Guardian Unlimited, U.K.
Questionable tactics in the midterms
weaken the foundations of US democracy,
writes Philip James
Republicans are damaging the republic
October 20, 2006
...
Republican interest groups have been
furiously defending strict new voter ID laws
from legal challenges in states where their candidates
are at risk of losing their seats in congressional elections.
The laws, requiring voters to show an official photo ID,
might be sensible in an ideal world
where every citizen is provided with one,
but in the real world the only photo ID
commonly available is a driving licence.
Those without [Photo ID's],
otherwise known as the poor and the old,
make up a sizeable chunk of the Democratic base, and
Republicans are determined to place as many obstacles
as they can between them and a polling booth this November.
...
The Republicans' manoeuvres, legal or otherwise, ...
spent the last decade obsessively remapping congressional districts
to filter out Democrats, and their efforts are the reason
only 50 seats are in play this year instead of 150.
Under the grand design of now-indicted Tom Delay,
the former Republican leader in the House,
redistricting was intended to create an impregnable fortress
guaranteeing a permanent Republican majority in the House.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
----
The New York Times
Lower Voter Turnout Is Seen in States That Require ID
February 21, 2007
By CHRISTOPHER DREW
States that imposed identification requirements on voters
reduced turnout at the polls in the 2004 presidential election
by about 3 percent, and by two to three times as much for minorities,
new research suggests.
... in the states where voters were required to sign their names or
present identifying documents like utility bills,
blacks were 5.7 percent less likely to vote
than in states where voters simply had to say their names.
Dr. Vercellotti said Hispanics appeared to be 10 percent less likely
to vote under those requirements, while the combined rate
for people of all races was 2.7 percent.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/...
----
New Voter ID Laws Could Cost Millions Their Right To Vote,
According to New Briefing Paper
October 17, 2006
By Timothy Rusch, Demos
Recent Court Decisions Find Impact Too Great, Laws Not Based in Fact
"New photo ID requirements for voting are being challenged
in court because the evidence shows they have the potential
to prevent millions of eligible US citizens from voting,"
said Miles Rapoport, President of Demos.
"The courts know, and the facts show, that misleading arguments
and distorted facts about 'voter fraud' have been used
to advance ID legislation.
Research proves that strict photo ID requirements for voting
solve none of the real problems of elections in the United States,
and will actually prevent far too many eligible voters
from exercising their responsibility to vote."
...
Facts from the Voter ID briefing paper include:
* Voter fraud at the polls is minimal.
-- A recent survey of Ohio's 88 county
boards of elections found only four
instances of ineligible people
attempting to vote, out of
over 9 million votes cast
in the state during the 2002 and 2004
general elections -- a fraud rate
of 0.000044 percent.
[that's 4/100,000-th of a %]
-- The U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ) reports that while
200 million votes were cast
in federal elections since October 2002,
only 86 individuals have been convicted
of federal voter fraud -- and
none for offenses that would
have been prevented by a voter ID requirement.
-- An extensive analysis of election fraud
in 2002 found that voter fraud is rare,
that safeguards to prevent fraud
are already in place, and that
individual voter fraud rarely
sways election results.
---------
* New voter ID laws are not based
upon evidence and fail to address
practices that are actually responsible
for most reported incidents of fraud.
...
* Millions of Americans lack
government-issued photo ID,
particularly the elderly,
people with disabilities,
the poor and people of color.
Strict voter ID requirements
will block thousands of legitimate votes
for the one, rare fraudulent ballot.
-- According to the 2001 National Commission
on Federal Election Reform,
6 to 10 percent of voting-age Americans
have no driver's license
or state-issued non-driver's
photo identification card --
approximately 11 to 20 million citizens.
Those who lack photo ID are disproportionately
poor, urban and elderly.
-- In 2005, the American Association of People
with Disabilities estimated that
more than 3 million Americans with
disabilities do not possess
a driver's license or state-issued photo ID.
---------
* Voter ID proponents commonly
misrepresent the actual incidence
of voter fraud or photo ID's ability
to prevent it.
...
http://www.votetrustusa.org/...
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Demos -- A Network for Ideas & Action
Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action is a non-partisan
public policy research and advocacy organization
committed to building an America that achieves
its highest democratic ideals. We believe this
requires a democracy that is robust and inclusive,
with high levels of electoral participation and civic engagement;
an economy where prosperity and opportunity are broadly shared
and disparity is reduced; and a strong and effective
public sector with the capacity to plan for the future
and provide for the common good.
Founded in 2000, Demos work combines research with
advocacy-melding the commitment to ideas of a think tank
with the organizing strategies of an advocacy group.
----------------------------------------
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http://www.demos.org/...
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Demos -- Management Staff
http://www.demos.org/...
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SO WHY this Matters? And Why Should you care?
US Attorney were fired for NOT Challenging "ethnic" Voters.
One of the main ways that these Voter Challenges
are carried out is by demanding Photo IDs. ...
The general Threat of facing such Voter Challenges,
is enough to discourage millions from exercising their right to vote.
http://www.youtube.com/...
If you want the truth, just follow the money ...
Someone is paying for all those Caging Lists to be processed ...
Hmmm ... Is it the Taxpayer or the RNC?
Either way, if it's illegal,
well there goes another Election.
US Election Assistance Commission data shows,
in the last election
3,000,000 election votes challenged, and
1,000,000 election votes lost,
500,000 absentee ballots were just thrown out
This can't just be a minor oversight, or a clerical error, can it?
Gore won 543,895 more nation-wide popular votes than did Bush.
Bush won 3,012,166 more nation-wide popular votes than did Kerry.
http://mwhodges.home.att.net/...
----
So those Missing and Challenged Votes, really DO Matter,
at least to GOP Opposition Researchers, like Tim Griffin,
foot soldier for Karl Rove, and NOW U.S. Attorney in Arkansas.
Remember "Voter Identity Theft" is a Boogeyman,
that doesn't really exist, except in the RNC Boiler Rooms.
(and now too, maybe in those targeted Districts,
with newly installed US Attorneys, who know the gameplan?)
Think all this doesn't really matter ... please consider this:
http://www.youtube.com/...
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[Count Every Vote! It Matters!]