So here we go... again. Let us band together and clamp down on this. In the wake of huge numbers of students and first-time voters registering as Democrats and clearly leaning towards Obama, what are underhanded creatures doing? Trying to scare people so as to prevent them from voting. We need to get the word out to as many students as possible, to warn them of these tactics and encourage them to go to the polls and exercise their democratic rights.
From ABC News:
Young voters at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Penn. have already been targeted, with students reporting that flyers have been posted around campus warning that undercover police will be at the polls on Election Day looking to make arrests.
An Obama victory depends on these voters turning out in large numbers. Every man, woman and child with a credible network needs to get on the case immediately, and ensure that voters are not hoodwinked this election. I cannot believe that such tactics are being employed in the United States of America. Don't Americans usually laugh or shudder at the news of such occurrences in so-called third world countries and banana republics?
And this time, they are distributing the flyers under the guise of "friendly warnings" from an "Obama supporter".
The flyer reads like a friendly letter to fellow students relaying a warning from an "Obama supporter": "He informed me that on the day of the election there will be undercover officers to execute warrants on those who come to vote based on the anticipated turnout," writes the anonymous student in the letter which was later posted on the Drexel College Democrats website. "He advised me if I had any outstanding warrants or traffic offenses I should clear them up prior to voting."
I sincerely hope that Obama supporters are smart enough not to fall for this trick. We cannot allow ourselves to be cowed in this election.
Other underhanded tactics seek to confuse voters about their voter registration. In 2006, voters in Virginia reportedly received fake voicemail messages from the state elections commission claiming that the voters were registered in another state and could be criminally charged if they cast their vote in Virginia.
The Republican machinery is an expert at these scare tactics (my fundie friend claims that it is the Democrats who usually do this). It is also my belief that this may have had some effect on voter registration efforts in some areas, apart from the cases of purged voter rolls and registration challenges that have been launched. I wonder, is the Obama campaign able to quickly find potential moles that may have infiltrated their system and abused their voter registration rolls, for example?
My suggestion is this: if you know students or elderly people who may be susceptible to these attempts at voter suppression, do all you can to alert them to these tactics. Tell them to be vigilant. And above all, tell them to be brave, take a stand, and not cave in to the bullies. We can win this thing. But first, we must prevail!