african americans

Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters

On Sept. 10, reporter Eartha Jane Melzer of online publication, the Michigan Messenger broke the story that the GOP of Macomb County, Mich. was planning to use public lists of foreclosures to challenge the eligibility of potentially thousands of low-income and minority voters in that hard-hit region. Since that time (and at least party through Project Vote's efforts to catalyze action to stop the illegal disenfranchisement), the story has been picked up by multiple news outlets around the country and generated a lawsuit from the Obama campaign and the DNC on behalf of potentially-disenfranchised Mich. voters.

Sept. 10

“We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses,” Macomb County GOP chairman James Carabelli reportedly told the Messenger in the Sept. 10 report.

“The Macomb County party's plans to challenge voters who have defaulted on their house payments is likely to disproportionately affect African Americans who are overwhelmingly Democratic voters,” Melzer wrote. “More than 60 percent of all sub-prime loans – the most likely kind of loan to go into default – were made to African Americans in Michigan...”

Sept. 11

In a statement, Project Vote attorney Teresa James explained that Michigan law allows challenges at the polls only if the challenger “knows or has good reason to suspect” a voter is ineligible. According to James, the Michigan Secretary of State has clarified this to require that challenges should be based on “reliable sources or means.”

“Republican challengers with only a list of foreclosure notices will have NO evidence or reliable source to suggest that eligible voters have moved and are no longer eligible to vote,” James said.

Later that day, however, Carabelli denied having any such plans, according to a Detroit News report. Despite his claim that the story was a fabrication, Melzer “stands by her story '100 percent' and has clear notes on her conversation with Carabelli.”

Sept. 12

James sent a letter on behalf of Project Vote to both major political parties in Michigan, offering a detailed analysis of state and federal law and the requirements for challenging voters based on residency. In the letter, James clarified that a change of address for any reason – including losing one's home to foreclosure – does not itself disqualify an individual from voting under Michigan law, and that challenging a voter on the basis of a foreclosure would violate the National Voter Registration Act and the Voting Rights Act.

Sept. 16

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit on behalf of the potentially disenfranchised foreclosure victims, according to Greg Gordon of McClatchy Newspapers.

“Democratic lawyers argued that foreclosure proceedings can take more than a year and don't always force a homeowner to change residences,” Gordon wrote. “Nor is there a basis, they wrote, 'for challenging the right to vote of all the renters who reside in an apartment building that has been foreclosed.'

“They said the tactic is intended 'to discourage, intimidate and suppress the vote of individuals whom defendant Republicans believe are unlikely to vote for them.'”

A spokesman for the state Republican Party denied the plan to use foreclosure lists to challenge voters and claimed that they “never talked about doing it,” Gordon wrote.

The same day, “a group of Senate Democrats -- including Sen. Obama -- sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking for details on what the Justice Department plans to do to ensure voters aren't 'intimidated or harassed based solely on the fact that they have received a foreclosure notice,'” according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Peter Carr, a Justice Department spokesman, said the department 'is aware of the allegations and is currently reviewing the matter.'”

Sept. 19

U.S. Sen. John Conyers (D-Mich.) asked the McCain campaign to “'repudiate any efforts of the Republican Party and any of its state affiliates to engage in voter suppression and intimidation tactics,'" relating directly to the Sept. 10 report on caging foreclosure victims in Macomb County, Mich., according to a blog post in The Hill.

"'It is beyond disgraceful that the Republican Party now seems to be targeting those who are suffering the most,' Conyers said.’ It appears that individuals who can't recall how many houses they own don't understand how awful it is to lose your home to foreclosure, and don't know that you don’t need to own property to vote in the United States of America.'”

Conyers' anti-caging bill, Caging Prohibition Act of 2008 (H 5038) has not moved in Congress since January.

Sept. 24

Congressional members and acting assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights division, Grace Chung Becker discussed the Michigan voter caging scheme during a joint hearing of the House Judiciary and Administration committees, according to Jonathan Kaplan of the Michigan Messenger.

Becker said that if allegations of voter caging foreclosure victims were true, “it would be a concern to us in the Civil Rights Division.” She also noted that criminal prosecutors from the DOJ would not monitor polling stations this year.

That same day, the Michigan House Democrats announced the introduction of a plan “that protects the right to vote for residents who have received a foreclosure notice.” The plan is currently in the Senate, according to the House Democrats news release.

In Ohio, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner also took action to protect the rights of low-income voters in that state. On Sept. 24, Brunner issued a directive to county boards of election stating that they “may not cancel an Ohioan’s voter registration based solely on the fact that the person is involved in a foreclosure process.” Brunner instructed boards that they must comply with the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which says a voter’s registration can only be canceled due to residency if the voter confirms such a change in writing, or if the voter fails to respond to a forwardable notice and fails to vote in two subsequent federal elections.

Picking up on the severity of the voting rights issue and how it may impact national turnout in November, Ian Urbina of the New York Times reported how “federal election officials say they are concerned that voters are not being properly informed of how to update their addresses – a problem that may lead to the loss of thousands of votes.

The number of people who move “due to foreclosure or any other reason” exceeds the number of people who notified the election boards.” According to Urbina, 375,000 Ohio residents filed for a change of address with the U.S. Postal Service, but only 24,000 updated their voter registration information. Similarly, in Missouri, 250,000 people notified the Postal Service of their move, but only 22,000 told the election board.

Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio sent notices to residents in select counties who have filed for change of address, but did not update voter registration, Urbina wrote.

On Sept. 24 Project Vote sent letters to the DNC and the RNC, as well as to Secretaries of State, Attorneys-General, and state party chairs in key states where we are conducting voter registration work and fear large numbers of low-income voters could be susceptible to similar caging tactics, including Ariz., Colo., Fla., N.M., Penn., Nev., N.C., Va., Ohio, Md., Mo. and Ga.. Project Vote also sent a letter to the Department of Justice, outlining the legal ramifications of this and other voter caging operations, and demanding investigation and prosecution of acts that violate voter rights under the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act, and other federal laws.

Sept. 26

The Washington Post reported that Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler instructed the state and local election officials to ensure that voters who have lost their homes to foreclosures are aware that they have not lost their right to vote.

“Terry Speigner, chairman of the Democratic Central Committee in Prince George's County, said his phone 'has been burning up' with calls about the rumor in Maryland,” according to Post writer, Ovetta Wiggins.

“A foreclosure is not a valid basis on which to challenge a registered voter at the polls,” Gansler wrote in the letter to officials.

As we were following the voter caging story in Michigan, the Republican National Committee decided to heighten their attack on the nation's largest nonpartisan voter registration drive and its connection to presidential candidate Barrack Obama – another voter suppression effort that could create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation at the polls, according a Sept. 28 NPR report by Pam Fessler.

Quick Links:

“Voter Caging.” Project Vote.

James, Teresa. “Caging Democracy: A 50-Year History of Partisan Challenges to Minority Voters.” Project Vote. September 2007.

Minnite, Lorraine. “The Politics of Voter Fraud.” Project Vote. March 2007.

Erin Ferns is a research analyst with Project Vote's Strategic Writing and Research Department.

According to a US News and World Report Wednesday young voters are one of the five voting groups to watch this election cycle.

"The only problem is that voting—or failing to vote—has always been the issue when it comes to youth. Since 1972, the first election in which 18-to-20-year-olds were eligible to vote, turnout among the under-30 crowd has steadily declined. In 2004, this trend seemed to turn around as the number of young voters increased. Get-out-the-vote organizations touted the fact that there were 4.2 million more voters under 30 than there were in 2000.

This year, there's perhaps even more hype surrounding the youth vote, and it could actually be warranted. Primary turnout among young people doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled in many states, compared with primaries in 2000 and 2004, according to Rock the Vote, a youth-oriented voter registration group that often partners with entertainment companies. In some communities, more young voters are registering, and anecdotal reports suggest more young people are volunteering for the campaigns as well. "You don't write off anyone," says Matt Segal, the executive director of SAVE, who encourages both of the candidates to ramp up their efforts to attract the youth vote. "Young voters are susceptible to the politicians who reach out to them." A swing state like Wisconsin might go to Obama if young people turn out in large numbers, as some suggest they will. If they're right, that really would be a change."

Other groups, not surprisingly include women, African Americans, Hispanics, and Evangelicals. All groups we like to talk about here on FM because all of them can also fall within the group of young people.

Women are always targets, call them soccer moms, security moms, or the recent revelation about single women, women are more than half of the population. A good friend said it best, "Piss off a man, he just ain't gonna vote for you. But you piss off a women not only is she not gonna vote for ya, her husband ain't, her kids ain't, her friends ain't, and everyone at the beauty shop sure as hell ain't. Women are powerful."

Ok, antidotes aside, African Americans are energized by issues and certainly by the fact that the first African American in the general election is on the ballot. AA's also more inclined to be younger.

Average age of Latinos is also younger and there is a pretty good broadband penetration rate for their demographic.

Evangelicals, tend to be older, of course, but young evangelicals are a voting bloc as we've seen that tend to be more interested in Obama's message. His campaign is ready to go after them, and while the whole of the demographic might not go for him, young evangelicals might.

So, of these 5 demographics I think its fair to say that 4 of the 5 include young people or include youth elements to them. And with young evangelicals I'd say that makes up 4.5 of the top 5 voting groups to watch that have a youth component to them.

I'm about to get on a plane (again, sigh). Here are some must-read stories around the tubes today:

• Anya Kamenetz pulls together a lot of recent data about young voters and takes a stab at outlining a youth policy agenda.
• The New York Times looks at a PEW survey from December and wakes up to the fact that young people get their political news through social networks on the web - aka digital word-of-mouth:
  

  According to interviews and recent surveys, younger voters tend to be not just consumers of news and current events but conduits as well — sending out e-mailed links and videos to friends and their social networks. And in turn, they rely on friends and online connections for news to come to them. In essence, they are replacing the professional filter — reading The Washington Post, clicking on CNN.com — with a social one.

  ....

  In one sense, this social filter is simply a technological version of the oldest tool in politics: word of mouth. Jane Buckingham, the founder of the Intelligence Group, a market research company, said the “social media generation” was comfortable being in constant communication with others, so recommendations from friends or text messages from a campaign — information that is shared, but not sought — were perceived as natural.

• Davey D. posted an article suggesting that young black voters are bucking the generational trend and becoming more independent and less Democratic in their party loyalties. This seems to be caught up in the rather complex dynamics of the historical role of African Americans in supporting the Democratic Party, and current divisions between the hip hop generation and the civil rights generation.
• In other news, Chelsea Clinton plans on attending the Young Democrats of North Carolina State Convention, and Rock the Vote lets us know about a bill now before Congress which would allow all 17 year olds the right to vote in local, state, and presidential primaries if they turn 18 before the general election.
  

It's been reported widely in the blogosphere and traditional media that the Republicans candidates are ignoring certain groups: Latinos, African Americans, young people. The DNC even went so far as to produce this video on the topic, which unfortunately doesn't seem to have gotten much attention:

I just wanted to point out that these are not mutually exclusive groups, and while it is bizarre that Republicans may be ignoring the future of what they themselves see as the core demographic for electoral success (white males) by skipping the Young and College Republican Conventions, they're also shunning a substantial portion of all young voters by skipping events like the Univision debate and NAACP forum.

According to a report by the New Politics Institute, 40% of Millennials come from a "minority" racial or ethnic group. Not that I'm complaining, but as Chris Bowers discussed on Open Left, that is a long-term strategy for defeat, particularly among Hispanics, who will comprise 25% of the total electorate by 2050 and already comprise 18% of all Millennials. In a number of states in the southwest, Hispanics have already surpassed 30% of the population, and in the swing state of New Mexico they are already 30% of the electorate. Young voters are the gateway to those families, as children of immigrants are frequently more acclimatized and function as political influencers for the rest of their families. (From NDN: Hispanics Rising)

My point is that ignoring African American and Latinos is also ignoring young voters. We've rehashed this many many times here, but you really can't say it enough: partisanship is a habit (pdf), and by ignoring these constituencies, Republicans are shoring up the Democratic base among three growing and overlapping groups that are going to overtake the electorate in the coming decades.

This week the owner of the site e.politics sent me a link (via Young Philly Politics) to a new section on the site titled Online Politics 101: The Tools and Tactics of Online Political Advocacy. Though the guide is a work in progress it is still one of the most comprehensive guides to online political advocacy that I've seen. Some of the items on the site probably seem like no-brainers to some of us, for example the notion that a campaign website should have a consistent look on every page, but take a look at a few start-up Congressional races (which I did while compiling the list of vets running for Congress for Blue Force) and you quickly realize that campaigns are in desperate need of even the most basic advice. Luckily for future Congressional campaigns e.politics has created a one-stop-shop for online advocacy information, with advice ranging from simple to advanced and from broad to very specific. Here's the press release.

Given the enormous cost to George Allen of his "Macaca" moment, it's no surprise that CBS News would take a look at
Politics In The Age Of YouTube. What is surprising is that I couldn't find the damn CBS video on YouTube so that I could avoid CBS's annoying embedded player to watch the segment. Ah well, at least I can still get my Friday morning fix of the Bangles and Twisted Sister! And No, We Aint Gonna Take It!

Following up on Mike's post which looked at Black America PAC's $1-million investment in getting Black Youth to vote for candidates who want to invade your privacy, deny you contraception, and increase sales in coat-hangers, this article notes that this money would probably be better spent convincing Eagles fans to root for T.O. and the Cowboys when they come to Philly. I'm sure that the Democrats will take this information to heart and will start focusing on young voters, and young African-American voters in particular. OK, that last part was a joke. A sad, sad, joke.

Instead of focusing on our side of the aisle, I'd like to take a moment and note some youth focused efforts on the Conservative side.

Through the nominally "unaffilliated and non-partisan" Black America's PAC (the group is supporting Ken Blackwell in OH, Lynn Swann in PA, and Michael Steele in MD), Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather's Pizza (you can't make that up), is spending $1million on radio ads to convince african american youth to "vote their values" and embrace pro-life candidates.

“More and more African Americans are pro-life," Cain said in a statement LifeNews.com obtained. “Our message to African Americans is simple -- it's time you vote for candidates who support our values."

Cain will underscore that message with a $1 million advertising campaign in key states and congressional districts targeting black radio programs and urban radio stations young African Americans enjoy. Some of the ads focus on abortion.

The campaign is a second go-round based on a highly successful Ohio campaign in 2004 that helped President Bush garner 17% of the African American vote in the Buckeye State – double his vote total from the 2000 presidential race.

I wasn't sure how seriously to take this (and I'm still not 100%), but the article goes on to quote Donna Brazile about the effectiveness of this program in the past:

The ads are funded by Americas PAC, a Cain-backed organization, which former Al Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile said did a great job in turning out black pro-life votes.

Americas PAC's African American radio strategy “hampered our ability to expand the off-year electorate in 2002," Brazile said.

The new campaign should resonate again with black voters as polls show African Americans are more pro-life than Americans as a whole.

Normally I don't agree much with Donna Brazile, but she does know her stuff when it comes to old media and campaign tactics. So if the quote is reliable (it is, after all, coming from lifenews.com - not exactly an impartial source), its all the more reason to work harder and not assume that all our upward momentum among young voters will necessarily hold.