Alabama GOP Threats Halt Historic Voter Registration Drive
By Steve Hynd Saturday Sep 20, 2008 11:00am
Down in Alabama, you don't lose your vote if convicted of a felony unless it's for a crime of "moral turpitude' - and simple drug possession doesn't fall into that category. Which means somewhere around 50,000 Alabamans are allowed to vote and maybe don't know it - including about 6 - 7,000 still in prison.
The Ordinary People's Society and their national partner the Drug Policy Alliance had been working in the prisons, registering voters with the full support of the Alabama Department of Corrections - until...
Alabama Prisons Commissioner Richard Allen stopped a voter registration drive for inmates Thursday under pressure from the Alabama Republican Party.
In a letter to state Republican Party Chairman Mike Hubbard, Allen said individuals conducting the program "were not doing anything for the inmates that they could not do themselves by simply contacting the Secretary of State's Office for the voter registration postcard."
Still, Allen said he decided to stop the drive because of a section in the state code that prohibits using state-owned property to promote or advance candidates for election.
"While it is not clear that assisting voters to register would violate those provisions, I cannot expose departmental employees to that possibility," he wrote.
... Allen's letter to Hubbard was in response to one the chairman e-mailed him earlier in the day, saying the GOP supports the idea of registering more people to vote, but not when it comes to prisoners.
"Furthermore, I have concerns about potential issues with how this effort is being monitored to ensure no form of voter fraud occurs," wrote Hubbard, who is also minority leader of the Alabama House, which votes on the prison system's budget.
Of course, the subtext here is "stop, or we'll vote to cut your budget". Meanwhile, the State AG is trying to get the whole law overturned and ban everyone convicted of a felony from voting.
But we're not talking about murderers, rapists and violent criminals here - we're talking about tens of thousands convicted of a simple possession charge who have stayed clean thereafter. Trouble is, those folk don't usually vote Republican.
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The Idiots Are Taking Over
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw49mm-CmNo
Looks like the Repugs are making sure that the election is stolen again.
The idiots have already taken over, that's why we're trying to get the biggest one out of the White House right now!
What would happen if the Democratic Party just sent a registration form to all prisoners? Or maybe an independent effort from folks like us. We could just pick one out as a pen pal and throw the form into the envelope.
John McCain NOPE
Lincoln should have let the south go when he had the chance.
I'm actually quite astounded that Alabama does not automatically strip a felon of his/her voting rights like most states! Who'd have thought they were so progressive?
fastfeat @ 6:
Apparently Alabama used to be quite the progressive state (except on issues of race of course).
Mark @ News Corpse @ 4:
Part of the problem is that the type of mail allowed in (and out) of correctional facilities varies WIDELY from county to county, state to state. (Trust me, I have firsthand experience here...) Some places allow envelopes, others don't. Some allow ink to be used, others only pencils. Many do not allow stamped mail.
I don't know the specifics of Alabama. I suggest contacting someone at an Alabama ACLU office. They could probably help navigate this.
One of the biggest crimes that is committed in the U.S. is voter suppression. Put those guilty of this crime in prison.
Alabama flies a treasonous rag over their capital building. Of course they hate freedom and most americans that don't fit their narrow band of "confederate inspired fascism". Lincoln should have taken care of these people a long time ago....
fastfeat @ 8:
I'm sure that they allow relgion in jail. There has to be some kind of a religious organization that can do something to help register voters. Can't the black churches do something?
No Image Change; Then What
You tell me. What is rehabilitation?. As important as voting is to self esteem, the Republican Party is right there putting Party first. It is a sad state of affairs to work against a prison's core goal to give inmates a different image from the criminal one that got them in prison.
For most of us, being able to vote for the first time was a positive self identifying event. The proud feeling associated with the event can be a start to the change needed to make a difference in our prisons.
So, where is the MSM? This is the first time I have heard about this issue. Does this mean this issue will quietly do the Republicans dirty work and we hear about it afterwords? I hope not.
Joseph
Ron @ 9:
Agreed...and while we're at it...make Ala. AG resign & turn himself in...
Mmmmmmm. Severed hands.
When registering new people to vote, legally you cannot influence or try and persuade those being registered to vote one way or the other. If this law holds in Alabama, and the accusation is made that there is a concerted effort to sway newly registered voters, than oversight by those in charge is all that is necessary for this program to continue. Ending this was never necessary.
The simple case to be made is these prisoners are being denied their rights, and this sector of the population is obviously vulnerable because they rely on external support.
One way to fix this is for the Alabama Democratic Party to mail out flyers to all these prisoners with registration forms. The problem with that idea is you can scrap alot of these same people saying their forms did not arrive in time for approval. I hope this is challenged but time is running short.
Joel @ 13:
He should really come out of the closet too.
Joseph @ 12:
As someone who has done time, believe me when I say that every little piece of contact with the outside world is cherished-- a letter from
anyone, a visit from your despised ex, five dollars on your books.The ability to VOTE?! Jesus Christ, people would be practically rioting!
Before I threw the brick through my receiver today, NPR (never forget, you cannot spell "RePublicaN" without NPR) was interviewing the AG of Wisconsin, some fucking Puke, who wa REALLY WORRIED about vote fraud. That feculent, passive, bovine bint who conducted the interview never mentioned the interference GOPuke officials had committed in 04 to steal the whole fucking election...
17:
should have read:
"...a letter from anyone...
Mike In Milwaukee @ 10:
that's why pennsylvania's considered 'iffy': Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Alabama in between...
Who would vote for your jailer? Everyone knows that having someone tell you what you can and cannot consume is fairly retarded anyways, but to go to the point of putting people in jail who do?
Thats retarded. IN addition to punish people for a medication (Marijuana is now officially a medicine) is inhumane. So instead of protecting the cancer sellers, trying to protect and serve the people...
Off topic, but vitally important!
I posted this last night but not enough people saw it, so I'm re-positing it now.
Joe, John, Chris- please highlight this!
Bush's economic bailout bill is another scam- another money grab. Think Patriot Act! This time our hapless Dems can't say they didn't have time to read the bill- we need to be all over this faxing our outrage over this bill. Please read this now and share with everyone you know- post it on all the blogs you frequent and get the word out. Then write your Senators and Congresscritters PRONTO!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/20/153952/...
A commentor gave this sample letter he sent that you can use- faxing it seems to get more attention:
Dear Senator XXXXXX:
I am writing in very deep concern over the Wall Street Bailout Act, currently entitled as "LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS".
This is, to say the least, a deeply troubling bill. Specifically:
There is little to no oversight. Furthermore, section 8 ensures that any oversight is crippled from the start, as it states, and I quote from the text of the act: "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."
The floating amount controlled by the Secretary of the Treasury is $700B is effectively a blank check as there is no hard limit.
It appears that the power of the Secretary extends to no-bid contracts.
It provides no restoration of the provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act, modernized or otherwise, that were stripped away by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. It does absolutely nothing to change the fundamental problems that led us to this situation.
I strongly urge you to vote against this bill. I know that we need to prevent the complete disintegration of our economy, but this is not the solution. This is a blank check to the executive; it is the abdication of the financial powers granted to the legislative branch in Article 1, Section 8 of the constitution.
Sincerely,
woody, tokin librul @ 18:
The right wingers are all "very concerned" about voter fraud, i.e. people voting twice, under assumed names, ect. - never mind the fact that there were only 28 actual proven cases of voter fraud in the last election.
Voter disenfranchisement, or preventing citizens from exercising their right their vote, on the other hand, is an integral part of the GOP electoral platform.
Here is some education on how these people run or ruin elections...
Our Brand is Crisis ~ Tad Devine, James Carville, and Bob Shrum fucking it up in Bolivia.
George Clooney is in talks to remake this 2006 documentary.
How the U.S. tried to influence the politics and elections in Venezuela...
The Revolution will not be Televised.
How Henry Kissinger fucked up the election process in Chile back in the day and set the tone...
The Secret Trials of Henry Kissinger
WAKE UP. Hurry up and learn this stuff and spread it before its too late as well.
"But we’re not talking about murderers, rapists and violent criminals here - we’re talking about tens of thousands convicted of a simple possession charge who have stayed clean thereafter. Trouble is, those folk don’t usually vote Republican." (emphasis mine - k.)
Finally, one of the most damaging aspects of the DrugWar is being addressed...albeit about 30 years late. The fact that the DrugWar is overwhelmingly destructive to the political efficacy of non-Whites...who, arguably were and always have been its' main targets.
It should come as no surprise that it has been the Republicans who have been the greatest proponents of ever more punitive drug laws; the benefit to the Republican base of winnowing the Democratic one of the only real advantage it has - sheer numbers amongst minorities - should be obvious.
What is not so obvious is why Democrats, even when they controlled the House and Senate before, continually voted for, and in some legislation packages increased the penalties the Republicans were demanding (like the disparities in the laws regarding sentencing for crack cocaine as opposed to the regular kind). Such tendencies led to the ability of Republicans in key states like Florida in the 2000 Election to exclude many voters who could have made a critical difference, voting machine chicanery notwithstanding. Which has saddled us with the nightmare Reign of King Georgie the Lesser.
Continuing political support for the DrugWar as it stands today is a sure recipe for future political suicide on the part of the Dems, as the number of its' base suffers political (not to mention social and economic!) attrition courtesy of felony voter disenfranchisement. To fail to address how this cancer of a DrugWar has eaten away at the body politic ensures its' becoming metastasized.
After all, if Mr. Obama hadn't been as lucky as he'd been in not being sucked into the maw of the justice system courtesy of his admitted drug use, he wouldn't be on the verge of becoming Prez, now would he?
Hmmm..... So absolutely nothing that's done on state-owned property--like, say, the Governor's Mansion?--can be used to promote or advance any candidates for election?
You just opened a mighty big door there, Mr. Allen!
One last thing: how many politically aware cannabis users do you think there are in the country? How many of them are naturally inclined to vote Democratic? How many of them won't because the laws that they have suffered from for years were voted into existence because Democratic pols refused to stand up to lies and propaganda told about cannabis by Republicans?
Cannabis users cross almost all demographic boundaries; a voting bloc that potentially contains scores of millions. All waiting for a pol with the guts to stand up to the lies and change the laws. Millions, some of whom have smelled the breath of tyranny in their faces courtesy of paramilitarized police, and were warning of how corrosive that DrugWar sired police power would become to our civil liberties long before it became fashionable during Georgie's Reign of/on Terra.
Drug Law reformers saw where this was heading long ago, and sounded the alarm...and were patted on the head and told not to bother the wise men who were trying to save the kiddies form drugs. The laws those supposed 'wise men' crafted gave ever more power to the forces of authoritarianism, and the PATRIOT Act and other abominations are the direct lineal descendants of those laws.
Those who've been hurt by those laws see no point in supporting a party that continues to take part in their oppression and political emasculation. They've already been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency; they've been living with the results of that for decades...and some have been dying from it. They're already in the civil liberties rendering stew-pot that the rest of the country is free-falling into. As it will continue to do, so long as those rights-destroying drug laws are left on the books.
Let's see how serious people are about 'change'; talk about getting rid of the present day drug laws in favor of something more sensible, and then all those who've been shut out of the system - and therefore have no interest in it's continued survival since they've already been marginalized - will have reason to participate again.
Otherwise, that stew-pot is gonna get crowded, real soon...
Yet somehow, Alabama Republicans can vote. I don't think Alabama is in play at this stage, but that doesn't make it any less dirty.
woody, tokin librul @ 18:
(Republican-JB VanHollen) is AG here in WI. He was meeting with top republican officials 1 week before filing lawsuit against the election authority. He is a partisan hack who wraps himself up in the maverick flag. Our talk radio here is infested with nothing but talk of voter fraud. Every 4 years it's the same......
Better not let Troy King vote then if "Moral Turpitude" is a problem.
Alabama Attorney General Troy King Caught in Gay Sex Scandal
Floridiot @ 30:
Why, who'd have suspected that???
It's way past time that the United States of America be required to have international monitors to ensure the fairness and validity of American elections because we're fast approaching 3rd world status.
Rico @ 32:
I've said it here before--"Bring 'em on!!"
Truly, can we ask for assistance here?
it's all part of the Republican dream - Freedom of Suppress.
and don't think that Reagan's corpse hasn't been having a perpetual orgasm for the past two weeks, all this hell and the crapping on the American people is the sum total of Reagan's wet dreams from the 80's. The only thing good about what is happening now is maybe enough people will learn about what is going on and it will bring an end to the Bullshit Republican Agenda.
Pams House Blend has all the Troy King goodies including when McCain scrubbed him.
I know that there are people in the south who have intelligence. It is obvious that they are not in charge of the South. The morons took over those states.
Michigan Repugs are attempting to bar foreclosed homeowners from voting as well.
Okay, I know this shouldn't matter, but as usual it is the Republicans who are uninformed and hurting themselves: political science studies have repeatedly shown that felons vote 2 to 1 conservative.
There was also a study done once on serial killers that showed that virtually all serial killers vote Republican. I don't remember the citations because it was sometime ago.
Hmmm. People being punished under laws that they are forbidden from affecting through the political process.
Sounds like totalitarianism to me.
Sara @ 22:
This is, as Sara's words impliedly express, extremely troubling to the point of some action. I will convey it to my blue dog senator and hope something sparks. After all, he is a lawyer.
The court and in particularly the Federal Courts are the only, only semblance of a citizens review of illegal and unconstitutional governmental action left but gravely threatened. Maybe the new control thought method being persued by the controllers holds that the very idea of court review as as quaint but outdated notion. Democracy is the last step in the decay of government and maybe the demise of the "American" experiment in Democracy is over.
But, we have been fighting occupation for centuries in this part of the world and that translates into some fight left for me for the sake of my grandchildren.
It seems to me that this whole question of whether to vote for Obama or not by doomsayers among us to those who think by not voting adequately expresses their voice can be answered by a simple act. But it takes a different way of looking at why should we vote for Obaman. In other words we have nothing to lose and everything to gain in terms of seeing objective evidence that your vote, not necessarily exercised to support Obama but to see if we could disprove the conventional wisdom that a black man can be president. If enough concerted effort can cause it, then that is a measure of strentgh of those of us who believe, truly, that the less government in our lives the better. If we don't get the first black man elected, then at least we still see, in an objective and verifiable manner, that some phenomena caused a totally unexpected outpouring of protester voters. Limbaugh proudly proclaimed responsibility for causing voter protest votes for the Democrat candidates during the primary. He flaunted his disobedience to potentially applicable state laws defining such voting as illegal. Well, we can do so and call it civil disobedience if you will.
The question you have to decide is not whether or not you are voting for Obama as it is voting against continued republican control.
Statistics have demonstrated that Republicans win when voter turnout is suppressed or depressed. They will do whatever it takes and whatever they can do to ensure that the least amount of people possible vote. This is how they win elections.
It is clearly obvious to any patriotic American that that are current security crisis and threat condition requires that those voters currently registered as republicans will have to have their vote detained temporarily for purposes of verification and citizenship status, until such verifications can be completed to a level that insures public safety and no voter fraud.
I'm sorry republicans, due to the fradulent nature of these your past choices and your new choices, your registrations must be challenged because of your suspect citizenship, and we do not have a way the voters can be absolutely sure that they are you not commiting voter fraud, so we can not let you vote this time. But feel free to apply next time. We will have a system in place then to insure that you get a chance to vote.
We are not suggesting taking away your right to vote, but the country is at war and we are just making sure that fundamentalist fascist terrorists don't spoil this election and do damage to our country,
like they did in 2000 and 2004.
Go, Broncos!! Maybe some mile-high Hope Magic gets this game convincingly!
republicans are criminals none of them should be allowed to vote.
They are of low intelligence and even lower in integrity, and honesty these criminals in the republican party need to be stopped by any means possible.
Where is Lee Harvey Oswald when you really need him?
We need some real patriots now.
can the prisoners sue.
Gregg @ 42:
Lets do it. Or like larry the cable guy says get er done!
Commentator @ 7:
Probably a lot of the politicians down there wanted their relatives to be able to vote in the next election.
Someone needs to ask Republican Alabama Attorney General Troy (McCain's former state campaign manager) ifthis will have an effect on him and his male lover ATG employee his wife caught him in bed with 4 months ago.
Did I mention that King was elected 2 years ago with 72% if the votes on his campaign platofrm of, "FAMILY VALUES: ANTI-GAY", with a slogan of "God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve". SouthernBaptist Sunday Scholol Teacher HYPOCRITE!
IN my opinoin, the entrire GOP (from the White House to the Out-House) is a movment to be feared. I fear our Democracy is about to taken over with these hypocrites.
Google; "Troy King Sex Scandle".....and "GOP Sex Scandles"
Remind me why we're locking people up for drug possession in the first place?
The state's AG needs to file charges against the Alabama GOP for attempting to tamper with the election, for violation of the votingrights act and for attempts to extort the state government.
It's long past time to recognize these GOPer attempts to disenfranchise massive swaths of our popluation as the crime and the criminal conspiracy that it is. The people who have cooked up this top-down orchestrated scam need to be spending many year in had time prison.
It only shows that the stakes are high and the GOP is very desperate.
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