NATIONAL 'GUARANTEE YOUR VOTE' DAY

[norepubsin08]

NATIONAL 'GUARANTEE YOUR VOTE' DAY

Little do they know, tens of thousands of voters across the country have had their names purged from voter files. Most will not find this out until Election Day on November 4th, when it will be too late to re-register to vote in the crucial 2008 presidential election. Dozens of advocacy groups, organizations and elected officials are calling for voters across the country to check with their state auditors or county elections officials on October 1st to make sure that they are still eligible to vote.

The cornerstone of democracy is the right to vote, yet millions of Americans may have their rights suppressed as mettlesome election officials are bending and breaking election laws to deny a vote to newly registered voters and those in large Hispanic and African-American communities. Just recently:

---Republican party officials in Michigan plan on challenging the voting rights of those who have had their homes put in foreclosure of which 60% are African-American.

---300,000 folks in New Jersey who thought they were registered, are not. Either they have had their names purged from the rolls or their registrations were never entered in the first place.

---Wisconsin's Attorney General, a Republican, recently sued the state's election board to try to remove 20% of the registered voters in this critical state.

---In Virginia, another battleground state, the AFL-CIO reported that Republicans deliberately tried to confuse student voters about where they are eligible to register and vote.

In Ohio in 2006, 303,000 voters were purged in three major urban counties while last month 606,000 additional voters were threatened to be removed from voter files. After irregularities have challenged the validity and integrity of voter's intentions in 2000 and 2004, measures must be taken to guarantee every vote will be counted on Election Day. Most states have a 14 or 30 day preregistration requirement, our October 1st call to action allows voters time to re-register if they discover that they have been removed from the voting rolls.

ON OCTOBER 1st. WE WILL BE ASKING ALL PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS TO SEND AN 'ALERT' EMAIL, TEXT OR PHONE MESSAGE TO THEIR CONTACTS ADVISING THEM TO CONTACT THEIR COUNTY OR STATE ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT TO VERIFY THAT THEY ARE STILL REGISTERED TO VOTE ON ELECTION DAY 2008.

"Let's not allow 2008 to mirror what we have experienced across this country since 2000" said Todd Iverson, president of America in Solidarity. "Every vote in Ohio, every vote in Florida and every vote in every state should count. Let's have this election decided by people, not by machines, manipulation or voter witch hunts." "This is a justice issue pure and simple. It goes to the core of just society. With out integral elections, we sink into being a third world nation"-Mike Collier, chair of the MICAH in Tacoma, Washington.

How can you help? A growing list of organizations, church groups, elected officials and bloggers are participating. Bloggers, candidates and media outlets will be contacted to endorse, spread the word and participate in NATIONAL 'GUARANTEE YOUR VOTE' DAY On October 1, 2008.

Information about how to contact elections officials along with links and stories about voter suppression will be available on America in Solidarity's web site at www.americasolidarity.org and The MICAH Project's website: www.fumcot.com (follow links to MICAH)

For more information or to schedule an interview, contact either:

Todd Iverson [phone] or [email protected]

Mike Collier [phone] or [email protected]

In Solidarity,

Mike Collier and Todd Iverson

[suston96]

1. This is a great post. I just posted elsewhere that everyone should assure that...

....they are registered and do this before October 1. If you can, visit the registrar in your county or town. Ask to see your name.

Bring a friend or two or more and everyone check the voter list. Spread the word: are you registered to vote? How do you know?

You can call but you never can tell.........