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.
Most Recent / Relevant Items
- (30)
- (5)
- (5)
- (1)
- (4)
- (15)
Advanced Filters and Sorting
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
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