Combat Vote Suppression

This longest election campaign in American history, soon to be concluded, has seen a record number of new voters registered.

In Connecticut, more than 300,000 new voters have added their names to the rolls since January 1, and a higher percentage of registered voters are expected to participate in tomorrow's election than at any time since John F. Kennedy faced off with Richard Nixon in 1960.

In Delaware, 600,000 new voters signed up -- an "unprecedented" amount, according to Sussex County Department of Elections, Kenneth McDowell.

In California, Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced Friday that 17.3 million Californians are registered voters, almost 5 percent more than the 16.6 million registered for the last presidential election and 75 percent of the state's eligible voters -- a record for the state.

In fact, voter registration is up dramatically coast to coast. More than 500,000 new voters altogether have registered in the key battleground states of Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania since the 2004 election, public records show. Registration is also up in several closely watched states. Colorado and Minnesota have signed up more than 150,000 voters apiece since 2004. Virginia and Nevada have each registered more than 250,000 new voters since then. Nationwide, more than 3.6 million voters registered in the first three months of 2008, according to an Associated Press survey. In total, approximately 153.1 million Americans are now registered to vote (a record 73.5 percent of citizens 18 or older.)

So with all these new voters on the scene, there may be some chaos at various polling places tomorrow even without the expected dirty tricks already cropping up in places like Virginia, Georgia and Ohio.

The good news is that there are numerous ways you can help ensure that every vote is counted. Here are a few:

Video Your Vote
Help document any problems that may arise -- long lines or broken voting machines, for example -- that present obstacles to citizens trying to vote.

Twitter Vote Report
Our friends at Campus Progress Action have partnered with Twitter and techPresident on the Twitter Vote Report election protection project. Individual voters can use their cell phones to report on their voting-day experiences - the good, bad, and ugly. How long is the wait in Cleveland? Are the new optical scan machines staying up and running in Palm Beach County? Is failure to bring ID to the polls thwarting first-time voters in Indianapolis? With Twitter Vote Report, we'll know the answers to those questions in real time from real people. Visit twittervotereport.com to learn how it works, how to get involved, and how to spread the word.

Election Protection Wiki
A new wiki tool hosted by the Center for Media and Democracy allows users to look up vote purgings and other challenges to voting rights on a state-by-state basis, helps investigate incidents of disenfranchisement and permits users to add comments.

GoVote.org
Have any questions about your polling place? govote.org tells you not only where your polling place is located but the hours that the polls are open and what documentation you need to bring with you that day. Google Maps also has a tool in conjunction with the League of Women Voters that retrieves a map of your polling place, prints directions, and has contact information for local election officials.

1-866-OUR-VOTE
Having problems or questions on Election Day? If so, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE, a toll-free hotline with live people on the end of the line who are ready to answer your questions, record incidents of voter intimidation, and, if necessary, put you in immediate touch with election lawyers.

Comments (17)

1. A simple but great technique employed by those hesitant to casting a vote for the Obama/Biden ticket:

   VOTING A STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC PARTY TICKET!

   Love it.

   Posted by hsuBfools at 11/03/2008 @ 2:00pm

2. Well, now, PETER, as our right-wing posters will undoubtedly tell us...

   all those so-called "new voters" (i.e. the ones who didn't vote for Dubya over Kerry in 2004)...

   are all fake names created by ACORN!

   (sarcastic LOL)

   Posted by Maskdelta at 11/03/2008 @ 2:21pm

3. Everyone needs to check the voting machines before finalizing, too. In West Virginia, reports have been made that the voting machines switched their vote from Obama to McCain. Some people said it happened more than once, and they had to get an election official to assist them. Others said that they were told it was not possible and they didn't do it right.

   Four years ago, a family member said she was told by another voter that his vote in Maryland was switched from Kerry to Bush at least twice before it registered correctly.

   Read your screens or whatever your voting machine displays. Make absolutely sure it's right before leaving the booth. Get help if you need it and report any problems. There are numbers to call and Internet sites to visit, although I don't know them offhand.

   Just be very careful your vote goes the way you want it to, no matter which side you are on. (Funny, though - it never seems to go from Republican to Democrat!)

   Posted by LeeAnnG at 11/03/2008 @ 3:16pm

4. Rio .. why are you guys so afraid to let Americans all vote. Why are you and yours against freedom?

   Posted by leftofcenter at 11/03/2008 @ 8:03pm

5. and then there's candidate suppression....

   The nutjob Phillip Berg is still after Obama about his birth certificate, saying that he was really born in Kenya. (Obamacrimes.com)

   There are literally thousands of government employees who want to see him lose, but they have not taken up this issue. Why would they not go after him? I offer that it's because it's just not true. It's starting to go down the 911 path, with a hundred "yeah, but" responses to anything one might offer.

   I'm sure we'll see more about it soon, but this guy is a Jewish Democrat (can you say Leiberman?), who is spending lots of time and effort on this. Obviously, this guy is anything but a democrat. I'd love to hear Maskdelta expound on this lunacy.

   Posted by ficheye at 11/03/2008 @ 8:26pm

6. I'd love to hear Maskdelta expound on this lunacy.-----Posted by ficheye at 11/03/2008 @ 8:26pm

   How crazy you (if you're a right-winger) want to get about a "President Obama"...

   is all a matter of choice.

   Remember most of them clung to "Whitewater" for years....but only a few (probably like Berg) clung to "Clinton killed dozens as he ran his coke smuggling operation out of Alma, Ark." or "Hillary killed Vince Foster"!

   Obama could serve 8 years and be a great success....and you'd have guys talking about how "He was an illegitimate President because he really wasn't born in the USA!"

   Posted by Maskdelta at 11/03/2008 @ 11:10pm

7. Gosh! Voter suppression. Well, we hear about it in nasty, gutter-snipe terms like calling up college freshmen and telling them they can't vote except in their home state, but what about just ignoring certain voters? That works. Take John McCain for instance. What in the world does he do with me? I'm a Vet. By his own words, I should be honored and taken care of in the best possible manner. I just happen to be a Deaf Veteran, and you know what?....the RNC, the DNC, Election Protection....none of them have TDD lines for me to call and get help for voting problems or to get answers on the issues. And what is it John McCain says about the Americans with Disabilities Act? He says, "Like so many other rights and privileges in our country, the right to vote always belonged to Americans with disabilities." Hmm, yeah, I can vote, but he doesn't support captioning so I can know the issues. He doesn't caption his online videos so I can know where he stands on issues. He doesn't caption his tv spots so I can know where he stands on issues. He doesn't have a TDD line so I can call him and find out where he stands on issues. Oh, I get it, I deserve to vote, I just have to hunt up the info on my own that helps me make the decision...ok, I get it now. John McCain is running on the fact that he's a VET....that he "identifies" with us and knows what our problems are like. So should I expect more from him since he tries to say he's like me? Damn right I should and McCain has failed over and over again to prove that he even cares about Vets. John McCain cares about money...that's it. He will give tax cuts to the rich and won't even spend a dime so I can know what he's saying on tv or so I can contact him and ask a simple question. John McCain suppresses votes by ignoring the disabled!!

   Posted by yosemitesam at 11/04/2008 @ 12:32am

8. Posted by yosemitesam at 11/04/2008 @ 12:32am I read you loud and clear. In my area there is a nuke station (leaking strontium), for which the operator was eventually required to install warning sirens. No doubt the evacuation plan is a total joke given that one hears the sirens, but my initial question was: what about the hearing-or-mobility impaired? I called the county's director of emergency services and found out they had no answer other than "I'm sure there are plans in place." This horrible public-be-damned attitude seems to be the guiding philosophy of the interests that pride themselves most on their resistance to change for a fairer, safer society. They just don't get it, but they wink a lot.

   Posted by A_Pax_On_Your_Houses at 11/04/2008 @ 07:52am

9. I love Rachel Maddow, so there's my bias, but her analysis that the bludgeoning of the voting public by long lines and long waits is merely a new poll tax is one of the reasons she's my fave.

   Posted by tomchicago at 11/04/2008 @ 07:59am

10. Sweet!

    My college aged brother was disenfranchised today!

    WOO!

    And I can assure you Mr. REDRIVER, he's not dead.

    Posted by TexasFlood at 11/04/2008 @ 10:34am

11. I've never seen such a level of ineptitude and ignorance as what was exhibited by these so-called polling officials.

    This is REAL voter fraud, and an honest-to-god outrage.

    Fucking ridiculous.

    Posted by TexasFlood at 11/04/2008 @ 10:39am

12. To give you an idea of just how outdated and antiquated our voting system is, here's what a historian had to say when he was asked two questions about our voting system. First, he was asked how it came about that we held elections in November, instead of some other month. He replied that November was a month when farmers (you know, the ones driving horse & buggies or 2 mph tractors), could get free to vote. Secondly, he was asked why the electoral college is still around when other democracies have abandoned it all together. He replied that the electorate was set up so that we wouldn't have to wait to get the results from "far away" states like California. (Again, a horse & buggy issue.) Now I'm all for tradition, when it's applicable. But we don't have to limit ourselves to holding an election in November when the farmer john issue no longer applies. (Their tractors can go 15 mph now, so it's not excuse to miss the vote -- no jab at famers...don't get riled up). And using the electoral college, instead of actually counting votes (you know, that one person, one vote idea), is ridiculous. They aren't delivering voting results by horseback from California anymore (unless Arnold started a new policy.) If tradition is causing elderly Seniors to stand out in the November cold for hours just to vote...then dump tradition for practicality. If tradition is causing even one vote not to be counted and have meaning, dump tradition for fairness. After this election, we need to take a long hard look at our voting procedures. What do these long, unbearable waits in line do to the enthusiasm of first time voters? People are excited about this election, more than any other that I can remember in the past 50 years. Let's dump tradition for efficiency!

    Posted by yosemitesam at 11/04/2008 @ 1:05pm

13. It is my understanding that the Electoral College has nothing to do with waiting to get results from far away states, but instead was a means of protecting the states with smaller populations from losing influence to the states with huge populations.

    For instance, New Hampshire has very different problems and priorities, naturally, than say, New York. Without an Electoral College, candidates could simply ignore these small states, and their interests, completely. Personally, I'd hate to see that happen, and have national policy dictated only by folks from the major population centers, who have no understanding of or interest in the problems and priorities of those in smaller, less populous regions.

    'Any history scholars out there who can verify this, would be much appreciated.

    Posted by mavlov2000 at 11/04/2008 @ 2:49pm

14. Posted by mavlov2000 at 11/04/2008 @ 2:49pm

    I believe that was the original intent, though I'm no history scholar.

    However, with the EC in place instead of ignoring just the small states, they ignore EVERYONE other than pennsylvania or Ohio.

    The EC is an antiquated system that at best needs to be completely reformed if not totally replaced, so we can stop depending on people in Cleveland to determine what happens to our entire country.

    Posted by TexasFlood at 11/04/2008 @ 2:58pm

15. I mean, have you ever been to Ohio?

    Horrid place. Jersey is a better place than Ohio.

    Posted by TexasFlood at 11/04/2008 @ 3:00pm

16. Do people believe everything they read?

    The 2006 population of Delaware is listed at 853,000 yet Peter Rothberg claims the state has 600,000 NEW REGISTERED VOTERS. It looked fishy to me.

    If you check the link the figure is 13,000 new voters bringing the state total to 600k. That's sloppy reporting.

    Posted by dadadadio at 11/04/2008 @ 4:20pm

17. Don't forget the authoritative voter suppression site (VoterSuppression Wiki): http://www.votersuppression.net/

    Posted by dust at 11/04/2008 @ 6:36pm