October, 14 2008, 12:26pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020;
or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
Allegations of Voter Registration Fraud
WASHINGTON
ALEX KEYSSAR
Keyssar is the Stirling Professor of History and Social Policy at the
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and the author of the book "The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States.
He said today: "Once again we seem to be finding a pattern where
allegations of fraud are being mobilized as a rationale to construct
new barriers to voting. Fraud is a serious matter, but in our recent
history the far more prevalent problem has been the creation of
procedural obstacles to the ballot box for legitimate, eligible
citizens."
More Information
MARK CRISPIN MILLER
Miller is a professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University, and author of Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform and Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008.
Miller said today: "The GOP has used the myth of Democratic 'voter
fraud' not just to cloud the issue, but to justify the passage of Jim
Crow legislation, like the photo ID law in Indiana, the birth
certificate requirement in Pima County, Arizona, and other measures
meant to disenfranchise voters by the tens of thousands."
HARVEY WASSERMAN
Wasserman is co-author of the books What Happened in Ohio? and As Goes Ohio.
He stated today: "With Ohio once again the pivotal state that could
decide the presidency, the GOP is attacking the thousands of
registrations submitted by the grassroots organization ACORN. Though
the vast bulk of these registrations are legitimate, ACORN is legally
required to also submit those that are faulty, giving the GOP an excuse
to attack them all. The Republicans are also attacking the Democratic
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, who has reformed the electoral
process throughout the state and has won critical court victories
making it easier and safer for Ohioans to vote, and to have their votes
fairly counted, as they were not in 2004."
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
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