Michigan GOP aims to keep foreclosure victims from polls

[Bob Juch]

Barack Obama’s campaign and the Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Tuesday to stop Michigan Republicans from implementing what Democrats called an “ugly” and “horrific” plan to prevent homeowners who face foreclosure from voting.

The suit aims to prevent anyone whose address appears on a list of foreclosed properties from being challenged on their ability to vote for that reason alone.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/16 ... rom-polls/

[danielh41]

Sounds like a he said-he said bunch of bickering on a local level to me.

[flockofseagulls104]

Barack Obama’s campaign and the Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Tuesday to stop Michigan Republicans from implementing what Democrats called an “ugly” and “horrific” plan to prevent homeowners who face foreclosure from voting.

The suit aims to prevent anyone whose address appears on a list of foreclosed properties from being challenged on their ability to vote for that reason alone.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/16 ... rom-polls/

Sounds like more smear campaign tactics from the Democrats to me. Or do we take whatever comes from the Obama campaign as ultimate truth?

[Kazoo65]

Geez, the GOP will do almost ANYTHING to win Michigan (and it's a close race)-a Republican candidate hasn't carried our state in 20 years.

I bet this gets thrown out on the grounds that it sounds discriminatory. Just because your house has been foreclosed shouldn't mean you aren't allowed to vote for the candidate of your choice. How would this work? I can't imagine the poll workers taking the extra time to double check everybody's address against a list of foreclosed properties-they've got enough to do as it is. In other words, this is a BAD idea.

[silvercamaro]

I would think that the Republicans would be sufficiently happy if dead Democrats would stop voting.

[peacock2121]

I would think that the Republicans would be sufficiently happy if dead Democrats would stop voting.

Some how, from Uday this is funny and doesn't piss me off.

[TheCalvinator24]

If somebody appears on a foreclosure list, then it seems perfectly reasonable to ask that somebody to show some proof that the said somebody still lives in the voting precinct. In Texas, Election Judges and Clerks are supposed to ask if the voter has moved from the address on the Voters' Registration Card. If the voter has, the Judge or Clerk is supposed o ascertain if the person still can vote a full ballot in the precinct. If the voter merely moved to another address in the same precinct, the voter may vote a full ballot. In all cases, if the voter still lives in the County, the voter may vote a limited ballot (President, State-Wide races, County-wide races). If the voter has moved to a different county, that voter is no longer permitted to vote in the first county.

The Foreclosure list would simply provide Election Judges and Clerks with one more tool to ensure that only people who should be voting at that location do.

[TheConfessor]

I would think that the Republicans would be sufficiently happy if dead Democrats would stop voting.

You don't explain or document what your comment is based on, but in Texas, there are more dead Republican voters than dead Democrat voters. Votes from dead voters are perfectly legal and are counted every year, as long as the dead person was still alive when the polls opened for early voting, a few weeks before Election Day. This benefits Republicans more than Democrats because there are more of them, and they tend to be older and closer to death than the Democrats.

[AnnieCamaro]

You don't explain or document what your comment is based on, but in Texas, there are more dead Republican voters than dead Democrat voters.

My comment was based on having lived in Chicago, where some voters may cast a ballot, and perhaps more than one, in every election for decades after their respective burials. I have no problem with counting votes for anybody who sends in an absentee ballot, then passes away before election day, so long as it happens in that order and they vote and pass away only once.


[Edited to note that Silver wrote this, not Annie. She must have signed in while I was fixing her dinner. I do not represent nor know her position on voting restrictions for the non-breathing or politics in general.]

[NellyLunatic1980]

I would think that the Republicans would be sufficiently happy if dead Democrats would stop voting.

Dead people vote only in New York, Chicago, and Florida.

[kayrharris]

Geez, the GOP will do almost ANYTHING to win Michigan (and it's a close race)-a Republican candidate hasn't carried our state in 20 years.

I bet this gets thrown out on the grounds that it sounds discriminatory. Just because your house has been foreclosed shouldn't mean you aren't allowed to vote for the candidate of your choice. How would this work? I can't imagine the poll workers taking the extra time to double check everybody's address against a list of foreclosed properties-they've got enough to do as it is. In other words, this is a BAD idea.

Kazoo, don't believe everything you read here...please! Especially when the thread is begun by certain people.

[MarleysGh0st]

[Edited to note that Silver wrote this, not Annie. She must have signed in while I was fixing her dinner. I do not represent nor know her position on voting restrictions for the non-breathing or politics in general.]

She might have some strong words against denying the vote to four-footers!

[NellyLunatic1980]

Barack Obama’s campaign and the Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Tuesday to stop Michigan Republicans from implementing what Democrats called an “ugly” and “horrific” plan to prevent homeowners who face foreclosure from voting.

The suit aims to prevent anyone whose address appears on a list of foreclosed properties from being challenged on their ability to vote for that reason alone.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/16 ... rom-polls/

It just occured to me: What if the majority of people in Michigan with foreclosed homes who are turned away from the polls happen to be Republicans? Foreclosure has no political affiliation. It's possible... and it would be a delicious bit of irony. Oh, to see the day when the GOP's disenfranchisement and voter suppression tactics backfire...

[earendel]

Barack Obama’s campaign and the Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Tuesday to stop Michigan Republicans from implementing what Democrats called an “ugly” and “horrific” plan to prevent homeowners who face foreclosure from voting.

The suit aims to prevent anyone whose address appears on a list of foreclosed properties from being challenged on their ability to vote for that reason alone.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/16 ... rom-polls/

It just occured to me: What if the majority of people in Michigan with foreclosed homes who are turned away from the polls happen to be Republicans? Foreclosure has no political affiliation. It's possible... and it would be a delicious bit of irony. Oh, to see the day when the GOP's disenfranchisement and voter suppression tactics backfire...

Disclaimer: I don't know if this is really happening; my comments are based on the hypothetical possibility that it is true.

Possible, but not likely. I suspect the Michigan GOP suspects that most of those caught up in the foreclosure debacle are poor and/or African-American, both groups of which are more likely to support the Democratic candidate.