On Sept. 10, reporter Eartha Jane Melzer of online publication, the
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 letteron
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 Timesreported
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.
