Wednesday
Oct222008
Civil rights organizations fight “lose your home, lose your vote” efforts
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 1:45PM
“We’re seeing more voter suppression efforts and sophisticated tactics than ever before,” said Wade Henderson, President of the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights. Henderson continued “we’ve seen legal challenges to register voters in Ohio, fear tactics threatening that mortgage foreclosures or unpaid bills will thwart your right to vote, and may even result in arrest. There have been massive attempts to confuse voters with ‘robo calls’ and official looking websites and e-mails, especially in communities of color.”
J. Gerald Hebert, Executive Director of the Campaign Legal Center, explained several incidences of voter intimidation, such as “no match, no vote” cases in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, and Nevada. “No match, not vote” entails states refusing to register valid voters or purging them from voter rolls if they can’t match their voter information to other state voter records.
Hebert brought up an incident at Drexel University of Philadelphia where flyers were publicized claiming there will be undercover police officers at the polls on election day searching for voters who have outstanding warrants or parking tickets. Hebert claims the college community has especially had obstacles put in their way for being absentee voters or if “their parents claim them as independent on their tax returns.”
Jonah H. Goldman, director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections, said his organization will have “over 10,000 legal volunteers on and around election day, and over 750 call stations at 1-800-866-OUR-VOTE” in an effort to target voters affected by intimidation and suppression tactics, especially communities of color, young people, and seniors in key swing states.
J. Gerald Hebert, Executive Director of the Campaign Legal Center, explained several incidences of voter intimidation, such as “no match, no vote” cases in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, and Nevada. “No match, not vote” entails states refusing to register valid voters or purging them from voter rolls if they can’t match their voter information to other state voter records.
Hebert brought up an incident at Drexel University of Philadelphia where flyers were publicized claiming there will be undercover police officers at the polls on election day searching for voters who have outstanding warrants or parking tickets. Hebert claims the college community has especially had obstacles put in their way for being absentee voters or if “their parents claim them as independent on their tax returns.”
Jonah H. Goldman, director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections, said his organization will have “over 10,000 legal volunteers on and around election day, and over 750 call stations at 1-800-866-OUR-VOTE” in an effort to target voters affected by intimidation and suppression tactics, especially communities of color, young people, and seniors in key swing states.
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