To date 43% of newly registered Angelinos (26% of California voters, statewide), have been deemed ineligible.
California, per the 2002 "Help America Vote Act" (HAVA) is required to create a single voter database. There are unverified claims that Diebold has written the software that will transform the current CalVoter sytem, which I believe was identical software used in multiple county-level databases -- into a single database for all of California, VoteCal.
The software, as currently written, compares the voter database to the DMV database. California is 1 of 8 states, including CA, LA, MA, MD, ME, MO, MS, SD, and TX (hat tip, HudsonValleyMark), that requires the voter registration information to match EXACTLY the information in the Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) or Social Security Administration (SSA) databases. If there is any discrepancy - ie, a voter registers to vote as Jane Doe but is in the DMV system as Jane Z Doe, she is defined as ineligible. Such voters are not notified of their "ineligible" status and do not receive information about polling locations or candidates.
Note: HAVA requires all states to create a single voter database. Here is a list of the states and the current status of their moves toward a single database if you want to see where your state is at. (Hat tip, jennifer poole).
This situation directly effects the Francine Busby's primary contest. The LA Times says:
San Diego County is racing to rectify rejected registrations in time for the April 11 special election to fill the seat vacated by convicted Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham.
Update 1: Someone on BradBlog raised the questions of what happens if you register to vote, but you don't have a driver's licsense. Would that person be deemed ineligible? IOW, do you haveto have a driver's license to vote? And, if so, and does that constitute a poll tax?
I have no idea, just thought I'd throw it into the mix.
Update 2
Just thought I'd include an excerpt from Jacqueline Jacobberger, President, League of Women Voters, CA, to CA Secretary of State Bruce McPherson. Via Bradblog. Emphasis mine.
Under HAVA, it is intended that information provided by other databases, such as DMV data, will supplement the information provided by voters when they register or re-register…
…mistakes are made in database administration and management. Applicants transpose or forget numbers and letters, and make other noncritical errors as well. Officials likewise inadvertently make data entry errors. Databases themselves maintain these errors over time, compounding problems if databases are compared and matched with each other.
[…]
…a failure to match the applicant or his/her data with another database must not result in the rejection of the applicant. This is important for a variety of reasons. First, matching is not an eligibility requirement under HAVA or state law. Second, the database information is likely to have significant errors. The Social Security Administration acknowledges that its data is not foolproof, data entry and other errors in DMV and voter registration agencies are well known, and simple matching mistakes—from the use of different forms of names to transposed or missing numbers—are significant. Third, the absence of information does not suggest a problem. Only positive information of a disqualifying characteristic should result in the rejection of a voter in a database matching system. Rejection must be based on a positive match of the identity of the voter, and a positive match with a disqualifying characteristic.
Update 3: Agent double oh soul, in the comments, points out that the current CA secretary of state, Bruce McPherson, faces a challenger this election. She's Debra Bowen (http://www.Debrabowen.com). She opposed McPherson's certification of Diebold machines and will be on Air America Friday (tomorrow, yes?), from 9:30-10. People have been asking for suggestions on what to do. Showing her some support, if you're so inclined, would be one way.
Others are contacting Keith Olbermann to bring the situation to his attention.
LTEs, and letters to your representatives (local, state, and federal) aren't a bad idea. Also alert any Californians you may know to the situation. For those not in California, and whose states may soon face similar pitfalls, contacting your state's voter advocacy groups, such as the League of Women's Voters, with a summary of the CA situation may not be a bad idea. The entirety of Jacqueline Jacobberger's letter is available on BradBlog, and might make a good addendum.
Update 4: Jennifer P asked whether there was any additional information showing that Diebold is, in fact, the company that wrote the software for this database. That information came from Bradblog (link fixed) and I haven't been able to independently verify it.
I was able to find out that, as of 2003, Diebold acquired DIMS which, at that time, handled 55% of California's voter registrations. http://www.diebold.com/news/newsdisp.asp?id=2926 I don't know that this constitutes proof, but it does show that Diebold is in the business of creating software for voter registration and not just in the business of creating touch-screen voting systems. At this point, I have emails in to both Debra Bown and Bruce McPherson, but no response yet. There's also some additional information on BradBlog.
Update 5: Still no independent verification of Diebold's involvement, but the facts are alarming nevertheless. The exact match requirement is overly stringent -- it can kick a voter out of the system for a missing middle initial even if address/DOB/etc. are identical.
It also places an unfair and undue burden on both the voter and on the county-level election boards that have to rectify the situation.
Meanwhile, thanks to all your comments and help. Lots of good information to be found.
Original note:Although I found out about this via http://theleftcoaster.com/ `s link to this Bradblog entry http://www.bradblog.com/... this topic was diaried twice yesterday, by Norm and Lorelyn - I'm just trying to get the topic to the recommend list.
For more information, try the following sources:
LA Times article: http://www.latimes.com/...
Lorelynn's diary: http://www.dailykos.com/...
Norm's diary: http://www.dailykos.com/...