DNC tries election protection again

DNC Announces Unprecedented Election Protection Project

Democrats to conduct nationwide survey of administration of elections
as part of an ongoing commitment to protecting the rights of every American

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 --
As the 42nd anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act approaches, the Democratic National Committee today announced its unprecedented 50-state election protection effort to prepare for the 2008 election. When signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson said that the "right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies." But nearly 42 years after the signing of this legislation, the right to vote is still under assault.

Through its 50 State Strategy, Voting Rights Institute and National
Lawyers Council, the DNC is conducting an in-depth nationwide survey to
collect critical data on voting practices and procedures at the local
level. The goal of the project is to map the often confusing and complex
sets of administrative practices and decisions governing election
administration in every state. Working with local election boards, the DNC
is examining the election mechanics in each state, flagging potential
problems and election administration issues that threaten to deprive
citizens of their right to register, vote and have their vote counted. Once
these issues are identified, the DNC will work to resolve potential
problems well in advance of the 2008 election. Election laws, while written
on the federal and state level, are often subject to interpretation at the
local level. This decentralized process results in varied administration
and supervision of the elections themselves, which can be potentially
problematic considering that in 2008, there will be at least 13,000
elections run by localities.

No organization has ever undertaken a project of this magnitude. This
project is made possible through the DNC's 50 State Strategy, which has had
staff on the ground in every state for almost two years. With very specific
questions, the survey covers topics such as voter registration, centralized
voter databases, voting systems and absentee voting, provisional balloting,
polling place procedures and Election Day preparation. This survey is just
one part of a comprehensive program on the part of the DNC to ensure that
every American's right to vote and have that vote counted is protected.
Data collected from the survey will be analyzed to determine the needs of
each election locality and next steps for strengthening the election
process in that locality. In addition to this project, the DNC will
continue its efforts to resolve the identified issues throughout next year,
continue to organize its network of lawyers in the states through the DNC's
Voting Rights Institute/National Lawyers Council and will run the most
extensive voter protection program throughout the country for the 2008
general election.

While the Democratic Party continues to work to protect every
American's right to vote and have that vote counted, Republicans have aimed
to create roadblocks for Americans to exercise their right to vote through
restrictive voter ID laws, voter purging, and voter intimidation tactics.
Under the Bush Administration's politicized Justice Department we have seen
an outright attack on voting rights. In their latest scheme, the Republican
Administration has manipulated the mission of the Department of Justice,
firing US Attorneys who were unwilling to pursue phony "voter fraud" cases,
and politicized the Civil Rights Division - both underscore the GOP's utter
disregard for the integrity of our nation's election system.

DNC Chairman Howard Dean and DNC Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna
Brazile issued the following joint statement on the DNC's effort to
safeguard the vote:

"Protecting the right of every eligible American to vote is a top
priority for our party. We believe that it's good for America and good for
our democracy when everyone votes. Every eligible American deserves the
confidence that when they go to the polls to cast their ballot they can do
so without fear of intimidation or harassment, and that their vote will be
counted fairly and accurately. Unfortunately, nearly 42 years after the
signing of the Voting Rights Act, Americans' right to vote is still under
assault. From restrictive voter ID laws to voter intimidation schemes to
politicizing the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the
integrity of our nation's voting laws has been undermined. The goal of this
unprecedented project is to protect and ensure our voting rights, by
working now to identify and attempt to resolve election administration
issues that threaten to deprive citizens of the right to register, vote and
have their vote counted."

Republican Record of Denying and Suppressing Voting Rights

Bush Administration Politicizes Justice Dept., Twists Its Mission to
Undercut Voting Rights for Partisan Purposes. The Bush Administration's
politicized Justice Department, under the direction of political hacks
planted to twist its mission for partisan purposes, has launched an
outright attack on voting rights rather than promoting voting rights. The
Bush Justice Dept has aimed to create roadblocks for Americans to exercise
their right to vote by approving restrictive state voter ID laws, voter
purging, and voter intimidation tactics. And as is now well-known, top
Justice Dept officials improperly, and illegally, pressured U.S. Attorneys
to bring phony voter fraud cases against Democratic and progressive
organizations and individuals, to influence the outcome of elections for
the Republicans. Washington Post, 1/22/04; Boston Globe 6/6/07; Charlotte
Observer, 5/31/07

GOP Suppression Tactics in 2006. In Maryland, just days before the 2006
general election, copies of the Election Day manual for the Maryland
Republican Party were obtained; in that manual, Republican Party workers
were given false information about voters' rights, were told systematically
to challenge voters and were advised to threaten election judges with jail
time. Also in Maryland, on Election Day, flyers were distributed in Prince
George's County, by the Ehrlich/Steele Republican campaign, falsely stating
that African American elected officials had endorsed the Republican
candidates for U.S. Senate and for Governor and misleading voters about the
party affiliation of those candidates. Washington Post, 11/3/06; Baltimore
Sun, 1/20/07

Email from Bush Campaign in FL to RNC Includes List of Voters to Be
Challenged from African-American Neighborhood. "Two e-mails, prepared for
the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's
national research director in Washington, DC, contain a 15-page so-called
'caging list.' It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in
predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville,
Florida. An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told
Newsnight: 'The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to
challenge voters on election day.'" BBC Television News Online, 10/26/04

In 2005 RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman Vowed to Challenge Voters at the
Polls. During an appearance on behalf of the GOP gubernatorial candidate in
Virginia in 2005, RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman vowed to "do whatever we can to
help make sure Jerry Kilgore becomes the next governor of the state" -
including, according to the AP "having poll workers on hand to challenge
voter eligibility." AP, 05/26/05

RNC Funded Company Trashed Voter Registration Forms in 2004: "Voter's
Outreach of America" aka "America Votes" is responsible for ripping up
democratic voter registrations in Nevada. According to the investigative
report, hundreds and perhaps thousands of individuals who think they are
registered to vote actually are not. The organization has reportedly left
Nevada and gone to Oregon. Full transcript of story attached... Well, the
company (Voter's Outreach for America, aka America Votes) has been largely,
if not entirely funded by the Republican National Committee. We should also
point out that similar complaints have been received in Reno, where the
registrar there has asked the FBI to investigate. It's a complicated story
and we'll have a lot more tonight and I think in the days ahead." KLAS Las
Vegas Channel 8, 4pm news, Oct. 12, 2004

Republican Admits Systematic Challenges of Black and Hispanic Voters in
2002. "In the 2002 antifraud experimental run, hundreds of Republican
activists slipped on their green vests and tested out the role of poll
monitor. In Milwaukee, the volunteers contested the residency of some black
voters and in the Hispanic communities they questioned the nationalities of
others. Overall, not much came of it. Even Mr. Graber (Wisconsin Republican
Chairman) concedes there were 'few reports of trouble.' But he says the
"dry run" two years ago has better prepared the party for the challenges
today." Wall Street Journal, 10/22/04

Republicans Tried to Scare Hispanic Immigrants From Voting. State
investigators have linked a Republican campaign to letters sent to
thousands of Southern California Hispanics warning them they could go to
jail or be deported if they vote next month, a spokesman for the attorney
general said. In fact, immigrants who are naturalized U.S. citizens can
vote. USA Today, 10/19/06

Florida Election Officials Sought To Purge African-Americans From Voter
Rolls. Florida Officials Struck Over 2,000 Eligible Voters From Voting
Rolls, 62% Were Democrats, More Than Half Were Black. An analysis by the
Miami Herald found that the Florida Division of Elections had improperly
included 2,119 voters who were on a list of more than 47,000 felons
potentially ineligible to vote in the November elections. Florida law
requires convicted felons to request clemency in order to regain their
right to vote. Of the 2,119 people on the list, 62% were registered
Democrats, almost half were Black and less than 20% were Republican. Only
sixty-one Hispanics were included on the list of over 47,000 felons though
they comprise 11% of the prison population, a politically significant fact
for the November elections since Hispanics in Florida vote overwhelmingly
Republican while Blacks vote Democrat. Miami Herald, 7/2/04; Sarasota
Herald-Tribune, 7/7/04, 7/8/04; New York Times, 7/10/04

Native Americans Told "To Go Home" In June Primary. Poll workers
demanded identification from Native Americans in South Dakota's June
primary, and they illegally turned away Native American voters from the
polls when they did not have it. The state's elections auditor sent out a
memo to state poll workers stating that all voters must have IDs, but did
not widely disseminate information that said that voters could sign an
affidavit in lieu of showing identification. State Democrats say that the
actions by poll workers were an extension of a wider move by the GOP
controlled state legislature to suppress Native American turnout. The law
requiring voters to show identification was passed last year. One South
Dakotan voter turned away from the poll was told by an elections worker
that "if she didn't' have a photo ID, she could just turn around and home."
Argus Leader, 6/11/04

Armed, Plain Clothes Police Officers Intimidated Elderly Black Voters
In Orlando. Plain clothes police officers, revealing their side arms, made
house calls to elderly, black voters who voted in Orlando's mayoral race in
March 2003. The voters were in large part campaign workers or volunteers
that helped to organize and get out the vote, mainly using absentee
ballots, for African- American Mayor Buddy Dyer. Dyer won with just under
51% of the vote. His challenger, Ken Mulvaney and other defeated candidate
alleged that Dyer aide, Ezzie Thomas, the 73-year old head of the Orlando
League of Voters, filled out multiple absentee ballots on behalf of black
voters. These actions came in spite of the fact that in May 2003 the
Florida Dept of Law Enforcement had concluded "that there was no basis to
support the allegations of election fraud." Bob Herbert Column, New York
Times, 8/16/04, 8/20/04; AP, 7/17/04

Convicted Republican Phone Jammer Blamed GOP "Culture" and Was Afraid
to Push Back on RNC Official. As he finished serving a prison sentence for
"jamming Democratic phone lines in New Hampshire during the 2002 US Senate
race," Allen Raymond told the Boston Globe that the "scheme reflects a
broader culture in the Republican Party that is focused on dividing voters
to win primaries and general elections. He said examples range from some
recent efforts to use border-security concerns to foster anger toward
immigrants to his own role arranging phone calls designed to polarize
primary voters over abortion in a 2002 New Jersey Senate race." The scheme
led to "the convictions of Raymond and two top Republican officials, and a
Democratic lawsuit that seeks to determine whether the White House played
any role." Allen said "he got caught up in an ultra-aggressive atmosphere"
and that "he had been reluctant to turn down a prominent official of the
RNC, fearing that would cost him future opportunities from an organization
that was becoming increasingly ruthless." Boston Globe, 06/10/2006


http://www.democrats.org

equipped precincts that service colleges, sent them robocalls threatening to withdraw their financial aid IF THEY VOTED IN THE WRONG PRECINCT, set up alternate (really really long)lines for these voters.

The DNC would do well to organize a college tour before the election to prepare these kids so they're not caught flatfooted.