There have been reports of voter caging today.

[Cleita]

It was just announced on Thom Hartmann's show. He has said if anyone feels that their votes are being compromised to contact "People For The American Way".

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/

They are collecting reports and will try to do something about it.

[Cleita]

1. Please don't let this die. It's important.

[Cleita]

2. ....

[gateley]

3. What does "voter caging" mean? Thanks.

K&R, by the way! :hi:


Edit - stupid spelling

[robbedvoter]

6. GOP dirty trick - admited in congressional hearing: send return request letters

to people on the rolls - those who fail to respond are erased from the rolls (many who were in Iraq fighting lost their right to vote like this). But it can be as easy as not being home or thinking it junk mail - and you're striped of your constitutional right. it's illegal, BTW.
Connected to their "Voter Fraud" schemes.
Someone refresh my memory - it was a woman testifying in conjunction with the Gonzales debacle that actually admitted that they were doing that in 2004
I believe it was the testimony about using the government resources in partisan elections..

[jody]

7. Thanks, I forgot that. n/t

[mod mom]

9. Monica Goodling. I'll find a link

[robbedvoter]

11. THANK YOU! My head was exploding!

[mod mom]

13. SLATE: What is Vote Caging, and Why Should We Care?

Raging Caging
WHAT THE HECK IS VOTE CAGING, AND WHY SHOULD WE CARE?
By Dahlia Lithwick
Posted Thursday, May 31, 2007, at 6:24 PM ET

Last week, in her testimony before the House judiciary committee, Monica Goodling referred several times to "vote caging" possibly done by Arkansas' soon to be ex-interim, never-confirmed U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin. Yet Goodling was questioned about this almost not at all, nor did the media do much more than report the words of the former liaison between the White House and Alberto Gonzales (why a "liaison" is required between two institutions with no boundaries between them is incomprehensible, but perhaps another story). Meanwhile, liberal talk radio, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the blogosphere went nuts. So, which is it: Is vote caging the most underreported part of this U.S. attorneys scandal or the most over-hyped?

One of the reasons the mainstream news reports (including mine) barely touched the vote-caging story was that nobody had any idea what Goodling was talking about. "Vote caging, what's that?" we e-mailed each other at Slate. The confusion seemed to extend to Goodling herself. The subject came up in her testimony about former Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty. In saying he had not been forthright with the House judiciary committee in his testimony on the firing of the U.S. attorneys, she cited three areas, one of which was McNulty's failure "to disclose that he had some knowledge of allegations that Tim Griffin had been involved in 'vote caging' in the president's 2004 campaign," when he spoke to Congress.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., asked Goodling to "explain what caging is," clarifying that she was unfamiliar with the term. Goodling fumbled around, muttered something about, "it's a direct-mail term, that people who do direct mail, when, when they separate addresses that may be good versus addresses that may be bad," then made sure to end with, "I don't … I believe that Mr. Griffin doesn't believe that he, that he did anything wrong there and there, there actually is a very good reason for it, for a very good explanation." Which explanation Goodling did not then provide.

-snip
http://www.slate.com/id/2167284/pagenum/all/

[Cleita]

10. It means that registered voters are showing up at the precincts

and finding out that they aren't on the lists. So they are given provisional ballots, which usually aren't included in the count but counted a month later if they are counted at all.

What happens is that the Republicans are sending out postcards that look like junk mail asking people to verify their registration and addresses. If you don't send the postcard back or are on vacation or maybe are in Iraq, their registration is removed from the lists and as a result they can't vote.

They target minority neighborhoods who are liable to vote for Democrats.

[gateley]

14. HOW did they get away with this? Were any charges brought? nt

[Cleita]

17. They did get away with it in the 2004 election, which is why

we still have Bush as President. I know there are activists trying to investigations and maybe indictments going but it's an uphill battle like everything else in our upside country these days in trying to get justice.

[gateley]

21. They have had 4 -- if not 8 -- years to get machines that WORK. This is

of vital importance to the Dems, especially. I can't understand why they didn't kick ass to get something accomplished.

Who, even the Repugs, could not support ensuring voting results are accurate?

[Cleita]

23. Apparently a lot of the politicians like the system as it is

as some pundits have suggested, so there is no big rush to fix things and lordy knows we have needed a big fix it since selection 2000.

[Cleita]

27. I just found this.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/17/conyers-introduces-bill-to-fight-voter-caging/

It looks like John Conyers is trying to do something about it.

[gateley]

31. Thanks! nt

[gateley]

12. Here's a link to another DU thread -- DUer's experience in NJ -- not good! nt

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=4407581&mesg_id=4407581

[mopinko]

16. that is not a DUer

it is a kos diary. just to be clear.

[gateley]

22. Yeah - thanks for clearing that up. The OP explained that to me, too.

:hi:

[Benhurst]

4. ...

Recommended :kick: #3

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

5. kicking for the most important political issue of the day.

:kick:

[tandot]

8. K & R

[UALRBSofL]

15. That's how the GOP thinks they can win the GE

K & R

[caseycoon]

18. K&R n/t

[zulchzulu]

19. Democrofarce....

I knew this would happen today...

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/zulchzulu/128

[Cleita]

20. ...

:kick:

[chknltl]

24. K-n-R plus nice posts about voter caging in this thread as well. nt

[truedelphi]

25. K & R'ed and bookmarked

In case it happens to me

[Cleita]

26. Thanks!

:hi:

[rumpel]

28. k&r

:kick:

[EFerrari]

29. Did you here where it happened, Cleita? n/t

[Cleita]

30. One was in California, a caller in but I didn't catch where in California.

Also people are posting on his website about it. Also, the caller said there was a group of them in his precinct alone, while he was there, who had been taken off the lists and were given provisional ballots.

[EFerrari]

33. I'm really concerned about this in the GE. Also, voters being kicked

off the rolls for no reason because of the new electronic databases. There was just a story out of TX where over a thousand people were kicked off. That's going to happen all over the country.

[Cleita]

34. This is very disturnbing. Also, in my precinct we had to vote by

mail because there was no precinct to vote in like a room and a building. It resulted in me sending my vote in early before Edwards had dropped out although I don't regret my vote for him for various reasons. Usually, though we put our vote through the scanner at the precinct and now I have to go on faith that a worker in the County Clerk's office will do it for me. It just strikes me weird that there was no place to vote. People could deliver their vote to another precinct on today, election day, and at the County Clerks office if they were undecided until the last minute, but I wonder how many people would bother to drive the fifteen miles to do that?

[EFerrari]

35. DUer Wilms calls it "de-precinctification". That's another consequence

of HAVA. Somebody needs to challenge that in court because it's at least as disenfranchising as requiring ID. :grr:

[Cleita]

36. Is there any one working on this?

I mean you can set up a precinct pretty much anywhere even a barn and it certainly could be done in my precinct which is rural but does have roads and transportation. Also while we are on the subject of our votes being compromised, since when do the courts get the final word here?

In the last election locally, we the people, voted to allow a property owner to do a development with his agricultural property. Yes, usually it's not the best thing but in this case voters from both sides of the aisle agreed that this was the best use of the property and voted in favor of the owner. Well, there was a lawsuit and the courts overturned the election. How can that happen? I thought our votes were the final word. First we get Arnold after we voted for Grey and now this? I really wonder whose running things now.

[EFerrari]

38. Not to my knowledge but I bet the Debra Bowen would be responsive

if she were approached with the issue. I'm sure she's aware of it but the Thugs have set SO many fires, she's had a lot on her hands. But certainly, the move from neighborhood precincts to big voting centers is going to have consequences for voters and in especial, for Democratic voters -- just as it was intended to do.

[Cleita]

32. More possible election irregularities?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4409027

Not verified yet and it is Drudge, but it bears keeping an eye on it.

[Kurovski]

37. K&R. (nt)

[Cleita]

39. Another

:kick:

[MagickMuffin]

40. I hope PFAW can get leverage,

They have been tracking and documenting voter disenfranchisement since the first Bush stolen (S)elections.

Of course their research and testimonies from the voters got nowhere with Mad king Boy George's Justice(?) Dept.

Here's a :kick: N' R

[Cleita]

41. More voting problems

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2822065

[Kurovski]

42. Kick. (nt)

[Cleita]

43. Last

:kick: before the polls close.

[robinlynne]

44. If you are in Los Angeles county, please contact [e-mail]

or sign in at our website: workthevotela.org.

WE had MAJOR election problems, and are collecting reports. We will get them all to the lawyer's committee (the same group people for the american way is sending their reports to).

If you are in any other state call 1-866-our-vote and file a report!
we need these reports with time of occurrence, precinct address etc.

We are planing public hearings in Los ANgeles. the voting anomolies were many and varied!
too tired to report right now.

PLEASE send your reports through our website
WORKTHEVOTELA.org.
Thank-you!

[Cleita]

45. Kicking for the latest in information here.

Yes, Thom addressed this morning in his broadcast that there were widespread voting problems including caging in Los Angeles County.