the books over this:

A lawsuit has been filed over Georgia's mismatch system, and the state is also under fire for requesting Social Security records for verification checks on about 2 million voters -- more requests than any other state.

One of the lawyers involved in the lawsuit says Georgia is violating a federal law that prohibits widespread voter purges within 90 days of the election, arguing that the letters were sent out too close to the election date.

But the article isn't clear on the status of the case.

This link summarizes other states, actions taken, and recommendations, but doesn't explicitly address Georgia:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/9/121546/120


More from CNN:

Georgia's Secretary of State Karen Handel, a Republican who began working on purging voter rolls since she was elected in 2006, said that won't happen. If there are errors, she said, there is still plenty of time to resolve the problems. iReport.com: Are you voting early?

Handel says she is not worried the verification process will prevent eligible voters from casting a ballot.

"In this state and all states, there's a process to ensure that a voter who comes in -- even if there's a question about their status -- that they will vote either provisional or challenge ballot, which is a paper ballot," she said.

"So then the voter has ample opportunity to clarify any issues or address them," Handel added. "And I think that's a really important process."

...

"This is about ensuring the integrity of our elections," she said.

Interesting that these Republicans -- whether they are outside the Secretary of State office (as in Ohio) or in charge of it (as in Georgia) all use the same talking points.

Meanwhile citizens like Kyla Berry mentioned in the story may not even GO to the polls, having been told they were purged.

An illegal purge, based on data (Social Security data) that is not supposed to be matched against except in extremis, performed during an illegal timeframe, targeting new voters which are overwhelmingly Democratic, resulting in a letter that tells them they are not registered to vote, arriving past the time provided for dispute or correction...

What can this possibly be other than...

Handel denied the efforts to verify the vote are suppression.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/27/11302/781/217/643554

[Overseas]

1. K&R for the vote purging file. //nt

[The Woodpecker]

54. When will Fox News report on this?

I don't get it? They say they are fair and balanced. They pledged to their viewers last month that they will report on any and all voting problems. But still they don't mention this at all today. Plus they never mentioned the GOP guy who got arrested for voter fraud in California. I just don't understand how the only true fair and balanced network could miss this stuff. It's puzzling indeed.

Maybe I should e-mail them. It's possible they have been so busy digging up Socialist/Marxist tapes on Obama from twenty years ago that they missed what's been going on here.

[BlueCaliDem]

71. When? Oh, when Repub votes are purged. I'm so angry I can SPIT.

I'm so sick and tired of these repuke activities trying to squelch democracy every which way they can! The dipshits at Faux News Channel are pathetic!

[casus belli]

2. When they have to try to steal it in Georgia...

you know they're in trouble.

[NightWatcher]

5. they had to steal it for Saxby Chambliss last election TOO

[paparush]

12. And they got away with it. What can really be done to stop this?

The Dems have had years to lay the groundwork.

I really just don't understand.

*sigh*

[truedelphi]

27. When you look at all the history relating to the Dems' actions

Being those of GateKeepers, you do get sick.

The only nations that have any smeblance of decent policies for their citizens are nations where there are more than two parties.

I was very pleased when Obama became the first Demcoratic candiate for President to announce his intention of seeing to it that his election is not stolen out forom under him.

Despite his pledge of having thousands of lawyers on the ground, Kerry ibstead listened to Carville the day after his election theft

We really need to know that this time around we have a candidate who will not let the Gatekeepers run things.

[ecstatic]

17. My thought too... still makes me very sick to hear this nt

[bjobotts]

45. They know damn good and well they don't count provisional ballots.

All republicans must go... at every level of government they must be defeated. I they were a good person they would not be republican.
You can be a good republican or a good American but you can no longer be both.

[Joe Chi Minh]

80. Oh, that's funny. OTOH said it was an excellent way round the queues and other difficulties.

Kind of chided DUers for their naivety. Where are you OTOH?

[aquart]

74. We outnumber them. They cannot win UNLESS they cheat.

[DeepBlueDem]

3. Karen Handel reminds Georgians of Katherine Harris.

[CurtEastPoint]

21. Another high school grad who has done well in the GOP

She was decent as the Fulton County Commission Chair but as SOS she sucks

[hisownpetard]

68. Same initials, too.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

4. REPUBLICANS ARE GANGSTERS

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[Ganja Ninja]

6. How bad is it when you have to purge 50,000 voters just to hold on to

a southern red state?

[KittyWampus]

9. IMO, Obama should have lawyers there RIGHT NOW fighting for these illegally purged voters

to cast a provisional ballot and he should fight to have those votes counted.

[suzie]

53. Is it going to be a great disappointment to some people

discover that there were lawyers fighting for the illegally purged voters--and that they won?

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/27/thousands-of-flagged-voters-can-vote-court-rules/

[MikeNearMcChord]

7. I can't wait for the Obama DOJ Civil Rights division

to light these states up for pulling stunts like this. I would love to see some of these Republican Racissts sent to maximum security institutions in general population.

[KittyWampus]

8. If their registration was purged illegally, they should be able to caste a provisional vote and sue

in a court of law to have that added to the total.

Georgia shouldn't have it's election tally broadcast until those votes are examined, admitted and counted in the grand total.

[NC_Nurse]

10. Can I just reiterate how much I HATE this @@#$%^& state?

GODDAMMIT! :mad:

I can't wait to get the hell out of here.

[RebelOne]

19. I live in Georgia and I love it.

I'm also in a very red county northwest of Atlanta. Georgia sure beats living in South Florida where I grew up.

[NC_Nurse]

37. I am missing NC terribly. I had hoped that Atlanta would be more progressive

since it is a big city, but it is still part of this state, which I have to say beats NC on the redness scale. Yuck.

Of course, living with my RW dad is making it way worse...that's for sure.

[tonycinla]

48. YES

I AGREE,I HAVE LIVED IN BOTH,SO FLA IS HELL

[Betsy Ross]

11. Every time I read of a voter purge

I get a tightness in my stomach and throat. I know how dangerous this is, an attack on democracy. My reaction is more viseral to this than to any other BS coming out of this election.

[underpants]

13. This is the only thing between Obama and the White House

and maybe 60 Dems in the Senate.

The only thing

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

14. Oh well that's a "surprise". nt

[RubyDuby in GA]

15. Someone tell me again why The Carter Center can't monitor our election since we are a Third World

Country?


I hate Karen Handle with a white hot passion.......
F U Cathy Cox for allowing this pathetic bitch to take over our voting.

[Two Sheds]

16. This is GOOD news

We are going to win this election anyway. And when we do, stories like this will enable Obama's Attorney General to go after GOP tactics like this. Find a few corrupt secretaries of state in violation of Federal law and we can take down the whole lot.

[FourScore]

20. I hope you're right, Two Sheds. n/t

[Omnibus]

22. The other bright point is this.

We will win IN SPITE of their cheating, and gain in both the House and the Senate (like we did in '06.)

Once Obama's DoJ gives these criminals the justice they deserve, and ensures that the 2010 election will fair, the Republican party will be destroyed.

Fear, hate, and election fraud are all they have left.

Replace those with hope, peace, and justice, and they're DONE.

[Two Sheds]

25. You've got it

Obama needs to crack these people before 2010. If he does, I really don't think that he'll face a serious challenge in 2012.

and hey, man, if the GOP has to fix GEORGIA, they is fucked.

[Joe Chi Minh]

36. "Hard time", I think they call it. After all, it is treason. They accuse of JFK

of it, but the reason Nixon didn't challenge the result, was because he knew his figures weren't enough anyway. Nixon wasn't one to lie down and take a kicking.

[Ferretherder]

57. On a completely different note,....

...your name wouldn't be Arthur Jackson, would it?

[kestrel91316]

18. Everybody needs to get in the habit of RE-REGISTERING themselves

every single year, so there are no snafus.These freaks will purge for any reason or no reason at all.

And new voters need to accept the responsibility of getting all their ducks in a row and following up on things so that they are able to vote. We can't do it all FOR them.

[progressoid]

23. Great. just great.

:banghead:

[zonkers]

24. STIFF FUCKING SENTENCES FOR VOTER FRAUD, DISENFRANCHISEMENT, TAMPERING. NOW.

[Raster]

26. My term is "electoral treason" and should be punished as such.

It's time for these rethuglican Secretarys of State that are purging voting rolls to suppress the legitimate voters to be punished at the highest level. This is a democracy and the highest responsibility of a citizen is TO VOTE! ANYONE, of any party, that seeks to inhibit or curtail the lawful and legal casting AND FAIRLY COUNTING of ballots should be punished to the letter of the law.

[zonkers]

29. Yes. Electoral Treason. These SOS's are the enemies of democracy.

[Orsino]

31. Or conspiracy to deny civil rights, at least. n/t

[Raster]

41. No, it's more than just a civil rights violation. It should be one of the highest types of crime

in the land. Let's get real, shall we? There are third-world countries that throw fairer, more secure elections than the United States. The electoral process in the US is a joke, and subject to whatever clown(s) have the authority. Case in point: Jeb bush*, Kathleen Harris and the state of Florida. The United States needs to NATIONALIZE the electoral infrastructure, including voting machines, tabulators, readers, scanners, computers, code, software, etc. Balloting should be done with only the most audit-able of processes and materials. A non-partisan citizens group of computer experts should certify and maintain the code. We should stop outsourcing the most important component of a democracy to the highest (rethuglican) bidder. We should elevate voting--and the honest results thereof--to the highest standard. And finally, we should punish those persons that would interfere, obstruct or defame the election process. And I do punishment at the highest level. For example: the rethuglican Secretary of State that knowingly purges lawful and legal voters from the legitimate voter rolls should spend 5 years per incident at hard labor. Can't you just picture some ol' rethuglican bitty that thinks she is so clever finding herself in a penitentiary serving 50 years. I can and I can guarantee it would change the electoral landscape of this country--for the better.

[Orsino]

58. Civil rights violations are among the highest types of crime, IMO.

But I did specify "at least."

[OneBlueSky]

28. anyone else worried that this election will be in the courts for months . . .

with all of the early indications that election fraud is rampant, if the Obama camp actually has brigades of lawyers ready to challenge problems state-by-state, we may not know the results of the election until December or later . . . each challenge of purging, voting machine irregularities, etc. will have to make its way through the court system, and that's a time-consuming process in the best of times . . .

[Raster]

30. That is why EVERY vote is needed.

[specimenfred1984]

32. Doesn't matter, they'll be offered redemption as soon as they support Obama!

Crimes are A-OK, everybody makes mistakes! So go ahead and commit all the crimes you want to criminals, I'll simply forgive you and you'll be free to commit more crimes all over again!

[Laelth]

33. This is better than nothing, but not exactly comforting.

It doesn't really address the OP's question.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Joe Chi Minh]

34. It seems a major step forward that CNN are reporting this; let's hope it's

timely enough. And maybe other major news outlets take it up.

[Smuckies]

35. Here we go again..

Now they'll steal the election.

[thoughtcrime1984]

38. It's a little different this time

Many more eyes are focused on voter purges. These people doing this are liable to be strung up. We are watching you, FUCKERS!!!!

[sellitman]

39. This could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Looks like another stolen election is coming right up.

[stillcool]

40. It's the Republican 50 State Strategy..

Court side in every state.

[MadMaddie]

42. If a Republicans mouth is moving they are lying!

That's all...

[Canuckistanian]

43. I thought this would happen in GA

It's been going soft (R) for a few weeks now.

I hope the lawsuits produce something fast.

[BrklynLiberal]

44. I believe the Federal Court overturned the GA ID law today..

Georgia, one of several states to adopt harsh new voter ID laws, had its law struck down by a federal court.
http://www.inglewoodtoday.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1601&Itemid=3

DOJ to Georgia: State is Violating Voting Rights Act
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/seashell/2008/10/doj-to-georgia-state-is-violat.php

[stark6935]

46. Must be them damn liberals, and always keeping people from voting.

[GetTheRightVote]

47. Yep, it must stop with this election, no more stolen White Houses

or we as citizens must march on it and take it back with acts of civil disobedience.

:grr::grr::grr::grr:

[Usrename]

49. I think we must try to change the laws.

I think we need to push for an amendment to the Constitution, something non-threatening, and at the same time not too subtle:

The will of the people shall prevail.
Any attempt to obtain or retain elected office by thwarting the will of the people through criminal means, together with failure to voluntarily relinquish that office after being charged, is an assault on democracy and the ideals of good governance and shall be considered treason.

Even if such an attempt were to fail, it has to be good politics for our side to push for it anyway.

[Indi Guy]

50. K & friggin' gRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...

...Rovian machinery still working to undermine the Constitution.

Obama has to win, in order to undo the criminal infrastructure of these outgoing criminal asshats!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

on edit;

And lets make sure that we get a filibuster-proof senate!!!

[DallasNE]

51. Karen Handel Answers The Wrong Question

The real question is whether these 50,000 voters will have their vote counted. Unless the election is within about 8,000 votes there will be no attempt to verify any of those provisional ballots so none of them will be counted.

If the exact match criteria Georgia demands would have been in effect with the felon purge in Florida in 2000 we would have been saying President Gore for these last 8 years. That is how critical this issue is. This is perhaps the primary reason this country is slipping ever closer to banana republic status.

[Dumak]

52. Karen Handel should get a life sentence for this

This is just plain sick that this country has to struggle with a 3rd world electoral system.
Voter registration needs to be managed at the federal level, and we need federal-level citizen ID as well, so we can eventually make registration unnecessary. A democracy just does not work under the current system.

[sonias]

55. Federal Court: Rules Flagged citizens may vote

ACJ 10/27/08
Court: ‘Flagged’ citizens may vote

By AARON GOULD SHEININ, BILL RANKIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, October 27, 2008

Georgians whose eligibility to vote has been questioned must be allowed to cast a ballot in the Nov. 4 election, a panel of federal judges ruled Monday.

The court also ordered Secretary of State Karen Handel to "make diligent and immediate efforts to notify, in a uniform manner, every person whose voter registration presently remains flagged." Those voters must be told that they can vote by a "challenged ballot," if necessary, and that there is a discrepancy in their registration information, the court said. Challenge ballots are typically cast on paper and are set aside and not counted until the discrepancy is cleared up.

Handel and the voting rights groups that sued her all welcomed the court’s ruling.

As of last week, the Secretary of State’s Office had questioned the citizenship of 4,538 prospective voters through a new system of verifying voters’ identity. Another 50,378 have been flagged because some of their voter registration information doesn’t match other government databases

I think this is part of the 50,000 that were purged. They really aren't purges just flagged. So this is good news!

Damn that woman! :grr:


Sonia

[Ammonium]

56. I think I'm on that list

I'm going to go and try to vote tomorrow but I fear I may be on the list. My permanent address is in Atlanta but I live and am registered in Athens/Clarke country. My drivers license lists my permanent address so I was going to use my UGA student ID as my form of photo ID so they don't hassle me for having a different address.

God I hope I'm not flagged. What fucking bullshit this all is!

[sonias]

66. Take your cell phone if you have one

If you have any trouble voting call the National Voter Protection Hotline toll free
1-866-OUR-VOTE

http://www.866ourvote.org/
Through our state of the art hotlines: 1-866-OUR-VOTE (administered by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) and 1-888-Ve-Y-Vota (administered by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Education Fund), this website, and comprehensive voter protection field programs across the country, we provide Americans from coast to coast with comprehensive voter information and advice on how they can make sure their vote is counted.

Do not walk out of the polls without casting your vote. In GA if you are one of the flagged voters your vote will be a "contested ballot" but that is better than a provisional ballot this year. The lawsuits are already in play to make those votes count as regular ballots.

If you want to take extra precaution call the hotline first and find out what else you might need to take with you to make sure you're given a regular ballot. It may just be some other ID.

Good luck to you in GA!


Sonia

[CottonBear]

78. Hi Ammonium! Long time no see! Do you have a passport? Take that along w/ your UGA ID

and you should be OK. I recently changed my name back to my maiden name which was a pain in the rear! I had to change my SS record, my A-CC voter registration, my insurance records, bank records, car title and then all of my doctors' records and, finally my drivers license so that I could vote. It was a lot of work! I voted today and all went A-OK!
:hi:

[Ammonium]

86. I've got one

I have a passport but it's in Atlanta :(

I'm going down tomorrow and I'll find out for sure.

[lonestarnot]

60. I'm glad I saw this before reading the entire thread.

I'm already pissed enough!

[eowyn_of_rohan]

61. This is a breakthrough - however

How will they enforce this?: SOS Karen Handel must "make diligent and immediate efforts to notify, in a uniform manner, every person whose voter registration presently remains flagged."

Georgians - all Americans - deserve proof that this was actually done.

[DallasNE]

62. This Once Again Misses The Point

Casting a ballot is not the key thing. Counting the ballot is. Those that control the counting of the ballots controls the election. This ruling does nothing to ensure that the votes are counted. Provisional ballots do not get counted. They are standby only. Even in case of a very, very close election I'm not sure the effort is made to determine eligibility because it depends on human judgement on what the law is. We saw how that played out in Florida in 2000 where tens of thousands of ballots were never reviewed while others were reviewed 3 times. We had a system that had very few problems for decades and that was scrapped in favor of a system that disenfranches 1,000 voters for every fake voter. This is like giving someone life in prison without possibility of parole for shoplifting a candy bar at the 7-11. It is totally idiotic.

[sonias]

67. True, but the same lawyers that filed the first suit aren't walking away

This is step 1. Obviously when you have a partisan vote suppressor type like Handel you have to work the system by the book. And now they have a court ruling that at least forces her to let the voters vote. She would have been happy not to allow any of these voters to vote at all - provisionally or otherwise.

I agree with you that provisional ballots are notoriously undercounted but the focus on GA is going to be different this year. They are the perfect storm for the civil rights lawywers and courts to keep messing with Handel.

What you can do - Keep working to put the focus on those ballots. Write letters to the editor. Contact your local representatives and Congressmen/women. These voter suppression laws have got to go.

This is a good tool that's collecting reports of problems all over the country from the National Election Protection Network. Notice that GA is having big problems with registration issues being called in.
Our Vote Live for Georgia

Sonia

[fed_up_mother]

70. But did they receive a letter saying they were purged?

I'm confused.

[sonias]

72. The article doesn't say

Most of the 50,000 in question are non-match new voters. People who registered to vote this year and Handel and her office could not find an exact match in either the states driver's licence database or the Social Security database nationally. So she flagged these voters intending not to let them vote. Claiming they were obviously non-citizens. Typical voter suppression tactics for partisan election officials.

The new ruling says she must notify all 50,000 voters that they are flagged.

The court also ordered Secretary of State Karen Handel to "make diligent and immediate efforts to notify, in a uniform manner, every person whose voter registration presently remains flagged." Those voters must be told that they can vote by a "challenged ballot," if necessary, and that there is a discrepancy in their registration information, the court said. Challenge ballots are typically cast on paper and are set aside and not counted until the discrepancy is cleared up.

She better get started on those letters!

My guess on whether Handle notified those voters they were challenged to begin with - no. But I don't know that for a fact. And we know that's a violation of the NVRA. National Voting Rights Act which requires notification of purging and also prohibits voter purges 90 days prior to an election.


Sonia

[Jacobin]

83. The very fact that a court would have to tell a registrar of voters

to act in a prudent manner so as not to disenfranchise voters is simply outrageous.

The officials perpetrating this fraud should be in jail

[bronxiteforever]

59. GOP attacks on fundamental US liberties continue. Somebody needs to go to jail over this.

Does the GOP really believe in anything the US stands for anymore?
This campaign has answered this question loud and clear.

[onehandle]

63. Hello from Georgia. I told you so.

"We would need a five to ten point lead to win in Georgia." - onehandle

The GOP owns Georgia. Obama's win will come from elsewhere.

[madhawk]

64. fraud

acorn voter registration fraud (maybe) voter fraud republicans (for sure) what's worse??
hawk

[CottonBear]

79. ACORN can't register people to vote. Only local boards of election can register citizens to vote.

ACORN and other such groups help get the registration forms to people to fill out and then ACORN takes the forms to the board of elections. It is the duty of the group to turn in ALL forms that were filled out by interested citizens.

It is the duty of the local board of elections to process the aplications and determine each voter's eligibilty and to register them to vote.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

65. RICO statute should apply to the GOP and their conspiracy to

stomp out democratic votes.

[DeepBlueC]

75. sounds right to me

[AzDar]

69. K & R ...

:kick:

[aquart]

73. What is the PENALTY for voter suppression?

Can we make sure this woman does time?

[madmax]

76. If this country had a decent system of voting and

country the votes the Republican Party would never ever win another election!!!

[viat0r]

77. If mccain wins georgia

if the margin of victory for mccain is 50 k or less we are there in a heart-beat!!!!!!

[ChiciB1]

81. Someone Needs To Call Obama Campaign, I Can't Because I Live

in Florida and they will only connect me to information in my state.

Number is 1-877-874-6226... 1-877-US4OBAMA, if you feel this is important enough!

Thanks

[ihavenobias]

82. Kick (already rec'd), this is huge! n/t

[The Hope Mobile]

84. I heard there was a ruling yesterday saying that they would be allowed to vote.

Especially the approximately 4500 whose citizenship was questioned.

[droidamus2]

85. Problem

I, as many here, have a real problem with purges in general and specifically with the 'mismatch' form of voter suppression. There is nowhere on any federal/state/local form that I know of that expresses the idea that they must all be filled out exactly the same or the person filling them out could loss their right to vote. This in and of itself should make these kind of purges illegal. I would also posit that instead of a 90 day before an election limit for 'adjusting/purging' voter rolls there should be at a minimum a 1 year limit. This means that you have to do any 'adjusting' of the voting lists prior to the first primary/caucus in the country and at that point you cannot play games with the lists. I would also state that you can only adjust the lists once per presidential election cycle. Any process that could interfere with a United States citizens constitutional right to vote should be strictly controlled with strong oversight and severe penalties for misuse of said processes.

As I have stated in another thread I worked, for a short time, as a data entry clerk for the citizenship and immigration service and if their rules for transferring data from written forms to digital form are any indication of how other services do data entry the idea that 'forms' would match is ridiculous on its face.

[pam4water]

87. That is pretty close to 1% of the register voters in Georgia. The Bigger Problem is it gives the Rep

... the Republicans more time to steal votes by mucking around in the provisional ballots.


FYI The first day of early voting about 70,000 people voted.

[Ammonium]

88. I've been removed from the voter roll

I registered in Clarke county in 2006 and voted in the democratic presidential primaries last fall. I went today to try and vote and Fulton county, where I grew up and voted in 2004(but not since) has reclaimed me and I have been removed from Clarke county's voter roll. The BOE in Clarke county didn't know why Fulton had decided to reclaim me. I have filled out no paper work with Fulton county nor have I voted there since 2004.

I was offered a provisional ballot but I declined. I now have to return to fulton county to vote.

[CottonBear]

89. At least you can vote but how on earth did Fulton county get you back? n/t

[Ammonium]

90. I have no idea

I have not done anything in Fulton county in years. The BOE in Clarke county was at a loss as to why Fulton reclaimed me. They offered to let me vote by provisional ballot but I told them no.

Guess I'll be driving to Atlanta on sometime, so I can stand in an 8 hour long line.