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The Republican Plot to Obstruct Your Right to Vote

October 20, 2004

(archived broadcast )

Monday, I interviewed the election officials of Maryland and Florida. While I had concerns about election procedures in both states, the Maryland elections supervisor did at least impress me that she had carefully considered voter concerns and was trying to do her best to protect voters. I think she’s wrong about the feasibility of a paper trail for electronic voting machines, but she at least could give me reasons for her decisions.
Not so in Florida. The Florida official floored me and my listeners with her cavalier attitude and her admitted plans to throw whatever roadblocks in the path of potential voters she and the Republicans who control the Florida Legislature can. It was clear to me that Jeb Bush’s government was doing everything it could, legally or otherwise, to prevent Democrats from voting.
Unfortunately, we are beginning to see such a pattern nationwide, and especially in the swing states. In Wisconsin, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, West Virginia, Texas, and Kentucky, I am aware of election irregularities, where Republicans via legal means, illegal means, voter suppression, or voter intimidation are working hard to prevent your right to vote.
It’s not just Florida. And you won’t want to miss today’s INSIDE SCOOP.
Guest: Elliot Mincberg, Legal Director of People for the American Way Foundation

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  • U.S. Neo-cons October 21, 2004 8:38 am

    Canada is #2 in the world in oil reserves–they are ripe for invasion–or as we like to call it, assimilation as states 51-63 (If we keep pumping in U.S. TV, including NFL football, they will be ours without military force)

  • Gordon in SF October 21, 2004 2:01 am

    Interesting show, Mark, thanks.
    So those Nevada voters are just shit outta luck, eh? This is just unbelievable to me. Here we are trying to “export” (right word?) democracy and the right to vote to Afghanistan & Iraq and we can’t even get it right here. Maybe I’m just naive I just don’t know that voter fraud/registration-teampering has been going on here — one of the oldest democracies in the world — for a long time.
    But we’re also the richest democracy in the world and we can’t even seem to get this right.
    What about Canada? Does stuff like this go on in Canada? I know we’re supposed to HATE all foreigners because this is God’s chosen country and God & Jesus hate foreigners, but maybe we can learn something from the hell-bound Canadazoids? 😉

  • RikAtomika October 20, 2004 3:55 pm

    Verdict is in, Republicans really are evil.

  • Dave October 20, 2004 3:26 pm

    All votes cast on non verifiable voting machines need to be held separate and not co-mingled w/ verifiable and re countable methods. At the very least we will be able to then compare. It is my suspicion that all of these unverifiable machines will go heavily for the Republicans. If not why have they fought all efforts to require a paper trail?

  • RikAtomika October 20, 2004 3:07 pm

    It’s kinda of funny(not Ha HA funny) that these problems never occur in wealthy neighborhoods. Faulty equipment, intimidation, voter fraud, it always seems to happen in poor neighborhoods.
    These activiities always seem to target Democratic districts.