What is a "caging list"? New Florida vote scandal revealed

This is probably nothing. The GOPs say it's a list of people whose letters were returned. They sent mail to all new registrants, and many were returned. Even if their plan is to use this list to challenge voters, c'mon. These are people who registered since the last election, new voters, and the addresses are already invalid? That's a totally legitimate anti-voter fraud effort, IMO.

In this case, innocent until proven guilty.

 

GOP "monitors" will be at every polling place in the battleground states. Their stated purpose is to make sure ineligible people do not vote. Obviously, there are thousands times more voters than monitors and they can't check everybody, so on what criterion do think they're going to decide who to "investigate"?

 

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*images really should be put back on

 

I don't have any problem with them challenging voters for whom mail was returned within a few months of when they registered at that address.

 

Here's the list:

http://www.georgewbush.org/deadletteroffice/attachments/Caging.xls

 

Thanks, Jim. I'll be passing this along to the Elections Dept. in Tallahassee first thing tomorrow.

I cannot speak for every precinct in the State of Florida, but during my Clerk training, we went over at length what has to be done when a voter is challenged: we have to shut down the entire precinct for a while. Then the accuser and accused meet with the Board (composed of the Clerk, Asst. Clerk, and Inspectors -- not including the Poll Deputy or Elections Specialist). They then present their arguments of why a voter is being challenged. If there is no credible evidence, the precinct is re-opened, and the voter allowed to cast his/her ballot. If not, they can vote Provisional Ballot, which will be verified at the Elections Department in downtown Miami.

For those who may not know, unlike Jim, I am a newly-assigned Clerk of a precinct in Miami-Dade County -- assigned to a predominantly African-American locale. I am a newly-minted American citizen from the UK, and I am a registered Republican, but no shenanigans will occur in my precinct for any party.

Of course what is worrisome is that some people think that these shenanigans must by force emanate from one political party, when it's vastly clear that no party has their hands clean in the present, past, or _any_ election.

Cheers,
Victoria

 

And that's exactly why the Republicans would like to challenge a lot of voters in these areas, to slow things down and drive away voters who can't spend all day waiting in line.

 

I was told this info at my Clerk Training: In 2000, there was exactly one voter challenge in almost 1,000 precincts in all of Miami-Dade County -- and that was because an elderly Jewish lady in the toney Bal Harbour area accused her next door neighbour of having moved to another State, yet still voting in the area. I'm not sure what the outcome was. The process took less than 5 minutes.

The worry here is that black Americans will be ones disenfranchised right? Well I still don't know how predominantly black neighbourhoods can have these voter challenges unless it's another black, supposedly Republican "tough", voter. They would kinda stick out if they didn't belong.

So there's no confusion, only another registered voter of THAT PRECINCT can challenge a voter, with proper identification, and only if the challenger is on the register rolls themselves, not just living in the area. People from other precincts, pollwatchers, media, police, campaign operatives and the like CANNOT do so.

Being a frequent listener to NPR (because I am not a prisoner of any ideology), I have heard of the black-shirted Kerry volunteers which will be assigned to predominantly black neighbourhoods in key swing states such as Florida. They had an interview the other day with a black man who was nervously leaving the polling station after having been denied the right to vote. He didn't have proper ID. The black-shirted volunteer told him: "Come on, I'll tell them that they cannot do that. You don't have to have ID to vote."

Well if I had been Clerk that day, I would have told this ministering angel that he does indeed need to have ID, but it doesn't have to be anything official -- anything will do. As my manual says, even a Costco Card is accepted. Heh, try that in France, mon ami.

I don't mind these tactics, however. But what I'd like to see is people "fair and balanced": how about all those old Cuban voters, confused, not speaking the English language that well, intimidated by the newness of it all getting a hand from these people too? No one considers them worthy of being helped, I guess, since their vote would undoubtedly be Republican.

Should anyone see any voting irregularities in Miami-Dade County, please call 305-499-VOTE.

Cheers,
Victoria

 

That's the erroneous felon lists.

The worry here is that through liberal use of challenges, which require you "shut down the entire precinct for a while", the voting process can be slowed to a crawl and legitimate voters who can't spend all day waiting around discouraged and turned away. It's a vote-suppression technique.

http://elections.metro-dade.com/what_is_a_pollwatcher.html

"Inform the Clerk if they wish to challenge an elector's right to vote. The pollwatcher must then fill out the "Oath of Person Entering Challenge of Elector". The Clerk will follow the procedures for a challenged voter."

 

Victoria, from what I've read in news articles, Ohio's procedure is very different. Hmm, I sense a poll.

 

Late August is when the mailings were sent and returned, not when the people registered.

 

It's be nice if there was only 1 this year but that's not likely. Even your governor is telling Repblican poll watchers to challenge voters.

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/10/28/Decision2004/Gov_Bush__Poll_watche.shtml

 

People move all the time. I've had to update a client's address 3 times in 3 months before.