by James Parks, Nov 7, 2006

The AFL-CIO fielded hundreds of volunteers for our Voter Protection Program, including at this polling place in Detroit.

Throughout the country, Republicans used dirty tricks to try to suppress turnout and intimidate voters in close races. Fake “robo calls” were reported in 20 congressional districts, and Republicans used intimidation calls in several states.

Voters in heavily Democratic precincts received phone calls telling them to vote at the wrong polling places, and voters were sent misleading literature. In Virginia, the FBI is investigating phone calls made to voters in Democratic precincts telling them their voting places had been changed, which wasn’t true.

Jean Jensen, who heads the Virginia Board of Elections, told MSNBC:

…the FBI is now investigating allegations of voter intimidation and voter suppression. [State officials have documented] dozens of phone calls that were made to heavily Democratic precincts in which the people who were receiving the calls were either given incorrect information about polling sites [or] misdirected about election laws.

In Nebraska, Republicans used Democratic congressional candidate Scott Kleeb’s voice to call people several times an hour to harass them and turn them against Kleeb. Debora McGee, who lives in Lincoln, let us know how she feels about the Republicans’ dirty tricks:

It is apparent that the GOP has no respect for Americans, the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights. I am extremely distressed to think that George W. Bush points his finger at other countries and their suspicious elections but is the biggest threat to free elections in this country.  For a party who prides themselves as representing Christianity, they shame Jesus Christ with their lack of ethics, doing anything to survive.

The AFL-CIO set up a special e-mail address for voters to report if they received calls giving out incorrect information about where they should vote and threatening misinformation about election laws. Voters also have received repeated, harassing strings of recorded calls with misleading messages about who is calling. Some of the calls even delivered threats of jail time for people trying to vote. If you received any of those calls, especially if you live in Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee or Virginia, please let us know at protectthevote@aflcio.org.

Meanwhile, the activist group MoveOn.org Political Action is offering a $250,000 reward for new material evidence leading to a felony conviction for an organized effort of partisan voter suppression or electronic voting fraud.

In Maryland, The Washington Post reported that inaccurate sample ballots describing Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich and Republican Senate candidate Michael Steele as Democrats were handed out to voters in at least four polling sites in heavily Democratic Prince George’s County. The ballots were distributed by people who said they arrived by buses this morning from Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Post quoted one of the persons, Erik Markle, as saying he was recruited at a homeless shelter in Philadelphia.

After a two-hour bus ride to Maryland, Markle said the workers were greeted early this morning by first lady Kendel Ehrlich, who thanked them as they were outfitted in T-shirts and hats with the logo for Ehrlich’s re-election campaign. Nearly all of those recruited, Markle said, are poor and black. Workers traveled to Maryland in at least seven large buses.

The Ehrlich and Steele campaigns also admitted sending out an election-eve flier with pictures of Prince George’s County Executive Jack B. Johnson, his predecessor Wayne Curry and former NAACP president Kweisi Mfume, all African Americans.

The mailer, which stated it was an “official voter guide” suggested the three Democrats backed Ehrlich and Steele. Only Curry has endorsed Steele. Mfume, who lost the Democratic primary for the Senate seat, has endorsed Democrat Rep. Ben Cardin for the Senate. None of the three has endorsed Ehrlich. Mfume recorded a robo call, saying he does not support Erhlich or Steele.

In Michigan, the Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization that’s been working with the NAACP to ensure a problem-free election, cited voting machine problems and reports of large numbers of voters who are not on file but who have their voter registration information.

In other election news:

• Voters in Maryland and Missouri say the electronic voting machines recorded incorrect votes, showing a vote for Republican Senate candidates when the person actually voted for Democrats. When the voters complained, voting officials corrected the problem.
• Also in Missouri, there were problems with the state’s law requiring photo identification to vote. Even though the state Supreme Court declared the law invalid, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan said she was asked three times for ID when she tried to cast an absentee ballot last week.
• Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) and  South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) were turned away from their polling places because they did not have proper identification. 
• In Kentucky, a poll worker was arrested after he was accused of assaulting a voter. The worker has been charged with interfering with an election and fourth-degree assault. Paula McCraney, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County clerk, said the poll worker was accused of choking and pushing the voter out of the door.
• Conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham asked her listeners to call the Democratic Party’s voter protection hot line and flood it with crank calls, keeping voters with legitimate complaints from getting through. Think Progress has the audio and the transcript.
• In Colorado, a judge denied a motion by the Democratic Party to extend voting by two hours in Denver to allow people who were denied their chance to vote to do so.
• In Ohio, a federal judge in Cleveland ordered 16 polling locations in Cuyahoga County to stay open until 9 p.m. because of late openings this morning and other problems.

Yesterday, we reported how in New Hampshire the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) over the weekend pulled pre-recorded phone calls after the state Attorney General’s Office said the maneuver violated state law by contacting residents listed on the federal Do Not Call Registry.

According to the Union Leader:

The National Republican Congressional Committee voluntarily agreed to stop making automated calls to homes on the registry, said Deputy Attorney General Bud Fitch, who oversees election law. Under state statute, political campaigns are allowed to contact people on the Do Not Call list, but cannot use automated recordings to do so.

The national AFL-CIO Voter Protection Program worked to educate union households about their voting rights and to help prevent voting violations in 23 cities in six states—Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington. The federation and affiliated unions maintained a legal “war room” in AFL-CIO headquarters where attorneys worked with volunteer lawyers on the ground to make sure every vote was counted.

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