Will the GOP’s campaign to deter new voters and discard Democratic ballots determine the next president? These days, the old west rail hub of Las Vegas, New Mexico, is little more than a dusty economic dead zone amid a boneyard of bare mesas. In national elections, the town overwhelmingly votes Democratic: More than 80 percent of all residents are Hispanic, and one in four lives below the poverty line. On February 5th, the day of the Super Tuesday caucus, a school-bus driver named Paul Maez arrived at his local polling station to cast his ballot. To his surprise, Maez found that his name had vanished from the list of registered voters, thanks to a statewide effort to deter fraudulent voting. For Maez, the shock was especially acute: He is the supervisor of elections in Las Vegas. Maez was not alone in being denied his right to vote. On Super Tuesday, one in nine Democrats who tried to cast ballots in New Mexico found their names missing from the registration lists. The numbers were even higher in precincts like Las Vegas, where nearly 20 percent of the county’s voters were absent from the rolls. With their status in limbo, […]
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Block the Vote
Author: ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. and GREG PALAST
Source: Rolling Stone
Publication Date: 10/30/2008 11:10
Link: Block the Vote
Source: Rolling Stone
Publication Date: 10/30/2008 11:10
Link: Block the Vote
Stephan: I simply cannot overstate how important I think this issue is. Both parties have done some bad things, but only one party, the Republicans, has made voter suppression a consistent part of its election strategy.
Please go to: http://stealbackyourvote.org/ and act on what your find there, after reading this report.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one of the nation's leading voting-rights advocates. His article 'Was the 2004 Election Stolen?' [RS 1002] sparked widespread scrutiny of vote tampering. Greg Palast, who broke the story on Florida's illegal voter purges in the 2000 election, is the author of 'The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.' For more information, visit No Voter Left Behind and Steal Back Your Vote.