Sen Barack Obama Introduces Bill to Stop Voter Intimidation and Deception

On election day two days ago, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) introduced the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2005, which is designed to provide voters with protection from deceptive practices that aim to keep them away from the polls on Election Day.

Said Senator Obama, "It might surprise some of you to know, but even in this awesome age of technological advancement and easy access to information, there are folks who will stop at nothing to try to deceive people and keep them away from the polls. These deceptive practices all too often target and exploit vulnerable populations, like minorities, the disabled, or the poor.

Think about the story of the 2004 presidential election when voters in Milwaukee received fliers from the non- existent ``Milwaukee Black Voters League,'' warning that voters risk imprisonment for voting if they were ever found guilty of any offense--even a traffic violation.

In that same election, in a county in Ohio, some voters received mailings misinforming voters that anyone registered to vote by the Kerry Campaign or the NAACP would be barred from voting."

It's now widely acknowledged that, in the 2004 elections, some Republicans in a handful of states (most notably Ohio and Florida) successfully used deceptive and intimidating practices to discourage specific groups of voters from exercising their democratic right to vote.

Senator Obama's bill specifically accomplishes the following:

-- Provides the clear statutory language and authority needed to get allegations of deceptive practices investigated.
-- Establishes harsh penalties for those found to have perpetrated them.
-- Establishes a process for reaching out to these misinformed and intimidated voters with accurate and full information so they can cast their votes in time.

Most US citizens have never been refused or purposely deterred from exercising their rights to vote. We acknowledge that it's un-American....but unimaginable. We think it must be rare and hardly worth all the fuss. But that's not the case. Millions of US citizens were denied their sacred right to vote in recent years, and millions more were thwarted in having their vote accurately counted.

As an example of voting rights frustrated and even denied, I wrote Democracy and Voting: Ohio 2004 as Lesson in What Can Go Wrong. Take the time to read it and get informed. I guarantee you'll be surprised by some of the abuses of the democratic process.

Sen Obama said as he introduced this bill,"I hope voters who go to the polls today are not victims of such malicious campaigns, but I know hoping is not enough. That is why I am introducing the Deceptive Election Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2005 to provide voters with real protection from deceptive practices that aim to keep them away from the polls on Election Day."

We all pray that this bill is effective in deterring the scurrilious practices in recent elections of lying and intimidating voters out of the polls.
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Related article
-- Profile of US Senator Barack Obama of Illinois
-- Democracy and Voting - Ohio 2004 as Lesson in What Can Go Wrong
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