Lose Your House, Lose Your Vote

[gehayi]

In case you needed another reason to hate the Republicans this year, check this out from the Michigan Messenger:

Michigan Republicans plan to foreclose African American voters

Excerpts:

The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block

Comments

[lovefromgirl]

What the bloody fuck?!

[gehayi]

I know. It's like a poll tax. Only instead of using a tax to exclude people from voting, they're using property ownership.

Someone forgot to tell these idiots that this isn't the eighteenth century.

[lovefromgirl]

...and that is such the perfect icon for it, too. ♥

[sp23]

Perhaps those people who are no longer living in that district should register to vote where they are now living. You know, like the law states.

[gehayi]

As the article states, people often live in foreclosed housing during the gap between the property being foreclosed on and finding somewhere else to live.

[sp23]

Then if they're still living there, their vote may be challenged, but the challenge will be overturned. On the other hand, people who have moved merely need to re-register so they can vote in the proper precincts.

[gehayi]

If the Town (or City) Clerks in Michigan are anything like the ones around here, they already send address cards around every few months to renew voter registration and to confirm voter registration. Moreover, both the clerks and the political parties have a couple of months to check and make sure that registered voters in certain key districts are indeed properly registered. I don't see the point of planning to do things this way, especially if the challenges can be overturned--save to call into question a large number of non-GOP votes. And that is reminding me of the CHADs and the alleged mechanical problems and viruses with the voting machines. It's just too damned convenient that once again in an election year, there's a problem in key states that involves Democratic votes.

[lee_rowan]

This is not a new tactic. A lot of folks were disenfranchised in 04 and 06

[tenik]

I'm confused. Why do you need a house to vote? I thought everyone had the right to vote?

[bktheirregular]

It's divided up by districts within cities - you have the right to vote, but you have to be registered at a certain place, wherever it is you reside. And as we're seeing, that requirement is wide-open to abuse by people who want to deny the less fortunate the right to cast their ballots.