CONTACT: Eleiza Braun 415-420-4059
In 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.
Reports that the Macomb County GOP might challenge the right to vote of Michigan residents who appeared on public lists of foreclosure filings appeared in the Columbus Dispatch earlier this summer, and yesterday the Michigan Messenger quoted Macomb County GOP chairman James Carabelli as saying that the GOP had “a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses.” (Mr. Carabelli today denied that the GOP has any such plans.)
In letters sent on behalf of Project Vote to both the Democratic and Republican parties of Michigan, attorney Teresa James clarified that a change of address for any reason—including losing one’s home to foreclosure—does not always disqualify an individual from voting under Michigan and federal laws. “Such challenges would serve only to threaten and intimidate voters and interfere with the orderly process of the election,” and could result in federal criminal charges, James says.
According to the letter, Michigan law allows voters moving within the same jurisdiction to update their addresses at the polls; a voter who has moved from one jurisdiction to another within 60 days of the election may vote in the last jurisdiction by signing an affidavit stating that the move has taken place. “Therefore, a voter who has had the misfortune of losing his or her home…may vote ‘from that address’ for 60 days after vacating the home.”
Additionally, federal law also provides protection for voters who may have moved without updating their registrations; under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) “a person who has moved from one address to another within the same jurisdiction may vote at his or her former polling place and update their registration at that time.”
Michigan and federal laws, then, protect many voters who may have moved prior to the election, and enable voters to update their addresses at the polls on Election Day. “In light of the state and federal protections,” James says in the letters, “challenging every voter whose residence was or is being foreclosed upon would serve no purpose but to interfere with the orderly conduct of the election and intimidate those voters who are not aware of their legal options under the law of Michigan and the United States.”
The letter continues, “Project Vote urges the [Republican/Democratic] Party of Michigan and its candidates to refrain from challenges based only upon a notice of foreclosure or a final sale under foreclosure…Those who do so could face federal criminal penalties.”