Are You Registered to Vote?

[achtungbaby]

This question may have been posed before but I want to do a quick survey of our members to see where we stand on this.

Thanks!

[rice cracker]

I will register once I move at the end of this month.

[kitty]

can't. canadian.

[nonamerasian]

Registered.

[kuilong]

How about "No, don't want to"? Voting isn't worth the time.

[kitty]

How about "No, don't want to"? Voting isn't worth the time.

why do you say that? i would think it would be a citizen's responsibility to himself to give himself the one opportunity he has to express his viewpoints to actually do it.

[moJo]

yup, registered.

[Rose]

:wink: Yes, I'm registered.

[achtungbaby]

Simply responding to the poll will suffice:P

[cmar]

I would also encourage everyone to request an absentee ballot. It is much easier and simpler. Avoid the hassle of trying to find your polling place and standing in line at the voting booth. Just mail in your vote!!!

[hooligan]

i've moved, how do I reregister ab?

[kuilong]

why do you say that? i would think it would be a citizen's responsibility to himself to give himself the one opportunity he has to express his viewpoints to actually do it.

But taking into account the extreme unliklihood that the election will come down to one vote, it seems like the eventuality is so remote that it doesn't make sense to vote. As for simply "expressing my viewpoint", that doesn't require a vote.

André Weil (the famous French mathematician) wrote in The Apprenticeship of a Mathematician:

I could not count the times (for example, when I tell people I never vote in elections) that I have heard the objection: 'But if everyone were to behave like you...' -- to which I usually reply that this possibility seems to me so implausible that I do not feel obligated to take it into account.

[nonamerasian]

i've moved, how do I reregister ab?

You can reregister here. (http://www.newvotersproject.org/#)

Follow the Register to Vote link.

[Chris]

registerd and voting since I was 18. :)

[achtungbaby]

i've moved, how do I reregister ab?
We're probably going to partner with another group to allow voter registration from yw. Only wish I'd done it sooner.

[bluemonq]

i know, i know. i haven't registered yet. shame on me. etc. i'm waiting til i move into dorms so i have an address...

[QUOTE=kuilong]But taking into account the extreme unliklihood that the election will come down to one vote, it seems like the eventuality is so remote that it doesn't make sense to vote. As for simply "expressing my viewpoint", that doesn't require a vote.

florida. 'nuff said.

and yes. it was a 537 vote margin. but i bet more than 537 democrats were damn pissed that they decided not to vote that day... and if you're not a democrat, well then... i dunno. never mind then i guess.

[myeunoia]

can't. i'm not 'american'.

[nola]

We're probably going to partner with another group to allow voter registration from yw. Only wish I'd done it sooner. AB, young voters registration education groups I've heard of:

http://www.newvotersproject.org/

http://actforvictory.org/

http://www.declareyourself.org/

http://www.rockthevote.com/


The best site for unbiased, accurate info you can read about each candidate:

http://www.vote-smart.org/


The best lefty young voters' organization, The League of Pissed Off Voters:

http://www.indyvoter.org/


The League of Pissed Off Voters came out the great grassroots book "How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office" and is comprised of its writers:


Hi! My name is William Upski Wimsatt. People call me "Billy." I am 31-years-old and extremely proud to serve as Director of the League of Young Voters, a national non-profit organization which teaches young people to organize voters, and the League of Independent Voters (www.indyvoter.org) a 501(c)4 advocacy organization which organizes progressive voter guides and voter blocs nationwide. I am co-editor, with Adrienne Brown, of How to Get Stupid White Men Out Of Office: the anti-politics, un-boring guide to power -along with 10 co-authors. We are currently touring and organizing as part of The League of Pissed Off Voters. I wrote two books Bomb the Suburbs and No More Prisons, and published two others Another World is Possible and the Future 500: youth activism and organizing in the US. I love to listen to people and dream of building a winning progressive majority and a brighter future for our generation. The League is an unfolding miracle. I kiss my lucky stars every day that I am part of it.

Naina Khanna, 27, is currently the National Network & Online Coordinator for the League of Pissed Off Voters and Program Assistant for the League of Young Voters. Her perspective on issues of economic and social justice and environmental destruction derives from direct experience living and working in Africa, India, and North and Central America. She is committed to a holistic understanding of planetary healing that spans the spectrum from political action to addressing consumption patterns and energy work. Naina is co-founder of the SEEDS (Spirituality-Education-Empowerment-Diversity-Social change) Festival, a collaborative arts and entertainment event centered around educating people on global justice issues in an uplifting and empowering context. Other recent incarnations have included organizing around drug policy reform and peace and justice issues in upstate New York, coordinating the development of women's microenterprise projects in a rural community in Zimbabwe, working as a vegan baker/chef in Western Massachusetts, and employment as an immigration paralegal in Boston.

adrienne maree brown, 25, is a writer, pleasure activist, and singer living in brooklyn, ny. she is co-editor of how to get stupid white men out of office: the anti-politics, un-boring guide to power (www.indyvoter.org). as program director of the league of young voters, she runs a national training program focusing on electoral basics, electoral reform, issue-based organizing and campus organizing. previously the program manager of the harm reduction training institute ny and co-founder/director of conscious movements collective, adrienne’s work focuses on power and pleasure. adrienne studied political science, african american studies, and vocal performance at columbia university.

Sarah Greenwalt, 19, was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, amongst coyotes, sagebrush, and Frontier burritos. There she worked with AIDS Brigade, and started SweatStop, an anti-sweatshop organization at her high school with Marisol Enyart. Now she lives in New York and plans on staying there for a long time. Interested in the arts and media studies, Sarah is the Volunteer Coordinator for the League of Young Voters. The rest of the time she volunteers for the League of Pissed Off Voters/Indyvoter.org as the art director. Other than that, she rocks and rolls, browses discount department stores, and is addicted to Vanity Fair.

Hallie Montoya Tansey grew up in Albuquerque, NM. After graduating from Columbia University (where she co-founded the ethnic studies activist collective SPEaK), she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to teach music at a public middle school in East Palo Alto. Then there was a state budget crisis. The music and PE programs got cut from her school, and she got laid off. Collecting unemployment gave Hallie the opportunity to work as a full-time volunteer on Green Party member Matt Gonzalez's campaign for mayor of San Francisco in fall 2003, a life-changing experience that turned her into a democracy-addict, constantly fiending for another high. She served as Congressman Dennis Kucinich's San Francisco Press Secretary before joining the League of Pissed Off Voters as West Coast regional organizer (NV, CA, OR, WA). Hallie also loves to sing.

Mattie Weiss is a 24-year-old white girl from south Minneapolis. Though a Midwesterner to the core, Mattie has also lived in Nicaragua (where her parents worked in solidarity with the Sandinistas in the late 1980s), Bolivia and South Africa. Mattie graduated with a Political Science degree from Swarthmore College. As a student activist Mattie organized students and staff around issues of global economic justice, local race politics, and a campus-based living wage campaign. While still in college, Mattie worked for the Active Element Foundation in New York, doing research for the Future500 youth organizing directory. Mattie has also worked as a community muralist and a union organizer in Minneapolis. Before starting her current job as a waitress at two bourgie restaurants in Oakland, she worked as a writer and researcher for the Applied Research Center, a racial justice “think and do tank,” where she wrote and published a major report on youth organizing around the country. Mattie loves to paint, draw, and read. She hates writing (but does it anyway cause a whole lot needs to be said). She dances salsa every chance she gets, loves hip hop, and wants to learn to samba. She also plays center midfield with Left Wing Futbol Club, an off-the-hook anti-imperialist soccer team in the Bay. She is currently touring HTGSWMOOO and organizing for the League of Pissed Off Voters in MN, WI, IA, and MO.

Marisol Enyart is the Southwest Regional Organizer for United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), the largest student labor rights organization in the US, as well as the League of Pissed Off Voters (NM, AR, CO). She has traveled to the Dominican Republic and Puebla, Mexico to research factory conditions and supported workers who were creating a union. Her work has been highlighted on ABC News, the Albuquerque Journal and the New York Times. A Latin American Studies and Spanish Major at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, Marisol is a hip-hop fiend and organizer in the 505. ‘Burque Represent!

[kuilong]

i know, i know. i haven't registered yet. shame on me. etc. i'm waiting til i move into dorms so i have an address...

But taking into account the extreme unliklihood that the election will come down to one vote, it seems like the eventuality is so remote that it doesn't make sense to vote. As for simply "expressing my viewpoint", that doesn't require a vote.

florida. 'nuff said.

and yes. it was a 537 vote margin. but i bet more than 537 democrats were damn pissed that they decided not to vote that day... and if you're not a democrat, well then... i dunno. never mind then i guess.

Sure, 537 people. That's still not one person. In fact, I'll bet you anything you like that we'll never see a presidential election come down to one vote in our lifetime.

Now, if by voting, you could get say, 500 other people to vote with you -- then voting might make sense. But so long as your contribution doesn't approach the difference in votes, it's pretty much irrational to vote, and can only be justified with an appeal to morality (for instance, Catholics believe it is morally obligatory to vote).

Of course, I'm not dissuading you guys from voting, since encouraging other people to vote does make sense.

[porsche]

Let Us Vote. Show Them That We Are Not Politically Impotent. Vote Republican, Its The Best For Asian-americans Without A Doubt. Know Your Statistics. Clinton Screwed Us And So With The Other Democrats. Make No Mistake About It, Asian-americans Are Much Better Off With Republicans.

Hec C, Ba, Criminal Justice.

[kitty]

What Are The Statistics Of Which You Speak?

[achtungbaby]

Let Us Vote. Show Them That We Are Not Politically Impotent. Vote Republican, Its The Best For Asian-americans Without A Doubt. Know Your Statistics. Clinton Screwed Us And So With The Other Democrats. Make No Mistake About It, Asian-americans Are Much Better Off With Republicans.

Hec C, Ba, Criminal Justice.
Welcome porsche. I'm cool with anyone who is voting for the betterment of the community:)

[hkRT]

Sorry, I'm not American.

[hooligan]

https://www.moveonpac.org//stickers/

[kuilong]

Sorry, I'm not American.

http://www.tellanamericantovote.com/

[syen]

Kuilong, If you don't vote, you can't complain.

This op-ed shows 93% of registered voters in some cases don't vote! Imagine how low the percentage of eligible voters is in that case.

http://www.fairvote.org/op_eds/oped_971111.htm

" Bill Clinton was re-elected with the support of fewer than one in four eligible voters. Republicans won control of the House of Representatives with even fewer votes. "

For voter registration

https://www.workingforchange.com/vote/index.cfm?ms=WMV002

deadlines:
http://wvwv.org/statevoterinfo.shtml

[whatever]

I've been registered for a few years and haven't moved so I couldn't answer the poll. :wink:

Kerry's own words on Iraq (http://www.kerryoniraq.com/) :eek:

[Coquinegra]

This question may have been posed before but I want to do a quick survey of our members to see where we stand on this.

Thanks!

Oh yeah...never miss a vote, if I can help it.

[kuilong]

Kuilong, If you don't vote, you can't complain.

Oh, can't I though? :P

This op-ed shows 93% of registered voters in some cases don't vote! Imagine how low the percentage of eligible voters is in that case.

If by voting, I could get those other 93% of voters to vote, then I might vote. As it stands, even if I vote, 93% of registered voters still won't vote.

The very point is that my voting or not voting has an infinitesimal chance of actually affecting the outcome of the election.

[bluemonq]

but see here, if i can berate/guilt/coerce two people into voting, and then have them do the same, which in turn do the same, etc ad nauseum, then in fact lots of people will vote. it's like a crappy version of "paying it forward". in fact, i have convinced 7 people to register (actually seeing someone filling out a form and turning it in). actually voting is another story i guess, but registering is a good first step. im not saying you're bad for not registering or voting (leastwise til i dig up some dirt on you :tongue:), just that it *can* make a difference. like my uncle says, if you try to do something about it, at least you have a chance, no matter how small. if you don't, you don't got no chance at all. now excuse me while i try to blackmail my cousins into registering...

[>:^|]

If you haven't registered to vote and intend to do so, please do it as soon as possible. Registration for the presidential election must be done within a certain time frame before the election. I believe it varies from state to state, so please do it now!

[bluemonq]

here's a list for voter registration deadlines, couresty of the FEC:
--------------------
Alabama Voter registration is closed during the ten days preceding an election. Applications must be postmarked or delivered by the eleventh day prior to the election.

Alaska 30 days before the election.

Arizona 29 days before the election.

Arkansas 30 days before the election.

California 15 days before the election.

Colorado 29 days before the election. If the application is received in the mails without a postmark, it must be received within 5 days of the close of registration.

Connecticut 14 days before the election.

Delaware 20 days prior to the general election and 20 days prior to any primary election.

District of Columbia 30 days before the election.

Florida 29 days before the election.

Georgia The fifth Monday before any general primary, general election, or presidential preference primary, or regularly scheduled special election pursuant to the Georgia Election Code. In the event that a special election is scheduled on a date other that those dates prescribed by the Georgia Election Code, registration would close on the 5th day after the call.

Hawaii 30 days before the election.

Idaho 25 days before the election.

Illinois 28 days prior to each election.

Indiana 29 days before the election.

Iowa Must be delivered by 5 p.m. 10 days before the election, if it is a state primary or general election; 11 days before all others. Registration forms which are postmarked 15 or more days before an election are considered on time even if received after the deadline.

Kansas Delivered 15 days before the election.

Kentucky 29 days before the election.

Louisiana 30 days before the election.

Maine Delivered 10 business days before the election (or a voter may register in-person up to and including election day).

Maryland 9:00 p.m. 21 days before the election.

Massachusetts 20 days before the election.

Michigan 30 days before the election.

Minnesota Delivered by 5:00 p.m. 21 days before the election (there is also election day registration at polling places).

Mississippi 30 days before the election.

Missouri 28 days before the election.

Montana 30 days before the election.

Nebraska The third Friday before the election (or delivered by 6 p.m. on the second Friday before the election).

Nevada 9:00 p.m. on the fifth Saturday before any primary or general election. 9:00 p.m. on the third Saturday before any recall or special election. However, if a recall or special election is held on the same day as a primary or general election, the registration closes at 9:00 p.m. on the fifth Saturday before the day for the elections.

New Hampshire New Hampshire town and city clerks will accept this application only as a request for their own absentee voter mail-in registration form, which must be received by your city or town clerk by 10 days before the election.

New Jersey 29 days before the election.

New Mexico 28 days before the election.

New York 25 days before the election.

North Carolina Postmarked 25 days before the election or received in the elections office or designated voter registration agency site by 5:00 p.m. 25 days before the election.

North Dakota North Dakota does not have voter registration. Follow this link for more information: http://www.activoteamerica.com/ND/nd.html

Ohio 30 days before the election.

Oklahoma 25 days before the election.

Oregon 21 days before the election.

Pennsylvania 30 days before an election or primary.

Rhode Island 30 days before the election.

South Carolina 30 days before the election.

South Dakota Received 15 days before the election.

Tennessee 30 days before the election.

Texas 30 days before the election.

Utah 20 days before the election.

Vermont Delivered to the town clerk before 12:00 noon on the second Saturday before the election.

Virginia Delivered 29 days before the election.

Washington 30 days before the election (or delivered in-person to the local voter registration office 15 days before the election).

West Virginia 20 days before the election.

Wisconsin For municipalities where voter registration is required, 13 days before the election (or completed in the local voter registration office up to 5:00 pm. 1 day before the election, or completed at the polling place on election day).

Wyoming 30 days before an election or register at the polling place on election day

[nola]

I registered 28 people today.

--Ms. Goodie Two Shoes

[drwong]

And don't forget - if you're hassled about not being registered or on the list at your polling place, remind them of your right to cast a provisional ballot. If they don't know what you're talking about, demand to speak with a supervisor.

Remember: in 2000, Bush won Florida with only 0.01% of the vote, Nevada by 3.3%, and Ohio by 3.5%. Conversely, Al Gore won New Mexico by 0.1%, Wisconsin by 0.2%, and Oregon by 0.5%!!! The percentage of Asian-Americans in those states probably exceed those narrow margins, so register and make a difference today!

Our votes do count! Yellow Power!!!

[kuilong]

but see here, if i can berate/guilt/coerce two people into voting, and then have them do the same, which in turn do the same, etc ad nauseum, then in fact lots of people will vote. it's like a crappy version of "paying it forward". in fact, i have convinced 7 people to register (actually seeing someone filling out a form and turning it in). actually voting is another story i guess, but registering is a good first step. im not saying you're bad for not registering or voting (leastwise til i dig up some dirt on you :tongue:), just that it *can* make a difference. like my uncle says, if you try to do something about it, at least you have a chance, no matter how small. if you don't, you don't got no chance at all. now excuse me while i try to blackmail my cousins into registering...

I agree. It makes sense to try and convince other people to vote the way you would. It just doesn't make sense for you to.

[bluemonq]

And don't forget - if you're hassled about not being registered or on the list at your polling place, remind them of your right to cast a provisional ballot. If they don't know what you're talking about, demand to speak with a supervisor.

Remember: in 2000, Bush won Florida with only 0.01% of the vote, Nevada by 3.3%, and Ohio by 3.5%. Conversely, Al Gore won New Mexico by 0.1%, Wisconsin by 0.2%, and Oregon by 0.5%!!! The percentage of Asian-Americans in those states probably exceed those narrow margins, so register and make a difference today!

Our votes do count! Yellow Power!!!
from http://www.myvotecounts.org:
PROVISIONAL VOTING

Provisional ballots are cast by voters whose names do not appear on the precinct roster. If a voter goes to a precinct and is not on the precinct roster - the voter may still cast a ballot.

The voter uses a regular precinct ballot, which is then placed in a special envelope that the voter must sign, much like an absentee envelope. During the official canvass (the official count), the elections official checks the voter registration file to verify the voter's eligibility to cast the ballot. Once verified, the ballot is added to the official count. These ballots added to the absentees not processed on election night can number 300,000 to 800,000. Based on the number of absentees requested, that number may be even larger for this election, perhaps as many as 1,000,000 ballots to be processed during the official canvass.

If, however, the voter is not eligible to cast a ballot (e.g. the voter is not currently registered to vote in that county), then the ballot is not counted.

Once a provisional ballot is cast, the voter has a right to know if it is counted. Beginning in January 2004, each county in California will have to establish a process to notify voters whether their ballot was counted or not and, if not, why the ballot was not eligible. This will allow voters to correct their registration status before the next election.

In the November 2000 election more than 200,000 provisional ballots were cast. Almost 40 percent of those were rejected because the voter was not eligible to cast a ballot.

still, it's a good idea to register, just so to make *sure* your vote counts. and it sounds like it's gonna be a close one.

for a state-by-state breakdown of the 2000 census of the asian population, go to the following link and scroll down to the fifth page:
http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:lyxxTH_0GZkJ:www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/c2kbr01-16.pdf+asian+american+population+by+percentage&hl=en

[jz87]

I don't bother to register because I don't see a point in voting. The way I see it Bush vs Kerry is like Alien vs Predator, no matter who wins, we lose. They're both socialists, so it doesn't actually matter who wins. The only consolation I have on election day is that at least I didn't waste my time.

[Mr.Lum]

What is socialist about either of them?

[nola]

Neither are socialist: both are corporate pigs.


www.punkvoter.com is another progressive young voter education site:

Punk bands, musicians, and record labels have built a coalition to educate, register and mobilize progressive voters. Something needs to be done to unite the youth vote and bring real activism back into our society. Punk rock has always been on the edge and in the forefront of politics. It is time to energize the majority of today’s disenfranchised youth movement and punk rockers to make change a reality. Punkvoter is about organizing the many diverse and regional movements into one voice of political change. Punkvoter is our way to educate today’s youth about what is really going on in Washington, DC and how we can collectively force change. This is our chance to be a strong voice against the serious flaws in the current political system. This is our way to talk about new laws and scenarios that could change our quality of life for years to come. Punkvoter is your organization. It will be run with the same energy and spirit of all punk efforts. With your help we will be a credible force to truly shape the future of our nation.


You can download some great pdf flyers (Hit the downloads button) such as

*Bush v. Kerry on the Issues:
Think the Presidential candidates are the same? Think again.

*40 Reasons To Hate Bush

*The George W. Bush Resume

*15 Reasons To Hate The President

*Real Quotes From A Real Moron

[syen]

Bush/Cheney are corporate pigs.
Halliburton, Enron, un-regulated business. That is the Republican party.

Kerry/Edwards
As a trial lawyer, Edwards took on the big companies and made sure they did't screw the little man. Democrats regulate big business to make sure they don't pollute, they don't cheat/steal from their stockholders, etc.

There is a HUGE difference between the parties.

[nola]

I don't bother to register because I don't see a point in voting. The way I see it Bush vs Kerry is like Alien vs Predator, no matter who wins, we lose. They're both socialists, so it doesn't actually matter who wins. The only consolation I have on election day is that at least I didn't waste my time.Bush and Kerry are corporate pigs.

[nola]

To continue my goodie-two-shoes guilt-tripping and this thread, I registered 25 people today, mostly black in the swing state of Florida. Miraculously it looks like Kerry is eight points ahead of Bush in Florida.

[syen]

You go girl!! African-Americans vote democrat like 98% of the time. That is loyalty and that is understanding which party has your interests at heart. Everyone should see "Unprecedented" a documentary by People for the American Way that shows all the horrible tactics used to disenfranchise a racial minority in Florida during the last election. It also shows the brilliant PR strategy of the Repubs.

[nola]

Hell yeah a great documentary about the fraudulent 2000 election. I didn't realize it was by PFAW. They are the people who came up with the phrase "Arrive with five", or bring five friends to the polls or tell five friends to vote on Election Day. 90% of blacks vote Democrat in Florida and the election was slolen based on felons and black votes not being counted.

[nonamerasian]

Ya'll heard about the last felon list glitch in Florida?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Florida scraps felon vote list
The list of 47,000 people is too flawed to be used to strike felons from voting rolls. County election supervisors express relief.
By MATTHEW WAITE, Times Staff Writer
Published July 11, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nine days after making the names of more than 47,000 potential felon voters public, state officials have scrapped the entire list, saying it was too flawed to be trusted.

County supervisors of elections were told Saturday not to use the list of people the state believed had committed felonies and illegally registered to vote.

Florida is one of seven states that bars felons from voting unless their civil rights have been restored.

Counties were supposed to verify the information, contact the voters, and eliminate felons from their voter rolls, though few had started.

The state had tried to keep the list a secret. It fought a lawsuit aimed at opening the records to the public. A series of errors emerged once a Tallahassee judge rejected the state's arguments and released the records on July 1.

The error that proved final - and garnered national attention - was that Hispanics were largely overlooked because of glitches in how the state records information about race and ethnicity.

The list was created by cross-checking voter registration and criminal records. Of the more than 47,000 voters on the potential felon list, Hispanics made up one tenth of 1 percent - this in a state where nearly 1 in 5 residents is Hispanic.

Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood issued a written statement Saturday saying the exclusion of Hispanics was "unintentional and unforeseen."

"We are deeply concerned and disappointed that this has occurred," Hood said.

Many Hispanic voters vote Republican. That they were largely omitted from a list disproportionately weighted with Democratic-leaning blacks has fueled theories that voter rolls were being manipulated for political motives. State officials said it was data errors, not politics, that excluded Hispanics from the list.

"Not including Hispanic felons that may be voters on the list . . . was an oversight and a mistake. . . . And we accept responsibility and that's why we're pulling it back," said Gov. Jeb Bush, who was in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday at an "African-Americans for Bush" rally in support of his brother's re-election as president.

Scrapping the list for the 2004 election came as a relief to local supervisors of elections, who have openly been wondering how they were going to accurately verify information on the list with few resources and no training.

Late Friday night, Pasco Supervisor of Elections Kurt Browning sat in his office wondering what would happen if he did nothing with the list. On his desk was an unsigned $14,000 contract to a Melbourne company to verify the list.

To his relief Saturday, Browning had left the office without signing the contract.

"It was a lose-lose situation," Browning said of the potential felons list. "The reality of it was there seemed to be too many things creeping up that were not thought out, or thought about."

"I think it's a good decision," Pinellas Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark said Saturday afternoon. "Especially this year when we know that the state is going to be so closely scrutinized about everything we do, relative to the election."

Bush's communications director, Jill Bratina, said the governor's goal was fair and smooth elections. "The governor spoke with the secretary this (Saturday) morning. She informed him of the decision, and he was supportive of it," she said.

Democrats and voting rights advocates at once claimed victory and commended the state for dumping the list.

"This is clearly a victory for the Democratic Party," Florida Democratic Party Chairman Scott Maddox, "but it is more so a victory for democracy. Democrats, Republicans and independents alike will benefit from the ability to exercise their constitutional right to vote instead of being erroneously purged by this administration."

State Sen. Les Miller, D-Tampa, viewed the decision with cautious optimism.

"I'm very happy they decided not to use this list," Miller said. "My concern is, what's next? Does this mean this list will not be used anymore, period? Or is this something that they're going to look at next week, where we'll have to come up with a different definition of how they're going to try to purge people from that list?"

Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said his organization was preparing to ask Hood on Monday to order supervisors to stop using the list. He said the errors discovered so far were more than enough to justify the state abandoning it.

"It appears the information on this list is not sufficiently reliable to deprive anybody of their right to vote," Simon said. "We haven't even begun to scratch the surface of other errors."

And errors had been piling up.

The first was a group of more than 2,500 people who had their rights restored but found themselves on the list. They were put on the list because they registered to vote before they got their rights restored, a move the state insisted made them ineligible to vote.

But on Wednesday, faced with the threat of lawsuits, the state reversed its stance and cleared those who had received clemency to vote, regardless of when they registered.

Then, a St. Petersburg Times analysis of a random, representative sample of 5,529 names on the potential felons list in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties found the state's list to be substantially accurate. But as many as 220 names on the list - or about 4 percent - were wrong, based upon incomplete or incorrect information.

If the Times local estimate of 4 percent were applied statewide, the list of incorrect entries would reach more than 1,800.

Last weekend, the Sarasota Herald Tribune noted that Hispanics were nearly nonexistent in the potential felons list, despite representing nearly a fifth of the state's population. The state admitted there could be a problem, but said Hispanics were not omitted for political gain.

The reason Hispanics were being overlooked is that state criminal records and voter registration rolls do not account for race and ethnic categories in the same way.

The state's criminal database, used to find the names of felons, did not have "Hispanic" as a category. Voter registration rolls do. When the two lists were matched, the Hispanic discrepancy made an accurate count impossible.

"This is a very complex process and the more I looked at it, the more complex it got," Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson said. "The way the information is developed, the entire system was complicated."

Johnson's office was gearing up to verify the list - office space in the Hillsborough County court clerk's office had been set aside - when the clemency problems made them wait.

In Citrus County, Supervisor of Elections Susan Gill had to call an employee in the office on Saturday working on the list to tell her to go home. The end of the list came as a relief - and a surprise - to both.

"There's just too much controversy about this," Gill said. "If the list isn't right, we shouldn't be using it."

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/11/State/Florida_scraps_felon_.shtml

[nola]

Florida is the total voting laughing stock in our country. The latest problem is a few major counties will be using computer voting which may completely screw things up again due to a lack paper trails. The felons/Hispanics thing may have been innocent as the article suggests. I pass out clemency forms to felons to get their voting and civil rights back after serving their sentences or getting off probation. I meet about twenty felons a day, most of whom committed the non-violent crime of drug possession. Florida is one of only seven states that does not automatically restore voting rights to those who have served their time or gotten off of probation. Florida is fucking retarded.

[Mr.Lum]

Flordia sounds like it might as well be a slave state.

[nola]

We have at least three "slave rings" one involving the Mexican tomato pickers for Taco Bell.

[nola]

I registered 55 freshmen at the historically black college in town yesterday (yes they were black) and 10 (black) customers at the Sprint Superstore today. It's amazing how little access Americans have to voter registration and information like how to do an absentee/mail-in ballot. Elections should be a national holiday like in some countries or we should be able to vote at an ATM (which is something everyone uses). 50% of Americans vote in presidential elections.

[Mr.Lum]

We have at least three "slave rings" one involving the Mexican tomato pickers for Taco Bell.

Ah that's right, I remember reading about that. Glad I was born a Yankee.

[nola]

The South is more racist, sexist. homophobic and violent than the rest of the country which everyone already knows. It seems alright on the surface but when you get to know people it's scary. I may have already said this but boys don't get cars for the 16th birthday, they get guns, no joke.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

we should be able to vote at an ATM (which is something everyone uses)
Aside from the convenience, as a wonderful added advantage, this would eliminate the need for any plan to formally restore the vote to convicted felons, since they could just go mug some guy at the nearest ATM and force him to vote at the same time, thus exercising the felon's political preferences. "One man one vote" and "helping them get back on their feet" both at the same time! :biggrin:

[nola]

it's not a solution but you get the idea.

[moser]

We have at least three "slave rings" one involving the Mexican tomato pickers for Taco Bell.

What are the "slave rings"?

And, yes, am registered to vote, and am trying to get others to do so as well.

[nola]

The CIW is a community-based worker organization. Our members are largely Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian immigrants working in low-wage jobs throughout the state of Florida.

We strive to build our strength as a community on a basis of reflection and analysis, constant attention to coalition building across ethnic divisions, and an ongoing investment in leadership development to help workers from the base of our community continually develop their skills in community education and organization.

From this basis we fight for, among other things: a fair wage for the work we do, more respect on the part of our bosses and the industries where we work, better and cheaper housing, stronger laws and stronger enforcement against those who would violate workers' rights, the right to organize on our jobs without fear of retaliation, and an end to indentured servitude in the fields.

The CIW is based in Immokalee, but our impact reaches beyond the Southwest Florida area to cover the state of Florida as a whole. Southwest Florida is the state's most important center for agricultural production, and Immokalee is the state's largest farmworker community. As such, the majority of our members are farmworkers who spend 8-9 months of the year here in Southwest Florida then travel north on the season during the summer months.

Many local residents, and thus many of our members, move out of agriculture and into other low wage industries that are important in our area, including the construction, nursery, and tourist industries. The community is split, roughly, along the following ethnic/national origin lines: Mexican 50%, Guatemalan 30%, Haitian 10% and other nationalities (mostly African-American) 10%. Virtually all of our members are low-income.

The CIW's Anti-Slavery campaign is an innovative worker-based campaign to eliminate modern-day slavery in the tomato fields and orange groves of the East Coast agricultural industry. In 21st century slavery operations based on debt bondage, workers are held against their will through violence and threats of violence, ranging from intimidation to beatings to pistol-whippings. In the past five years, the CIW has uncovered, investigated, and assisted the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice in prosecuting in three large, multi-state slavery operations based out of Florida, and acted in as consultants on two others. In those few short years, our efforts have resulted in: freedom for thousands of workers in debt bondage, the successful prosecution of various agricultural employers, the education of local and federal law enforcement, the development of a growing base of aware and committed worker activists, and stronger federal laws against trafficking in human beings.

This campaign, launched during the 1996-1997 season, began with a 500-worker march to a local crewleader's house to protest the beating of one of our members here in Immokalee. Since then, it has evolved into a nationally-recognized program focusing on the elimination of modern-day slavery in Florida's fields.

Other accomplishments include... the establishment of a highly successful consumer cooperative, providing staple foods at nearly wholesale prices and breaking the hold of the traditionally overpriced local market; a growing, active, multi-ethnic membership base; weekly radio programs reaching thousands of workers in both Spanish and Haitian Creole; an innovative program of education and leadership development including participatory video, street art, popular theater, and community festivals; an annual scholarship program for the children of local workers and Latino cultural festival in conjunction with an area Spanish-language radio station... and much more!

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers site (Boycott the Bell!!!!!):
http://www.ciw-online.org/tz_site-revision/home/home.html

[nola]

Miami Herald Thu, Dec. 04, 2003
FARM LABOR NEW FARMHAND ABUSE CLAIMS PROBED
Federal investigators and prosecutors are probing new allegations that farmworkers have been criminally abused in Florida.

BY RONNIE GREENE

LAKE PLACID -- The ragged compound hovers just off U.S. 27 in this Central Florida outpost. Unimposing from afar, it was terrifying up close for the farmworkers abused and enslaved here. Three crew bosses went to prison.

Today, the case serves as both a snapshot of the mistreatment Florida farmworkers have suffered -- and a likely sign of tougher enforcement to come.

Federal investigators and prosecutors are now probing new allegations that other farmworkers have been criminally abused in the nation's second richest agricultural state.

''Our office is committed to the investigation of allegations of farmworker abuse,'' said Douglas Molloy, managing assistant U.S. attorney in Fort Myers, who has prosecuted two farmworker slavery cases and is investigating others.

While prosecutors and FBI agents say they can't discuss ongoing investigations in detail, some are chasing tips from worker advocates who brought the prior cases to light. Others are following reports in a Herald series, Fields of Despair, that documented fresh abuses and long-standing ills in the state's second biggest industry.

For instance:

• In North Florida, investigators are focusing on farm labor contractors who recruited from homeless shelters in cities like Tampa and Jacksonville -- only to cheat or threaten some of the laborers they lured to the fields.

• In South Florida, the Miami FBI office said it has 10 open farmworker abuse investigations in a region stretching to Fort Pierce. Often, such investigations focus on scofflaw farm bosses who hold workers against their will until they pay smuggling or other debts.

• In addition, Miami FBI agents said they plan to explore The Herald's report and follow up on civil rights and other violations. ''This is definitely something that should be addressed,'' said one agent, who asked not to be named.

The scrutiny comes in a state where oranges adorn license plates, but where the men and women who pluck Florida's bountiful crops sometimes reap pain and poverty.

SENT TO PRISON

In five cases since 1996, a dozen Florida farm labor contractors, smugglers and their associates have been sent to prison for enslaving and exploiting farmworkers.

In another sign of the scope of abuse, Florida leads the nation in the number of farm labor bosses who have had their contractor license revoked because they cheated laborers or skirted federal migrant worker laws.

Most victims were foreign workers susceptible to mistreatment because they lacked proper work authorization and were reluctant to speak out.

''They're not on the radar. They don't have status. Oftentimes, they're not familiar with the rights they do have,'' said Fort Pierce FBI Special Agent Alex Rivas, who helped investigate the case in Lake Placid. ``They're fearful of the repercussions if they're found.''

Renegade labor bosses use the workers' status -- and fears -- against them, charging exorbitant smuggling fees, then making them work off debts harvesting crops. Some threatened or committed violence. Others charged outrageous amounts for food, shelter and loans.

In Lake Placid, for instance, contractors Ramiro and Juan Ramos crammed farmhands into ''filthy'' housing off U.S. 27, then had them work off $1,000 smuggling fees picking fruit for some of the state's largest growers. Threats, the feds say, kept the pickers working. The brothers and their cousin, Jose Ramos, were also convicted last year of beating a van service owner they alleged whisked workers away.

The farmworker victims included a laborer who left Mexico to raise money for a cancer-stricken child.

''These are people who are trying to better their life,'' said FBI Special Agent Jeffery Serna, the lead investigator. ``It gave us a great feeling to help people.''

Serna also investigated Fort Pierce labor boss Michael Allen Lee, who recruited homeless men and plied them with drugs, then beat one farmworker bloody for not paying a debt. He went to prison in 2001.

''It's rampant. It's out there,'' Serna said.

Still, the cases pose challenges.

For one, they take time -- several years in complex investigations. Building trust of victims requires persistence. Following paper trails can be daunting, since many labor in an underground industry with phony IDs.

With federal investigators chasing terrorism, drug, public corruption and other issues, farmworker exploitation is not always top priority. Watchdogs and agents agree more investigative force is needed.

The Miami FBI office has four agents assigned full time to civil rights issues, for instance. The agents have little time to initiate their own cases but rely on complaints to trigger their inquiries.

The Miami office has 143 open civil rights investigations, spokeswoman Beverly Esselbach said, with ''probably 10 percent'' involving agriculture issues.

Advocates see progress.

''The Department of Justice prosecutions have stepped up enormously over the past decade,'' said Laura Germino, with the nonprofit Coalition of Immokalee Workers. ``We're working quite well with the DOJ Civil Rights Division on issues of indentured servitude. The FBI, it would be good for them to have more resources and training to have additional Civil Rights agents assigned.''

Investigators laud the Immokalee group for bringing the Ramos and other cases to light, and for encouraging victims to cooperate. Three Coalition leaders -- Julia Gabriel, Lucas Benitez and Romeo Ramirez -- were recently awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for their work.

NOT PROSECUTED

While advocates praise the government for imprisoning corrupt bosses, they note that growers employing the bosses were not prosecuted in a single case.

Critics contend growers use labor contractors as middlemen to ''buffer'' them from problems.

The Agriculture Institute of Florida Inc., representing major growers and industry associations, recently issued a statement saying it, too, wants to stamp out abuse. It intends to make sure growers are ``aware of existing avenues to report suspected farmworker abuse.''

[hooligan]

reregistered at my new address to vote. let's go, let's go!

[achtungbaby]

Am about 90% finished with areyouregistered.com (http://areyouregistered.com). The about section and latest news need tidying up...but the voter registration part works.

You can also update your address, notify of a name change and change party affiliation...

68 days to go!

http://areyouregistered.com

[bluemonq]

yay! registered at calapalooza. can i change my vote now? no? darn...

[kuilong]

Elections should be a national holiday like in some countries or we should be able to vote at an ATM (which is something everyone uses).

Think of how popular voting would be if people voted at ATMs and voting machines dispensed cash!

50% of Americans vote in presidential elections.

So Americans are smarter than they look. Actually, it's probably because mostly only older people vote. sleep sleep sleep sleep eat sleep sleep vote sleep sleep vote eat angioplasty sleep sleep

[Mr.Lum]

it's probably because mostly only older people vote. sleep sleep sleep sleep eat sleep sleep vote sleep sleep vote eat angioplasty sleep sleep


LOL. That is the highlight of my day right there.

[Shuriken]

You don’t hear that much about Election ’04 these days, do you?