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FACING SOUTHNews, trends and politics in the changing SouthOctober 31, 2008
* Support Voting Rights Watch!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Voting Rights Watch
Georgia tells 4,770
voters their votes 'challenged,' encourages
voters to contest citizenship of other voters
on Election Day
NOTE: The following is part of the
Institute's Voting
Rights Watch coverage
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQrWGUF1MCK7HsLP9KrX4Br2MvVvmK29tronRnJ3WWg-PatbaoEnyikWNlOx2gUdqohBc7fmcOqBhw6v6GOm7soRStGPdlCpiTcvGgUvHi--pJOK6wY4vE7zn_Ik2OVAfrU=).
For daily updates
and in-depth
investigations on key issues this historic
election season, visit Facing
South
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQoirA4WnVGc2Ok6zhWbBKPY6mgkquVoiyVtomXciKp2F9IPLVvrqtxDQq0M9kAitD-J37qXPw8c4AbB0jtdVvySq6g2ICWehubXKdCW6r-rnrVswbE3vxTGubEqoCa_SAA=).
This week, Georgia
Secretary of State Karen Handel (R) announced
she was sending letters to 4,770 registered
voters
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQp8qpoWhGPXBF1tVKQTEimZuXM-yVYkDrFGQGRojt1GjXZORBGioYpNWtAHl7P_oRivtJsaGOrZmDibHg9SFpimPVlvaEASkPzyow6qfzWceliKgPfaKhA4Zdb-WEPYycYPRB8n_rlWANhmTRYd0GSDdNHxiZ1Sp4rIm47j3G6X5hDuqrV2ttBn)
that they may have to cast
"challenge" ballots that won't be
automatically counted on
election day.
In a striking announcement, she also declared
that regular
citizens could respond to the problem of
non-citizen voting by contesting the
citizenship of fellow voters at the polls
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQp8qpoWhGPXBF1tVKQTEimZuXM-yVYkDrFGQGRojt1GjXZORBGioYpNWtAHl7P_oRivtJsaGOrZmDibHg9SFpimPVlvaEASkPzyow6qfzWceliKgPfaKhA4Zdb-WEPYycYPRB8n_rlWANhmTRYd0GSDdNHxiZ1Sp4rIm47j3G6X5hDuqrV2ttBn)
-- forcing them to also cast challenged
ballots that won't be included in election
day tallies.
The controversial move is the latest in a
winding saga between Handel, voters, the
Department of Justice and a panel of federal
judges over a new and aggressive Georgia
policy to flag voters whose citizenship is in
question.
Earlier this month, the
ACLU sued the state of Georgia on behalf of
Jose Morales
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQrPTqju5dgyJCYrtzcVv00B5AP7Za3P8FCHsVgYoEjcKPlNGykOUdbcCavIzvQ616ZLwLL8tFu4pBxva3-UZwmJU0Hk-Rsp9xJLlU4Suu4r9uoZ1CjTwJYR8_0SFYU_Ru3H663iywAD2AKFMY_08PP4-hDlBjOcv2emaJKlQEQNj86ZolKbdDVViJRYsizyqO1u28C0dzUtD_etzziWA6mLk1b5eHuBEVw=),
a Cherokee County voter who
was wrongfully targeted to be purged from the
roles despite having become a citizen in
November 2007. Earlier, the
Department of Justice had argued that
Georgia's citizenship purge violated the
Voting Rights Act
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQrPTqju5dgyJCYrtzcVv00B5AP7Za3P8FCHsVgYoEjcKPlNGykOUdbcCavIzvQ616ZLwLL8tFu4pBxva3-UZwmJU0Hk-Rsp9xJLlU4Suu4r9uoZ1CjTwJYR8_0SFYU_Ru3H663iywAD2AKFMY_08PP4-hDlBjOcv2emaJKlQEQNj86ZolKbdDVViJRYsizyqO1u28C0dzUtD_etzziWA6mLk1b5eHuBEVw=)
because it had not be
pre-cleared with the DOJ, something Georgia
must do because it falls under the Act.
After the DOJ questioned the purges, many
counties stopped mailing letters to flagged
voters
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQp8qpoWhGPXBF1tVKQTEimZuXM-yVYkDrFGQGRojt1GjXZORBGioYpNWtAHl7P_oRivtJsaGOrZmDibHg9SFpimPVlvaEASkPzyow6qfzWceliKgPfaKhA4Zdb-WEPYycYPRB8n_rlWANhmTRYd0GSDdNHxiZ1Sp4rIm47j3G6X5hDuqrV2ttBn).
A three-judge panel of federal
judges said on Monday of this week that the
state must notify those who have been flagged
and find a way to allow them to vote.
But it's not at all clear that Handel's
decision to do an end-run around the counties
and directly mail letters to 4,770 flagged
voters will in reality allow them to vote. As
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQp8qpoWhGPXBF1tVKQTEimZuXM-yVYkDrFGQGRojt1GjXZORBGioYpNWtAHl7P_oRivtJsaGOrZmDibHg9SFpimPVlvaEASkPzyow6qfzWceliKgPfaKhA4Zdb-WEPYycYPRB8n_rlWANhmTRYd0GSDdNHxiZ1Sp4rIm47j3G6X5hDuqrV2ttBn):
<blockquote>Those whose citizenship is in
question can go to a county elections office
before Election Day and produce documents
proving their citizenship and resolve the
issue, Carrothers said.</blockquote>But if
the letters were only mailed Wednesday, that
means that many flagged voters will only be
receiving the letters today -- giving them
only 1-2 business days at crowded election
offices to resolve the problem. If they're
not able to, Handel has made it clear the
votes might not count:
<blockquote>The letter from Handel's office
tells the voters that if they appear at their
polling place with the issue still
unresolved, they will be given a "challenge"
ballot -- a paper version of the ballot that
appears on electronic voting machines. The
ballot will not be included in the precinct's
vote totals, Handel
said.</blockquote>Even more worrisome is that
Handel made a point of stating that any
voter's citizenship can be contested by any
other voter, a policy which could be used
to target the
state's rapidly-growing Latino population
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQobGoB8vmub-IcqzIbkDGnBYO8EGpb1q-nrK8rIcUbLNcRqkP27SsMJpcepzvNLmZJSn7Tw4dD5jlVn5dMbuhj0tylHddSLJFaZd2phgxKQ7DWaxmjLcLXsti8XZfCupBjuj8OFVyoTrlpTl4IX0jzqE3jSMpi7hTPO3QPRNZbpqb61y9MMM-TelJXnEG8sd7rHTu2vLTI5ZQ==)
and other racial groups. As the AJC reports:
<blockquote>Any voter can challenge
another's qualifications to cast a ballot by
notifying a precinct poll manager, Handel
said. That voter then would be given a
challenge ballot and would have to go
before the election board.</blockquote>And as
Handel has made clear, "challenge ballots"
will not be automatically counted, forcing
those who are
challenged to prove their citizenship
later.
Handel seems to admit the approach opens the
door for vigilante racially-targeted voter
intimidation at the polls, but dismissed the
threat:
<blockquote>If large numbers of challenges
are made on Election Day, Handel said, her
office will investigate whether they are part
of an orchestrated effort to influence the
election's outcome.
But, she said, "I'm not anticipating any kind
of huge issue there."</blockquote>A few other
states have similar laws allowing voters to
contest other voters. For example, Republicans
recently pushed through a similar law in
Florida
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQo2H7pmYkYplJSuE8jPhWbwI8GSfrj0sje_eS8QAudKP-Zr3O4zE118Du423olO1fdQDufpMDNUQ5N4updegpBGeQxD3aIffDfrvLf8WKJRFVstkDzJtrTzrOepxmHhfL9bm242Fo6RNSeOX_yLfOQI)
which provoked widespread
controversy:
<blockquote>Challengers [in Florida] need not
prove their accusations. Instead, the
challenged voter has two days to justify his
right to cast a ballot.
State Republican lawmakers who pushed the law
say it will help combat fraud. Democrats call
it a vote-suppression measure.</blockquote>
What is unusual about Secretary of State
Handel's announcement is her apparent
encouragement to citizens that they use
the controversial law as a way to deal with
the perceived problem of non-citizens
voting on election day.
Handel is no stranger to controversy. A
leader in the largely Republican movement
against so-called "voter fraud," Handel has
drawn sharp criticism for her partisan
approach to running Georgia's elections. In
a
scathing editorial today
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQqHo2nEwL68jmFOw2AU3S-QE8b1Qt_EYkSdFX_-JN6TdUrl0-2gxhv4u-u1cZLdflpsdB4vPEApeXPSwKyo_MdOQsWLYAEaSwy1yY7hF6CgqLtvtNxsWyZ-d7u7s51yPevcI0YPy7Yt3gHFJxgQgKD35Ipzx6iXVA9ysxV-BFFjRzcpzBtGAthWRCRipF9ouIs=),
the AJC
editorial board looks at other controversies
surrounding Handel:
<blockquote>No matter the outcome of
Tuesday's election, a loser has emerged --
Secretary of State Karen Handel.
Her relentless crusade to bounce
Democratic Public Service Commission
candidate Jim Powell from the ballot
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQoWA76cC8lWrNEjmMOBJFRUbnI3sTCt0B6EdGgOrHNB8b96wEMQ9E40AGtTjN4VhK3NTPQg6NyI4q3AoCJoWmL4K1uwsEvobnXTWddcyf-En1vjYiryKy0vI42e2jb5J-8fKKAEXbfvUvytxFv5_6ntEFIRjZBeC1U=),
her
posturing over yet-to-be-seen voter fraud and
her flippant dismissal of voter delays this
week have tarnished her and her
office.</blockquote>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support Voting Rights Watch!
Voting Rights Watch is making a big splash.
Just yesterday, the
Institute's Chris Kromm was
featured on the nationally-syndicated show
Democracy Now
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mVA84WamSQr2f8cwEsPgj1hdd7akq-moA8hhCc1yBnLO6boYaZh-KGpZoK2yBMu_rObOissfQs1MWuapCcYJyWzxFNpBp-wF0cJnK1hj5gM9wJ-NOh4ZCQ==)!
--
check
out the video here
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We need your help to expose threats to
democracy and protect the right to vote in
the South.
Voting Rights Watch is almost entirely
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And we urgently need
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to help ensure
free and fair elections in the South this
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