The right to vote is a fundamental freedom that protects the other essential freedoms that Americans hold dear. It is at the heart of what it means to be an American citizen. Elections in American should be free, fair, and accessible, and voters should not have to overcome burdensome barriers to cast their ballot.
On Monday, Demos and Common Cause released a new report, "Bullies at the Ballot Box: Protecting the Freedom to Vote Against Wrongful Challenges and Intimidation," which analyzes voter protection laws in 10 key states. We looked at how well these states protect voters from wrongful challenges before and on Election Day, about rules governing poll watchers, and state anti-intimidation laws and federal voting rights protections.
But this fall, there is a great danger that eligible Americans will find themselves facing bullies at the ballot box -- overzealous volunteers who take the law into their own hands to target particular voters.
Tea Party groups like True the Vote and others seek to recruit one million volunteers to challenge voters' eligibility to vote in targeted communities on and before Election Day. They're being told that the election is going to be stolen by "the food stamp army." They say they want to make the experience of voting "like driving and seeing the police following you."
Past examples of abusive practices have been directed towards targeted populations, such as communities of color, students, and those who've faced foreclosure. This attempt to manipulate the voter pool should concern anyone who wants a fair election with a legitimate result that reflects the choices of all eligible Americans.
Voters in recent elections have encountered wrongful challenges and intimidation as partisan groups have launched organized efforts in key battleground states and targeted counties. Members of True the Vote reportedly interfered with voters in 2010 in Harris County Texas - allegedly watching them vote, "hovering over" voters, blocking lines, and engaging in confrontational conversations with election workers. But under Texas law, poll watchers are not even allowed to speak to a voter.
And just this year the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board issued a statement saying "in recent elections we have received disturbing reports and complaints about unacceptable, illegal behavior by observers. Voters expect a calm setting in which to exercise their vote."
The aim of this report is to clarify the rules for everyone, so that any positive civic engagement does not cross the line into voter intimidation and harassment. We all care about voter integrity, but that means making sure all eligible Americans can vote, not creating lists to target certain voters to prevent them from voting.
To be clear, voter intimidation is illegal. Law enforcement at the state and federal level should monitor activity at the polls and stand ready to use the tools at their disposal to protect voters. In many states the laws are voter-friendly, so as long as the laws are properly enforced, voters will be protected. Where state law protections are weak, we call on law enforcement to be particularly aware of the possibility for abuses, and for election officials to train their poll workers and staff to do what they can with the tools available to protect the right of all eligible Americans to vote free of obstruction or intimidation.
There must be zero tolerance for bullying behavior that stands between an eligible voter and her ballot.
Follow Liz Kennedy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Demos_Org
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 |
|
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
I think once it becomes clear they wont be the only group looking to protect their right but will also have the other side seeking the same fairness for their rights Only then will we get the proper law enforcement to step up to the plate an say NO We will do our jobs an protect the rights of everyone to vote
Tired of this crap!!!!!
Wrapped in the flag, while fighting Democracy...
Cowardly hypocrites undeserving of the office of president.
Tell the truth for once in your shameful lives:
You don't want this president in the WH...for whatever reason...you know you don't have a valid platform to run on, you're on the wrong side of history on just about all the issues and you don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning.
So you've lied your way into office, and now trying to rig the game.
Mitt romney and paul ryan aren't qualified to clap erasers after school. You know it and they know it.
And it's not going to work.
We are not...repeat not...going to sit back like the sheep you expect us to be and allow another 2000 to happen and the next ten years of misery those criminals inflicted on the entire world.
I speak for me when I say I dare a "poll watcher" to show up at my polling place. After I vote I am not leaving. I live in a Black community...you know, the food stamp army they've been told will steal the vote.
Let them show up...
They are wholly undeserving of the pedestal they place themselves on then demand homage from their "inferiors".
Problem is their inferiors wind up beating them and winning the game.
There were poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses used against blacks.
English-only ballots used against Hispanics.
Denials of basic citizenship rights used against native Americans.
And exemption from suffrage for generations of women.
All such efforts produced detrimental results for the disaffected populations they targeted.
Now we gave Voter I-D laws, conjured up and backed by individuals protected by birthright from any such historic slight.
In no case have any of these new laws been supported by statistically meaningful, documented evidence of fraud.
The anecdotal examples used are often miniscule and do not support investment of limited state resources in what amounts to limited interest legislation.
Voter I-D laws are not just an intrusion upon individual rights, they are also a stilted and cynical attempt to role back the promise of all political gains won by the disenfranchised during a full century of court fights, protests and legislative advocacy.