DroppinScience
09-17-2008, 06:49 PM
Despicable. Hopefully this proposal is blocked.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/09/17-7
Published on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 by The Telegraph/UK
Lose Your Home, Lose Your Vote: Republicans Move To Deny Homeless Votes, Democrats Claim
Democrats in Michigan are trying to block what they call a Republican effort to deny voting rights to people who have lost their homes in the mortgage crisis.
by Alex Spillius
WASHINGTON - The reported effort has been denounced as "lose your home, lose your vote". "It is part of a broader scheme to harass voters and suppress the vote in the state of Michigan," said a spokesman for the Barack Obama campaign.
The state has one of the worst foreclosure rates in the country, receiving 11,000 notices in July alone. Figures show more than half of the foreclosed homes are owned by blacks, who as a group lean to Obama and Democrats.
Macomb County, north of Detroit, is a swing area in presidential elections and capable of tipping the battleground state either way. Both Mr Obama and Republican rival Senator John McCain have campaigned in the county.
Macomb County Republican Party Chairman James Carabelli was quoted as saying last week by the Michigan Messenger web paper that "We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren't voting from those addresses."
He later denied making the remark. Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer said Republicans have tried in the past to discourage Democratic voters at polling stations and, "I simply do not believe his denial. This fits the pattern we've seen here in Michigan."
Bob Bauer, a senior lawyer with the Obama campaign said any such tactic creates an atmosphere of intimidation that could drive voters from the polls. The campaign says Republicans are trying to compile a list of foreclosed owners and their addresses which they plan to use to challenge voters at polling stations.
The Republicans are likely to argue they are merely keeping a watch over voter fraud, though non-partisan groups have said the number of cases where false addresses and similar ruses are used is minimal.
The row will revive memories of past cases when Republicans have been accused of removing preventing likely Democrat voters from voting, as in the decisive Florida recount of 2000 and again in 2004.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/09/17-7
Published on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 by The Telegraph/UK
Lose Your Home, Lose Your Vote: Republicans Move To Deny Homeless Votes, Democrats Claim
Democrats in Michigan are trying to block what they call a Republican effort to deny voting rights to people who have lost their homes in the mortgage crisis.
by Alex Spillius
WASHINGTON - The reported effort has been denounced as "lose your home, lose your vote". "It is part of a broader scheme to harass voters and suppress the vote in the state of Michigan," said a spokesman for the Barack Obama campaign.
The state has one of the worst foreclosure rates in the country, receiving 11,000 notices in July alone. Figures show more than half of the foreclosed homes are owned by blacks, who as a group lean to Obama and Democrats.
Macomb County, north of Detroit, is a swing area in presidential elections and capable of tipping the battleground state either way. Both Mr Obama and Republican rival Senator John McCain have campaigned in the county.
Macomb County Republican Party Chairman James Carabelli was quoted as saying last week by the Michigan Messenger web paper that "We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren't voting from those addresses."
He later denied making the remark. Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer said Republicans have tried in the past to discourage Democratic voters at polling stations and, "I simply do not believe his denial. This fits the pattern we've seen here in Michigan."
Bob Bauer, a senior lawyer with the Obama campaign said any such tactic creates an atmosphere of intimidation that could drive voters from the polls. The campaign says Republicans are trying to compile a list of foreclosed owners and their addresses which they plan to use to challenge voters at polling stations.
The Republicans are likely to argue they are merely keeping a watch over voter fraud, though non-partisan groups have said the number of cases where false addresses and similar ruses are used is minimal.
The row will revive memories of past cases when Republicans have been accused of removing preventing likely Democrat voters from voting, as in the decisive Florida recount of 2000 and again in 2004.