Block the Vote

For some reason, it appears, many people did not want you to vote this year. While Democrats, Progressives, and Independents throughout the country were at every festival, concert, street fair, gathering, and book club trying to get people to register, some Republicans were doing the opposite. There are reports of bullying voters (discouraging them to register and/or vote), writing fake letters, moving polling stations, and bringing out obscure laws from the times before we drove cars. These are the moral leaders of our country? These are the people doing the right thing for our nation? Depressing.

The 2004 election had one of the largest voter turnouts in history. The state and federal governments knew this was going to be the case. Then why, in places with a large minority population were there less voting machines then in previous elections? In Ohio, why were people waiting in line for 10 hours to vote? Imagine the long line, in the rain, for that long, to cast your vote without the certainty that it was even going to be counted. We would like to commend all that did stick it out. But the issue remains, are we truly a free democracy if government officials prevent the minority vote from being counted?

Racial Profiling

Suppressing the minority vote is nothing new, and it’s certainly not going away. The NAACP along with the PFAW published a full report on this issue. The report covers the many ways that minority votes have been suppressed. In the 2000 election, there were 1.9 million “spoiled” votes that weren't counted. While blacks only represent 12% of voters, they represented 54% (~1 million) of the “spoiled votes”. The tactics make you wonder what decade you are living in. They also report the declining number of machines in urban precincts, even with dramatic population growth and a increased voter turnout. And in many predominantly black neighborhoods, they pulled tricks like moving polling stations last-minute and sending out fake letters threatening people not to vote. Michael Moore addressed this issue head-on in a short documentary. The film shows several instances in Ohio this year where blacks were denied the right to vote.

Targeting Democrats

The minority voter is the main target for voter suppression, because that most likely means a democratic vote. Republicans continued with their nasty ways of identifying Democrats. In Ohio, one woman was challenged by GOP challenger Barbara Miller that she didn’t really live at her address. Why the challenge? Republican propaganda had repeatedly been sent to her residence, and like a good Democrat, she refused delivery. Since the mail came back returned (indicating a possible Democrat), they put her on the list of challenged saying, she didn’t live there. This technique is known as “caging.” Luckily, all 976 challenges made by Miller have been thrown out, and she may now be indicted for her actions. In our favorite county, in our favorite state (Franklin County, OH), one man was challenged regarding the validity of his address. After dishing out a series of angry phone calls, the Board admitted there was nothing wrong with his address and he was allowed to vote. The kicker, his wife was registered as an Independent and was not challenged. There are numerous reports throughout the country of registered Democrats having problems voting. In some areas, it seems like the Democrats have been kidnapped when you look at the discrepancies between registered Democrats and votes for Kerry in several Florida counties (see This Doesn’t Add Up).

Trickery

We almost hate to use the word trickery here. This isn’t a game, it’s serious and it’s a problem. Fake letters were sent out around the country targeted at Democrats. Some were threatening, informing black voters and felons that they couldn't vote. Others claimed to be from Democrats telling registered voters that if they had registered through a number of Democratic organizations, that their registration was invalid. They were just trying to help out their fellow Democrats.

If you actually made it to the polling station, there was a chance that it had moved. Republicans made a strong effort, especially in Philadelphia, to change some of the locations of the polling stations last-minute. The main reason for their request to change locations; they felt that voters would feel “intimidated” at some of the locations. The poor Republicans were too scared to vote in Philly - what is that saying? In Ohio, The Columbus Dispatch and WVKO have documented phone calls of people pretending to be Elections officials and directing registered voters to different and incorrect polling sites.

So, let’s say that you successfully registered, found the polling station, waited in line for 5 hours, you’re finally in the clear, right? Not necessarily. Voters were challenged and mysteriously removed from the list of registered voters. The last bit of trickery by the Republicans was the trick ballots. In Ohio, each county was allowed to create their own absentee ballot. In, you guessed it, Franklin County they came up with a clear as mud way to vote for John Kerry. Kerry was listed 3rd on the ballot, but you had to punch 4 if you actually wanted to vote for Kerry. What if you punched 3? That’s Right, another vote for Dubya. Similar ballots were reported in Florida during the 2000 election.

Our 2 cents: America may be fighting to give people the right to vote in Iraq, we should be fighting for the same rights in our own country.

Just followin’ the Rules

Republicans sure did their research in the Ohio law books. They found archaic laws regarding on-site voter challengers and even rules about the paper weight of registration forms. Republicans put thousands of challengers at the polling stations in Ohio. The goal, slow down the lines (some waited up to 12 hours) and frustrate voters. They also brought their "caging list" of folks who had undeliverable mail. Luckily not all challenges were accepted. As we previously said, one Republican challenger is being indicted for her actions, as she was proven to have no grounds for challenging.

Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio’s Secretary of State returned voter registration forms, saying they weren’t on the correct weight of paper. Buried deep in Ohio law it specifies the paper weight of the registration form to be 80 lb. stock paper. The official reason: the form was originally designed to be sent like a postcard. However, with newspapers and websites providing voter registration forms, people are sending in their registration in envelopes. On top of that, Blackwell's own office was sending people registration forms printed on a different weight of paper. And why is Blackwell trying to turn away voters? In Cincinnati, 150,000 voters were moved to inactive status for not voting in the last two federal elections. This is not required under Ohio law, but is an option that was exercised by the Republican-dominated Hamilton County Board of Elections.

Same state, different county. In Warren County, OH they “locked down” their administration building to count votes and prevent anyone from observing. Keith Olbermann covered this story on 11/8/04 on MSNBC, based on a story broke by the Cincinnati Enquirer. This was one of the last counties to close their polls, one of the last to report, and therefore, one of the counties that helped the final Bush push. The reason for the secret vote count, the threat of terrorism. Frank Young, Emergency Services Director, had been advised to take measures in the name of Homeland Security. All Ohio Counties were warned of the elevated terror risk in Ohio during the election - though Warren County was the only one that felt counting the votes in private would somehow make them safer. Ohio has always been one of those terror target areas. New York, DC, LA, then Toledo. At least that’s how I hear it.

Our Block the Vote! Suppression Awards

Man of the Year: Kenneth Blackwell
Where do we start? Denying registration forms based on paper weight. Contracting Diebold voting machines. Enforcing strict rules. Provisional Ballot laws – voters had to cast provisional votes within their correct precinct. This rule that was not in effect during the Spring election. This man is the new Katherine Harris. He did his best to keep the block the vote and get the electoral votes for Bush.

Company of the Year:
Spraul & Associates (Though it's a toss up with Diebold, but they weren’t obvious enough.)
Several examples of voter suppression in many states including: PA, MN, MI, OH, WV, FL, NV. This GOP consulting firm, set out around the country to increase voter registration of a specific kind. The Republican kind. In fact, they were so dedicated to getting Republican voters, they threw out registration forms filled out by Democrats, refused to register Kerry voters, and they even paid their workers by the number of Republican registrants. It all adds up when you hear stories of Democratic voters who went to the polls thinking they were registered. Spraul & Assoc. also assisted in Ralph Nader’s petition drive for the Arizona ballot.

Quote of the Year
Michigan State Rep. John Pappageorge (R-Troy)
“If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we're going to have a tough time in this election cycle." at a meeting of the Oakland County Republican Party, Detroit Free Press, 7/16/04.