Georgia County Admits To Illegally Disenfranchising Voters

[deminks]

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/08/26/3695039/county-admits-it-disenfranchised-voters-in-african-american-dominated-county/

Fulton County, Georgia admitted to illegally disenfranchising and misleading voters in the 2008 and 2012 elections in a settlement this month. For more than two dozen violations of state law — including improperly rejecting eligible ballots and sending voters to the wrong precincts — the county will pay a fine of $180,000. To make sure the problems do not continue in the future, the county has promised to spend an additional $200,000 on new training software for their poll workers.

Voting rights advocates who focus on the region, including Julie Houk with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, praised the Secretary of State for investigating the violations but questioned whether the punishment fits the crime.

“What’s going to happen to that money?” she asked ThinkProgress. “How is the state going to use it? Is it wise to make the county pay a very large civil penalty in light of the economic crunch many of these counties are in? I wonder why a settlement couldn’t have been reached to set aside the money for remedial training to make sure the issues don’t happen again.”

The county, which includes Atlanta, has a heavily African American voting population and leans progressive, voting overwhelmingly for President Obama in 2008 and 2012. As detailed in the new settlement, county elections officials misinformed the precincts of who was coming to vote and when, failed to provide absentee ballots to voters who requested them, and failed to put voters who registered on time on the rolls, among other violations. The head of Fulton County’s elections office was fired last year, which she credits to her refusal to cover up the improper purging of voters in 2012.

(end snip)

[randys1]

1. Happening ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE any repub has any control of anything to do with voting

Hundreds or thousands of elections are stolen every election season all across the country.

There was a time when the Democratic machine was good at stealing, like in Chicago in the 60's, but now it is practically all republicans.

While nice to see this result holding them accountable, it is WAY too little.

But the people who held them accountable, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, are god damn heros.

[Glitterati]

2. Hans von Spakovsky

Fulton county, Georgia was ALWAYS the one place where this jackass worked desperately to disenfranchise all he could.

He and other former career department lawyers say that von Spakovsky steered the agency toward voting rights policies not seen before, pushing to curb minor instances of election fraud by imposing sweeping restrictions that would make it harder, not easier, for Democratic-leaning poor and minority voters to cast ballots.

In interviews, current and former federal officials and civil rights leaders told McClatchy Newspapers that von Spakovsky:

-Sped approval of tougher voter ID laws in Georgia and Arizona in 2005, joining decisions to override career lawyers who believed that Georgia's law would restrict voting by poor blacks and who felt that more anal

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/article24463966.html#storylink=cpy

[Fred Sanders]

3. The penalty for undermining the foundation of American democracy is a fine??

[hollysmom]

5. should be jail, we are talking federal crime.

[surrealAmerican]

6. That is glaring, isn't it.

Fines will accomplish nothing in this case. You need to put the human beings responsible in jail - not fine the taxpayers, who would presumably include the people who were denied the right to vote.

[passiveporcupine]

19. Or fine the individuals and not the county

Something has to be done to make them afraid to try this again.

[DebbieCDC]

4. I watched "Selma" over the weekend

And it was a stark reminder that 50 years on, people are STILL being denied their rights to vote, or are having their votes stolen. Every mofo on the less-than-supreme court who voted to strike down the VRA should have to watch that movie on perpetual repeat, like Alec in "A Clockwork Orange" being forced to watch the ultra-violence.

[valerief]

7. That isn't even a slap on the wrists. People s/b imprisoned for this. nt

[groundloop]

8. Instead of fining Fulton County the ratfuckers responsible for this should be in prison

Fining the county is going to do nothing other than punish the taxpayers (the same people who were harmed in the first place). Those responsible for this belong in prison. The right to vote is supposedly the cornerstone of our democracy, those who would use underhanded means to take that right away from people they disagree with should be be punished severely enough that it sends a strong message to anyone who would consider similar actions.

[PADemD]

9. Mandatory voting would take care of this problem.

[cstanleytech]

13. You mean automatic registration I assume because forcing someone to vote would be

just as immoral imo as putting illegal roadblocks in their way to deny them that right.

[PADemD]

15. What I'm saying is

Voting should be easy to accomplish and mandatory, with opt out options for serious physical or mental illness, just like jury duty.

IMO, voting should be a duty, not a right, of citizenship.

[cstanleytech]

16. Well I agree with the easy part but not the mandatory part. nt

[PADemD]

18. How do you feel about jury duty?

[cstanleytech]

22. Well its not voting issue but I dont think it should be mandatory if thats what you are asking.

Especially because you risk getting people who might be biased or unable to reach a fair verdict for whatever reason.

[wolfie001]

10. Irony alert!!!

With Jimmy Carter overseeing many overseas elections looking for fraud etc..... He's one of my heroes but those repukes are just so fricking despicable! Gawdammit!!! And they're doing these shenanigans in his state! He should call them out by name!

[wolfie001]

11. This is one of the repukes the article quoted:

from the link:

'Georgia State Senator Fran Millar (R) publicly lamented that “this location (the early voting facility) is dominated by African American shoppers and it is near several large African American mega churches.” He later added, “I would prefer more educated voters than a greater increase in the number of voters.” '

The pig wants to reinstate poll taxes obviously. What a heartless asshole.

Isn't voting one of our bedrock duties as citizens? Not according to the run-of-the-mill repuke. Disgusting!

[SoapBox]

21. Unbelievable.

[cstanleytech]

12. There should have been prison time involved for those who committed this imo. nt

[Betty Karlson]

14. On the bright side, these underhanded tactics show

that the GOP is seriously worried about Georgia coming into play at the federal level.

[cstanleytech]

20. Its not just Georgia its every state because they know if they lose control of the government at

the state level that they risk losing at the federal even more because the districts in alot of the states are setup by the politicians at the state level and if the state level government was to switch from republican to democrat that it would jeopardize the republicans control at the federal level.
Thats why the GOP puts so much effort into keeping control of the state governments because they that if the democrats were to take control of the states that it would kneecap the republicans.

[GoneFishin]

17. Fuck that, someone needs to go to jail. I think a minimum sentencing law of 1 day in jail per

disenfranchised voter would work wonders to fix this problem.

[cstanleytech]

25. More like 1 year for every voter they fucked over imo.

That and they should be banned for life from every being in any any government job and or working for any government contractor as well as lobbying anyone in the government.

[GoneFishin]

27. I agree. But nobody could argue that 1 day is excessive, and low level IT people who are pressured

by their boss to electronically move a chunk of 1000 votes from one candidate to another would be looking at 3 years. It would add up quick.

[at140]

29. Desperate attempt by the Georgia SOS

I am guessing the Secretary Abrams is trying diversion tactics from the serious charge of voter suppression.l

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/secretary-of-state-s-office-says-investigation-underway-into-hack-by-democratic-party/866298517

[A Little Weird]

23. Increased training and a fine??

I fully expect that the poll workers knew the laws perfectly well and intentionally did this. Why would anyone think increased training would be helpful??

[Scuba]

24. +1

[B Calm]

26. No one is going to prison?

[Enthusiast]

28. Wow! Oh, baby!