|
Millions Blocked from Voting in U.S. Election
|
View this Thread in Original format
| LoCa |
| quote: |
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.
|
source
Some of this stuff is really shocking. Although i suppose in a way there's really not much to be surprised about but still, in this day and age you would think things like this wouldn't happen anymore.
In third world countries you almost expect it, in America however... let's just say i find it extremely disillusioning... land of the free indeed :( |
|
|
| NYCTrancefan |
| No surprise at all when it comes to such things, by the way Firefox kicks ass, best browser hands down. |
|
|
| occrider |
| 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. |
|
|
| 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
| quote: | | "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. |
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. :rolleyes: |
|
|
| occrider |
| quote: | 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. :rolleyes: |
Of course that isn't acceptable. However, in many of the cases it's not state officials who are practicing those tactics but private individuals. For example, with respect to the Baltimore incidents the actual flier said:
URGENT NOTICE. Come out to vote on November 6th. Before you come to vote make sure you pay your parking tickets, motor vehicle tickets, overdue rent and most important any warrants.
And it was handed out by unknown individuals. Electioneering dirty tricks like this happen all the time by both sides and it's virtually impossible for the state to clamp down on all activities such as this. The baltimore flier came out at the same time that republicans were alleging that democrats were attempting to purchase votes ...
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/lo...local-headlines |
|
|
| josh4 |
| 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. |
|
|
| JM |
seriously though, this is a sack of rubbish. black people dont have picture id's? what the 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.
en a, they're opresseed. opressing THEMSELVES with the help of agencies and "civil rights groups" such as the ones mentioned in the original article
:rolleyes:
it's time to move ON
>JM< |
|
|
| speedracer_mec |
| quote: | Originally posted by JM
seriously though, this is a sack of rubbish. black people dont have picture id's? what the 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.
en a, they're opresseed. opressing THEMSELVES with the help of agencies and "civil rights groups" such as the ones mentioned in the original article
:rolleyes:
it's time to move ON
>JM< |
LOL I agree.... |
|
|
| jrbuddha |
| quote: | Originally posted by JM
seriously though, this is a sack of rubbish. black people dont have picture id's? what the 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.
en a, they're opresseed. opressing THEMSELVES with the help of agencies and "civil rights groups" such as the ones mentioned in the original article
:rolleyes:
it's time to move ON
>JM< |
 |
|
|
| ShadoWolf |
| commit less crimes.... |
|
|
| NYCTrancefan |
| quote: | Originally posted by ShadoWolf
commit less crimes.... |
All valid points and here is a better idea, maybe blacks should get up off their asses and go out and vote in large numbers, a right which was long and hard fought to be won, especially in the Southern States and stop complaining. There's a way to handle the good ole boys network down there. Might make Bush's reelection just a little more interesting in Mississipi, Louisiana to name a few states and that can only help.
54% of the black population live in the Southern States, now if only they would vote. |
|
|
| sisterbliss |
| quote: | | "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. |
what a wonderful country we live in if people have to resort to such bull scare tactics... *shakes head |
|
|
|
|
