Will the GOP Steal Another Election in 2008 (BuzzFlash interviews Palast)

[struggle4progress]

BuzzFlash Talks with Greg Palast About Republican Voter Suppression.

... PALAST: It's ugly. Consider:

- In THE swing state, Colorado, we found that the Republican Secretary of State wiped out 19.4% - one in five - voter names in an unnoticed mass purge.

- In swing-state New Mexico, in the February caucus, one in nine Democrats found their names missing from the voter rolls supplied by the State. The elections supervisor of San Miguel County - who's own name was missing from the rolls - has no confidence the state contractors will fix it. Our statistical analysis showed there was a direct relationship between your name and your race and income. The poor and the dark were disappeared.

- In Indiana, you heard about 10 nuns who lost their vote because their ID - drivers' licenses - had expired (they were all over eighty). But what about the others? We've calculated that 143,000 others were turned away - disproportionately Blacks and new voters ...

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/interviews/129

[ixion]

1. of course they're going to try and steal it... it's what they do

to think otherwise is foolhardy, IMO.

[Enthusiast]

2. Yup, thieves steal.

We seldom hear a word about this in the media. All Lou Dobbs talks about is Acorn. Again, as I have said before, the problem comes down to a fair media.

[torbird]

3. It won't matter, for a couple reasons

First, there are more than enough Democratic voters already on the rolls to win the states Obama needs (see, even though we all want a landslide, the key is to actually *win* the election before you get all pissy about "landslide denied!" stuff). Once in office, Obama can work to change the laws that allow (or in some cases, like Michigan, the illegal activities of the Sec of State) voter purges. More oversight. Legal challenges. Accountability. But we have to win first -- and as an aside, I don't get how these "it's stolen!" posts are helping that cause...

Second, the GOP doesn't have the polling strength or the organization to steal the number of states it would take to win this for McCain. They'd have to steal FL, OH, VA, CO, WV, MO, NV, NM, NC, and MN/WI to make a McCain presidency real. That's a fucking impossible, crazy notion even for the GOP. It's crazy. Think about it.

Finally (there are more reasons, but this is all I have to say right now), every American citizen over the age of 17 has the right to vote. The *right* to vote. A voter can go to any precinct near his place of residence (or where he used to live, if he lost his residence) and cast a ballot. It is his right. Provisional ballots may or may not be counted -- but that's for Obama's staff and poll watchers to determine through legal or procedural action. In short, if one is told by poll workers that one "cannot vote," one must insist.

I am registered to vote. My race is not on my registration. My income is under $20,000 a year. I have sometimes not been listed on the voter rolls at my precinct. Yet, by proving who I am and being insistent, I have cast a ballot (not a provisional ballot) in every election since 2000. I cannot help but feel that a little more confidence would help voters a lot when it comes to, you know, actually voting.