Before we get too excited about the reports of the upsurge of voter registrations around the country, we need to look at the other side of the coin: Voter Roll Purging. In a long article today, the New York Times has identified major problems with the way that some states are purging their rolls in violation of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. Most notably is the illegal use of the Social Security database to verify voter registrations.
Verify that you are registered now! Please do not wait until election day because problems will only cause a lot of confusion, delays, angry tempers and long lines at the polls.
We've been excited this year by a trend of fantastic voter registration around the country, especially for Democrats. However,
States may be improperly removing voters who have moved within the state, election experts said, or who are considered inactive because they have failed to vote in two consecutive federal elections. For example, major voter registration drives have been held this year in Colorado, which has also had a significant population increase since the last presidential election, but the state has recorded a net loss of nearly 100,000 voters from its rolls since 2004.
States’ Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal
The following press release was issued by the Social Security Administration on Monday:
Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, on Friday contacted the Secretaries of State for Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio and asked them, based on extraordinarily high levels of requests to SSA, to review their procedures to ensure that they are fully complying with applicable federal laws relating to the registration of voters. Under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, most States are required to verify the last four digits of the Social Security number of only those new people seeking to register to vote who do not possess a valid State driver’s license.
"It is absolutely essential that people entitled to register to vote are allowed to do so," Commissioner Astrue stated. "While there may well be legitimate explanations for the high levels of requests, I am confident that the States we have contacted will review their procedures promptly to ensure that they are in full compliance with federal law."
Social Security Asks Six States to Review Voter Registration Verification Procedures to Ensure Compliance with Federal Law
Why was it necessary for the Social Security Administration to go to such measures? According to the New York Times, states are supposed to use state databases (like applications for driver's licenses and identification cards) to verify voter registration applications. The Social Security database is only supposed to be used as a last resort.
Further, the New York Times discovered that many states are purging voter rolls, even though the Help America Vote Act of 2002 specifically states that voter rolls may not be purged within 90 days of a federal election, except when "voters die, notify the authorities that they have moved out of state, or have been declared unfit to vote."
Here are some examples of what has happened so far:
In Michigan, some 33,000 voters were removed from the rolls in August, a figure that is far higher than the number of deaths in the state during the same period — about 7,100 — or the number of people who moved out of the state — about 4,400, according to data from the Postal Service.
In Colorado, some 37,000 people were removed from the rolls in the three weeks after July 21. During that time, about 5,100 people moved out of the state and about 2,400 died, according to postal data and death records.
In Louisiana, at least 18,000 people were dropped from the rolls in the five weeks after July 23. Over the same period, at least 1,600 people moved out of state and at least 3,300 died.
States’ Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been fighting against voter registration fraud and election balloting discrepancies for several years and encourages everybody to double-check your registration:
The dirty-politics-as-usual allegations and accusations have already begun and it is being led by a group called Steal Back Your Vote. According to Steal Back Your Vote (Stealbackyourvote.com), the Republicans have been systematically disqualifying voters and purging voter records, especially the records of voters in Democratic districts, for years and they're still doing it. Led by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who wrote an expository article for Rolling Stone magazine that charged Republicans with stealing the 2004 election, and Greg Palast, the BBC investigative reporter who exposed Florida Attorney General Katherine Harris' illegal purging of Florida votes that cost Al Gore the 2000 election, Steal Back Your Vote is determined that another such occurrence does not happen again. The organization cautions voters to check and double-check their registration status to ensure that their right to vote has not been abridged by some purge or disqualifying technicality.
Robert Kennedy, Jr. And Steal Back Your Vote Caution Voters to Protect Their Eligibility
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Don't risk having your vote challenged at the polls! Please take the time to verify your registration. Please do not wait until election day because problems will only cause a lot of confusion, delays, angry tempers and long lines at the polls.
First, use the VotePoke tool sponsored by MoveOn.org and Catalyist.com to verify your registration online ... it only takes a minute. If VotePoke verifies that you are registered to vote, they provide a handy tool so that you can send an email to family and friends inviting them to use the tool as well.
If the results of your visit to VotePoke are inconclusive, here is a handy site: Verify Your Voter Registration. It provides contact information for each state so that you can clear up any problems in advance of this year's historic election.
Another helpful site is: Can I Vote?