4. This denial is causing the problem of fraud to become even
worse."
And, of course, allegations of this "growing problem" can now be tracked at the Republican National Committee’s Web site, according to the Journal. This so-called evidence, based solely on news reports, brings us directly back to last week's blog about reporters lazily running unsubstantiated partisan claims of possible voter fraud based on isolated reports of bad voter registration cards, despite the fact that casting an illegal ballot after falsely registering to vote is difficult to achieve due to the "checks and balances" of voter registration, according to one Virginia election official
"Project Vote's executive director, Michael Slater, acknowledged occasional problems with voter registrations, but said that many are the result of poor record keeping," the Journal reported. "He said a greater risk comes from Republicans' efforts to police rolls."
"'We don't have a real history in the last 10 to 15 years of large-scale voter fraud,'" Slater said. "'What we do have a problem with is getting everyone on the rolls and making sure their votes are counted.'"
A prime example of the kind of problem that will actively disenfranchise potentially hundreds of thousands of eligible voters across the county (as opposed to any problems with any voter registration drive, which have never been shown to result in any fraudulent ballots or voter impersonation cases) is shaping up in Ohio. There, nearly 600,000 eligible voters "are subject to being removed from Ohio's voter registration rolls without notice or a hearing because of the state's vague regulations on vote caging," according to the Advancement Project and Project Vote in a press release Wednesday.
The state's recently implemented law "requires boards of election to send voter information mailings and amends Ohio's challenge statutes," the release said. "It enables a practice called voter caging, wherein voters can be purged from the rolls if they have problems with their mail." However, these "problems" could be the result of a number of database errors, errors in the mailing labels or poor matching criteria, notes Advancement Project staff attorney, Donita Judge.
"In particular, the new law requires that 88 county boards of election mail every single registered voter in their purview a non-forwardable notice letter 60 days before the election. Each board must make a list of any bounced letters that are returned as undeliverable. These lists, in turn, are made available as public records to individuals and groups seeking to use the list as a caging list to challenge voters."
"A single returned piece of mail is not a reliable basis for challenging the right to vote," said Judge.
The groups urge Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to put a halt to such practices: "Partisan, challengers who have obtained a list of returned letters shouldn't be allowed to strip Ohio voters of their right to update their addresses" said Teresa James, attorney with Project Vote. "It is imperative that Secretary Brunner establish guidelines so that partisan challengers will not be permitted to lodge unfounded challenges that clog the election process, burden poll workers and disenfranchise eligible voters."
Quick Links:
Web sites
"Issues: Voter Caging." Project Vote.
Reports
Minnitte, Lorraine. "The Politics of Voter Fraud." Project Vote. Mar. 2007.
James, Teresa. "Caging Democracy: A 50 Year History of Partisan Challenges to Minority Voters." Project Vote. Sept. 2007.
