by all the desperate things the repbulican party are doing to stop people from voting? Regardless of which party you support I think they are now crossing the line. Aside from mailing out the wrong date for spanish people to vote in Ohio ( 2 days after election day) and then throwing out peoples voter registration forms, as well as trying to block early voting. I'm really surprised at this. I think this is all time low for the GOP. Why do you think they are doing this. Its really alarming, what kind of presidency will it be with a party like that in power.
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Just to clarify I think there are issues and claims with both parties doing this.
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Wow! I hadn't even heard about that. Do you have a link to an article you could post with more info?
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@Thehistoryofus: Democrats are trying to stop people from voting? Do you have the links to the story? Because all I hear on the news everday is something new by Republicans to stop, hinder, or confuse people about their voting rights, especially non english speaking people, lower income earners and students
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@lawbee11: Ok I will look for the articles
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It first happened in arizona
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/18/us/arizona-spanish-election-ballot/index.htmlThen again the same mistake to in Ohio. They even gave wrong addresses for the some of the polling locations
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/22/ohio-election-date-notices_n_2002726.htmlThrowing out voter registration forms
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57535950/man-charged-after-tossing-voter-registration-forms-in-virginia/And another link talking about everything they are doing to block votes
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/opinion/blocking-the-vote.html?_r=0Theres really a lot out there. if you google voter fraud or blocking the vote everything that comes up is about the republican party
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I heard about it this morning on the Today show. It is just being taken too far. This has been a dirty election all around. And don't get me started on Donald Trump...
And I still don't know who I am going to vote for... Its like choosing between the lesser of two evils
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Alarmed? Yes. Surprised? No.
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I had heard about this story that was letters sent TO republicans telling them they were ineligible to vote based on citizenship.
http://www.politicususa.com/fbi-investigates-hoax-letters-voters-florida.html
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Mrs. Bells- the way to over come is to mobilize every voter you can find and put up large vote totals in your chosen side's column. There is the OFA calling tool which makes it really easy to do. I've pledged to make 10 calls to swing states each day for the next 10 days. It makes you feel like you are doing something productive.
I don't believe in false equivalencies (both sides do it), but I think many republicans would tell you that the democrats perpetuate "voter fraud". Some states have found no instances of voter fraud and others have only found a few... So I don't think it's the same. But republicans will tell you that's why they are adamant about voter ID laws
I think just as concerning is that one of the Romney boys has ownership of the electronic voting machines in Ohio. How on earth is that legal?!
Anyway, rather than worrying, I say do what you can (whichever side you are on!)... so if you are concerned about this issue, you can log into your side's website and start making calls. At this point the calls are to people who are committed to your candidate. You are just making sure people who are already on your side are voting. I get lots of happy people on the other end of the line who are happy to hear from me!
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Def alarming, not surprising -- on either side of using underhanded tactics to undermine the people of their born right.
GO OUT AND VOTE!
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This is very concerning for me. I live in a state with new voter ID laws, and though I am registered to vote here, I have not yet changed my driver's license, car registration, etc, because we plan on moving out of this state in 9 months, it just didn't seem like it was worth it to me.
Then I realized I would not be able to vote without this. Luckily, I am also a student at a large state university, so my student ID counts as a state-issued ID. But if I didn't, I would have to wait for hours at the DMV, pay for a new license, etc. I wouldn't be able to do this if I were elderly, or had to work several jobs. Or if I had lost my student ID, I would have to pay for a new one of those to be able to vote. How this is not considered a poll tax I have no idea.
Especially when you look at the actual cases of voter fraud, it is something ridiculous, like 7 confirmed cases in the past 10 years or something.
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Honestly, the presidential elections are starting to feel more and more like a pre-determined conspiracy than an actual voting by the people.
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@Mrs. Jacks: Yeah I heard about how his son owns the voting machines. Also more worrying and alarming. Thanks for that information though.
@Thehistoryofus: Hmmm but these letters are fakes not being sent out from any electoral office, unlike the republican letters that are being sent out by actual officials.
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@blackbird: Yeah this is what worries me. I hear people quoting Joseph stalin a lot lately "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything"
Regardless of which party wins, I just want it to be a true win.
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there are also billboards up in lower income neighborhoods warning of the consequences of voter fraud as 3 years in jail/$10K fines ("voter fraud" is not an actual thing) to disenfranchise people. these were paid for a by a republican super pac but clearchannel is not removing them.
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Alarming – very. Not surprising though; and no, voter restriction isn’t being perpetrated by both parties equally; not even close.
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Sure this is alarming, but just because this became known, what else is going on that we don't even know about yet.......for either party....not just GOP
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I think this is sad that its happening in America which is supposed to be a model country for democracy.Why dont they focus on campaigning and winning people over rather than stopping people from voting
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neither side is playing cleanly. politics are ugly. and that's the truth.
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@photojane: Agreed!!
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@Mrsbells: This article does a nice job of breaking down the “why” in an easy an easy to read/understand format:
As the GOP continues to move further to the right; its base narrows. If non-white (and young white) voters continue to increase turnout as they’ve done since 2004; Democrats are more likely to win national elections. If you want to win national elections without broadening your base; you have to make sure that the people most likely to vote en masse against you don’t vote.
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@Mrsbells: Thanks for this! I also appreciate that you linked to legitimate news sources. I think we have to be careful/skeptical of some of the lesser-known online sources. Just my opinion. The internet is wonderful in many ways, but it can be tough to wade through the overwhelming amount of info (a LOT of it partisan) out there.
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It's being done by both republicans and democarats!
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@kjwinter: We need to be very careful about the facts. Those signs were put up by an undisclosed "Private Family Foundation", not a party... and they are being removed by Clear Channel now and being replaced by signs encouraging people to vote.
Clear Channel donated 10 signs in response to these billboards that say, "Voting is a right. Not a Crime".
I just think we should report accurately lest giving fuel to those who might disagree!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/21/ohio-voter-fraud-billboards_n_1998359.html
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@Modern Daisy: That is something called a "false equivalency" ie "everyone does it". Do you have links to instances of Democrats doing it? Because if you do, I know there would be many people including myself that would be very vocal in condemning such actions. (And I genuinely want to know if I missed something!)
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@Mrs. Jacks: I haven't looked for a link, but I saw it on the news yesterday that both parties were involved in voter fraud in FL
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I am not even from the US, but am following this election closely. Alarmed, indeed.
@Modern Daisy: I'm curious as to what news outlet stated this. A while back Republicans accused Obama of taking away the voting rights of military voters, when what he was trying to do was extend the same right to ALL Ohioans. The Republicans attacked this because it would allow low-income earners to vote on days when they aren't working. (http://swampland.time.com/2012/08/07/the-dishonest-attack-on-obamas-military-voting-lawsuit/) Unfortunately, the truth always comes out.
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@caffeinated: I saw it on NBC! I was totally shocked that they mentioned it since I feel as though they usually lean to the left!
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@meredithNYC: Yeah I agree, I prefer to only trust certain sites that are well known for accurate reporting and will update with corrections if necessary.
Yea I agree with @Mrs. Jacks: that saying 'everyone does it" is a false equivalency because so far nothing the democrats have done even compares to what the republicans are doing
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So alarmed. It's so pathetic. I didn't know the thing about Romney boy owning polling machines - WTF?! No idea how that's legal/ethically allowed
I've never heard news stories of Dems doing stuff like this. @yoursilverlining: so true. bc majority of young people know GOP policies are stuck in the 50's!
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I live in PA where a voter ID law was passed. The rules have been softened a bit for this election but to try and shove a new rule like that through so close to an election is disenfranchising to a lot of voters. I never heard a good argument for why it was so necessary so my guess it was skeezy politics.
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@Modern Daisy: Hey, I think I found the allegations you are talking about:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/06/voter-fraud-florida_n_1944744.htmlThese are allegations made by the Republican party in Florida and have not been substantiated... (but who knows, maybe they will).
Here's another good link:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Voter-fraud-complaint-filed-against-Fla-Democrats-3923654.php#ixzz28WxuT97v -
@photojane: amen!
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