Every Vote Counts. Sometimes.
Posted by:
Rebecca O'Malley
Date: 9/10/2008 5:50 pm
It’s the fundamental
promise of our democracy: every citizen
has a vote -- and every vote gets counted. So
I am always disappointed (althougth sadly not
surprised) when I read stories plainly demonstrating that our local, state and federal governments still aren’t
doing everything within their power to protect equal access to the ballot. As we head into the final sixty days before
this critical election, I can’t imagine an issue of greater urgency than
assuring that every American’s vote will be counted.
Yesterday, the
Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings to find out whether the Justice Department is planning to do everything
it can to make sure that every properly registered citizen actually has the
opportunity to cast a vote and to have that vote counted. Some of the testimony
that they heard was alarming.
According to the
Associated Press, Keshia Anderson testified that when she went to vote in
Virginia’s
presidential primary in February of 2008 she encountered short, quick-moving lines for white
Republican voters and long, slow lines for black Democrats who were stuck waiting because
the precinct had run out of Democratic ballots.
Because of the
ballot shortage, dozens of black voters
abandoned the line before reaching the polling place and many others, including
Andreson, were encouraged to cast their votes on scrap paper. Poll workers
assured them that the votes would be counted. They weren’t. The State Board of Elections later invalidated 299 ballots cast on
blank paper. “I want to try to ensure
that what happened to me and so many others in Chester Country does not happen
again.” Anderson
told the panel.
Indeed, it
shouldn’t happen to any American, ever. We need to take action now, before Election Day, to assure that all
citizens have an equal opportunity to vote.
You can help
by acting as an Election
Watchdog in your community. When you see anything fishy -- efforts
to mislead voters, make voting difficult or deter voter registration -- speak
up! Then we can all work together to publicize these problems and stop them now
-- before those lines start forming on November
4th.
