[VoteRescue] Voter Purging on CBS Evening News (National) TONIGHT at 5:30 PM CST

Wed Oct 1 09:26:04 CDT 2008

Widespread voter purging from the registration rolls is happening in 
epidemic proportions this election season throughout the country and the 
story has /finally/ reached (or been allowed to be covered by) the MSM 
at the eleventh hour.  Tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric 
(5:30 pm CST), the Brennan Justice Center will be featured because of 
the release today of their new report called /Voter Purges/. (See below 
for details.)

Removing deceased or inactive voters from the voting registration rolls 
happens on a regular basis in counties across the country as a "normal" 
step in the process of elections, but over the last eight years, it has 
been developed into a new tool for voter /suppression/. And now that all 
the states have electronic voter registration databases - as mandated by 
the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) - overzealous purging is fast becoming 
the norm, it seems. Investigative reporter /extraordinaire/, Greg 
Palast, was the first to break the story about the 50,000+ voters 
wrongfully purged from the Florida voter rolls in 2000 to suppress the 
vote in minority communities. In that case, the names of voters in 
Florida were loosely cross-referenced to a national felon list, and if 
any part of their name came close to the felons name, the voter was 
struck from the voter roll. Oh, and it helped if the race of the voter 
was black. This is just one of several ways to effect a purge. As 
another example, people foreclosing on their homes in Michigan have also 
been targeted.

*EVERYONE SHOULD CHECK THEIR VOTER REGISTRATION STATUS _TODAY_!  The 
deadline for correcting mistakes and registering here in Texas is this 
coming Monday, October 6.*  To check, call or go online to your county 
clerk's office (in Texas, however, it's /typically/ the tax assessor's 
office that handles the voter registration records). The TX Secretary of 
State's website can also get you to the right place to check.

So, watch the CBS Evening News tonight at 5:30 pm CST for what we hope 
will be a /decent/ sound-byte report on purging.

/~//VoteRescue/*

From:* *Michael Waldman, Executive Director - Brennan Center for 
Justice* <mailto:michael.waldman at nyu.edu>

www.brennancenter/093F226B.png 
<http://www.brennancenter.org/page/m/6fa0795ad2ec0d89/Wm790u/VEsH/>
www.brennancenter/4A7356BA.png <http://www.brennancenter.org/donate>
Dear Mark,

I want to let you know about an important new report we will release 
today,/ Voter Purges/. At 6:30pm (EST) tonight, we expect the Brennan 
Center to appear on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric for the first 
discussion of this practice. You can find the text of the report on our 
web site shortly before the broadcast (www.brennancenter.org 
<http://www.brennancenter.org/page/m/6fa0795ad2ec0d89/JpQaJF/VEsF/>).

We studied the way officials keep voter lists in 12 states. Here's what 
we found: election officials across the country are routinely striking 
millions of voters from the rolls through a process that is shrouded in 
secrecy, prone to error, and vulnerable to manipulation.

There really are no effective national standards to govern voter purges, 
and the result is an often chaotic, whimsical approach to the 
maintenance of voter rolls. Americans across the country lack basic 
protections against erroneous purges, and may show up to the polls only 
to find that they cannot vote.

We need to do more to pry the lid of secrecy off these voter purges. 
Tomorrow, the Brennan Center, along with the Lawyers' Committee for 
Civil Rights Under Law, will file public record requests in 12 states, 
demanding that officials tell the public how they conduct purges -- and 
who has been removed from the rolls.

This is just one way the Brennan Center is working to ensure that this 
election is fair and accurate. Our work in 2008 has ranged from lawsuits 
to protect nonpartisan voter registration drives 
<http://www.brennancenter.org/page/m/6fa0795ad2ec0d89/4MAShy/VEsC/>, to 
a state-of-the-art Legal Guide to Student Voting 
<http://www.brennancenter.org/page/m/6fa0795ad2ec0d89/jpTVE9/VEsD/>, to 
a pathbreaking study on ballot design 
<http://www.brennancenter.org/page/m/6fa0795ad2ec0d89/jCj2ts/VEsA/> that 
has been used by hundreds of counties across the country. We are 
determined that in this critical election year, every American who wants 
to register can register, can vote, and can be assured their vote will 
be properly counted.

We hope we can count on your continued support in this critical election 
season. To help these critical efforts, click here 
<http://www.brennancenter.org/donate>.
 signature
Sincerely,
Michael Waldman
Executive Director
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

www.brennancenter/144775C8.png

/The Brennan Center for Justice, a 501(c)3 organization, takes pride in 
our careful stewardship of your contributions, which are tax-deductible 
to the fullest extent permissible by law. An audited financial report is 
available upon request./
*Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law | 161 Avenue of the 
Americas, 12th Floor | New York, NY 10013 | 212.998.6730 phone | 
212.995.4550 fax | brennancenter at nyu.edu*
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