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GOP Accused of Nationwide Voter Suppression

October 30, 2008

As record numbers of citizens have registered to vote Nov. 4, evidence of voter suppression is cropping up across the country. Labor leaders and citizen advocacy groups are calling foul at what they see as a last-ditch effort by the GOP to harass and intimidate citizens participating in this year’s historic election.

Washington, D.C., residents wait in line to
cast early votes on Wednesday, October 29

Analysts, journalists and bloggers are shedding light on shady Republican practices designed to block thousands from casting their ballot through scare tactics, illegal purging from voter rolls and procedural red tape. Disproportionately targeted are young voters, minorities, poor citizens and the newly registered – demographics likely to cast their votes for Democrats.

“It’s sadly ironic that the party of Lincoln has stooped to such measures in an attempt to stifle the voices of new registrants, working people and those already left behind in the political process,” said IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill. “We saw this in 2000 and 2004, but it’s still shocking. Behavior like this is anti-democratic and, frankly, un-American.”

Incidents in swing states herald troubling news:

• Colorado: A voter advocacy group has filed a suit against the Republican secretary of state alleging that he illegally removed as many as 30,000 names from the voter rolls.

• Ohio: 800,000 new voters have registered this year. The GOP sued to purge from the rolls any voter whose information doesn’t exactly match other public records. These discrepancies are usually the result of human error when entering information into the state’s database. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the GOP’s lawsuit in October.

• New Mexico: Community organizers filed a suit in October alleging that New Mexico Republicans used intimidation and threats to block newly registered voters – a violation of the U.S. Voting Rights Act.

• Florida: Election officials have been warned by the Republican secretary of state to discount registration applications that include minor errors. A study revealed that 75 percent of such errors were clerical in nature and were not the fault of citizens registering.

• Pennsylvania: The state’s GOP filed a lawsuit to strong-arm newly registered voters into filling out provisional ballots that would not be counted on Nov. 4. Provisional ballots are counted after elections, and studies have shown that many are rejected in error.

• Virginia: College students have been told that casting votes could infringe on their scholarship status or student loan funding – a blatant falsehood.

“What we are seeing is now just the first wave of voter suppression,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, forecasting further intimidation of people of color, young voters and the poor. “The Republican party hopes to discourage new voters and divert attention away from the issues that are motivating so many – the disastrous economic policies of the past eight years.”

If you suspect that your vote may unfairly be in jeopardy, please call Election Protection at 1-866-OUR-VOTE or visit www.866ourvote.org to confirm registration status and check for possible problems.

To read Sweeney’s press release criticizing the GOP’s tactics, click here.

Photo used under a Creative Commons license from Flickr user Wayan Vota.