Republicans Plan To Disenfranchise Active Duty Military.
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Stumble ThisRolling Stone political contributor Greg Palast has intercepted emails that detail a plot to disenfranchise African American soldiers who are currently serving in Iraq.
Note: This is serious stuff, why does the production style have to resemble a bad sitcom?
Note: This is serious stuff, why does the production style have to resemble a bad sitcom?
Seriously.
"This is serious stuff, why does the production style have to resemble a bad sitcom?"
Seriously.
I don't get it either. Greg Palast is a fantastic reporter, but this almost seems like parody.
Here are the rules for overseas vote-by-mail request in California: http://www.sfgov.org/site/elections_index.asp?id=60428
Notice that all you need to do is provide proof you're a citizen and give them the last address you stayed at in Cali (they probably cross-check it with tax records to make sure you're actually a California resident).
So, I fail to see how this could be a plan to disenfranchise military voters since 1) it wouldn't work and 2) don't most active military vote Republican?
1) This is pretty much exactly how they've disenfranchised people before (oh, we mailed your confirmation to your address in the 9th ward, and you didn't respond. you can't vote!)
2) Who knows? The military doesn't like giving pollsters any records relating to voting or party affiliation. But I did read that over 30% of registered military voters are independent. And Obama has received way more donations from military personnel than McCain. (something like 6-1)
>> 1) This is pretty much exactly how they've disenfranchised people before (oh, we mailed your confirmation to your address in the 9th ward, and you didn't respond. you can't vote!)
That's my point though, you don't need confirmation. You contact the department of elections in your state, they mail you a ballot at your overseas address. That simple.
Think it didn't happen? It did. It was discussed in Congress and broadcast on C-span. The company admitting to providing the name match list admitted to being paid by the Florida election commission and executing the task.
Talk about disenfranchising tens of thousands of voters from a presidential election. It does happen. There is evidence proving it does happen. What does congress do about it? Nothing.
This isn't a Democrat or Republican issue. This is a Democracy issue. ALL US citizens should be concerned. If one party can rig the vote one way, you bet your ass the other party can too.
@SDGumdamX - You make a good point; maybe if they are currently deployed but expecting to be on leave at their residence on the Naval Air Station to vote, they may not have planned on casting an absentee ballot. These individuals might miss a postcard testing whether their address is correct, and might then be swept from the voter roll without them knowing.
(http://www.duvalelections.com/content.aspx?id=31)
Of course, you can get your name re-instated, but its hard to do that when you probably don't even know its been removed. It's a hassle to get reinstated, and the party (in this case Republican) is betting that a high percentage of voters won't bother.
The idea is that the more difficult it is to vote, the less likely you are to vote - and I suspect that at a statistical level that it is very true.