Voter Caging

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.

votercagingConducted 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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In Ohio, Voter Registration Conflict Is Brewing

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Early voting starts Tuesday in Ohio, but that doesn't mean that the process will go smoothly. On Monday, state courts rejected a Republican Party challenge to the right of voters to register and vote the same day. Five lawsuits have been filed against Ohio's secretary of state in September alone. Read more

Battle brewing in Ohio over voting-record discrepancies

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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?

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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

Foreclosures Won’t Hinder Voters: Macomb GOP chief denies plans to challenge voters in November

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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