The last several years have seen MILLIONS of people removed from the voting rolls. It is estimated that as many as six million (6,000,000) eligible voters will be deprived of their vote this year! We cannot let this happen.
People of color, people with low incomes, college students, and elders are often the targets of organized campaigns to disenfranchise voters. Around the country, individuals and groups are working to counteract these unpatriotic efforts to undermine our nation's democracy.
The methods of disenfranchisement used vary from state to state. They include:
Strict photo ID laws that leave many people without the identification required to vote, or so confused about the rules that they won't try to vote.
Discriminatory 'purging' (removal) of voters from the voter rolls, the list of voters who will be allowed to vote.
False publicity causing voter confusion about the date of the election or location of polling places.
Providing voting technology that introduces the possibility that a voter's votes will be flipped to candidates they have not chosen.
We encourage you to find out what efforts are underway in your community to protect voting rights. Join in. In some places this will mean helping people get the proper identification for voting. In other places it will mean conducting community education efforts about where and when people can vote. In others it will be demanding the availability of paper ballots. And everywhere, it will mean observing, recording and reporting problems. Keep browsing this site for ideas about how to do these things. And check back often for updates and opportunities to help stop voter disenfranchisement.