by Deb Cupples | Election irregularities abound, as we sail toward November's presidential and congressional elections. Just yesterday, I posted about a Time Magazine article which asserts that Michigan Republicans are trying to engage in questionable "vote caging." Republican operatives in Ohio have apparently been interested in doing likewise.
Last week, Capital Times reported that Wisconsin's Attorney General (a Republican who serves as state co-chair of John McCain's campaign) is suing to force election officials to cross check and purge voter rolls. There's nothing wrong with cross-checking the rolls. The problem is that the Attorney General has waited until fewer than 60 days before the nation's presidential election to bring suit -- and there just isn't enough time to adequately check the rolls.
Yesterday, House Judiciary Committee John Conyers called out Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour for allegedly trying to confuse voters about a Senate election, in which the Republican candidate seems to be falling behind. The Judiciary Committee reports:
"Representatives John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Robert Brady (D-PA), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) expressed outrage at Republican Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour’s efforts to violate Mississippi state law as well as section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in the design of Mississippi’s November ballot.
In a move apparently motivated by extreme partisan politics, Barbour is seeking to put the close Senate election between Republican candidate Roger Wicker and Democratic candidate Ronnie Musgrove at the bottom of the November 4th ballot, making the race easily overlooked. While a lower court in Mississippi has ruled against the Governor, Barbour has appealed the decision to the State Supreme Court.
Mississippi law requires that all federal races be placed at the top of the ballot. Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act requires that covered jurisdictions – which includes the entire state of Mississippi – have any changes to its election procedures – which includes changes to election ballots – precleared by the Department of Justice.
“'Attempts to disenfranchise any of our nation’s eligible voters this November, including those in Mississippi, simply cannot be tolerated,' said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers. 'The Mississippi Governor does not get to change the rules when the race is not going his way. I am asking that the Department of Justice intervene in this blatant violation of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.” (Committee Press Release)
In short, so far we know that Republican operatives in four states seem interested in finding ways to prevent voters from actually voting on November 4. Apparently, some people will do just about anything to win.
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