I received this email from Kent McKamy of kentsusdrive -- a New Yorker. As an Ohioan born and bred, I was outraged and went and signed it and shared it with every Ohioan I know. After thinking about it, I realized how far-reaching this could be and that such a thing could affect every state in the Union and every single one of you, gentle bloggers so I decided to post it here.
Subject: Tell Mukasey: Don't suppress Ohio voters.
Dear Friend,
This year, there are over 600,000 newly registered Ohio voters, but President Bush has asked Attorney General Mukasey to investigate as many as 200,000 of them. Why? Because Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has refused to use an "exact match" standard before adding these voters to the rolls.
What is this "exact match" standard? Basically, it works like this: After you fill out your voter registration card, a local or state employee has to type in your information to add you to the voter rolls, and check to see that you really exist, usually by verifying your driver's license number or Social Security number. And as you can imagine, sometimes there are typos or other disparities when the information gets entered and matched - for example, if your last name is "De la Rosa" and it got entered as "Delarosa", you would fail to meet the exact match standard, and your registration form would be invalid.
Secretary Brunner has refused to use this standard on the grounds that it would erroneously deprive tens or even hundreds of thousands of Ohioans of their right to vote. The Ohio GOP sued her a month ago to try and get the courts to compel her to use the exact match standard, but the Supreme Court ruled that they had no standing to make that case.
Now, President Bush is trying to run around the Supreme Court by getting the Department of Justice to intervene. On Friday, October 24th, Bush reportedly asked Attorney General Mukasey to investigate whether as many as 200,000 voters need to reconfirm their registrations before November 4th - which would almost certainly result in forcing them to vote provisionally.
I just signed a petition urging Attorney General Mukasey not to act on President Bush's sickening request. I hope you will, too.
Please have a look at the link below and take action.
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/doj_oh_suppression/?r_by=-1677880-.2Dum_x&rc=paste
Thanks!
Kudos to Jennifer Brunner for attempting to protect our Constitutional right to vote. What I think of Bush's attempt to undermine it is not fit for print here. I hope y'all are as outraged as I am, please send it along to everyone you know. If this is happening here in Ohio, it could happen anywhere in this country -- maybe even to you or someone you know.
Happy Blogging!!!!! (sorta)
Kay
I have been reading about this horror abd hearing about it, too...And it's NOT just in Ohio! Robert Kennedy Jr. and another gentleman who's name I cannot remember, had a long article about this and some other dirty tactics by the Republicans similar to this, in The Huffington Post.....!
ReplyDeleteIT IS ATROCIOUS! What is it with these people...? WIN at any cost??
Truly shameful in every way.
Thank you - I have passed the word.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading historical novels about voter manipulation, thinking how wonderful it was not to have such things happening here and now...talk about naive!
We all need to be vigilant about keeping the vote free and fair!
It is not just in Ohio, but Maryland, and other states. Also, on the Internet on a Philly area site, there was a site (now down) that had a very official look that said: Republicans Vote November 4th; Democrats Vote November 5th.
ReplyDeleteMy friends, there was trickery in the 2000 election which Gore lost by a mere 500+ votes, and it continues today with those in power trying to control the outcomes of national elections.
Stay involved and be vigilant!
Naomi, Volly and Nancy: I hope y'all clicked on the link and and registered your support as well as passing the letter on!
ReplyDeleteIt is my understanding if their identification does not match their registered name they may still vote a "provisional" ballot that will be counted when their identification is confirmed. What is wrong with that? Everyone I know has been making sure their information is correct before this election. We've had plenty of time. That's just my understanding and I certainly am not wanting to pick a fight.
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with that is that provisional ballots aren't necessarily counted and that happened in Ohio in 2004. I don't think it was a coincidence that it was in precincts with a high number of black Democrats. A good friend of mine was an observer at the polls in 2004 and was appalled when the following scenario took place:
ReplyDeletePoll worker: Hi Joe!!! Come to vote?
Joe: Yep.
Poll worker: Gosh, Joe, you aren't on the list!!!!
Joe: What the heck? I've been voting here for over 20 years!
Poll worker: Well, here's a provisional ballot . . .
This is not good. There will be hell to pay if this happens to me. Do you want to vote and not have your ballot counted? I don't think so. I don't want that to happen to ANYONE.
The Bush dirty tricks will not cease until he is out of office. How much more will he do until then? He is trying, and apparently succeeding, with the help of the Republicans in Congress to pardon everyone in his administration from was crimes. They haven't even been charged yet, but he knows he's guilty and will be. I will be posting on my blog tomorrow on this.
ReplyDeletethey tried that here in Colorado too, especially trying to intimidate the student voters
ReplyDeletea judge here ruled that they must be allowed to vote
I'm surprised -- and delighted that he had the "stuff" to do the right thing
Hurrah for you, Kay, spreading the word about this. I assume that since I live in PA, it would do no good for me to sign this petition...correct?
ReplyDeleteOne hopeful sign, the video urging people to take videos of what goes on at their polling places when they go to vote.
Yes it would help -- this isn't just an Ohio thing. It was sent to me by a New Yorker who pased it across the country. I passed it on to everyone I know. We're talking that voting is a federal thing so go ahead and sign! And thanks for coming by!
ReplyDeleteGood for you for publicizing this. I heard also in one state the democrats were receiving a letter that they should go to vote the 5th because so many would be voting the 4th. It's unreal what despicable things some will do to try and win and you wonder what they think they win when they get it by cheating. I guess we know the answer-- 8 years of Bush :( Ack!
ReplyDelete