A friend of mine just returned from early voting in Atlanta, Georgia.
It did not go well.
A friend of mine just returned from early voting in Atlanta, Georgia.
It did not go well.
A hundred people or so stood in front of the building in downtown Atlanta after coming out of the voting place.
Of these 100 or so people, about 15 to 20 had their early voting form stamped: "NOT A U.S. CITIZEN" and their votes were refused. These were all people who had voted in Atlanta for years. They were standing around in front of the building, outraged, confused, shaking their heads, absolutely bumfuzzled, stunned, and enraged.
Their only recourse, they were told, was to write a letter to the Secretary of State.
This is your Repug Help America Suppress Votes Act at work. We need to take action if we do not want tens of thousands of votes thrown out.
I have a prediction. This is the first election with full implementation of the HAVA, the Help America Vote Act. This is the first election with a full press database check. And if every dot, every letter, every little thing does not match exactly with your DMV records and your social security records, you will be branded "NOT A U.S. CITIZEN" and you will be denied the right to vote.
This will be the Katrina election.
There will be chaos, confusion, delay, long lines around blocks, tens of thousands of voters will be thrown out of voting places, branded "NOT A U.S. CITIZEN" - people who are citizens and who had voted for decades. It will be an unmitigated disaster. There will be riots. There will be demonstrations. Officials will say: "No one could have predicted the turnout and the database problems."
But in the end, a lot of Obama votes will not be cast, and a lot of votes will not count. And that will be purpose of it all.
UPDATE:
A friend explained to me just now:
Why are they stamping these ballots "NOT A U.S. CITIZEN" instead of "Unable to Verify Residence" or some other statement? Maybe "Database mismatch"?
Because then they would have to issue a provisional ballot, and then they are committed to investigate and follow up.
By stamping "NOT A U.S. CITIZEN" they have washed their hands of you and your inability to vote, they kicked you out the door, and they are done with you. And your vote won't be cast, and therefore won't ever be counted.
UPDATE 2:
Thanks to the very helpful commenters for info, and I have reported this to the Obama campaign online and I will call the Obama Atlanta office to give them a full report.