http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/15511911.htm
Sep. 13, 2006
Voting rights center says voters may be prevented from casting ballots
By James Rosen
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -
Leaders of a voting-rights center that successfully sued Florida,
Washington, Ohio and other states over their election laws said
Wednesday that tens of thousands of eligible voters will be prevented
from casting ballots in November.
Michael Waldman, executive director of the Brennan Center for Justice
at the New York University Law School, said federal and state voting
changes since the disputed 2000 presidential election have produced
new threats to eligible voters.
Several states have overreacted to the 2002 Help America Vote Act,
passed by Congress to prevent a repeat of the 2000 stalemate, by
passing draconian laws and imposing rigid regulations on voter
registration, Waldman said.
"Most of the significant voter suppression in this country happens not
on Election Day, but before Election Day," he said.
Waldman cited serious problems in a dozen states:
-California, Florida, Washington, Missouri and other states have
passed laws limiting the ability of churches, unions, the League of
Women Voters and other nonprofit groups to conduct voter-registration
drives.
-California, Florida, Washington and other states are using rigid
standards in matching voter-registration information with driver's
licenses or Social Security numbers.
-Florida, Washington, Kentucky and other states have removed eligible
voters from their registration lists in aggressive purges meant to
remove felons, deceased voters or duplicate names.
"These are not merely bad practices," Waldman said.
"They are illegal. They violate the Constitution or they violate
(federal) election law."
__________________________________________________________
You know how it works. The lower the voter turnout, the more likely it
is that a Republican will win.
Harry
.
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