VOTER PROTECTION VICTORIES
Georgia's Attempt to Stifle Third Party Voter Registration—DEFEATED!
Court Rules Law Violates First Amendment
Plaintiffs emerged victorious in a legal battle opposing a growing nationwide trend targeting third party voter registration groups’ ability to continue engaging in highly successful voter registration and civic engagement efforts in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Teaming up with Project Vote and Bradley E. Heard of the Atlanta-based law firm of Molden Holley Fergusson Thompson & Heard LLC, Advancement Project pushed back on the State of Georgia’s most recent attempt to hinder these drives. In ACORN, et al. v. Cathy Cox, plaintiffs challenged the legality of a regulation preventing anyone from photocopying completed voter registration applications and requiring that every completed voter registration application be sealed before it is handed over to a third person, party, or organization. (For background information on ACORN v. Cox, read “Advancement Project Sues Georgia State Election Board over Unconstitutional Voting Restrictions,” Democracy in Action, September 2006).
On September 27, 2006, United States District Court Judge Jack T. Camp ruled that the new regulation infringes upon voter registration groups’ First Amendment rights, granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction and prohibiting the state of Georgia from enforcing the regulation in question. (Click here to read the court’s order.)
“This ruling highlights both the importance of the First Amendment in protecting the right to vote in this country, and the continued need for the watchful eyes of the federal judiciary system to ensure that the right to vote is adequately protected—particularly for those youth, minority, elderly, and other citizens who have traditionally been underrepresented in the nation’s political process," said Bradley E. Heard, a founding member of the Atlanta law firm Molden Holley Fergusson Thompson & Heard, LLC, who is serving as lead counsel for the plaintiffs in this lawsuit.
The State of Georgia has a long history of noncompliance with federal laws establishing voting rights. In other cases, the courts have declared Georgia’s statutes to violate the National Voter Registration Act and upheld the federally protected rights of private groups to conduct organized voter registration activities. “This ruling is a victory for voter registration groups and historically disenfranchised low-income communities in Georgia,” said Elizabeth Westfall, senior attorney for the Advancement Project. “Voter registration organizations can now restart their operations in Georgia.”
ON THE GROUND
Advancement Project Demands Action to Alleviate Poll Worker Crisis Prior to November Election
Recommendations Offered to Election Officials in Targeted States
Poll workers—sometimes called the weakest links in the nation’s election system—are arguably the last defense between a well-run democracy and an unstable, ineffective political system. Sadly, election systems in the United States are currently in a state of crisis because of a lack of adequately trained poll workers. The United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC) estimates that two million poll workers are needed to run a national election; just six weeks before mid-term elections, election officials across the nation struggle to recruit and train poll workers, crucial elements of a smooth voting process.
The biggest question mark in the nation's voting system may not be what has changed since 2000, but the one thing that has not—inadequate poll worker training. The security and integrity of our elections depend on people who care participating in its detailed processes and acting as safeguards against the random disenfranchisement that takes place in every election. While it varies from state to state, poll worker responsibilities include: setting up the precinct voting site on Election Day; activating the voting machines; unloading them from storage carts and often connecting cables and electrical cords; troubleshooting inoperable machines; checking voters to make sure they're registered; and ensuring that ballots are securely delivered to the officials responsible for counting them. The sum of these responsibilities requires intensive training. Poll workers are the direct links between election officials and voters. Often, poll workers determine whether a voter casts a regular or provisional ballot and, in many instances, whether or not the ballot cast will count.
The issue surrounding poll workers is not a new phenomenon. Prior to and immediately following the 2004 presidential election, news outlets across the country reported critical shortages of poll workers that threatened to undermine the stability of the election process. In 2004, there was a shortage of at least 500,000 poll workers nationwide. Concerns about poll worker shortages and adequate training of poll workers continue to loom over the upcoming November election. Left unchecked, a widespread poll worker problem would erode the effectiveness and reliability of the election system.
Advancement Project is committed both to arming voters with knowledge to protect them at the polls and to finding ways to hold election boards accountable to the voters for how they manage their respective polling places. In an effort to alleviate the problems associated with inadequate or inconsistent poll worker training, recruitment, and retention, we developed a list of recommendations, and we are strongly urging election administrators in affected states and counties to adopt the following practices immediately:
- Share with community-based voter protection groups and Advancement Project the details of a comprehensive plan for recruiting and training poll workers, specifically including plans to recruit additional workers, increase diversity, and train poll workers in a manner that addresses recurring issues and remedies past defects.
- Open poll worker trainings to the general public to increase awareness in the community and allow advocacy groups to participate and gain a greater understanding of the election process.
- Target minority ethnic media outlets as vehicles for recruiting poll workers by increasing the number of public service announcements airing on minority stations, especially radio.
- Expand poll worker recruitment efforts to include schools—high schools and colleges and explore ways to offer students academic credit for serving as a poll worker.
- Actively solicit input from the community—the people who can most readily identify the weak links in polling place operations—and from Advancement Project as to how best to improve poll worker training and how plans would best be implemented in a particular region.
- Post signage in visible locations in all polling places on Election Day that provides poll workers with answers to common questions regarding state voting guidelines.
- Increase “hands on” poll worker training to permit poll workers greater opportunities to practice operating voting machines in preparation for the November 2006 election.
- Create a palm-sized card that will serve as a reference tool for the more common and complicated situations poll workers will encounter on Election Day.
- Build into poll worker trainings a mechanism by which an assessment can be made of trainees’ understanding of the information and where necessary, require trainees to attend subsequent trainings.
Correspondence to cities and counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida and Maryland has been distributed to appropriate election officials. In light of the fast approaching November 7 election, Advancement Project is giving parties one week to respond.
Disenfranchisement by Database: A Recurring Theme
Advancement Project Responds to Latest Voter Suppression Tactic
Concerns about a Florida state statute involving restrictive identification matching requirements prompted Advancement Project, along with Center for Civic Participation, Clean Water Fund, Common Cause Florida, Florida ACORN, Florida AFL-CIO, Florida Consumer Action Network, Florida Public Interest Research Group, League of Women Voters of Florida Education Fund, NAACP Florida State Conference, People for the American Way Foundation, Project Vote, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, and U.S. Student Association, to initiate correspondence with Secretary of State Sue Cobb. In a letter dated September 20, 2006, Advancement Project outlined harmful consequences of the statute, which requires a voter registration applicant’s personal information and identification number to exactly match the information. Applicants whose information has not been matched to by provisional ballot. These ballots are not likely to be counted.
Thousands of eligible voters have been affected by the flawed matching requirements. For example, a woman’s married name might not match against an outdated database containing her maiden name. Common data entry errors also cause matches to fail. According to court documents in a recent Washington case, one woman was barred from the rolls when her birthday was mistakenly entered into the system as “1976” instead of “1975.”
It seems that Florida is attempting to repeat history. Penda Hair, co-director of Advancement Project, says the matching requirements are alarmingly similar to the felon purge in 2000 that produced “horrendous” errors.
In the letter to Secretary Cobb, Advancement Project cautioned that Florida should not go beyond its existing methods for determining eligibility, which include requiring that all voters present an ID at the polls. The letter also outlined several recommendations:
- Allow voters whose information has not been matched to verify it at the polls by presenting identification to the poll worker. The voter would then vote a provisional ballot that would be counted because the identification number had been verified.
- Add such voters to the registration rolls because verification of the identifying number was the only factor preventing registration.
- Send a notice to all voters who are on “hold” because of the state’s inability to match their information, explaining their right to present identification at the polls.
- Post on the internet a list of all the individuals who are on “hold” status, including their names, address, phone numbers (where this information is available), and the reason they have been placed in this category. Given that this information is public record, there should not be privacy concerns with making this information widely available.
“Florida’s ill-conceived database matching policies are keeping eligible voters off of the rolls, through no fault of their own,” notes Advancement Project staff attorney Jennifer Maranzano. She adds that “even under the best case scenario, disenfranchisement will be widespread. The only question is how many voters will be denied.”
The Secretary responded with a letter indicating her unwillingness to take the recommended steps. The coalition continues to advocate for these steps and has sent another letter describing in more detail the Secretary’s authority and the need to ameliorate this situation. Advancement Project will continue to press for reforms to minimize the number of individuals disenfranchised by Florida’s unlawful practices.
Maryland Urged to Discontinue Unlawful ID Matching Process
Notice of Federal Voting Violations Sent to State Board of Elections
Advancement Project and Project Vote have demanded that Maryland discontinue its unlawful practice of refusing to process, and in some cases canceling, voter registration applications where the applicant’s personal information cannot be exactly matched with the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) or Social Security Administration (SSA) databases. Voter protection groups monitoring Maryland’s voter registration processes on the ground learned that election officials have:
- Refused to register voter registration applicants whose personal information could not be matched in the MVA or SSA databases and placed such applicants on a “pending” status, in violation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
- Sent “pending” applicants a misleading letter stating that their identification number could not be matched, but did not indicate that they could in fact vote as long as they produced identification.
- Ordered the removal of “pending” applicants whose notice letter was returned as undeliverable, from the voter rolls, which is in direct violation of the NVRA.
- Required “pending” applicants, whose applications should have been processed, to vote by provisional ballot in violation of HAVA, NVRA, and the Voting Rights Act.
On October 4, 2006, Advancement Project and Project Vote sent a letter to Linda Lamone, administrator of the Maryland State Board of Elections, notifying her that these Maryland procedures violate federal voting laws. In addition to pointing out that state regulations are unlawful, the letter asks the state to exercise discretion in implementing these regulations in order to minimize their unfair and regressive impact on voter registrants. At a minimum, we recommend:
- A voter whose information has not been matched may provide identification at the polls on Election Day and vote by regular ballot.
- The state should notify, well in advance of Election Day, all applicants whose applications are "pending" because of this matching requirement of their right to present identification at the polls or at any time prior to the canvassing of provisional ballots.
Faith Community Rallies to Boost Katrina Vote
Black Clergy Endorses Absentee Ballot Strategy
In an awesome display of solidarity, prominent leaders of Black churches demonstrated their commitment to protecting and upholding the voting rights of the people of color who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina last year. On Monday, October 9, 2006, 18 social-justice minded Black clergy joined Katrina survivors and Advancement Project advocates in a reserved room of Atlanta’s Historic PASCHAL’S restaurant for a strategy meeting to discuss plans to empower the Katrina survivors temporarily living in their midst.
Led by the venerable Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery of the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda and esteemed Reverend Timothy McDonald of First Iconium Baptist Church, the men and women of faith, most of them moral voices for civil rights and racial justice projects, joined together to launch the “Voter Revival Program.” Starting in Atlanta, Ga., but reaching Baton Rouge, La., Jackson, Miss., and Houston and Dallas, Texas, the goal of the program is to gain the support of Black clergy and their church in encouraging Katrina survivors to participate in the upcoming November 7 election by absentee ballot.
Reverend Timothy McDonald greeted program participants with words of purpose and acknowledgement of the task ahead. “Only 16 percent of the pre-Katrina churches are operating, which means that 84 percent of the churches and congregations are displaced. … The complexion of New Orleans is changing. We are witnessing the greatest land grab that we have seen in recent history, but we can slow it down through the vote.”
The group brainstormed strategies for reaching displaced New Orleans voters, recognizing that the longer citizens of New Orleans are displaced, the more isolated and despondent people become. Reverend Darrell Elligan, President of Concerned Black Clergy recommended, and the group agreed, to use selected churches and faith organizations across the Greater Atlanta area to distribute requests for absentee ballots, displaced voter affidavits, and important voting information to Katrina survivors. The designated sites and groups include: First Iconium Baptist Church, Victory United Church of Christ, Trinity Tabernacle Baptist Church, and the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda.
The sites will be supported by a network of churches represented by the ministers at the table, including: Rev. James Orange, Rev. Anthony Motley, Rev. Dwight Andrews, Rev. Darrell Elligan, Rev. T. L. Graves, Rev. T. DeWitt Smith Jr., Rev. Fred D. Taylor, Rev. Raphael Warnock, Rev. Rob Hughes, Rev. Portia Wills Lee, Rev. Kenneth Samuel, Rev. Raphael Allen, Rev. Tim Reed (on behalf of Bishop Paul S. Morton), and Rev. Stanley Crawford (on behalf of Rev. Cynthia Hale).
Reflecting on the goals of the program, Advancement Project Power and Democracy DIrector, Edward A. Hailes, Jr. explained, “We believe the power within the collective effort of these ministers will be manifested by an increase in voter participation by the temporarily displaced citizens of New Orleans.”
Florida Voters to Monitor Polling Place Closings in November
Project Aims to Uncover Flaws in Poll Closing Process
This year, voters in Miami-Dade County will have the opportunity to observe and document polling place closing procedures, thanks to a poll closing observation project spearheaded by the Miami Dade Election Reform Coalition (MDERC). In Florida, after the last voter leaves a polling place, the public is allowed to enter and observe the polling place closing procedures.
In 2004, MDERC observed the closing procedures in key precincts in Miami-Dade County and noticed startling occurrences: some precincts did not attempt to verify that the number of ballots on the machines matched the number of voters who signed in with poll workers; in other precincts, poll workers found discrepancies when they conducted such an accounting and failed to reconcile these inconsistencies. MDERC documented the complete findings from the 2004 poll closing observation project in a report titled, “Get it Right, The First Time.” (Click here to read the full report.)
Not only does this project aim to uncover and report on basic flaws and failures in the vote tabulation and ballot accounting systems, but it is also geared to engage citizens in their community elections with the hope that they will become an integral part of the electoral reform process. If you are interested in participating in this project, please contact Bonnie Daniels at (305) 255-6455 or Lawrdans@Bellsouth.net. MDERC provides training to all interested volunteers.
MDERC is a broad-based, diverse, nonpartisan coalition, of which Advancement Project is a founding member. MDERC was established in 2002, when citizens and representatives from community organizations, civil rights groups, and civil liberties groups concerned about Florida’s controversial primary election came together to demand important electoral reforms. Its mission is to protect the rights of every eligible voter to cast a ballot and to have that ballot accurately recorded and counted. MDERC will be conducting the poll closing observation project in the upcoming federal elections, both during early voting and on November 7, 2006.
ACS Briefing Spotlights Potential Election Issues
Panelists Issue Warnings about Election Day Threats
Likely problems in the upcoming election took center stage during a panel discussion convened by the American Constitution Society on October 4, 2006 in Washington, D.C.
Dan Seligson, editor of Electionline.org, moderated the dialogue on election administration that brought together four dynamic leaders in the voting rights and democracy sector.
Advancement Project Co-Director Penda D. Hair emphasized the urgent need for proper training of poll workers. She noted that given the complexity of voter registration laws, the brief training that many states provide is insufficient. Being a poll worker, Hair said, must be thought of as a profession. She also spoke about the harms of partisan challenges to voters, concluding that such challenges should be outlawed, and the right to challenge voters should be reserved for election officials.
Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Legal Director of People For the American Way Foundation, Elliot Mincberg, raised awareness about the suppressive effect of states’ interpretation and implementation of voter registration laws. He noted that many states are using new machines in the upcoming elections, which may create technical problems.
Jason Torchinsky, counsel to American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund, countered the idea that registration laws result in voter suppression with the notion that these laws prevent voter fraud. While pointing out that no hard data exists regarding the incidence and prevalence of voter fraud in this country, he stressed that the statewide databases that HAVA requires serve an important function, but maintenance of these systems is vital.
Acknowledging that much of the voter suppression and disenfranchisement happens long before Election Day, Wendy Weiser focused on two less visible election administration problems. Weiser, who is the deputy director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, debated the harms of state laws restricting citizen group voter registration drives and those requiring applicants’ information to match information in the state’s database as a precondition to registration.
Spotlight on Voter Protection Coalitions in MD, MO, OH and PA
Advancement Project and Our Partners Produce Tangible Benefits for Voters
Through the Maryland Election Reform Coalition, Advancement Project partners with ACORN, Project Vote, Maryland ACLU, SEIU, and the Maryland League of Women Voters to protect voters at risk of being disenfranchised this November. Using law, public policy, and strategic communications, this group is working side-by-side to change state regulations that violate federal laws, such as in Baltimore City where election officials wrongly placed 8,500 registrations on "pending" status.
In early September, the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition organized and convened the first meeting of the St. Louis Voter Protection Coalition. Two months before Election Day, this coalition is making progress towards verification of newly registered voters, is advocating for disability rights, and is investigating the illegal disenfranchisement of ex-offenders. The group is also coordinating “Know Your Rights” workshops to educate the public about new voter registration rules and collaborating with local bar associations to recruit and train election judges and prepare for potential Election Day problems. For more information or to get involved in Missouri, email Missouri Voter Protection Advocate Denise Lieberman at denise@deniselieberman.com / dlieberman@advancementproject.org.
Advancement Project has three staff members assigned to Ohio, two of whom serve in the state as our local voter protection advocates. Our voter protection staff work through the Ohio Voters Coalition, assisting voter registration groups and combating Secretary Blackwell’s roadblocks for those wishing to exercise their right to vote. Contact Ohio Voter Protection Advocate Debbie Barksdale at dbarksdale@advancementproject.org to join this effort.
In Pennsylvania, our community partners, staff attorneys, communications specialists and policy experts are pressing election officials to offer improved training to Election Board members, and to increase public access to and accountability by Election Board members. For more information or to get involved in Pennsylvania, contact Pennsylvania Voter Protection Advocate Rosa Goldberg at (215) 870-5601 or rgoldberg@advancementproject.org.
Michigan Urged to Clarify Voter Verification Process
As part of its effort to monitor purges, Advancement Project has written a letter to Michigan’s Department of State seeking clarification on the state’s reported practice of removing names from the voter rolls as a result of “verification of new voters.” We are concerned that the state may be illegally removing voters from the rolls without complying with the “failsafe” protections of the National Voter Registration Act, which requires a waiting period of two federal elections before a voter can be removed because mail has been returned as undeliverable.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY
Arizona's Proposition 200 Brought to a Halt!
A coalition of organizations dedicated to protecting the rights of Arizona voters succeeded in obtaining a court injunction prohibiting the implementation of Proposition 200’s stringent voter identification requirements and its proof of citizenship requirement for voter registration. As of October 5, 2006 these requirements will not apply to activities related to the November 7, 2006 election. Congratulations to the plaintiffs, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Hopi Tribe, the Inter-Tribal council of Arizona, Inc. (ITCA), the Arizona Advocacy Network, other plaintiffs and their legal counsel.
The Missouri Supreme Court Declares Missouri’s Voter ID Law a Poll Tax
New Statute Struck Down by the State Supreme Court
Sharply questioning the legality of a new voter identification law, the Missouri Supreme Court held it to be an unconstitutional poll tax. On October 16, 2006, in a 6-1 decision, the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed a court decision last month enjoining the law by Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan. He ruled that the law imposed too great a burden on the elderly and the poor. Central to this finding was the $15 to $30 cost of a birth certificate, which Missourians must obtain before seeking the state photo identification required for voting. It also noted the time and ability required to navigate bureaucracies in order to vote. The law, passed by the legislature earlier this year and signed by Governor Blunt, required that voters show an unexpired Missouri drivers license, non-drivers identification, passport, or military identification before voting. It also limited the access of provisional ballots to those persons who could not obtain the ID.
Read the Missouri Supreme Court Decision here.
MATERIALS YOU CAN USE
PENNSYLVANIA CAN’T KEEP YOUR VOTE BEHIND BARS
Despite numerous community-based education efforts in Pennsylvania there is still much confusion over the voting rights of individuals with felony convictions. Through on-the-ground work with the formerly incarcerated individuals and members of the communities to which they return, Advancement Project has learned many mistakenly believe that incarceration and/or having a felony record always serves as a permanent bar to the ballot box. In fact, not only is a felony record not an automatic bar to voting in Pennsylvania, incarceration alone is not always a bar. Unfortunately, myths and misinformation regarding the voting rights of these individuals abound, making it imperative for the voting rights advocacy community to continue seeking comprehensive ways of ensuring incarcerated individuals, those on probation and/or parole, and those with felony convictions, understand their options. X-Offenders for Community Empowerment and Advancement Project created a flyer for distribution in Philadelphia barbershops to help dispel the myths.
"Show Up and Show ID" Flyer
Advancement Project is part of a coalition of Ohio groups that has created a flyer to encourage voters and to help them understand the state’s new identification requirements.
Poll Worker Manuals
Advancement Project has collected numerous poll worker training materials from across the country, as part of our effort to improve election administration. As a group, these publications illustrate the complex and sophisticated demands on poll workers, who often work in an intense environment with insufficient resources and support. Advancement Project is analyzing many of these manuals and is providing feedback on them to local election officials. We do not endorse any particular manual, but make several of them available to shed light on a training process that is increasingly important and to allow others to suggest improvements to the materials. Other manuals are available in hard copy upon request.
Election Assistance Commission Finds Little Voter Fraud
Last week, USA Today obtained a preliminary copy of a report prepared for the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) that found little evidence of the type of polling place fraud that has been cited as a reason for restrictive identification requirements and other barriers to voting. The report has not been officially released by the EAC, apparently because some of the Commissioners do not like its findings.
Read the report click here.
|
