"Lawmakers accuse Tanner of pursuing other efforts that appear targeted at restricting voters' access to the polls," said National Public Radio's Pam Fessler in this report Tuesday. "Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz noted that his office sued Missouri for not cleaning up its voter registration lists despite little evidence of voter fraud. Tanner denied that was the focus."
Instead of solving election administration issues, including list maintenance, lawmakers have just served to undermine public faith in elections, exacerbated by the phantom issue of voter fraud. That faith is further weakened by the increasing exposure of a politicized Justice Department where policies and issues that suppress voting rights supersede protection of those rights. As Sample suggests, "In evaluating reforms, federal and state lawmakers alike should eschew the rhetorical distraction of 'voter fraud' and employ rigorous cost-benefit analysis."
Quick Links:
Contact:
Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) just introduced legislation that would ban use of voter ID during federal elections. If you would like to express your concerns about voter ID and voter suppression issues, click here to contact Ellison's office.
Reports:
"Making the List." Brennan Center for Justice.
"Maintaining Current and Accurate Voter Lists." Project Vote.
"The Politics of Voter Fraud." Project Vote.
"Restrictive Voter ID Requirements." Project Vote. "Caging Democracy." Project Vote.
In Other News:
Kentucky voters will not have provisional ballots available in next week's election - a first since the Help America Vote Act went into effect. This week, the state Democratic Party accused Secretary of State Trey Grayson of trying to suppress votes. Read more in the Courier Journal.
Voter participation in the Louisiana gubernatorial race this year was at an all time low. Hurricane Katrina and "partisan rhetoric" contributed to voter apathy, Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said. Read more in The Advocate.
"For 2008 presidential candidates, young people who aren't in college represent a potentially untapped source of energetic support. But as a recent event aimed at engaging young people demonstrates, reaching college students is hard enough, and the riddle of getting youth outside school involved remains unanswered." Read more in the Politico.
Erin Ferns is a Research and Policy Analyst with Project Vote's Strategic Writing and Research Department (SWORD).
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