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-- Millions Blocked from Voting in U.S. Election
Millions Blocked from Voting in U.S. Election
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Millions Blocked from Voting in U.S. Election By Alan Elsner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Millions of U.S. citizens, including a disproportionate number of black voters, will be blocked from voting in the Nov. 2 presidential election because of legal barriers, faulty procedures or dirty tricks, according to civil rights and legal experts. The largest category of those legally disenfranchised consists of almost 5 million former felons who have served prison sentences and been deprived of the right to vote under laws that have roots in the post-Civil War 19th century and were aimed at preventing black Americans from voting. But millions of other votes in the 2000 presidential election were lost due to clerical and administrative errors while civil rights organizations have cataloged numerous tactics aimed at suppressing black voter turnout. Polls consistently find that black Americans overwhelmingly vote for Democrats. "There are individuals and officials who are actively trying to stop people from voting who they think will vote against their party and that nearly always means stopping black people from voting Democratic," said Mary Frances Berry, head of the U.S. Commission on Human Rights. Vicky Beasley, a field officer for People for the American Way, listed some of the ways voters have been "discouraged" from voting. "In elections in Baltimore in 2002 and in Georgia last year, black voters were sent fliers saying anyone who hadn't paid utility bills or had outstanding parking tickets or were behind on their rent would be arrested at polling stations. It happens in every election cycle," she said. In a mayoral election in Philadelphia last year, people pretending to be plainclothes police officers stood outside some polling stations asking people to identify themselves. There have also been reports of mysterious people videotaping people waiting in line to vote in black neighborhoods. Minority voters may be deterred from voting simply by election officials demanding to see drivers' licenses before handing them a ballot, according to Spencer Overton, who teaches law at George Washington University. The federal government does not require people to produce a photo identification unless they are first-time voters who registered by mail. "African Americans are four to five times less likely than whites to have a photo ID," Overton said at a recent briefing on minority disenfranchisement. Courtenay Strickland of the Americans Civil Liberties Union testified to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights last week that at a primary election in Florida last month, many people were wrongly turned away when they could not produce identification. The commission, in a report earlier this year, said that in Florida, where President Bush won a bitterly disputed election in 2000 by 537 votes, black voters had been 10 times more likely than non-black voters to have their ballots rejected and were often prevented from voting because their names were erroneously purged from registration lists. Additionally, Florida is one of 14 states that prohibit ex-felons from voting. Seven percent of the electorate but 16 percent of black voters in that state are disenfranchised. In other swing states, 4.6 percent of voters in Iowa, but 25 percent of blacks, were disenfranchised in 2000 as ex-felons. In Nevada, it was 4.8 percent of all voters but 17 percent of blacks; in New Mexico, 6.2 percent of all voters but 25 percent of blacks. In total, 13 percent of all black men are disenfranchised due to a felony conviction, according to the Commission on Civil Rights. "This has a huge effect on elections but also on black communities which see their political clout diluted. No one has yet explained to me how letting ex-felons who have served their sentences into polling booths hurts anyone," said Jessie Allen of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. Penda Hair, co-director of the Advancement Project, which seeks to ensure fair multiracial elections, recently reported that registrars across the country often claimed not to have received voter registration forms or rejected them for technical reasons that could have been corrected easily before voting day if the applicant had known there was a problem. Beasley said that many voters who had registered recently in swing states were likely to find their names would not be on the rolls when they showed up on Election Day. "There is very widespread delay in the swing states because there have been massive registration drives among minorities and those applications are not being processed quickly enough," she said. � Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved. |
No surprise at all when it comes to such things, by the way Firefox kicks ass, best browser hands down.
This issue has nothing to do with the federal government, if you don't like it, take it up with your state legislature since the 14th amendment prohibits the federal government from interfering with the state's decision to grant or rescind voting rights to an individual guilty of "participation in rebellion, or other crime". To set the proper context, while 46 states prohibit convicted felons serving time from voting (and rightly so in my opinion), only 5 (Florida, Iowa, Virginia, Mississippi and Kentucky) prohibit ex-felons from voting unless they appeal their rights. And ultimately, it is the states� right to decide. If they want to invoke their constitutional authority to limit voting rights if they think that it will protect the lifestyle of law-abiding citizens, particularly since the populace directly elects judges, law enforcement officers and district attorneys, than so be it. If you live in another state and you don�t like what you see, well then tough crap. Welcome to a federalist confederation of states.
The thing is, this is not only about ex-felons. I can understand ex-felons not being given the right to vote (although i do think that should depend on the crime committed).
However you can't say things like this
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| "In elections in Baltimore in 2002 and in Georgia last year, black voters were sent fliers saying anyone who hadn't paid utility bills or had outstanding parking tickets or were behind on their rent would be arrested at polling stations. It happens in every election cycle," she said. |
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| Originally posted by LoCa The thing is, this is not only about ex-felons. I can understand ex-felons not being given the right to vote (although i do think that should depend on the crime committed). However you can't say things like this are acceptable even in a federalist confederation of states. The main thing that shocked me was what was going on with the minorties. Do you really think it's acceptable to turn people away just because they're behind on payments of some sort? The article clearly states this was sent to black voters. What is this saying? It's okay for a white person to be behind on their rent but not if you're black or latino? Give me a break. |
I hate shock sensational news stories like that. It is intended to draw readers and doesn't present any evidence of people who are trying to change things. I'm sure its not as bad as the story makes it out to be, even if it is bad.
seriously though, this is a sack of rubbish. black people dont have picture id's? what the fuck is their problem? lazyness? dont wanna walk to the Dmv with a birth certificate and a SS card?
Black people need to remove that "slavery and opression" chip off thier shoulder, stop bitching and complaining about being held back by the society, being opressed and such. this would allow them to move forward, the only ones holdhing them back are themselves.
fucken a, they're opresseed. opressing THEMSELVES with the help of agencies and "civil rights groups" such as the ones mentioned in the original article
it's time to move ON
>JM<
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| Originally posted by JM seriously though, this is a sack of rubbish. black people dont have picture id's? what the fuck is their problem? lazyness? dont wanna walk to the Dmv with a birth certificate and a SS card? Black people need to remove that "slavery and opression" chip off thier shoulder, stop bitching and complaining about being held back by the society, being opressed and such. this would allow them to move forward, the only ones holdhing them back are themselves. fucken a, they're opresseed. opressing THEMSELVES with the help of agencies and "civil rights groups" such as the ones mentioned in the original article it's time to move ON >JM< |
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| Originally posted by JM seriously though, this is a sack of rubbish. black people dont have picture id's? what the fuck is their problem? lazyness? dont wanna walk to the Dmv with a birth certificate and a SS card? Black people need to remove that "slavery and opression" chip off thier shoulder, stop bitching and complaining about being held back by the society, being opressed and such. this would allow them to move forward, the only ones holdhing them back are themselves. fucken a, they're opresseed. opressing THEMSELVES with the help of agencies and "civil rights groups" such as the ones mentioned in the original article it's time to move ON >JM< |
commit less crimes....
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| Originally posted by ShadoWolf commit less crimes.... |
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| "In elections in Baltimore in 2002 and in Georgia last year, black voters were sent fliers saying anyone who hadn't paid utility bills or had outstanding parking tickets or were behind on their rent would be arrested at polling stations. It happens in every election cycle," she said. |
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| In addition to the election fraud measured by the FraudFactor, the Gore-Lieberman campaign and the Democrat Party sent their lawyers to every county in Florida to challenge and disqualify for questionable technical reasons as many overseas absentee ballots from U.S. military personnel as possible. This disenfranchisement of our military men and women was part of the overall Democrat election strategy because military men and women vote predominantly Republican. These military ballots were disqualified for lack of a postmark due to the manner in which military mail is processed, and even for frivolous claims that the voter's signature was not sufficiently legible as to identify the voter's name. More information on this to come ... Also, ballots that contained no vote for president, which is equivalent to "none of the above", were counted by Democrat county election officials as votes for Al Gore during the manual recounts. |
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| In addition to the election fraud measured by the FraudFactor, Democrat county election officials counted ballots that contained no vote for president, which is equivalent to "none of the above", as votes for Al Gore during the manual recounts. More information on this to come ... Also, the Gore-Lieberman campaign and the Democrat Party sent their lawyers to every county in Florida to challenge and disqualify as many overseas absentee ballots from U.S. military personnel as possible. |
Just another reason to Vote democratic. But I doubt that will help coruption.
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