Obama Campaign Sues to Block Republican Voter Suppression Tactic in Michigan

I agree this is great news!

You guys that contribute all the time to these blogs are so savvy and with-it, but some of us who check in sometimes (like in crucial times like this) might need
to review/update. They say those who are not knowledgeable about the past are condemned to repeat it. I am so repelled and sickened by the hypocracy of individuals who claim to love their country and then engage in actions that undermine bedrock principles of democracy like the right of our citizens to vote. I’m
feeling a soap box post coming on. I’m crawling up on it right now—can you see me? I may make up for the infrequency of my posts with a monster one all on one day. If anyone hasn’t seen the movie, “Recount”, it might be a good review to keep 2004 shenanigans fresh in mind as we move into the 2008 election. I want to thank Bob Fertik for the request he put out for us to petition our secretaries of state to set foundations for fair elections in 2008 because this is a matter of grave concern to me. There is so much about voting that IS NOT under public control that one thing I can see that might prevent a replay of the election-stealing tactics of the last 2 presidential elections is massive public attention and outcry when things do not seem on the up and up. The lawsuit by the Obama campaign and other actions to counter election fraud can't possibly hurt, but this issue still needs to matter to tons of people who refuse to go on with their lives and forget about it. If we’re at our 3rd round of being fooled this year, I think it’s shame on us all. (My reference here is to the saying, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”) I hope that everyone who hasn’t read this info. yet will follow these links and urge people they know to read this info. as well:

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6959
http://www.norcalblogs.com/mainstream/2008/09/will_democracy_lose_in_ohi...
also note the thread in Bob Fertik’s blog: http://www.democrats.com/florida-dems-trash-touchscreens

Here is a review/summary of some dirty tricks discussed in the articles above for you, but I feel we all should keep informed about this ourselves. There has been no President win the election except for John Kennedy who did not carry Ohio. In spite of the fact that by then, it was a federal offense in Ohio to destroy poll books, ballots, or other election records, 56 of the 88 county records from the 2004 stolen election have been destroyed. There have been no federal or state prosecutions for this so I guess it’s pretty ripe for happening again in 2008, isn’t it? If that happens we can’t have a recount even if we want to. As we all know now, the numbers of registered voters eliminated from the rolls in Ohio were much higher than George Bush’s victory margin of 119,000 votes. Did you know that after the 2004 election, another 170,000 voters were eliminated in the Columbus Ohio region? It’s a heavily democratic county. I read that these voters have not been restored to registration lists because there were no records of who they were. This mass voter elimination happened in Florida also. In Ohio and in inner cities across the country, if the Board of Elections sends out notices to voters that are returned undeliverable, those voters can be eliminated from the rolls. They send notices to soldiers serving in Iraq along with notices to others. Now there’s a valid excuse for not claiming your US mail!! But there’s no excuse for disenfranchising soldiers risking their lives in the name of democracy! In Ohio the (democratic) secretary of state has been working to get absentee (paper) ballots mailed to all voters. This would avoid any manipulation of electronic voting machines and ensure easy access for all voters, including disabled and senior voters.The Republican dominated state legislature refused to allocate enough money to pay for postage for this, so now, in counties with more wealthy residents, paper ballots will be mailed, but in some counties, they will not be. Someone know a big ticket campaign contributor that can pick up the tab for postage for some counties in Ohio? There is another access issue being challenged by the Ohio Republican Party. They want a provision in the law revoked that allows voters to register to vote and cast an absentee ballot the same day. Of course, if nothing else works, a few strategic button-presses can reverse an election where machines are used. The man in charge of programming the vote count in Ohio resulting in the election of President G.W. Bush a second time is working for the McCain/Palin campaign. Along with their buddy, Karl Rove. Coercive phone techniques like telling voters that they will be arrested when they go to vote if they have outstanding parking tickets, traffic tickets, child support payments, live in a halfway house, or are on probation or parole have occurred in the past and are still possible. Requiring a picture voter id sounds like an anti-fraud measure, doesn’t it? But it is a possible way of excluding young, poor, homeless, or senior voters, if they don’t have the ID. A picture ID is required in Ohio. In Michigan’s Macomb County, a swing county in a swing state, the Chairman of the Republican Party was planning to challenge voters this year by using a list of foreclosed homes. More than 60% of all subprime loans were made to African-Americans in Michigan. Sub-prime loans, as we know, have been going into default due to being reset. John McCain’s regional headquarters is in the office of Michigan’s largest foreclosure law firm, Trott and Trott. In the state of Michigan, Americans hard hit by the George Bush economy will not be allowed to vote if this plan to disenfranchise them works. You can bet that since the election has the potential for being close, there are other states where similar measures are being considered as we post. (Yeah, who knows if the polls are accurate--I personally don't think so.)

Although the persons who have been getting robbed are democrats, it would be just as serious and offensive if the same thing had happened to Republicans. It has been made a partisan issue, by some and by the need for democrats to defend their right to take office if elected, but it certainly is NOT a partisan issue.