Fighting Voter Suppression Schemes
Voter caging is the practice of sending mass direct mailings to registered voters by non-forwardable mail, then compiling lists of voters, called “caging lists,” from the returned mail in order to formally challenge their right to vote on that basis alone. Armed with no other evidence than returned mail, partisan operatives abuse state laws to file targeted mass challenges to voters.
Conducted under the auspices of voter list maintenance or “ballot security,” voter caging has largely been used by partisan forces to disenfranchise large numbers of minority voters.
Although public awareness of voter caging is relatively new, partisans have engaged in the practice on state and nationwide levels since the 1950s, culminating in an unprecedented number of voter caging operations across the nation in 2004. These efforts put hundreds of thousands of eligible voters at risk in the 2004 election, and resulted in a number of lawsuits.
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Battle brewing in Ohio over voting-record discrepancies
Activists worry that people who moved and failed to update their records -- may of them young and minorities -- could be disenfranchised Nov. 4. The issue could loom large in battleground states. Read more
Home Foreclosure Victims to Lose Their Vote?
Republican Party leaders in Macomb County, Mich., plan to use foreclosure listings to question whether voters who go to the polls are actually eligible. Read more
Project Vote to Michigan’s Political Parties: Losing Your Home Doesn’t Mean Losing the Right to Vote
n response to reports Wednesday that the Michigan GOP intended to use lists of home foreclosures as the basis for a “voter caging” operation, Project Vote wrote a letter today to both major political parties explaining why challenging the eligibility of voters on the basis of their presence on a foreclosure list would violate state and federal laws and risk federal criminal penalties. Read more
Foreclosures Won’t Hinder Voters: Macomb GOP chief denies plans to challenge voters in November
One political blog accuses him of hatching "the most evil plan in modern Republican history." Other activists say he's trying to steal votes and disenfranchise African-American voters. Read more
Project Vote Denounces GOP Plans to Foreclose on the Voting Rights of Low-Income Michigan Residents
The Michigan GOP has announced plans to use a list of housing foreclosures as the basis for a broad voter-caging operation, as reported yesterday by Eartha Jane Melzer in The Michigan Messenger. Read more
New Directive to Increase Protection for Ohio Voters From Partisan Voter Caging
In response to strong concerns expressed by Project Vote about the potential for partisan abuse of Ohio’s vague voter challenger laws, Ohio’s Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner took an important step to clarify the law and protect Ohio voters from partisan voter caging. Read more
Nearly 600,000 Ohio Voters May Be Disenfranchised
Nearly 600,000 eligible Ohio voters may be dropped from the voter rolls if Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner doesn't act to protect these voters, according to findings based on publicly available information discovered by Advancement Project and Project Vote. Read more
New Report: Partisans Targeted More Than 500,000 Mostly Minority Voters in 2004 Caging Schemes
In 2004, political operatives associated with the Republican party targeted more than half a million voters in “voter caging” campaigns in nine states, according to a report released today by Project Vote. Read more
Caging Democracy: A 50-Year History of Partisan Challenges to Minority Voters
This report reviews Republican voter caging operations during the last 50 years, culminating with the unprecedented number of large voter caging operations conducted across the nation in the 2004 presidential election. Read more
Summary Chart: Voting Caging Map
Voter caging is a practice of sending non-forwardable direct mail to registered voters and using the returned mail to compile lists of voters, called “caging lists,” for the purpose of challenging their eligibility to vote. This map gives a 50-year history of challenges to minority voters. Read more