Letter: Keep votes from being stolen

Letter: Keep votes from being stolen



Lois Troxell
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 09/22/08


Editor: In a classic example of double-speak, the 2002 "Help America Vote Act" requires states to reject voters whose identity can't be verified by state verification databases. According to the Brennan Center of the New York University Law School, Republican secretaries of state blocked one in three new voters in 2004. Do you think that felons and non-citizens are trying to register to vote, or is something wrong with the databases?

In 2004, the Republican National Committee used "caging lists" to determine who to challenge on election day -- most were black and Jewish voters. More than 3.5 million voters were challenged and nearly half lost their vote. Many were given provisional ballots that were thrown away. U.S. Election Commission statistics in 2004 show that more than 3.6 million votes were not counted because of "spoilage." This included hung chads, stray marks, and voting machine problems.

U.S. Civil Rights Commission statistics found that compared with whites, black ballot spoilage is 900 percent higher and Hispanics, 500 percent higher. These practices have occurred multiple times in south and west Florida, Texas, New Mexico, California, and Ohio, important states in the next election.

It is estimated that 5 percent of all votes "disappeared."

The only way that Democrats can counter the bleeding away of votes from Democratic precincts is to get at least 56 percent of the total vote.

The issues should make citizens register and vote and get their neighbors out.

Appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court alone should motivate someone to vote.

No matter what effort it takes, no one's vote should be stolen.

Lois Troxell

St. Augustine


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