Voter Rights

Republicans just can't figure out what they want to do with young voters.

We see some momentum behind actually courting young people, which Sarah discusses in her most recent post. Conservative media outlets like Fox News, the National Review, and the Washington Examiner, are hot on Margaret Hoover's book (the great-granddaughter of Depression-inducing President Herbert Hoover), which argues that Millennials are sympathetic to the fundamental principles of conservatism and that the GOP should accordingly engage these young people. Sarah does a pretty good job of explaining why Hoover is misguided in her analysis, but the GOP establishment seems to be embracing her argument. And you know what? The civic engagement-enthusiast in me doesn't necessarily mind that; at least young people appear to be the target of some kind of outreach effort.

But while Hoover is feeling the love from conservative media, Republican officials across the country are doing everything they can to keep young people from exercising their rights as citizens. In the name of eradicating voting fraud (there are 44 one-millionths of one percent of votes impacted by voter fraud), these Republicans are actively intimidating and restricting the rights of the very same Millennials Hoover wants to attract to the Republican ranks.

The latest example? Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster, who is apparently clueless on election law.

Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster is claiming that college students who pay out-of-state tuition rates and vote in state are committing voter fraud.

At a press conference at the Maine State House, Webster gave the media a list of over 200 students -- their names redacted -- who paid out-of-state tuition rates but were registered to vote in the state.

[...]

...Webster provided absolutely zero evidence that the students -- the vast majority of whom were born in the late 80s and early 90s, based on Webster's list -- voted both in their home state and in Maine.

Webster doesn't understand that just because students are not originally from Maine does not mean that they aren't afforded the right to participate in the community where they live (provided they do not vote in their home state and in Maine). The Sun Journal, a Maine newspaper covering the story, describes it well.

According to Maine state law, students are eligible to register to vote in the municipality in which they attend school, as long as they have established residency there. There is not a period of time required for a person to establish residency. The University of Maine System has different guidelines to establish student residency. A student may only be granted in-state tuition if he or she has proven that she has established residency for reasons other than academic, regardless of the length of time that he or she has lived in Maine.

So yes, there are absolutely cases in which students, deemed as "out of state" by the University of Maine, would be legally and correctly registered to vote in Maine.

Again, all this is on top of other moves across the country to disenfranchise young people and minorities. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, for example, recently shepherded a law through the state legislature that would require young people to secure a photo ID in order to vote. And now he just announced the closing of 10 DMV bureaus, making it harder for young people to get those photo IDs. And it's not just a coincidence that most of these closures are happening in traditionally Democratic areas, while other DMV offices are seeing their hours extended by the governor.

Hoover might be persuading some of the Republican establishment that appealing to young voters is the trendy thing to do. But the GOP isn't about to persuade young people, who are seeing Mitt Romney-like waffling from the Grand Old Party. Are you interested in us or not? You can't have it both ways.

With several states trying to shrink democracy in the United States, our partners at Rock the Vote have developed a tool that will hold states accountable to providing young voters access to the political process.

The tool--the Voting System Scorecard--analyzes the laws and policies of all 50 states that have an impact on young voters' participation in the process. Amid Republican-led efforts to restrict political participation among youth, the scorecard will provide observers with a baseline measurement against which they can monitor further efforts to deny youth their right to participate. Unfortunately, this scorecard already reveals that young Americans are being left out of the democratic process because of outdated voter registration practices, barriers encountered when trying to cast a ballot, and our country's failure to adequately prepare them for active citizenship.

You can view the scorecard, key findings, and a link to send the full report to your elected officials here:

http://www.rockthevote.com/research/2011-voting-system-scorecard.html.

The scorecard measures state laws and policies in three key areas: (1) voter registration, (2) casting a ballot, and (3) young voter preparation. The 21 point scale evaluates each state's implementation of policies that increase access to the political process, including: automatic registration, permanent and portable registration, Same Day Registration, online registration, early voting periods, identification requirements, residency requirements, absentee voting, military and overseas voting, and high school civics curricula and evaluation.

As you will see, a vast majority of states are failing to meet the needs of young voters. With an average score of 41%--and the top score being only 68%--too many states are not implementing new technologies and policies to get people registered, limiting opportunities to cast a ballot, and failing to teach young people about voting and elections in high school.

Heather Smith, President of Rock the Vote, appeared on MSNBC yesterday to highlight the scorecard. Here she is:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Hat tip to our own Kevin Bondelli:

During a campaign rally for Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell in Virginia Mike Huckabee made this statement:

You have two jobs. One, get all those people who are going to vote for Bob out to the polls and vote. If they’re not going to vote for Bob, you have another job. Let the air out of their tires and do not let them out of their driveway on Election Day. Keep ‘em home. Do the Lord’s work, my friend. I’m giving you an opportunity…yes, do the right thing.

This looks like a pretty good reason to do something to help Brian Moran.

You know how Huckabee and Co. will explain this. They'll say it was a simple joke and wasn't meant to be taken seriously. The problem is that we all know people out there fanatical enough to believe they are doing "the Lord's work" by doing this stuff. The last thing they need is a prominent politician validating it, giving them cover.

Check out Brian Moran's campaign here.

Some reading material when you have time to take a break from the craziness:

• Music for Democracy has launched its "Be the Change" project:
  

  Hip-hop stars Chingy, Q and MC Lyte have joined forces with two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter Graham Nash in an innovative get-out-the-vote effort that aims to mobilize young voters for election 2008 by leveraging the power of social networks. On November 4, music fans who sign up for "Be the Change" will receive an automated call from the musician of their choice to remind them to go to the polls. A selected number of voters will receive calls from the musicians themselves.

• A recap of why Election 2008 deserves the "historic" label, especially given the generational tensions.
• A commentary on why youth will show up at the polls this year.
• Attention political junkies: Google has created an elections map complete with results since 1980 for each state.
  
• Andy Kroll writes a couple (#1 and #2) posts on pushback on the Hip Hop Republicans and what they're doing to change the culture and approach the contemporary GOP has taken over the last decade or two.
• Want to watch the election results with some fellow liberals? Living Liberally lets you know where you can go.
• 35,000 Colorado mail-in votes from newly-registered voters could be nullified, thanks to confusion over the need to include an ID.
• Obama's not the only politician popular among young voters.
• A public-private partnership to fix our ever-mounting problems. A Green New Deal. Sounds pretty good, huh? Read more.
• Anna Quindlen at Newsweek has her own commentary on the potential of Millennial voters on Election Day

Your Sunday reading. Enjoy!

• All those new Democratic voters are emerging as a huge force for Obama everywhere, especially in Pennsylvania.
• Time's "battleground" profile on the race in Virginia.
• Video of a great interview between Luke Russert and Barack Obama on young people. This was a long time ago politically -- Luke asks Obama about the "lipstick" comments:

• Although they're too young to vote, they're not too young to be politically involved.
• Ari Melber looks at the ground-breaking Obama GOTV operation.
• Talk about a generational divide brewing: a first grade class surprises their lesbian teacher by throwing rose petals at her San Francisco City Hall wedding ceremony.
• An article at the Personal Democracy Forum looks at the renovation of change.org and what it can become.
• Obama signs at Quantico -- one of the largest military bases in America?? Sounds like change to me!
• The Houston Chronicle has a write-up confirming what we already know: college students have to scale a plethora of obstacles in order to actually vote.

In yesterday's Quick Hits I posted a link to a story coming out of Montana this week, where the state Republican Party has challenged the registration of 6,000 Montanans in the Democratic strongholds of the state.

On Friday, the GOP apparently decided their initial suppression effort wasn't enough.

A state Republican Party official said Friday that the party plans to expand its challenge of registered Montana voters who have changed their addresses, beyond the 6,000 voters challenged in six counties this week.

"These counties are the beginning, not the end," said Jake Eaton, executive director for the party. "We're looking at this across the state."

While Eaton goes on to say that the Montana GOP merely targeted those counties with the most discrepancies (and that the fact that they're Democratic strongholds is a coincidence), we can't ignore the context in which this is happening. A Great Falls Tribune article does a good job of explaining:

According to news reports from across the country, courtroom battles over voter registration, absentee ballots and the integrity of state voter lists are happening in politically strategic states such as Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin and New York.

In Ohio, the state GOP tried to overturn a new state law that allows same-day registration and voting. State and federal courts upheld the law last week.

In Michigan, the state GOP reportedly plans to challenge the registrations of people who lost their homes to foreclosure.

In Wisconsin, the Republican attorney general is suing the state agency that oversees elections, saying that federal law requires that the agency check the names of more than 240,000 voters against driver records. Election clerks there say it is impossible to perform those checks by Nov. 4.

The problem with the GOP's explanation is that we've seen too many like it over the past few decades to take it at face value. Every election year we get reports of calls and fliers that purposely confuse specific demographics by giving them incorrect information regarding when they can exercise their right to vote. We have local election chairs telling college students they can't vote in the county where their institution is located.

And there's a twist to this particular story out of Montana that demonstrates how un-American this crusade is. Kevin Furey, a 1st Lt. in the Army from Helena, was told that his right to vote was being challenged. Furey found out just before he was to leave for his second tour of duty in Iraq.

"It is ironic that at the same time I am about to return to Iraq to help build a democracy that my own right to vote is being challenged at home for partisan purposes. These challenges are a blatant and offensive attempt to suppress the rights of voters," Furey said in a telephone interview from Chicago, where he was on leave visiting his ailing grandmother.

It's quite apparent that as Election Day approaches and the future of the Republican Party gets bleaker, the voting rights of minorities, college students, the poor, and all other oppressed voters will be in jeopardy. Isn't it interesting how the first party to question patriotism is usually the first to want to undo the very fabric that holds our country together? While a sad turn of events, it's an opportunity for progressives and the Democratic Party to demonstrate their principles by pledging to fight for an inherently American right.

UPDATE: This post at CBS's Youth Vote '08 blog has more detailed information on how this development affects college students. Matt Segal further explains why this is, in fact, a partisan effort.

Matt Segal, CEO of the Student Association for Voter Empowerment, said he was told of the situation in Montana when he was at his Washington D.C. office earlier this week.

"This is clear voter caging," Segal said. "What we are seeing here is Republican Party taking advantage of a loophole. This is legal. But, I think as a society we need to be cognizant that few people barely stay in one place. Voter right could be challenged every time someone moves every election year. What is being done is legal but hardly nonpartisan."

Saturday evening reading:

• As we're moving closer and closer to Election Day -- one month from today! -- make sure to go over to the website for the November Fifth Coalition. Here is an excerpt from the front page of their site that explains their objectives:
  

  The November 5th Coalition is an all-partisan alliance committed to civic partnerships that address our biggest challenges. The Coalition is named for the day after the election in 2008 when a new chapter of America's civic history begins. Wherever the people gather they should be able to ask candidates “November 5th questions” about how they plan to tap the talents of the whole society, instead of posing as superheroes who will solve our problems for us. We will also develop leadership networks and civic policies that can serve as resources for a new administration. We encourage our fellow citizens to join with us in calling on candidates to rise above excessively divisive partisanship and to promote the common good.

• The Personal Democracy Forum has the top five reasons you won't be able to vote.
• Gizmodo takes you on a tour of the new Obama iPhone application. Very impressive! You can download it here.
• More scare tactics from the Republicans, this time aimed at Montana voters. Alternet has the details.
• Young Nevadans are overwhelmingly registering as Democrats:
  

  In the 18 to 24 age group, for example, Democrats have 54,192 registered voters compared with 31,405 Republicans, or 45 percent of the total registered voters for Democrats versus 26 percent for Republicans. That's a 19 percentage point difference.

• More youth attempting to be politically engaged. More youth being told not to. This time in Texas.
• Prop 8, the evangelical-led effort to amend California's constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, has gradually grown less and less popular; this Washington Post article explains that young voters are the main reason for the decline in popularity.

The latest nonsense threatening citizens' freedom of speech:

Now, a political fight over what voters can wear to the polls is headed to court in Pennsylvania — with the Republican Party favoring a dress code and Democrats opposed.

[...]

The political showdown was triggered by a Pennsylvania Department of State memo advising counties last month that voters' attire doesn't matter as long as the "voter takes no additional action to attempt to influence other voters."

Because the memo is not legally binding, some counties have kept past restrictions on clothing and political buttons.

But two Pittsburgh-area elections officials sued to have the memo rescinded. Their lawsuit warned that if the memo stands, "nothing would prevent a partisan group from synchronizing a battalion of like-minded individuals ... to descend on a polling place, presenting a domineering, united front, certain to dissuade the average citizen who may privately hold different beliefs."

"...A domineering, united front." Right. I thought the introduction of the secret ballot in most states at the end of the 19th Century took care of all this?

Just another Republican scare tactic.

What I've been reading today...

• A Politico piece looks at the meltdown's impact on student loans.
• An extremely large coalition, Election Protection 2008, is now on the scene this fall to protect voters rights.
• Obama continues his ascent in today's Gallup tracking poll; he now leads McCain 50-44.
• Barack Obama's going to debate camp in Florida this week.
• MyDD has the details on the unveiling of a Voter Suppression Wiki. Check it out.
• My home state (Ohio) is in the middle of trying to make itself more marketable for businesses, but there seems to be no mention of a lightrail system or other infrastructure discussions that would go a long way toward approaching their goal.
• Paul Rosenberg at Open Left looks at all facets of the Palin Plunge.
• A nice summary of the youth outreach effort this year by Peter Dreier at Huffington Post.
• The Guardian looks at student organization on American campuses.
• Usher co-authors a piece with Tom Nelson, also at Huffington Post, on service-oriented Millennials coming together with members of the Silent Generation and older Boomers, to make a difference.
• McCain adviser: We'll balance budget by 2013, even after bailouts. That's not budgetary policy we can believe in, my friends.

Some reading to supplement your weekend down time:

• The Daily Trojan's recent piece covering each candidate's youth vote operation can be found here (and yes, the fact that they think McCain has any outreach to youth points to the accuracy of the article and the competence of those interviewed. Look at this:
  

  Ann Crigler, director of the Department of Political Science and a professor of political science at USC, agreed that youth voters are targeted because they are not yet devoted to either party.

  "The youth vote is really important because it is traditionally not aligned with a party or candidate yet, so people want to get them to participate because they haven't traditionally," Crigler said. "It is easier to attract those who aren't already committed to a party."

  I don't think that's why it's important, and I don't think that's true. A recent poll in swing state Ohio, for instance, shows that Obama is preferred over McCain by a margin of 60-33 percent.

• Florida is now requiring that all potential voters have an ID in order to vote.
• What a difference having a Democratic head of elections makes in Ohio -- Secretary of State Jennifer Bruner is attempting to prevent vote caging.
• Apparently the GOP doesn't care about copyright law when their power is threatened.
• PowerVote: getting one million green youth voters to the polls.
• The 2008 presidential campaign invades college orientations.
• An excellent piece in the Cornell Daily Sun finds that McCain is in favor of cutting and running -- from the youth vote.