Election '08 -- Get Out And Vote

November 3, 2008

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick, and Ryan Powers

ELECTION '08

Get Out And Vote

All the ads, door-knocking, polling, speeches, and rallies culminate tomorrow as Americans head to the polls to vote in one of the nation's most historic elections. With 90 percent of the electorate holding the opinion that the country is seriously off track, voters are engaging in the political process as never before. Approximately 153.1 million Americans are now registered to vote (a record 73.5 percent of citizens 18 or older), record numbers are turning out to take advantage of the early voting systems in more than 30 states, and election officials are expecting record turnout overall. But with such unprecedented engagement comes the possibility of massive problems, including long lines, votes not being properly counted, and even deliberate suppression. Conservatives continue to demagogue about the potential of vast voter fraud, although they have virtually no solid evidence to back up their claims. The possibilities of such problems, however, shouldn't deter anyone from voting. As Mary G. Wilson, president of the League of Women Voters, noted, the "willingness of people to wait in line for this historic vote...is 'affirmation our democracy is alive and well.'" If you have any questions on how or when to vote, or if you would like to report problems registering to vote or casting a ballot, visit the Election Protection Coalition or call 1-866-OUR-VOTE. The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights has more voter protection resources here.

MYTH OF VOTER FRAUD: In the weeks before the election, conservatives have stepped up their calls to combat "voter fraud," claiming that "hundreds of thousands of new voter registrations are questionable" in Ohio and warning that the election could be "stolen." On Oct. 23, Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) campaign sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey requesting a federal investigation into voter fraud. "Voter registration fraud can quickly turn into vote fraud -- especially in the case of absentee balloting and in states that do not require photo identification to vote," read the letter. No one wants a fraudulently registered person to vote. Luckily, it doesn't appear that this problem is real. The conservative focus on "voter integrity," which began when John Ashcroft was serving as President Bush's attorney general, "targets fraud in the voting process, from voter registration to voting and ballot counting." Voter integrity efforts have done more harm than good. "It's one of those great euphemisms," Pamela S. Karlan, a professor at Stanford Law School, observed. "By and large, it's been targeted at minority voters." When pushed by ProPublica recently, the McCain campaign was able to produce virtually no evidence to back up its claims of rampant voter fraud. Scholars who have published extensively on election fraud are unable to think of a single example of registration fraud. In 2007, the New York Times reported that after a five-year effort by the Bush administration to crack down on supposedly widespread voter fraud, just 86 people were convicted.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS: Aside from over-hyped concerns about voter fraud, there are real problems for legitimate voters trying to reach the polls. In July, a study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law warned that some voters may still face poorly designed ballots, similar to the Florida debacle in 2000. Last week, CNN reported that approximately 50,000 Georgia voters had been "'flagged' because of a computer mismatch in their personal identification information. At least 4,500 of those people are having their citizenship questioned and the burden is on them to prove eligibility to vote." Similarly, "numerical errors or misspellings" in Ohio have resulted in voter registration applications that did not match other government databases. Conservatives quickly jumped on this as evidence of fraudulent voters and tried to force the state to provide information making it easier for them to challenge the registrations, but the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed their case. When a person's voter status is in question, he or she is allowed to cast a provisional ballot, which is sometimes never counted. In Ohio's March primary, the Cleveland Plain Dealer found that 20 percent of the provisional ballots -- or approximately 20,000 ballots -- were rejected, even though "many people shouldn't have lost their votes." More perniciously, there have already been reports of deliberate voter suppression and intimidation. Early voters in North Carolina, who were mostly African-American, were heckled by a "group of loud and angry protesters," almost all of whom were white. A phony Virginia Board of Elections flier was recently distributed in Hampton Roads, VA, incorrectly telling Democrats that they were now scheduled to vote on Nov. 5.

ELECTION PROTECTION: While serving in the Bush administration, Ashcroft pursued "voter integrity" by assigning federal prosecutors "to watch for election crimes in each judicial district." This move troubled civil rights advocates. "A lot of assistant U.S. attorneys are going to be more interested in voting integrity than in voter protection," said Jon Greenbaum, a former lawyer in the Justice Department's Voting Rights Section. "How many people are scared off from voting because you ask them a question at a polling place? There is no way to know." In September, however, the Justice Department took a giant step away from the sordid legacy of Ashcroft and his successor, Alberto Gonzales, by announcing that it would not be stationing prosecutors at polls on Nov. 4.

ETHICS -- FRIEND OF COLEMAN FUNNELED $75,000 TO SENATOR THROUGH WIFE: A lawsuit filed late last week alleges that one of Sen. Norm Coleman's (R-MN) best friends and supporters, Nasser Kazeminy, used a Texas-based oil-rig services company to funnel $75,000 to Coleman through his wife Laurie's insurance firm. Paul McKim, who filed the lawsuit and who until last Friday was CEO of Deep Marine Technologies (DMT), says Kazeminy -- who owns about 50 percent of the company -- threatened to fire him if he did not agree to the deal. The lawsuit alleges Kazeminy explicitly sought to benefit Sen. Coleman: "In March 2007, Kazeminy began ordering the payments of corporate funds to companies and individuals who tendered no goods or services to DMT for the stated purpose of trying to financially assist United States Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota." The lawsuit alleges that the money was sent through Laurie's insurance firm, Hays Companies, to make it "appear as though the payments were made in connection with legitimate transactions." Coleman called the suit's claims "false and defamatory," but Friday, McKim produced records documenting the payments to Laurie Coleman's firm, Hays. Earlier this month, Harpers reported that Kazeminy "covered the bills for Coleman's lavish clothing purchases at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis" -- a topic the campaign was not eager to discuss.

HEALTH CARE -- A BLUEPRINT FOR REFORM: On Friday, the Center for American Progress and the Institute on Medicine as a Profession released The Health Care Delivery System: A Blueprint for Reform, a compilation of policy recommendations for reforming the health care delivery system. The book transcends popular campaign rhetoric to offer policy makers concrete solutions for transforming the health care system into an organization that places patient care ahead of insurer profit. Assuming the implementation of universal coverage, the project makes specific policy recommendations to help Congress and the next President to transform the American health care system to promote quality, efficiency, patient-centeredness, coverage and wellness. The blueprint seeks to build-up the health care infrastructure (workers, tools, and knowledge), fix the health organization (in which doctors don’t work as integrated teams to coordinate patient coverage), improve the quality of care, and encourage patient participation in the management of chronic diseases.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS -- LIEBERMAN TOLD SYRIAN AMBASSADOR THAT McCAIN WOULD TALK TO SYRIA: Foreign Policy Magazine recently interviewed Syrian ambassador Imad Moustapha, who said that the next president, no matter who he is, would likely engage Syria diplomatically. "I have reason to believe that even if [Senator John] McCain becomes president of the United States, he will also be inclined to sit and talk with Syria," Moustapha said. "I can tell you this on the record: Senator Joe Lieberman, who is supposed to be very close to McCain, has said this explicitly and very clearly to me personally." It would be a startling turn for McCain and Lieberman, both of whom have been sharply critical of politicians seeking to engage Syria. McCain adviser Max Boot denounced the Israeli government for engaging Syria, declaring, "John McCain is not going to betray the lawfully elected government of Lebanon." Recently, the campaign attacked an adviser to Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) for attending a legal summit in Damascus, comparing it to "unconditional summit meetings with state sponsors of terrorism." Last year, Lieberman joined the conservative attack machine in slamming Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for visiting Syria. "I believe her visit to Syria was a mistake, that it was bad for the United States of America," Lieberman said. "And I say this because we're in a war. We're in a war against the Islamic terrorists who attacked us on 9-11-01."

ETHICS -- SENATE MAJORITY LEADER REID SAYS STEVENS 'IS NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO SERVE' IN THE SENATE: On Saturday, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) issued a statement declaring that his close but embattled friend, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) would "retain his Senate seat while the legal process moves forward" regarding Stevens' recent conviction on seven counts of lying on Senate disclosure forms to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts. "I am absolutely confident that Ted Stevens will be sworn into the Senate while he appeals this unjust verdict," said Inouye in the statement. But Inouye's claim was swiftly rebuked by House Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Saturday night. "While I respect the opinion of Senator Daniel Inouye, the reality is that a convicted felon is not going to be able to serve in the United States Senate," said Reid in a statement. "As precedent shows us, Senator Stevens will face an ethics committee investigation and expulsion, regardless of his appeals process." On Thursday, the Alaska Bar Association sought to suspend Stevens' law license on an interim basis, pending completion of his appeals.

On Tuesday, millions of voters "will use paper ballots rather than the touch-screen machines that have caused concern among voting experts." However, "the change does not guarantee a smooth election day." Voting experts are predicting machine and ballot shortages in several swing states and late tallies on election night."

Except for Alaska, every state in the country is either in a recession or "dangerously close" to one, according to Moody’s Economy.com. In March, just five states were in recession, but that number expanded to 30 by the end of September. Nineteen other states are at risk of falling into recession.

Former Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin and EPI's Jared Berstein write: "With the current financial crisis, our joint view is that for the short term, our economy needs a large fiscal stimulus that generates substantial economic demand."

CQ reports that Washington DC's lobbying firms are enjoying a business boom in the midst of a bear market. Due in part to the financial bailout, Washington lobbying firms signed up more than 500 new clients last month. "The annual cost of Washington lobbying will probably hit $3 billion for the first time ever." More »

"Nearly one in five U.S. mortgage borrowers owe more to lenders than their homes are worth, and the rate may soon approach one in four as housing prices fall and the economy weakens." A report released Friday showed that "7.63 million properties, or 18 percent, had negative equity in September, and another 2.1 million will follow if home prices fall another 5 percent."

Dozens of the roughly 225 detainees who remain imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay "are said by military and intelligence agencies…to have connections to top leaders of Al Qaeda or to have other serious terrorism credentials," including 20 said to be Osama bin Laden's bodyguards. The profiles of the detainees will make it difficult for the next president to close the facility, the New York Times concludes.

And finally: How to crank call Gov. Sarah Palin. Canadian radio DJ Marc-Antoine Audette caused a stir this weekend when he called Sarah Palin and successfully duped her into believing that he was French President Nicolas Sarkozy. How did he pull it off? "We started by calling the governor’s office in Alaska, and after that, we were transferred from one person to another. It took us about four days, we spoke to about a dozen people, and that’s how we were able to speak to her," Audette said. "Call it luck, call it perseverance, call it what you want -- but I never thought we would be able to do it."

Though he will likely end his tenure with one of the lowest job-approval ratings in history, President Bush is earning praise for "engineering what may be the most carefully considered and potentially successful presidential transition in modern times."

THINK PROGRESS: "Coal Booster" Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) would "put coal out of business."

WONK ROOM: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) claims that offshore drilling and her own determination lowered gas prices.

YGLESIAS: The "blame Iceland first" crowd.

UNQUALIFIED OFFERINGS: How marriage equality is uncontroversial through the eyes of a child.

MISSOURI: Secretary of State Robin Carnahan is expecting a 76-percent turnout of voters Tuesday, just shy of the 1992 record of 77 percent.

ELECTION: At least 13 million people have already voted.

ECONOMY: "Governments -- from the largest states to the smallest cities -- are caught up in the tightening web of the financial crisis and looking to Washington for help."

"We will balance the federal budget by the end of our first term."
-- Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), 10/30/08

VERSUS

Q: You're not going to be able to do it [balance the budget].
HOLTZ-EAKIN: I couldn't agree with you more.
-- McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin, 10/30/08

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