The Annals of Election Fraud
This is a bit of a personal anecdote, but it’s relevant to some of the mumbo-jumbo about election fraud out there. As you know, I’m in the process of moving to a condo I recently bought. As part of that process, I just used the US Postal Service’s convenient online change of address application that quite neatly lets you forward your mail. It would be possible for a country that was really committed to running sound elections to put a step in that process where you can check a box to change your voter registration. Then if you checked the box, the information would be conveyed to the relevant authorities and just as your mail would start magically showing up at your new address, so, to, would you suddenly be registered to vote at the new place.
But of course we don’t live in a country like that. Instead, we live in a country where in order to vote I would need to separately change my information with the DC Board of Elections. Except I can’t actually change my registration because it’s too late. Consequently, Matthew Yglesias, a United States citizen over the age of 18 and lacking a felony record, nonetheless doesn’t seem to have any pathway to legal voting. A country with a modern constitution would probably establish an affirmative right to vote for adult citizens, requiring that election administrators make it possible for all qualified voters to cast legal ballots. Instead, we began as a country with a sharply restricted franchise. Over time, we’ve created various rules saying you can’t disqualify a voter for certain reasons. You can’t disallow my vote on the basis or race, religion, or gender. Nor can you decide that I’m too young to vote. But there’s no amendment protecting the right of people who’ve moved recently to vote.
At any rate, my plan for Election Day is to bike over to my old polling place and cast a ballot there for president and for citywide offices. I won’t vote in anything local, because I’m moving to a new Ward and a new ANC. My conscience is going to be clear about this. As far as I’m concerned, American citizens are entitled to vote in elections. But somewhere a Republican is going to be bleating about voter fraud, fraud that’s mostly caused by the fact that the United States makes it unduly difficult to vote legitimately in the first place.
Meanwhile, of course, the day after Election Day I’m going to forget about the whole thing and there won’t be another election to vote in for two years. 18 months or so from now, the whole subject of moving is going to be far from my mind. Will I even remember to change my registration information in time, or will I wind up needing to cast a “fraudulent” ballot again because I miss the deadline? Only time will tell. But it would be easy enough for a country that took voting seriously to keep track of this stuff. You can’t, after all, just get out of paying your credit card bills by moving — the banks can find you, and so could the Board of Elections if we bothered to care.
66 Responses to “The Annals of Election Fraud”
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October 17th, 2008 at 11:07 am
I think it’s a way to put into practice the old idea that only property-owners should vote. Once you own your place you’re a lot less likely to move and therefore to run into this problem.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Matt,
Aren’t you tipping off Fox News that you, the liberal progressive blogger Matthew Yglesias, will be maybe kinda sorta committing voter fraud on election day?
Expect cameras.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:18 am
So let me get this straight — you forgot the details of voting, so you want to change the Constitution. Gotcha. Why isn’t this right emanating from the penumbra of rights we all have?
October 17th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Meanwhile, of course, the day after Election Day I’m going to forget about the whole thing and there won’t be another election to vote in for two years. 18 months or so from now, the whole subject of moving is going to be far from my mind. Will I even remember to change my registration information in time, or will I wind up needing to cast a “fraudulent” ballot again because I miss the deadline?
Jeeze… obviously the whole thing just isn’t that important to you is it?
October 17th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I did the same thing during the Virginia primary and did not feel remotely guilty about it.
I can understand the reasons for requiring that someone prove a few weeks residence in a state before being permitted to vote, just to avoid massive migration to swing states in the weekend before an election, but there’s no reason you should not be able to change your registration address within a jurisdiction right up to election day. I moved within the same county, basically to the next precinct over, and was voting on the exact same slate of candidates. But because it was less than four weeks before the primary, no change of registration was allowed. So I committed “voter fraud”.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:26 am
“For a certain number of days after your move, most states let you vote using your old address. This grace period is commonly about 60 days, but each state has its own rule.”
Here, then click on “What if I’ve moved recently?”
October 17th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Day-of registration is the solution to that- you need to prove your residence as of election day (not necessarily photo ID- a few pieces of mail, for example, or if it was a very recent move, a signed lease.)
Anyway, the real scandal Fox will focus on is that you’re going to bike to your voting place instead of driving like a real ‘Murkin, you commie.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:29 am
I’ve moved 7 times for work since 2004, and lived in 4 states (Globalization bitches). My permanent address has always been my aunt’s house in Florida, and I was actually visiting Florida when I voted in the this year’s primary (that didn’t mean anything until it did). But I no longer am in Florida. So I had to vote absentee, which is what I did in 04 and 06.
I recommend that people who recently moved vote absentee in their old district. I don’t think it’s fraud
October 17th, 2008 at 11:31 am
What Republicans (and anyone who wants voters to jump through hoops) forget is that voting a privilege the government gives to voters, but is the source of that government’s legitimacy in the first place.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:32 am
In Canada, Elections Canada maintains a national database of registered voters that is updated when you change your address with Canada Post (which can be done online). Although originally set up for federal elections, the database is used for provincial and local elections as well. Elections Canada actively followups changes of address and also update their database to add voters who have turned 18 or gained citizenship.
It’s not that difficult to set up if you want to do it. But, for one of the political parties in the States, making registering to vote difficult is not a bug, it’s a feature.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:32 am
I had a similar problem a couple of years ago when I moved around election time, and my change of registration arrived a couple of days after the deadline. I went to vote, but my name wasn’t on the rolls, and the person at City Hall I talked to said “NO VOTE FOR YOU!” I sympathize, as it feels really shitty to be disenfranchised. I didn’t go to my old polling place though.
It really is baffling how hard they make it sometimes… especially for young people who are likely to be moving more often.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:34 am
As far as I’m concerned, American citizens are entitled to vote in elections.
Hell. Resident non-citizens should be able to vote for all state and local elections. Maybe even House seats.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Maybe if you had a representative in Congress (with a real vote, and not to mention a senator) to vote for or against every two years, you might be more on top of your registration. Probably not, though. You’re right.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I asked a Spanish friend about this, and I was told that registration is taken care of when you pay your taxes. (The IRS rarely loses track of us here.) Registration is also automatic when receiving government benefits.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Matt’s problem is not that he wasn’t “on top” of his registration. It’s that he moved during the 29-day window (Oct. 7 to Nov.4) during which DC won’t let him change his registration. Theoretically he could have tried to change his registration before the move, but I’m not familiar with DC’s rules regarding proof of residence (does it need to be done at the time of registration or can you do it at the polls, etc.).
October 17th, 2008 at 11:47 am
A British acquaintance said that British law requires that all citizens register to vote. They aren’t required to vote, but they must be registered. I would assume that because of that the British government takes a more proactive role in assuring current addresses of all registered voters.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:47 am
In Canada they also have a box you can tick on your tax return saying ‘please make sure I am on the voters list.’ You can also vote without registration by showing up with photo ID and proof of address.
Why do any americans think their system is good?
October 17th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Matt,
You might want to check out the District of Columbia Official Code (2001 Edition), which provides at Section 1-1001.07(i)(4)(A) that:
Some details are here.
Democracy in action.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Pre-announcing a felony seems suboptimal.
Meanwhile, I’m living in Germany, where you’re required to register with the government within 7 days of moving or face a 2300 Euro fine. The bright side to this is that then you’re immediately registered to vote at the new location too (if you’re eligible).
October 17th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I just moved back to NYC after 5 years in Providence. A few years ago I registered in Providence and voted there. I didn’t reregister in NYC when I moved because I thought I’d just vote absentee in Rhode Island, but then I missed the deadline for getting Rhode Island’s absentee ballot.
Fortunately my mother informed me that I’m still registered in my home district downtown (she saw my name last time she voted). I went online and verified that she was correct, and now I can just go downtown to vote come Election Day. The system works!
Incidentally, when I pointed out to some friends in Providence that I could, if I were dishonest, be voting in both places, they were absolutely convinced that the states involved would detect this. They are clearly wrong, but I don’t think people realize how badly thought out the current system is.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Matt, just go vote early at the BOE office in Judiciary Square anytime between this upcoming Monday and the day before election day. It’s no excuse early voting, it’s underway starting Monday, October 20, and it’s like 7 blocks from your new condo:
In Person Absentee Voting: Monday, Oct. 20th – Nov. 3rd at the Headquarters 441 4th St., NW Ste. 250N
October 17th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I’m in total agreement that the voting registration system needs to change. You wanna stop ACORN from registering thousands of fake voter cards? Make a person’s right to vote automatic when they hit the legal age (combine voting/driving/social security card/any state licensing into an all-for-one system), so there’s no extra forms to fill out. In this day of near-instant record updating, make it easier to update change of addresses up until the weekend before the voting day. Wanna cut back on party-oriented gerrymandering? Drop party ID from voter registration, and just simply allow people to voice their party choice at the precinct to set up their voting options for the primaries (or else make primaries open to all). In case of absentee ballot, the requestee can make the specific party request then.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
When I forwarded my mail online after moving two months ago, I think they gave me a link to the NY BOE. They don’t let you update your registration online, but they do send you the forms you need to change it.
And I think most places give you an amount of time after moving where you can vote in your old district, in recognition of the fact that it takes a couple weeks to change your registration. In 2004 I voted in PA, legally, though I’d moved to NY a few weeks prior.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
The requirement for voting registration — when did it get added to the system? I understand that it was a Progressive Era innovation, mostly because Protestants feared the voting power of the Catholic immigrant workers.
I had an aunt from the Chicago Suburbs who swore to me (when JFK was running for President) that in the city of Chicago, school buses full of nuns travelled the city stopping at every precinct to cast Democratic ballots. All this before ACORN !
October 17th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
The Post Office doesn’t handle voting issues, but that is probably in part because under a voting system voting is done through the states. In Pennsylvania, at least, you can register when getting or amending ones driver’s license. I think the same was true in Illinois. Of course that leaves bicylists out of luck. Maybe we need bicycle liscences to get them to vote.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
moe99: You are right about the proactivity though. Every household gets sent a registration form a few weeks before a new local/national election. You fill in the eligible residents of your household, sign it, and bang! They’re eligible.
Only problem is, there’s almost no enforcement of people with multiple addresses. I’ve been registered at my family home and in 3 different university locations, simultaneously. I’ve never actually voted in 2 locations at the same location, but it would almost certainly never catch up with you if you did.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Ah, yes, I sympathize. My husband and I are moving in two weeks to a place six hours away from our current location (same state at least). Far too late to re-register, but before election day. Our current plan is vote early – but that means we’ll have to leave work early as there isn’t a weekend option available.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
For in person absentee voting in DC, you have to give a reason, like saying that you’ll be out of town on Election Day.
And if you’ve moved recently, you can still legally vote:
http://www.dcboee.org/faq/polling_places.asp#2
If I have recently moved, am I allowed to go to a closer polling place not previously assigned to me?
If you moved and did not send in a change of address, you may file an Election Day change of address at the polling place for your new address and vote by special ballot.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
When I was doing voter registration this summer/fall, we were instructed to ask anyone who told us they were registered if they’d moved since the last election. The same form used to register first-time voters can also be used to change your name and/or address. It’s pretty simple. In Georgia, you can download the reg. form from the Sec’y. of State’s website, and I think they have ‘em at most P.O.s, too.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
So basically, your laziness is some kind of call to action? You know Matt, if at any point in the last few months you had moved off your chair and changed your information, you wouldn’t have this problem. I have very little sympathy for over-educated, completely lazy people like you who want to tell the rest of us how to live.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Just cast a provisional ballot. I think this is what Elizabeth (comment #29) means by “special ballot.” If you’re not on the list, you cast a provisional and they check it later to see if you’re eligible (like, for example, if you’re registered but you went to the wrong precinct). No jurisdiction I’ve ever heard of prevents you from voting because you show up at the wrong precinct. If the poll workers know what they’re doing they should tell you this and offer you a provisional ballot; if they don’t, ask for one.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I’ve worked as an poll worker in California a number of times. The situation you describe would be covered in California in a training booklet called “What To Do If….”, which can be found on-line. So I went looking for the DC equivalent of the “What To Do If…” booklet.
No such luck, But there was a set of online training videos for DC pollworkers. And the video for the “Check-in Clerk” certainly seems to say that you will be able to vote in your new precinct by ‘provisional ballot’ due to an “Election Day Chnage of Address”.
Go to the polling place for your new address. If they turn you away (you get a good blog post out of it, and) you can then go to your old address’ polling place. Most likely, you’ll be able to vote provisionally at your new polling place.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
“No jurisdiction I’ve ever heard of prevents you from voting because you show up at the wrong precinct.”
Florida, 2000. (They have since changed their laws.)
October 17th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
James Robertson, you’re calling Matt “lazy” when you couldn’t be bothered to *read and comprehend* his anecdote, or the earlier post that made the same mistake (#3), or the response that addressed it (#15).
October 17th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Dear James Robertson,
Matt just moved, and was not at the address when registration was legal. He’s not lazy, he’s just in a funny bind where he changed addresses in the window between the end of voter registration and election day. This fact is abundantly clear if you actually read the post or the comments that came above you. How “completely lazy” can you get?
Also, if you regularly read this blog, you may also notice that Matt is one of the most prolific and well-read bloggers out there, and works weekends. He also regularly published columns in print publications and makes frequent public appearances at think tanks and conferences. I don’t know the guy personally, but I imagine he also has a busy social life. Even in the middle of closing on a new place and moving, he’s kept up his blog. How on earth can you call this guy lazy? (There’s also the point that since Matt only has a BA, he’s also pretty far from being overeducated as well.)
So, basically, what I’m saying, James Robertson, is that you are insulting a busy guy for raising an issue that you are too lazy to grasp or understand. Have a lovely day.
Yours,
A Yglesias Reader Who Is Sick Of All The Haters In The Comments
October 17th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
A ‘national I.D. card’ that actually identified the person holding it would simply be the voter registration. As, from the comments above from Canada & Germany, it seems other democracies with access to futuristic technology (COMPUTERS!!) have found. The United States clings to archaic methods because a few clowns fear black helicopters and United Nation’s shock troops.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
And yet, still too lazy to have dealt with this ahead of time. I’ve moved near election time as well. Unlike Matt, I thought to visit the board of elections before the deadline (and before I had moved) and dealt with the problem.
Perhaps if Matt took some of that prolific time from blogging and pushed it into valuable “things he should have done” time, the rest of us could be spared the whining
October 17th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Good grief!! My daily journey thru the political internets took me to WashingtonMonthly, to KevinDrum, and he makes the same point as I did from Matt’s travails. Great minds run in similar gutters, I s’pose.
Simple question: If as I think most objections to a national I.D. are from Repubs, how serious are they about voter fraud?
Simple answer: Not so much.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
James Robertson Says:
October 17th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
And yet, still too lazy to have dealt with this ahead of time. I’ve moved near election time as well. Unlike Matt, I thought to visit the board of elections before the deadline (and before I had moved) and dealt with the problem.
Perhaps if Matt took some of that prolific time from blogging and pushed it into valuable “things he should have done” time, the rest of us could be spared the whining
You are really a special type of moron, James Robertson.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
In my country (New Zealand) when you fill out a change of address form at the Post Office, the Electoral Enrolment Centre (which is a neutral goverment agency) sends you a form at your new address with what they believe to be your new correct contact details. You can send it back to correct them, or just igore it and you’ll be enrolled in the new area.
I have recently been working with the EEC and they go to enormous lengths to try and stay in contact with every voter and keep them enrolled. Having been immersed in that ethos, reading about American practise has been blowing my mind. You don’t want everyone who could vote to vote? Crazy shit!
October 17th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Makes me happy to be in North Carolina. During our early voting period, you can register or make changes to your registration. Still leaves a 66 hour window where an unregistered person does not have an opportunity to cast a ballot (early voting ends at noon Saturday Nov 1), but much more tolerable than your situation.
October 17th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I am a resident of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, which is where Cleveland is located. I recently had a similar problem as you Matt, I moved at the beginning of October. The deadline to register was October 4th and I did submit my voter address change form over a week before the deadline. Since I am a responsible voter I checked the status of address change on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections website, which is actually quite well maintained I encourage all voters to check their information, anyway when I checked the website my address was wrong. The street and number were correct but, they had me living in Cleveland where I actually live in a suburb. I called the Board of Elections and was transferred around for a bit before I ended up talking to this gentleman that was quite helpful and he corrected the error. He told me that they hire temps (temporary workers) to enter that kind of information and they obliviously enter my information wrong since I was smart and made a copy of the change of address form (why would a Board of Elections hire temps?). This gentleman also explained to me that I should go my polling location in my neighborhood but I would not be in big book of registered voters because it was already sent out. However, he explained to me that they send out an additional “Supplemental Poll Book” on election day and that I would be listed in that book and to instruct the poll workers to look in that book for my voter information so I didn’t have to case a “Supplemental Ballot.” This gentleman at the Board of Elections was very nice and he even gave me his number and said that if have any problems on Election Day that I could call him personally. Matt, I would recommend calling your local Board of Elections because you still may be able to reconcile your situation. If not I like how you mentioned that you would not vote on local issues since you don’t live there anymore that is very moral.
All of this is a true story no BS. I would not take the time to write if it wasn’t true.
Also for full disclosure I am a registered Republican and I saw a lot of post about the issue of voter fraud that I would like to comment on. I do think that the issue of voter fraud is real. I could hypothetically have voted at the Cleveland polling location that I was originally giving and also went to the polling location in my neighborhood and case a supplemental ballot. Could this have worked I don’t know and I have no aspiration to find out. Thank god for that ethics class I took during my MBA. I also work in downtown Cleveland, Ohio and as you all surely know Ohio is going through a big commotion about ACORN and fraudulent voter applications. There was a young man in Cleveland that was interviewed by some news organizations saying that ACORN registered him 72 times. That young man works a few blocks down form my building downtown at a Dominos Pizza. I recognized him on TV because I go to lunch their sometime and he was in his uniform when the interviewed him. I myself being in my 20’s, which is going to vote for Obama by a wide margin, was approached numerous times in downtown Cleveland to register to vote and I said no I am already registered and each time they tried to persuade me to register again to help them reach their target. Each time I kindly said no. Maybe I should have just registered again in light of my dilemma that I described above. Again thank God for that MBA ethics class. Voter fraud is a real problem that needs to be addressed. Why can’t we just all agree to show ID when we vote or some type of ID like a bill, credit card something come on! Is it really that difficult? Matt, good luck on Election Day I hope everything works out for you.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Two years until the next election? I doubt it.
But what have we learned?
1. There is, contra Matt’s impression, a solution to his problem.
2. That solution is not well publicized, meaning that it will be relatively common for voters in Matt’s position not to know about the solution.
3. That solution is non-ideal. If Matt goes to his old precinct and casts a ballot, one thing he knows for sure is that it will be counted. In the case of a provisional ballot, you don’t know that. Something like one fifth of provisional ballots are rejected.
4. The solution is one which, as Matt and others have noted, only makes sense if you fail to treat voting as a positive right.
5. Lots of people (especially on the right) don’t really have much interest in seeing to it that every citizen has an opportunity to cast a ballot.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
So people (as in comment 28) have already explained how Matt can vote legally at the polling place for his new home. But I’m also skeptical that it violates the law to vote at your previous polling place (as mentioned in comment 6) if you move within some number of days (like 90, but obviously dependent on local laws) of the election, and I’d be absolutely shocked if D.C. or Federal law required that you live at the address you’re registered for on Election Day, as opposed to on the registration deadline. Matt posted about his new condo after the registration deadline, I don’t know when he moved there.
Anyway, my point is that while the post is completely correct about how fucked up the United States election system is, Matt’s belief about his legal situation with regards to voting seem totally wrong.
October 17th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
It is entirely possible that the District of Columbia does not have provisions for persons who move close to election days. Nothing in the District surprises me anymore. However, they more than likely do have provisions. Also, I suspect that the District requires you to change your drivers license when you move. Moving normally requires a little more effort than simply submitting a change of address card at the post office.
October 17th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
A British acquaintance said that British law requires that all citizens register to vote. They aren’t required to vote, but they must be registered.
That’s not quite true. You don’t have to register, but you’re legally obliged to provide registration information if asked for it by the local government entity that maintains the electoral roll. There’s an annual canvass, in which every household receives a list of who’s registered to vote at that address, and can make corrections.
I’m glad that the NYT got to the kernel (pardon the pun) of the issue here:
Voter fraud is a real problem that needs to be addressed.
In-person fraud is a miniscule issue. Where it happens, it’s usually in small municipalities with personal ties and limited oversight. The cost/benefit analysis always makes suppression or tinkering with the count more efficient and harder to quantify or prosecute than a very public individual act that adds precisely one vote to the total.
Now, the perception that there is voter fraud is a real problem, and that’s linked in part to other flaws in the mechanics of voting. Voter suppression is a real problem. The delegation of control over elections to local partisans and incompetents is a problem. The disparities in the technology used to conduct elections, and in the availability of that technology based upon the wealth of the locality, is a real problem.
Why can’t we just all agree to show ID when we vote or some type of ID like a bill, credit card something come on! Is it really that difficult?
It’s difficult when the laws are drawn badly. Identity isn’t embedded in a plastic card or piece of paper, but by a combination of trust and mutually-supporting documentation: the elderly African-American man who is known to everyone in his small town, but who lacks a birth certificate because he was born at home in the era of segregation, is not an exceptional case.
October 17th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
A British acquaintance said that British law requires that all citizens register to vote.
UK regulations say:
Most people register or re-register between August and November every year, when the local council delivers a registration form to your home. This is called the ‘annual canvass’.
You are legally required to return this form, even if there is no change or no one is eligible to vote at your address. The form should list all the people who will be living at your address on 15 October and who are eligible to vote.
October 17th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
While Matt is correct that the franchise was originally restricted, it is also true that it was about 50 years before you even needed to be a citizen to vote.
October 17th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I am a US-British citizen resident in the US and while I was living in Britain last year, where my family and I were renting a house, we were visited twice by local council representatives who were updating the voter rolls. I said we were just visitors from the US, but they insisted on going through the entire process to ensure we were not eligible to vote. In all my years in the UK, up to the age of twenty six when I came to the US for graduate school, including years when I was moving around a great deal, I never had to make any effort to register myself, and when I showed up at the polls to vote I was always registered. If the Brits can do this then so can we! The truth is that our political system has long been based on systematic disfranchisement of the poor and non-white and a regime of low registration/low voter turnout. To end this we need to simply federalize the whole damn thing, abolish the patchwork quilt of local and state regulations which govern elections and which have a seamy political past, and start from scratch creating something like the TSA (a non-partisan federal agency in other words) to oversee elections and creating uniform voting requirements in all states. It’s hard to believe that the GOP can talk about American citizens “crossing state lines” to vote elsewhere as if they were Martians or, even worse, Iraqis, voting illegally in some election that had nothing to do with them! But ending such nonsense would also involve scrapping the electoral college system too…and that is a democratic bridge too far for most members of our political elite. Candidates might then be forced to actually campaign where all the people are, instead of spending all their time stumping in rural Pennsylvania and Colorado!
October 18th, 2008 at 12:38 am
When I voted in Tennessee I had to swear I lived at the registration address, but address changes could be made up to and on election day. Somehow I thought this was all related to the federal law that changed after 2000.
Prior to that it was my understanding that most places if you moved too late to change registration you could vote at the old precinct.
It seems un-American to assume we must be more fraudulent than other countries and require more restrictive registration policies to keep our elections honest.
October 18th, 2008 at 2:05 am
It’s not legitimate votes of folk who have simply moved that most people are concerned about it. It’s the thousands of false voter registrations. When the registries of the dead and pets, multiple registrations for one person, and stories of bribery and intimidation start cropping up in multiple states, necessitating investigation and additional screening, that is fraudulent. When the organization under investigation in nine states is one tied to one of the candidates, who provided training, funds and legal counsel to the organization, and whom the organization has endorsed, that’s suspicious. When concerns about fraud and fix are raised, and counter-charges of voter suppression are shot back (rather than addressing the underlying concern to see how legitimate it might be), it’s only natural that many of us see that as a fix.
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Just wondered if you had any problems with voting. Did you vote yet? I am in the same boat in Ga. I didn’t reregister but my driver’s license has the same address that is on my voter registration card from my last address still. Do you think I will be questioned? Will they have any records showing change of address through the post office? I hope not! How embarrassing that would be! Also if you wait in line then you would be mad if they turned you away after waiting. Do they check you in right away to see if you are “legal” or do you not find out if you are busted or not until the last minute? (ya know when you make it up to the front of the line to actually vote!) Thanks!
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