Thousands Face Voter Registration Mix-Ups

Washington Post: In New Databases, Many Are Wrongly Flagged As Ineligible

(Washington Post)  This story was written by Mary Pat Flaherty.

Thousands of voters across the country must reestablish their eligibility in the next three weeks in order for their votes to count on Nov. 4, a result of new state registration systems that are incorrectly rejecting them.

The challenges have led to a dozen lawsuits, testy arguments among state officials and escalating partisan battles. Because many voters may not know that their names have been flagged, eligibility questions could cause added confusion on Election Day, beyond the delays that may come with a huge turnout.

The scramble to verify voter registrations is happening as states switch from locally managed lists of voters to statewide databases, a change required by federal law and hailed by many as a more efficient and accurate way to keep lists up to date.

But in the transition, the systems are questioning the registrations of many voters when discrepancies surface between their registration information and other official records, often because of errors outside voters' control.

The issue made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which yesterday blocked a challenge to 200,000 Ohio voters whose registration data conflicted with other state records.

It is impossible to know how many voters are affected nationwide. There are no reports of large-scale problems in Virginia, Maryland or the District, but the trouble is cropping up in many states.

In Alabama, scores of voters are being labeled as convicted felons on the basis of incorrect lists.

Michigan must restore thousands of names it illegally removed from voter rolls over residency questions, a judge ruled this week.

Tens of thousands of voters could be affected in Wisconsin. Officials there admit that their database is wrong one out of five times when it flags voters, sometimes for data discrepancies as small as a middle initial or a typo in a birth date. When the six members of the state elections board -- all retired judges -- ran their registrations through the system, four were incorrectly rejected because of mismatches.

As the gateway to voting, the new registration lists have become the focus of attention from many fronts, including voting rights advocates, officials concerned about fraud and political campaigns looking for an advantage.

It is "this season's big issue," said Wendy R. Weiser, who directs voting rights projects for the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's School of Law, noting that efforts to keep names off the lists are "a new trend, not in the majority of states but in the battleground states."

The changes stem from the Help America Vote Act, passed by Congress in 2002 in the aftermath of the deadlocked presidential race two years earlier. The law provided millions of dollars for states to upgrade voting equipment and procedures, and to create the centralized databases, which allow voters in most states to check their registrations and polling places on the Internet.

The electronic lists have been coming online gradually, and for 31 states, this will be the first time they are used in a presidential election.

As the databases are implemented, voters' names and other information are verified against state driver's license records or Social Security records to determine their eligibility. Federal law allows each state to decide what constitutes a match -- whether it will accept nicknames, for example.

But states are not using "the best scientific knowledge known today" when they verify the information, said Herbert Lin, who is studying the issue for the federal Election Assistance Commission, which oversees election reforms.

By federal law, anyone whose name is flagged must be notified and given a chance to prove his or her eligibility. But voting rights experts say voters are not always alerted, and even if they are, some may decide to simply skip the election. If questions about eligibility remain on Election Day, those voters are entitled to cast a "provisional" ballot. But which of those ballots are ultimately counted depends on local and state rules.

Several of the battles over registration lists have taken on a partisan tinge, including in Montana, where a state GOP official challenged nearly 6,000 voters over apparent discrepancies in their addresses. He dropped his challenge after Democrats went to court, but not before one county sent letters to hundreds of voters informing them that their registrations were in jeopardy. Now the county is trying to let them know they are eligible to cast ballots after all.

The Republicans filed the case "with the express intent to disenfranchise voters," a federal judge said.

[slayrre007]

None of this matters. Once Barack Obama, as Commander-In-Chief, is given our countries top military secrets... he will find a way to give the information to his "brothers" in the middle east. This country has lost its identity as Americans in their efforts to prove, even at the risk of threatening the security of this country, that a black man can become elected President. How soon Americans everywhere forget how unprepared we were for 9/11. Intellectually we could not accept the real danger of such an attack. Now we are unprepared to accept the realistic threat that the next attack to destroy America will come from within....that threat is Barack Obama. He will be the catalyst to the fall of America.

[hjedtyj]

Obama may win in November because of the following...

the media is supporting him and not reporting negative stories about him with examples including....

his criminal associate Tony Rezko''s jail sentencing scheduled for October 28 or 29 the same time Obama bought half hour tv time with CBS and NBC...

a few networks/media outlets have deliberately oversampled african americans to give Obama the mistaken edge in polls for months...

Obama''s flip flopping on campaign finance law where he decides to change his mind to accept private donations and allowing Bush/Cheney to wiretap americans while giving phone companies immunity with FISA laws for political expediency...

no surprise Powell endorses Obama since he revealed he was already excited about his candidancy in the spring as a african american....dunno why it is a big deal when it has been revealed that Powell lied about Iraq''s WMD in 2003 to promote the war at the UN and lost credibility....

[irmcvet97]

With help from terrorists friends, Obama raised 150 million dollars in Aug.

Posted by mr22585 at 11:48 AM : Oct 19, 2008

Who would be the "terrorists" you disgusting little person?! You aren''t just disgusting you are PLAIN Un-American!! I and so many like me gave Money to this man and he raised ONE HELLL of a LOT!! What is it now.. almost 2 Million American''s have contributed to his Campaign. Blew away the old record a LONG time ago. IF I were you? I''d be looking for that Rock! YOU are going to need it!!

[irmcvet97]

If there is ANY doubt in YOUR mind that a problem could exist get an Absentee Ballot or Vote Early! Don''t let ANYONE take away your right to vote. OF ALL the Rights we have NONE matter if you give up YOUR right to VOTE!!

[sandy19731]

Come on America!
Let''s put smart people in charge of this. I don''t want to have a beer with my doctor, I want him/her to know the hell what they''re doing.

[Stratmaster7]

America waits for one True Amerian Hero to expose the truth and end Obama''''s campaign.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by mr22585 at 10:57 AM :

mr, all you ever do is post smears, innuendo and lies. People like you who would do such a thing while our country s at a crossroads, with all f the critical isues we have to face, are traitors. Purely and simply treasonous.

[sandy777-2009]

repubs desperate to continue their dictatorship of america. they rigged the last 2 elections and disenfranchised voters to put the shrub in. repubs are so desperate they will do anything to gain control. I got news for the repubs....they will lose this election. Obama/Biden08 will win by a landslide!!

[truthpig]

Some things I''''ve learned from this election season...

-If you are NOT a Democrat, Hollywood hates you
-If you are from the south, Democrats hate you
-Paying taxes is "patriotic"
-Being "cool" qualifies you to be president
-Your past only matters if you are a Republican
-The media pulls the strings
-If you question anything, you''''re a racist
-Dems get a pass on everything, even voter fraud

AND...

This country is screwed.


Anyone care to add anything?

[sandy777-2009]

repubs desperate to continue their dictatorship of america. they rigged the last 2 elections and disenfranchised voters to put the shrub in. repubs are so desperate they will do anything to gain control. I got news for the repubs....they will lose this election. Obama/Biden08 will win by a landslide!!

[tannerbird]

All the money that the republicans have stolen in the last 8yrs they want to keep it. come on give some of it to PALIN TO TAKE BACK TO ALASKA so she will have some beer money.

[tannerbird]

If the republicans do not stop there bullshi! there may be a civil war not north and south and they may not be many of the republicans left. If McCain and Palin do not win it will be like the Jim Jones thing all over i hope.

[asteroi06]

lets see..cowards..johnny turncoat...george bush...dickie cheney..rush "i got a boil" limburger
great people

[wdrussell1]

The Dems have finally been able to raise more money that the GOPers.
Listen to the GOPers whine.

[tannerbird]

wntrpls he is not unknown it is that McCain is known for a no good person.

[tannerbird]

Well there is only one way to look at this someone will loose just guess who?

[runningralph]

This article clearly illustrates is ineptitude of government in administering a program. The bigger the government the more inept. Government should confined to military, law enforcement, national parks, interstate highways, foreign relations. When the federal government gets into housing, banking, welfare, medical treatment, voter registration, confusion will bring more confusion. Contempt more contempt.

[Stratmaster7]

Posted by robert2237 at 07:32 AM

wow. That is some real interesting logic. It is always the GOP trying to knock voters off the rolls and the Dems have to fight and sue to get people put back on. why is it that the GOP doesn''t want the average citizen voting? From the sounds of this, I am probably not going to get my vote counted. I have a last name that is difficult to spell and I discovered it is misspelled on my registration card. If they try to make that an issue I am goig to raise hell to every elected official, every related governmental agency, and every newspaper in the area. The GOP over the last 10 years have descended into despicable and criminal behavior.

[grumpas]

WAKE UP!!!! HOW DID AN UNKNOWN LIKE OBAMA raise 150 million in one month , yet telling us people are having a hard time paying their mortgages. CAN YOU SAY MIDDLE EAST DONATIONS.

Posted by wntrpls

More dirty Republican scare tactic''s!!! Most American''s with a brain in their head can see how dangerous the McCain/Palin ticket is! A Senile old man on his last leg and a extremist! I won''t call her a terrorist even though I think she is one. Obama doesn''t have to accept MIDDLE EAST DONATIONS. There are plenty of us here supporting his candidacy. Even hard nose Republican''s are starting to cross over to the other side. They are as terrified of another fascist Republican administration as the rest of us are. We can''t afford 4 more years of this national nightmare.

[wntrpls]

WAKE UP!!!! HOW DID AN UNKNOWN LIKE OBAMA raise 150 million in one month , yet telling us people are having a hard time paying their mortgages. CAN YOU SAY MIDDLE EAST DONATIONS. SEE THE VIDEO of Kadaphi. Show this to every american.

http://www.worldnetdaily.c
om/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78309

[wntrpls]

WAKE UP!!!! HOW DID AN UNKNOWN LIKE OBAMA raise 150 million in one month , yet telling us people are having a hard time paying their mortgages. CAN YOU SAY MIDDLE EAST DONATIONS.

http://www.worldnetdaily.c
om/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78309