I can't help but draw parallels to "community surveillance" activities of the past - McCarthyism encouraging everyday citizens to report those they viewed as communist; the Fugitive Slave Act enabling crowd-sourced bounty hunting; Comstock Laws that promoted an onlooker's mortality judgments over the individual's choice/identity. I'm nervous about voter surveillance being our new reality, though history suggests the effort won't age well.
Our MO Secretary of State John Ashcroft pulled us out of ERIC. He is now running for Governor! Thank you for giving us the in-depth details about GA. It is not the only state. Everyone please share this info. The League of Women Voters is nonpartisan, and is on the front lines fighting voter suppression with voter information. I encourage everyone to join. I tell everyone, “the good guys make voting easier, not harder.” We can all be one of the “good guys.”
I am working as an election judge again this year. Seeing the process of how an election judge gets trained and how, at least in Minnesota, there needs to be representatives of each of the major parties, only increased my trust in the process. The primaries are slow (kids, you can't gripe about your choices if you don't show up at the primaries), but I'm nervous about the regular election. I was an election judge in 2020, and I was relieved at how well it went. Only a few people felt the need to grouse about how "illegals were voting" or other nonsense. Our head judge, who is a different party than I am, handled these beautifully. I'm looking forward to working with him and the others again. I hope these efforts to remove people from the voter rolls don't complicate things. You can register on the same day in Minnesota, but it takes time for each registration, and if the voter has a challenge, it adds yet another layer of difficulty, especially if they're not prepared with the right paperwork.
I think of all the recurring news stories we’ve seen over the last few cycles, the increasing lack of confidence in the legitimacy of our elections is the most disturbing. I had no idea that anyone could challenge my voter registration. That’s a little scary. What a mess this could be.
When I just now checked to make sure I’m registered in my state (CO) the following statement is on the very first screen: “Warning: It is against the law to knowingly submit false information or to tamper with another person's voter registration information.” So this seems pretty clear that the people filing these claims on those apps & websites are breaking the law!
Just a reminder that the Heritage Foundation found 23 instances of "voter fraud" in 2020 which is absolutely microscopic and the disproportionate amount of attention, time, fearmongering, and distrust around voter fraud is deeply concerning.
Martha, I feel your pain. I'm in Florida and it scares me too! There's already bananas shenanigans happening here. Would be great if we could volunteer help in that way.
Ugh. I live one county away from Bibb. Bibb is a historically democratic voting county surrounded by red counties so not surprising but disappointing. Georgia only was a blue state by 10,000 or so votes in 2020 so it really is a toss up which way it will go and who knows how many votes things like this will affect.
It’s not enough to check your voter registration just once since it can definitely be a case of “here today, gone tomorrow.” So, check often and especially check close to voting day but leave enough time for you to be able to correct errors. You can also vote “Provisional” if you get to the polls and have an issue. Spread the word about this to colleagues, friends, and family.
How is this legal? How can someone just cancel another person's voting registration? This is so scary and makes me extremely worried about the future of democracy in this country.
What sort of legal challenges could apps like these face? If any? And what would the process look like to do that. Would it start in each locality where the app was made? Registered?
Sharon, I have worked many elections. What you have said is 100% true. Workers go through a lot of training (last election I worked was 8 hours of training). There are so many ways to be sure someone gets to vote. The election workers are there to help, not discourage. Keep up your good work!
Man oh man. We just can't have nice things, now can we?! It's exhausting to keep up with all of these bananas things going on. It concerns me that there are people who won't get the message to check their voter registration or even necessarily have the tools to do so. That seems like a big concern.
Thank you Sharon for this article, and embedded links. I recently subscribed to "the Preamble" after watching a video of your interview with Maria Shriver. So glad that I did.
Good grief. It's so frustrating that these voter suppression tactics are being employed. Thank you for the info, Sharon.
One of the things that frustrates me the most about conspiracy theories is that they distract from actual conspiracies. There's enough bananas stuff in the world (like EagleAI) that we really don't need to make up fake conspiracies.
I can't help but draw parallels to "community surveillance" activities of the past - McCarthyism encouraging everyday citizens to report those they viewed as communist; the Fugitive Slave Act enabling crowd-sourced bounty hunting; Comstock Laws that promoted an onlooker's mortality judgments over the individual's choice/identity. I'm nervous about voter surveillance being our new reality, though history suggests the effort won't age well.
Our MO Secretary of State John Ashcroft pulled us out of ERIC. He is now running for Governor! Thank you for giving us the in-depth details about GA. It is not the only state. Everyone please share this info. The League of Women Voters is nonpartisan, and is on the front lines fighting voter suppression with voter information. I encourage everyone to join. I tell everyone, “the good guys make voting easier, not harder.” We can all be one of the “good guys.”
I am working as an election judge again this year. Seeing the process of how an election judge gets trained and how, at least in Minnesota, there needs to be representatives of each of the major parties, only increased my trust in the process. The primaries are slow (kids, you can't gripe about your choices if you don't show up at the primaries), but I'm nervous about the regular election. I was an election judge in 2020, and I was relieved at how well it went. Only a few people felt the need to grouse about how "illegals were voting" or other nonsense. Our head judge, who is a different party than I am, handled these beautifully. I'm looking forward to working with him and the others again. I hope these efforts to remove people from the voter rolls don't complicate things. You can register on the same day in Minnesota, but it takes time for each registration, and if the voter has a challenge, it adds yet another layer of difficulty, especially if they're not prepared with the right paperwork.
Thank you for doing this very important work ❤️
Thank you
I think of all the recurring news stories we’ve seen over the last few cycles, the increasing lack of confidence in the legitimacy of our elections is the most disturbing. I had no idea that anyone could challenge my voter registration. That’s a little scary. What a mess this could be.
When I just now checked to make sure I’m registered in my state (CO) the following statement is on the very first screen: “Warning: It is against the law to knowingly submit false information or to tamper with another person's voter registration information.” So this seems pretty clear that the people filing these claims on those apps & websites are breaking the law!
Just a reminder that the Heritage Foundation found 23 instances of "voter fraud" in 2020 which is absolutely microscopic and the disproportionate amount of attention, time, fearmongering, and distrust around voter fraud is deeply concerning.
I’m from GA and this information scares me. Is there a way to volunteer to help research election challenges or help people challenge them?
Martha, I feel your pain. I'm in Florida and it scares me too! There's already bananas shenanigans happening here. Would be great if we could volunteer help in that way.
Ugh. I live one county away from Bibb. Bibb is a historically democratic voting county surrounded by red counties so not surprising but disappointing. Georgia only was a blue state by 10,000 or so votes in 2020 so it really is a toss up which way it will go and who knows how many votes things like this will affect.
Are all of these apps and processes to challenge others’ voting registration legal?
Depending on state law, they can be.
It’s not enough to check your voter registration just once since it can definitely be a case of “here today, gone tomorrow.” So, check often and especially check close to voting day but leave enough time for you to be able to correct errors. You can also vote “Provisional” if you get to the polls and have an issue. Spread the word about this to colleagues, friends, and family.
How is this legal? How can someone just cancel another person's voting registration? This is so scary and makes me extremely worried about the future of democracy in this country.
What sort of legal challenges could apps like these face? If any? And what would the process look like to do that. Would it start in each locality where the app was made? Registered?
Sharon, I have worked many elections. What you have said is 100% true. Workers go through a lot of training (last election I worked was 8 hours of training). There are so many ways to be sure someone gets to vote. The election workers are there to help, not discourage. Keep up your good work!
Man oh man. We just can't have nice things, now can we?! It's exhausting to keep up with all of these bananas things going on. It concerns me that there are people who won't get the message to check their voter registration or even necessarily have the tools to do so. That seems like a big concern.
Thank you Sharon for this article, and embedded links. I recently subscribed to "the Preamble" after watching a video of your interview with Maria Shriver. So glad that I did.
Good grief. It's so frustrating that these voter suppression tactics are being employed. Thank you for the info, Sharon.
One of the things that frustrates me the most about conspiracy theories is that they distract from actual conspiracies. There's enough bananas stuff in the world (like EagleAI) that we really don't need to make up fake conspiracies.