There are several things that have already gone wrong that could throw off 2008 election results, especially in close races.
UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF VOTING RESOURCES
A report by the Advancement Project indicates that counties in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia are not providing adequate voting equipment, machines, stations and staff in jurisdictions where there are large numbers of new registered voters. In Indiana, a new early-voting location on the campus of Ball State University where there was a surprising increase in new registrations was blocked by the county's lone Republican on the election board.
DATABASE PURGES
In Ohio, 200,000 voter registrations can't be matched to state records because of typos. Wisconsin has a 22% match-failure rate. In Florida, nearly 9,000 new registrants have been flagged through the state's "No Match, No Vote" law. A county official in Georgia removed 700 people from voter lists. In Mississippi, an election official purged 10,000 people from the voting rolls.
VOTING MACHINE FIASCOES
In West Virginia, there have been numerous reports from voters about vote-flips, as well as other errors, made by iVotronic voting machines. This is reminiscent of the experience of Sarasota, FL in 2006. When the vote was complete and counted, they discovered that vote-flips were the tip of the iceberg. The iVotronic machines - the same product being used in West Virginia - had 18,000 blank ballots which could have changed the outcome of the election.
UNREASONABLE REJECTIONS OF REGISTRATION FORMS
In Colorado, Republican Secretary of State Mike Coffman rejected 6,400 new registrations because people failed to check a box before providing the last four digits of their Social Security number.
ID CHECKS
Federal law requires all first-time voters who register by mail to provide identification when they register or vote. six to 10 percent of the voting-age public lacks driver's licenses or state-issued IDs.
DIRTY TRICKS (Their specialty. Emphasis mine.)
Misinformation is being disseminated anonymously to lower voter turn-out. Leaflets have been distributed telling people to vote on the wrong day. Automated phone calls have warned people of arrests at the polls or have said that polling places have moved. College students have been told that they can't register to vote at school if their parents claim them as dependents in a different state. Rumors have spread via e-mail that wearing a candidate's T shirt or button can you tossed from a polling place.
Please take a stand against these and other efforts to prevent us from voting or having our vote count and be accurately counted. To connect to politicians and find out where they stand on voting rights and other important issues, go to GrassrootsNetroots.org
For more information on why vigilance and preparation for collective action is important visit StealBackYourVote.org
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